Icons Only: Brit fash, Glasto and The Nat

British garms, British music and the launch of a (British) nature-first initiative

It may have been Paris menswear and the most hotly anticipated designer debut in ooh, A WHOLE SEASON (aka a lifetime in fashion years). It may have been the wedding of the world’s richest man to the world’s most pneumatic woman in the world’s most romantic city.

But this weekend was NOT about JW Anderson’s debut at Dior (grunge Renaissance chic with a big helping of Irish - he pulled it off), nor was it about Lauren Sanchez gondola hopping in custom Dolce (quite unexpectedly, covering her cleavage).

Instead, the fashion news this weekend was all about Glastonbury, a timely intervention to remind beleaguered Brits they still have much to offer the world, and no one can do fields, cider, music and shouting in quite the same way, with quite the same style.

BRAT pants: they won the show

And the fashion - the fashion! Gone were the boho frills of the Sienna and Kate days, in what was a much more street take on pogo dressing for a heat soaked farm. If it wasn’t Charli XCX’s holster pants, or Izzy Richmond’s Burberry checks (money’s on her outlasting her nepo Gallagher boyfriend), or the Hunter ankle boot sprayed on to every celeb foot that would have it, it was the ubiquitous Barbour jackets, the string bikini tops (Lorde, Alexa), the suites of lace bras (Lily Allen) and shell suits and bucket hats everywhere.

But before we dig into all that, let’s honour the Glastonbury icon that’s been headlining for 33 years strong. It began in 1991 when Michael Eavis wrote to Greenpeace, asking if they’d like to come along to Worthy Farm. "The word 'environmental' was just beginning to be heard. People were just becoming aware of the problem,” said Bob, then Greenpeace’s Head of Events. Greenpeace were famous for whaling protests, taking brave direct action by positioning themselves in tiny dinghies between humpbacks and harpoons. Protest is a strong component of Glastonbury (this year no exception), and as David Attenborough notes in Ocean, Greenpeace’s inspirational protest led to a ban on whaling and the near complete restoration of whale populations. “The importance of defending nature has always been there,” says Bob. “And that is what we do.” This year, a sign at the entrance to the Greenpeace field read “Jungle is Not Massive”. Which tells you everything you need to know about Glastonbury, the underground and the need to get shit done.

The fashion story began with Burberry, who having failed to sponsor the festival, cast the entire Gallagher clan, Alexa Chung, Goldie and numerous other Brit famous stars in a festival themed ad campaign that ran out thrillingly across socials. “Burberry’s always been part of the fabric of the UK,” said Goldie as he donned a pair of googly eyes and a charmingly checked fit. “It just keeps reinventing.” That it does and, fashion aside, its all guns blazing marketing campaign to reinsert itself into mainstream British culture has got my vote. Loved their weekend follow up which was sampling Liquid’s Sweet Harmony to an animated trippy turntable. Spot on.

Goldie is massive

Marvellously, there were the fashion faux pas, including a slue of inappropriate celebs (probably staying at Babington) with handbags, capacious ones at that. (“A handbag?” as Lady Bracknell would say. Pockets girls! How are you meant to skin up, handle a pint and jump up and down with a handbag over your shoulder?).

Queen of the fashion parade was Doechi, whose killer headline set was matched by her homage to Vivienne Westwood. “It’s this iconic British festival, so we really wanted to use an iconic British brand,” her stylist Sam Woolf told Vogue. Included was a micro skirt modelled on that worn by Kate Moss on Westwood’s SS94 runway. Heritage appeal! Cue a Vestiaire meltdown.

Westwood calling: Doechi channels the SS94 runway

There was very little reference to the Sienna Miller Kate Moss boho looks of the noughties (which those two have gone on to commercialise quite shamelessly with M&S and Zara, two of the most polluting fast fashion pit stops on our high street). Fashion has moved on, something Alexa Chung has deftly managed to negotiate, wearing last week’s Substack tip, Nounou, the new Brit swimwear brand bringing back the cotton bikini. Her and Lola Clark both.

How to Dress Better

The bikini combat look was served up by all the best, including Y2K muse Mia Regan (above). There was also plenty of Miu Miu around, cementing the hottest brand and the hottest festival title. Shout out too to the hipster football jersey trend, led by Kneecap rapper and arch protester, Móglai Bap, with his Fontaines DC-sponsored jersey of the Dublin hipster football club Bohemian FC. Other jerseys spotted included FC St Pauli, Athletic Club Bilbao, Real Betis and Cork City. Even Glastonbury had its own rainbow hued football shirt, made with recycled polyester. Could Greenpeace and Glasto do something in natural fabrics next year please?

Get ready for the Euros with your niche football jersey moment. (Do they do them in natural?)

Imagine if there was a plastic ban on fashion at festivals. It would certainly present a challenge to all those festival go-ers who spend months pinboarding their outfits, bargaining on Vinted and fending off the Shein marketing. Because of course they are much cooler than that.

The Nat

It was London Climate Action Week last week, which saw the launch of The Nat, “Because Nature needs a publicist”. The way founder Gail Gallie tells it, The Nat is a new platform looking to popularise the consideration of Nature in industry - specifically food, fashion and finance. It’s a powerful group of people involved, with plans to launch ‘The Nat Gala’ in New York this September. They started by engaging with over 35 industry leaders in fashion, to discover the opportunities and challenges of closing the downstream circularity loop — from rental, repair, and resale to recycling and regeneration.

We met in a hot room in the beautiful Chelsea Physic Garden, and were represented with leaders from Chanel, Stella McCartney, Textile Exchange, Circ, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Akyn, MyWardrobe HQ, Save My Wardrobe, HEWI, Sign of the Times, Mastercard, HSBC, London College of Fashion and more.

It was quite a task, synthesising the knowledge into a specific set of asks in two hours, but I’m sharing the key themes here. Let me know what you think.

Think regen-first
We must respect nature’s reciprocity by prioritising organic materials like wool and cotton over synthetics, while collectively committing to regenerative practices to help them scale. Incentives and certification will be critical levers for faster adoption.

Reshape consumer desire
Out with the new, in with the old. To break the throw-away fashion paradigm, we need to educate people, and students, about the real impact of their clothes. From caring for garments to seeing them as assets to invest in - smart comms can fuel this renaissance.

Change the investment conversation
Circular fashion should be framed as an opportunity, not a cost. There’s still a knowledge gap among investors about the circular ecosystem and its profitable solutions. A clear map showing how the pieces connect will help unlock capital.

Push circular-positive policy
From removing VAT on circular transactions to easing cross-border resale, progressive policies can make sustainable choices the default.

As they say, stay hydrated.

See you next week,

Tiff