Lizzie, Balham

Today is Lizzie's 26th birthday, which seems as good a time as any to finally post these photographs of her, taken October 2018. These were originally intended for Lizzie's dating and lifestyle blog, but other commitments fell in the way - for the better, it seems, because she is now in a very loving relationship and pursuing a new career in nursing. It feels poignant that today is also International Women's Day, because these pictures depict my friend with hopes and ambition for the future, and I'm so very proud those hopes have since become a reality for her.

Rocky Star AW20

IA London AW20

In scenes of quiet madness, avant garde fashion label IA London invited guests to an artistic reinterpretation of the infamous Bethlem Royal Hospital for its London Fashion Week presentation. "Bedlam" AW20 is a striking collection of sculptural silhouettes in dark fabric, over which digitally printed paintings of flora, fauna, and the human anatomy are emblazoned in bright hues of red, orange and yellow.

The presentation was very much a performance piece, in which the models portrayed themselves as psychiatric patients - crying, laughing, lost in delusion - to a curious audience. Featuring chaotic hairstyles that represent an uneven mentality, the scenes somberly echoed an era when the real life patients of Bethlem Royal Hospital were exhibited to the paying public like animals in a zoo, thus serving as a reminder that mental health issues are still trivialised centuries later.