Yorkshire fashion review of the year: the top Yorkshire designers, brands and style-setters who turned heads in 2022

Leisurewear refused to be put back into the weekend box, however, because the pandemic only accelerated what was happening anyway in the fashion world, as lines between home and work, casual and smart, continued to blur. But designers and brands in Yorkshire were ahead of the curve, and their creativity, foresight and resilience amid challenging conditions continued to be impressive and inspirational.

February 2022 saw Halifax fashion designer Kevan Jon celebrate his eponymous brand’s 30th birthday with an archive display of those glamorous dresses that make him a turn-to designer of red carpet showstoppers, worn by TV stars including Ruth Langsford, Shobna Gulati and Lucy Pargeter.

“I started in the 1990s, when there was a big club scene, going to clubs in Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, listening to what girls wanted,” he said. “As I have grown up with them, I have had to adapt what I do to what they need.”

In March, we told how The Smockworks hand-made denim dress brand founded by Sheffield Hallam University lecturer Louise Stocks-Young was creating white denim smocked wedding dresses, chiming with the new era of less formal but still special styles of dressing and celebrating.

Marks & Spencer (founded, never forget, in Leeds Market) staged a summer fashion preview show In London, its first in-person event since the start of the pandemic. Later it launched the M&S Originals collection of menswear designs inspired by its Leeds archive, with pieces named after Yorkshire places.

Lockdown lifting prompted a new exhibition launched in April at Lotherton Hall called What Shall I Wear: Eveningwear Through the Ages. Meanwhile, models Rachel Peru and Annie Stirk teamed up at Goldsborough Hall for their first Silver & Sassy catwalk event, hosted by Christine Talbot and celebrating women with grey, white and silver hair.

May saw the launch at York Fashion Week of York-based Warpaint, a ground-breaking clothing range for people having hospital treatments and procedures, created in memory of Emily Rhodes, who died from a brain tumour. Patients and nurses at York Hospital were impressed by how quickly, easily and discreetly treatments could be delivered. In November, the brand changed its name to And Able.

We also featured AW Hainsworth & Sons, the Pudsey-based cloth manufacturer that makes the red cloth of the guards' uniforms out in splendid force every year for the Queen’s official birthday parade, this year for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and, sadly, in September for the Queen’s funeral.

In June, we previewed the Smart Works Leeds fashion sale, attended by Christine Talbot, Stephanie Hirst and a host of Yorkshire style-setters who brought along pieces from their own wardrobe to sell to help the charity support women back into the workplace through interview clothing and coaching.

Gentleman Jack costume designer Tom Pye told us that he was humbled to see his designs go on display at Bankfield Museum in Halifax, adding that Suranne Jones was a joy to dress as the flamboyant 19th century lesbian Anne Lister.

Leeds Arts University staged a wonderful catwalk show, as all the Yorkshire universities were able once again to welcome industry, family and friends to watch their Fashion Design students present their final year collections. We also featured the growing trend of hiring special occasion wear through online portals such as Hire Street.

In July, BBC Look North presenter Amanda Harper shared her love of vintage fashion in a special exclusive fashion shoot photographed by James Hardisty, and award-winning costume designer Dinah Collin talked to us about creating period looks for Sheridan Smith, Jenny Agutter and the child stars of The Railway Children Return which released in cinemas that month.

Keighley-based menswear brand previewed its AW22 collection and gave us an insight into how it sends out great Yorkshire tailoring across the world.

In August, inspired by Hollywood poolside vintage photographs, photographer Clare Coleman and York-based interiors and accessories specialist Natalia Willmott gathered a team of independent Yorkshire brands for a shoot at the outdoor swimming pool of Camblesforth Hall.

Leeds-based fashion retailer Joe Browns allowed us behind the scenes of its beautiful shoot at Bamburgh Castle as founder Simon Brown told how the brand is managing to stay on top of the style game.

In September York-based designer Matty Bovan showed his collection at Milan for the first time with support from Dolce & Gabbana after seeing his work on Instagram.

In October, the founding sisters behind Knaresborough-based fashion brand Luce & Bear showed us how Yorkshire grit and humour work to underpin their easy and striking designs and whole ethos.

We also featured Ukrainian refugee Yana Smaglo, who fled Kyiv in February after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Now living in Yorkshire, she has launched an umbrella fashion brand called Nenya to support fellow designers in her homeland, showcasing their designs in a pop-up first at Victoria Leeds and now at Trinity Leeds shopping centre until January 6.

And we celebrated the brilliant work of Leeds-born designer and former Leeds United player Rav Matharu, CEO and creative director of clothsurgeon, which opened the first bespoke streetwear tailors on Savile Row this year, worn by the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Drake, Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky.

We look forward to another year of outstanding Yorkshire fashion and style in 2023.

*Video and picture of Leeds Arts University graduate show by Rose Cameron.