Optimism seems to be a recurring theme at London Fashion Week. Margaret Howell, the long-standing designer whose career spans over three decades, took on said thread with a dose of austerity. With Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” in the background, her classic neutral palette dressed workwear silhouettes by way of fluid linen trench coats, high-waisted pleat pants and oversized ribbed sweaters. In the audience there were a strong mix of Japanese press and thin-rimmed architect types — the very audience her quiet sensibility speaks to.

Howell’s appeal is almost never about the individual pieces but rather about the ethos that she communicates. She seems extremely spatially aware, drawing parallels between the show space and her airy flagship store on Wigmore Street. The Rembert Building, the home to Britain’s national dance company was all exposed concrete and natural light. Howell’s interest in interactions with space, “movement, energy and style”, as she claimed, deems it apt for her to reference dance as a metaphor for her work. “I design my clothes with just that kind of freedom, life and natural grace in mind”, she added.

The show’s impact was largely rooted in its non-statements. It was normcore in parts, sending anonymous clothing down the runway that are quite simply very comfortable, cosy and personal. The details she omits are sometimes just as exciting to look at. Certainly the architects in the audience could relate to that, balancing form and function in equal measure.