“If Earth was born of Chaos, Chaos will be Earth’s end”
“They say that women are from Venus, and so, in an act of spiritual rapture, to Venus we return,” declare the notes at Dilara Findikoglu’s London Fashion Week show, staged in a deliriously dark, pulsating crimson rave hall. Titled Venus from Chaos, the collection casts a veil over reality as we know it, transporting us to a realm that feels both celestial and perennial. This season, Findikoglu urges us to disengage from the earthly turmoils of “destruction, subjugation, cruelty, and control,” and instead reconnect with the divine essence that resides within us.
Backstage, a mantra scrawled across flimsy scraps of paper reads: “MEDIEVAL ROCKSTAR, MOODY BUT ETHEREAL, DON’T GIVE A FUCK BUT HYPNOTIC.” The models – ranging from the iconic Lara Stone to our cover girl VTSS – embodied this directive flawlessly. They deconstructed, subverted, and indulged with an air of untouchable composure and celestial grace. Snakeskin prints, seashell embroideries, and striking hair-centric looks anchored the collection’s mystic energy. Models either emerged wrapped in cascading ginger tresses – an overt nod to Venus rising from the sea – or donned shaggy, all-hair jackets that blurred the line between body and garment. Through Findikoglu’s lens, the corporeal turned into the ethereal, transforming femininity into a living, breathing symbol of power and metamorphosis.
Each detail seemed to echo a rebellion against conventionality while embracing an otherworldly allure. Chainmail tassels dripped from gloves like liquid armour, while tailored businesswear was stripped down and reimagined – waists cinched to extremes only to be unraveled with intentional defiance. The collection sprang to life with its accessories. The bedazzled headphones, as if a sonic portal back to Findikoglu’s planet, channel thumping techno and eternal echo of ocean waves in perfect harmony. Even their footwear told a story: battered Chuck Taylors, as if salvaged from a shipwreck, were patched with safety pins, tangled laces, and draped with what looks like .
In the darkened venue, the air felt electric, as though the audience held its breath – suspended in a reality unbound by earthly gravity. Each step on the runway was a broken-doll saunter, a hypnotic display of craftsmanship that transcended the ordinary. Findikoglu’s vision was both a heart-stopping spectacle and a manifesto of feminine autonomy. As the Earth fractures under the weight of its own chaos, Venus rises – unbothered, unstoppable, and poised to rule in a new, celestial age.
Images courtesy of the designer
Words by Evita Shrestha
