Charles Jeffrey x Somerset House
LOVERBOY is a creative force springing forth from the mind of Charles Jeffrey who – having joined Somerset House Studios in 2016, still bases his studio in the catacombs of Somerset House today. Somerset House was thus a fitting backdrop to launch his Spring / Summer 25 collection.
June 2024
Somerset House is a powerhouse for brand activations – a regular backdrop for fashion, beauty and retail brand experiences – and has been a focal point for London Fashion Week since the early 2000s. As a longstanding resident at Somerset House, and celebrating ten years of Charles Jeffrey’s LOVERBOY, Somerset House was a notable location to mark the brand’s return to London Fashion Week and a decade-in-residence at Somerset House Studios.
Charles Jeffrey is one of the UK’s foremost forces in fashion and is acclaimed by the creative community, media and peers. ‘Extravagant shows,’ ‘a stench of fantasy,’ ‘British heritage,’ and an ‘appreciation for art and craft’ and inclusivity are watchwords for a creative force who has to-date dressed such luminaries as Tilda Swinton, Harry Styles and Beth Ditto. Having graduated from London’s Central Saint Martins in 2015, Jeffrey founded his own fashion label Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY shortly thereafter. Named for the cult weekly club night that he had hosted in East London to fund his studies – and an internship in the haute couture ateliers of Christian Dior, Paris – Jeffrey remains one of Somerset House Studios’ most original resident artists.
The summer show at Somerset House celebrated the 10th anniversary of his fashion house and examined the designer’s ‘sensational impact on the global fashion scene, from club to catwalk’ and with it came the ‘full spectrum of his prolific output,’ alongside ‘newly commissioned works.’
“Charles Jeffrey and his LOVERBOY people put on a big, noisy, all-singing, all-dancing takeover in the courtyard of Somerset House for his 10th anniversary. Beth Ditto was doing the singing – belting out Patti Smith’s ‘Gloria’ with back-up, from a balcony, by the Somerset House choir – while Jeffrey’s madcap band of friends skipped, whirled and chucked rose petals.”
Vogue
The June event took place across the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, River Terrace and Seamen’s Hall. With 450 guests in attendance, the show was staged in the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court with seating reaching the length of the courtyard to maximise the impact of the runway set against the neoclassical backdrop of Somerset House’s Georgian-era architecture. The show was conceived, designed and produced by OBO London, a fellow Somerset House resident and noted creative agency who sit at the forefront of luxury brand experiences.
The early evening runway show featured a puckish take on traditional masculine signifiers which, for this latest ready-to-wear collection, were framed around the symbols associated with military and gamekeeping. Beth Ditto and Erin O’Connor featured in the show, which required dressing rooms for
the runway’s 39 models, and the soundtrack to the event was produced in collaboration with Luca Manning and performed by Somerset House Studios choir.
After the preview, guests were invited for drinks and bites and the launch of The Lore of LOVERBOY, an exhibition celebrating the rebellious energy and fierce originality of the brand.