Edeline Lee made her runway debut in the sunny, cobbled courtyard of Millbank Tower, a 1960s building overlooking the Thames, with a charming show that celebrated the beauty of uniform dressing and the everyday rituals of walking the dog, taking the kids to school and cycling to work.
Models of different body shapes marched in lines across the cobbles wearing Lee’s familiar belted and pebble-textured dresses in colors such as saffron, teal, blue clay and navy, which have been worn by clients including the Princess of Wales, and Britain’s new First Lady Victoria Starmer, who was sitting in the front row.
The brand showed off new styles, too, including peplum jackets and long dresses with pouf sleeves and a polka-dot design by the artist Carolina Mazzolari. The lineup of gowns ranged from jazzy to easy. Some glittered with bright blue sequins or rustled with long fringes, while others had a laid-back ’70s mood, with high waists and long, rounded sleeves.
Young girls carrying balloons showed off Lee’s new childrenswear collection of sweet smock dresses, some of which were made in metallic fabrics.
Lee will be launching childrenswear exclusively at Harrods in the next few months, and in the spring she’ll get a space on the store’s designer floor, alongside brands including Ermanno Scervino, Etro and Alberta Ferretti.
Lee, who until now has been staging presentations and holding private appointments, worked with the choreographer Shelley Maxwell on the show and said she wanted to “create a little universe, introduce people to our world” by showcasing a collection that was “playful, happy — and practical.”
She also introduced her first shoe, a court style with a triangular block heel. “It can be worn with anything, because no one has time to think too much about which shoe to wear,” said the designer, a working mother who just gets it.
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