Theatre takes to the catwalk for London Fashion Week

On Sunday 19 September, National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) collaborated with fashion designer and NYT alumnus Steven Stokey-Daley for London Fashion Week.

A photograph of a group of people in an indoor setting. They sit around a table and wear eccentric clothing, with matching straw hats and chunky knits. — National Youth Theatre x S.S. Daley, London Fashion Week. Photo: Helen Murray.

The show was for Steven Stokey-Daley’s fashion brand S.S. Daley as it made its London Fashion week debut. It was part of British Fashion Council’s NewGen showcase, in partnership with TikTok at the Old Selfridges Hotel.

NYT Artistic Director Paul Roseby devised the show, a short theatre piece featuring 10 members of the NYT company aged 18-25. Whilst exploring themes of masculinity, intimacy, privilege and race, performers animated S.S. Daley’s Spring Summer 2022 Menswear Collection.

A photograph of a person wearing an elaborate floral hat. Purple and red flowers are attached to a straw hat. The person looks towards the camera. — National Youth Theatre x S.S. Daley, London Fashion Week. Photo: Helen Murray.

Supported by Arts Council England and the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund, National Youth Theatre gives accessible opportunities both onstage and backstage to young people aged 14-25 from all over the UK.

Stokey-Daley is a National Youth Theatre alumnus and now a sustainability conscious fashion designer. His clothes have notably been worn by Harry Styles, in his music video for Golden, NYT Patron Ian McKellen and The Crown’s Josh O’Connor at this year’s BAFTAs.

A photograph of a person wearing a straw hat, that is decorated with ornate flowers. — National Youth Theatre x S.S. Daley, London Fashion Week. Photo: Helen Murray.

Paul Roseby OBE, CEO and Artistic Director of National Youth Theatre said: “Using theatre to animate a new fashion collective is a thrilling way of engaging our talented young cohort. Fashion and theatre are both about telling great stories with creativity, wit and invention and after the last year we need to do it more, in schools, in theatres and on the catwalk - why not! At National Youth Theatre we’re all about giving young people a voice, so it was important to me that this was an opinion piece, platforming our young talent’s words and lived experience at the heart of the piece. Together in rehearsals with this brilliant and articulate cast we’ve explored a host of topics from memories of school and class rituals to masculinity and teenage crushes. The show gives a voice to young people who’ve been hit hardest by the pandemic and celebrates their talent and Steven’s exquisite style.”

Steven Stokey-Daley said: “I joined the National Youth Theatre when I left high school in 2014. It was the first time I met likeminded people, my lifeline to culture that opened up the possibilities of what I could do. It is the biggest honour to now work with current members of the National Youth Theatre, whose input has been at the heart of my first solo catwalk collection.”

Find out more about National Youth Theatre on their website.