Bora Aksu’s Spring/Summer 2024 Ready-To-Wear Collection

“I wanted to go back to my roots for this collection,” said Bora Aksu ahead of today’s show, which was held on a balmy morning in the gardens of the historic Goodenough College, tucked away in a leafy corner of Bloomsbury. While Aksu’s brand may channel a very English spirit of whimsy, he’s keen to point out that its origins lie just as much in the aesthetic sensibility of his home country of Turkey—which a recent trip to Istanbul allowed him to fully reconnect with. “When you’re not living there, you see things differently,” he added.

Aksu’s starting point was childhood memories of growing up surrounded by women: his mother would hand-knit dresses as he sat by her feet, he recalled, and his grandmother was an expert at crochet. (The fez hats dotted throughout the collection were actually made from upcycled offcuts of his mom’s unfinished blankets.) But Aksu decided to trace his design lineage even further back, too, nodding to the opulent textiles of the Ottoman Empire through silk gowns in duck egg blue and dusty pink embroidered with delicate floral motifs, as well as the hand-painted patterns of Iznik tiles, here recreated across layers of tulle and organza.

All of Aksu’s frou-frou signatures—lacy trims, crochet, babydoll silhouettes, Peter Pan collars, bows galore—were present and correct, but the homages to his home country added a welcome touch of something more grounded, not least in the black and gold embroidered trims that rippled at the hems of a handful of looks towards the end. Through these moodier looks, Aksu showcased his ability to hit a sentimental note without veering towards the saccharine.