London (AFP) – Canadian-British designer Edeline Lee presented her latest spring-summer 2025 collection at London Fashion Week (LFW) on Monday, with a loyal customer in attendance — Victoria Starmer, the wife of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The label, with the fitting tagline “Clothing for the Future Lady”, has dressed some of Britain’s most powerful women, including Catherine, Princess of Wales and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.
Last year, Victoria Starmer, who generally keeps a low profile and has been praised for her style, wore a red belted dress by the designer for the Labour party conference — one of her few political appearances. Variations of the same outfit were on display in the new collection: belted jacquard dresses with flutter sleeves in cornflower, yellow, coral pink, and emerald green. At the brand’s first-ever LFW catwalk show, Lee presented tailored midi and maxi dresses, flowing pantsuits, and sequinned gowns intended to make the wearer feel “polished, ready and powerful”.
Attending the show on the banks of the River Thames while her husband was in Rome meeting Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, Victoria Starmer opted for a blue and white polka-dot jumpsuit with a tailored navy blue jacket. However, she could not fully step away from politics. Over the weekend, The Times newspaper accused Keir Starmer of breaching parliamentary rules by failing to disclose that a Labour party donor had bought more than £5,000 ($6,600) worth of designer clothes for his wife.
The prime minister insisted on Monday that “rules are being followed” after it was also reported that Labour’s Waheed Alli gave Keir Starmer nearly £20,000 worth of clothes, which he had declared.
© 2024 AFP
