Yaku Spring Summer 26

True to his words of being inspired by Lee McQueen, Yaku seems to be striving towards making a must see show; a spectacle that reminds audiences of British designers’ command over fashion month. London Fashion Week has always been about rebellion, innovation, fearlessness and not conforming to the normal, the trendy. Storytelling savants have reigned supreme and solidified themselves as supernovas; Stapleton confirms predictions of being a protostar yet again.

 Photography @elizabethlentha

One of his former models Angel gave insight into what was and what is, “There's a lot more that comes to preparing for a show like this than the clothes itself. You have to really understand what the world is and have that context from previous shows as well. 

There is a performance aspect to it, which is very impressive, actually to see it carried on and carried forth to.” Yaku’s design language presents itself to be meticulously crafted, lucid and meaningful.

After five fantasy-filled chapters of the “I̶m̶Possible Family Reunion in RPG Space”, Yaku writes something which will resonate with all in chapter 6 aptly titled “A Ground to Stand On.” The characters land in a whole new world; a journey through lands bringing them into a world unseen, unheard, unknown yet not uninhabited. Reimagined reality sets the stage, history and myth blend together to give a story of resilience, change, survival, and exploration. To the nuanced mind, the ideology becomes clear as the exhibition ends. Every time in history someone ventured into a new land with its own people, what if they had decided to exchange and build rather than pillage and destroy?

 In the world we currently live in, the greatest resistance is art and whenever an artist employs themselves in that way, humankind rejoices; Yaku Stapleton is very much a LFW staple simply for daring to dream and evolve.