If you're yet to have shopped from - or even heard of - the fashion brand Tove, then listen up.
For those who consider themselves relatively well-versed in the ritual that is fashion week, you'll know that there's something of a perfected formula that's rolled our for the seasonal showcase twice a year.
It's always in February and September, it always runs from Friday to Tuesday, it always follows New York and is followed by Milan, it always runs (at least) half an hour behind schedule, it always hosts some pretty major street style, and there's always endless creative excellence taking to the runway.
However, there are occasionally surprises that make one season stand out from those before it.
Sometimes it's a live orchestra (oftentimes, if you're Richard Quinn), sometimes it's Olympic divers (à la Rejina Pyo), sometimes its an finale (we're looking at you, Nensi Dojaka), and sometimes it's a new label on the schedule making such a spectacular runway debut that it becomes one of the stand-out shows of the entire season. And that's exactly what just happened for Tove.
Founded by Camille Perry and Holly Wright (Topshop's ex-head of buying and head of design respectively) in 2019, the brand was gearing up to stage its big runway debut last season before making the difficult decision to cancel last minute following the news of the Queen’s death.
So while the label may only be just over three years old, this week's showcase has been a long time coming. And boy was it worth the wait.
Bursting full of clothes you truly want to wear - no mean feat when headlines and social media insist on chasing down the most extrovert looks, making it all the more tempting to stage a dramatic performance rather than a wearable collection - Perry and Wright's debut runway may have been shown to press and influencers, but it was directly speaking to their customer.
Sculptural silhouettes, rich textures and a warm take on our beloved ‘neutral’ colour palette - punctuated with deep clarets and an almost metallic aqua - form the backbone of Tove's autumn/winter 2023 offering, while a smorgasbord of necklines - from halterneck to turtleneck, Bardot to a deep V - provide something for everyone from this savvy design duo.
Sustainability is central to Tove's ethos and is a key consideration of the brand's output, with carefully-considered natural, low-impact, recycled and degradable fabrics prioritised in production and forming the basis of each collection. The timelessness of Perry and Wright's designs speaks to this too, with longevity at the heart of each and every piece.
While this may have been a showcase of the brand's autumn/winter 2023 offering, Tove subscribes to a season-less approach; every collection is a continuation of the one before, with each piece being “designed to coexist with an earlier chapter”.
13 summer fashion trends the style set are obsessing over this season (and the one that they're *all* ditching)Gallery13 PhotosTheres a subtle, sexy confidence about the Tove woman. Just ask Katie Holmes, one of the label's many A-list fans, who recently wore one of the brand’s navy strapless tops (not a minidress, as many believed) with jeans at the Jingle Ball in December and who's gaining quite a name for herself right now as a particularly influential dresser (who could forget the sell-out Khaite bralet/cardigan moment?).
If Katie's track record - and this week's London Fashion Week runway - are anything to go by, you're going to need to remember the name ‘Tove’. If for no other reason than to set up re-stock notifications when every single piece inevitably sells out before you've so much as opened the Net-A-Porter app.
Read more about this season's autumn/winter 2023 highlights, from show reviews to trends, sustainable initiatives and street style highlights.
For more from Glamour UK's Fashion Editor Charlie Teather, follow her on Instagram @charlieteather.
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