Lady Victoria Starmer has made a London Fashion Week appearance for Edeline Lee, the designer whose clothes have also been frequently worn by the Princess of Wales.

The former prime minister’s wife took part in Lee’s spring/summer 2027 show in a north London school sports hall, wearing a bright turquoise knitted midi dress with a high neckline, pleated detailing and short, sculptural sleeves.

She completed the look with white block-heeled shoes and wore her hair in loose waves.

In keeping with the show’s unusual format, Lady Starmer was also photographed having her make-up done beside the runway, with clothes rails, make-up brushes and a football goal visible around her.

Ballerinas stretched beside the catwalk and synchronised swimming-inspired dancers performed in bright red costumes as Lee transformed the school sports hall in Chalk Farm into a London Fashion Week venue.

The London-based designer, whose suits and dresses have been worn by royals and celebrities including Taylor Swift and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, took inspiration from the discipline and physical demands of ballet.

The collection was based on The Myth of Sisyphus, the Greek story of a man condemned to push a boulder uphill, only for it to roll back down each time he reaches the top.

“There’s a general feeling right now of relentlessness, a Sisyphean cycle,” the designer said.

“I was already thinking about the ballet – dance is incredibly transporting, but the work behind it is so intense, the way dancers train for years, the endless repetition, for one ecstatic moment of performance, and then they’re back in the studio.

“I wanted to acknowledge the rigour and hard work behind that moment – much like the skill and artistry required of my team to present beautiful clothes.”

Rather than concealing the usual backstage chaos, Lee put it on display. Models were fitted and adjusted in full view of the audience, dancers rehearsed beside the runway and a drone followed proceedings from the high ceiling of the gymnasium.

With the usual backstage bustle happening just metres from the runway, the clothes had plenty to compete with for the audience’s attention.

Lee is known for her structured, minimal designs, but this season she introduced shorter silhouettes and more overtly athletic shapes inspired by gymnastics, swimwear and ballet.

Her signature tailoring was still present, including fitted blazers and sharply cut dresses, but it appeared alongside sculptural tutus, bodysuits and skirts that held their shape even as the dancers moved.

One of the most striking looks was a turquoise bodysuit surrounded by a wide, circular tutu-like structure, with matching woven legwarmers. Elsewhere, dancers wore bright red costumes with exaggerated, rippling skirts that bounced as they performed a synchronised routine.

The trio’s appearance was among the most photographed moments of the show, with onlookers fighting for space along the cordoned-off court markings to get a video of the performance.

The setting was gloriously unglamorous. Basketball hoops hung above the runway, football goals were pushed against the walls and green cricket nets provided a surprisingly complementary backdrop for Lee’s emerald and turquoise dresses.

It was hard to imagine the Princess of Wales taking her seat here, and perhaps even harder to imagine watching Lady Starmer having her hair and make-up done, but there she was, and the usual backstage rituals were suddenly as much a part of the show as the clothes themselves.

Lee’s trademark tailoring appeared in red and camel, while a white blouse and striped skirt offered a more relaxed take on her usual look.

The eveningwear was noticeably pared back, with fluid gowns and cleaner lines in place of the heavily embellished, sequinned looks seen in previous seasons.

Lee also experimented with length. Usually associated with midi and floor-length dresses, she sent out minis and tutu-like skirts that felt particularly at home on a gymnasium floor.

The performers’ hair was scraped into sculptural updos and finished with bows, giving them the appearance of synchronised swimmers preparing for a competition.

An accompanying film by Jake Knight and Ryoko Tanaka playing on screens around the room took the idea further, showing dancers from leading British ballet companies rehearsing in school classrooms and sports facilities.

In one scene, a dancer in an emerald gown attempts to push an enormous white ball across a weight room – Lee’s rather literal nod to Sisyphus.

“The athleticism of the dancers really pushed me as a designer to experiment with lightness, shape and movement in new ways,” she explained.

Back in the gym, Lee continued making adjustments to the clothes in front of the audience as the models walked down the runway. It was the sort of thing that would usually be hurriedly dealt with behind a curtain, seconds before a model walked out. Here, it was part of the show.