Front Row

19 September 2026

Tomoe had a front-row seat at a London show in September. Cressida, who has seen a great many of them, came to make sure she got there. The collection was much discussed afterwards. These pictures will not help.

Featuring Tomoe, Cressida, Aldous

The tiny white bantam hen settled on top of a long white front-row bench, head held high, the floor a long way below

The chestnut hen stands on a white front-row bench, watching the entrance doors at the far end of the space

A golden-brown rooster in a camel overcoat stands beside a camera on a tripod at the end of the runway, the camera turned away from the runway

Front row. The bench was built for someone rather taller. She has never once found this to be her problem.

Cressida has seen a great many shows. She watches the door.

Aldous was there to photograph the collection. He came back with fourteen frames of the front row and one of the runway, slightly out of focus.

The two hens stand side by side on a white front-row bench in brilliant runway light, both looking toward something out of frame, the empty rows behind them in darkness

What came down the runway is a matter for the fashion press. Tomoe did not blink.

The two hens walk away along a wet stone pavement beneath a colonnade of tall stone arches on a London evening, the small hen a step ahead

Her only remark on the collection, made on the pavement afterwards, concerned a hem.