Following the success of the inaugural ICON gala last year, Helen Georgio, founder of Buzz Talent and This Is Icon II Charity Gala London brought another triumphant event to London Fashion Week in support of prostate cancer charity, Prost8.

ICON II, which took place at the Connaught Rooms in the De Vere Grand Hotel, London on 18th September, showcased the SS23 couture collection of the renowned designer Malan Breton alongside up and coming designer Nathan Palmer’s popular Perverse Demand, an urban menswear brand.

Malan Breton ShowThe event drew 700 people from the world of fashion including models Coralie Fox and Emma Lucilles, dancer Abbie Quinnen, Ms Great Britain 20/21, April Banbury, R & B artist Kule T who was the lead singer in the 90s band MN8, and singer songwriter actor and model Emin Zada Electro who was a striking presence at the event sporting his classic extravagant style.

The organisers paid reverence to the late Queen Elizabeth II by starting the proceedings with a short address by the Reverend Peterson Feital before a minute silence at 8pm.

Following this, models showed off Malan Breton’s stunning collection of men’s and women’s wear crafted in a variety of fabrics and featuring a colour palette that ranged from shades of blue to bright hot colours, before culminating in an elegant show of full-length black gowns made as a tribute to the late Queen.

Tara Heathestone and Helen Georgio of Buzz TalentDiversity is rapidly becoming a wider trend in the fashion world and Breton’s catwalk show reflected the broad faces and forms found in all corners of the globe while Nathan Palmer’s show which similarly focused on contemporary trends, threw the spotlight on utility as well as fashion to reflect new tastes which place high value on resilient and usable articles of clothing.

Gaia Wise and Basial EidenbenzMusical entertainment followed by Lucy Penrose, who has the starring role of the young Judy Garland in the West End musical JUDY! She performed one of the Queen’s favourite songs, ‘Over the Rainbow ‘ to a crowd who had gathered in the name of fashion but were eager to show respect to the long-serving monarch.

Many of the garments on show were modelled by Gaia, the daughter of famed acting couple Emma Thompson and Greg Wise. Also present was Gaia’s actor boyfriend Basil Eidenbenz who appears in Eskel – the hit Netflix series The Witcher, playing the part of a friend of the lead character, Geralt.

In 2021, ICON I combined the worlds of fashion, show business and music to raise funds for NHS Charities Together and WellChild; this year saw the event throw its support behind Prost8.

Helen Georgio of Buzz Talent explained: “The point of ICON is to combine fashion and music with other art forms and leverage the spectacular talent we have on show to raise significant sums for charity. On Sunday we were able to bring together people to celebrate fashion as well as our devoted monarch while supporting the charity Prost8.”

The mission to raise funds for Prost8 is an urgent one, as Paul Sayer, the founder of the charity who has undergone his own journey through prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment explained: “About 12,000 men each year with low grade prostate cancer will only be offered the same aggressive procedures as men with far more advanced cancer, which leaves them suffering from life changing side effects.”

Remarkable medical advances such as HIFU and focal therapy can provide a lifeline for thousands of men with low to medium grade prostate cancer and offer them more targeted and less invasive treatments without a litany of side effects.