Fashion East returned to Manor Place this week, luring showgoers to south London to witness the latest crop of design talent. Even rapper Central Cee made the journey, joined on the front row by Paloma Elsesser, Sabrina Elba and Miquita Oliver. This season, the fashion incubator welcomed back two returning designers, Jacek Gleba and Traiceline Pratt’s GOYAGOMA, and introduced a new name, recent CSM grad Mé Mé.

As the newcomer, Mé Mé kicked things off. The Cantonese designer caught industry attention earlier this year with their MA graduate collection, and yesterday’s show built upon similar foundations. It’s not hard to identify their designs: just look for the clouds of cigarette smoke (or the stiff white netting they use as an illusion for smoke) while models puff on fake Marlboros. They stomped down the runway wearing birdcage veils over their eyes, bowls turned upside down as hats, and bubblegum pink bloomers.

It was a collection that fell somewhere between Ladies Day at Ascot and a nightclub smoking area. In reality, the collection paid tribute to women of 1980s Hong Kong, frantically dashing around the city. If you looked closely, you could see dead flies decorating the headpieces and glued onto models’ faces – a nod to flies buzzing around restaurants and dishes in the sink left unwashed. 

Jacek Gleba did what he does best and blended the worlds of fashion and ballet. Inspired partly by Pina Bausch and partly by Denton Welch’s 1945 novel In Youth is Pleasure, the collection subverted masculinity with delicate chiffon, pastel hues and cascading backless tops. We saw boys in floating dresses and heeled ballet pumps, with lace appliqué decorating the lines of their silk shirts. 

Finally, Traiceline Pratt’s GOYAGOMA closed the show – the only collection Central Cee pulled out his phone to film. This season, the Bahamas-born designer turned to workwear and the wardrobes of his own parents. He reinterpreted his mother’s dressing gown and his father’s daily office attire; meanwhile, an inflated life jacket was a highlight, referencing the Luther Collie quote: “No one’s coming to save you; it’s either you sink or swim.” So far at least, Pratt is certainly swimming.