ISSA
OK so it was yesterday but sadly too late for our round up. However it was a case of all aboard the Trans-Siberian Express as Russian came to a very chilly London.
Issa AW 12
Head-to-toe prints, elegant evening wear, fur hats and flowing maxi shapes made up the collection that was inspired by the journey from Moscow to Beijing. ‘The collection is very Russian-inspired and then there is Mongolian fur and Chinese influences that lead to art deco’, said Daniella Helayel post show of the collection. Happily, it still managed radiated her signatures (and best sellers) through silk jersey dress and floor-length lace gowns.
JW Anderson
Hot new talent to the London Fashion Week schedule, JW Anderson made the most of Central Saint Martin’s relocation to a new part of town and showed in the drafty old building the college once occupied.
JW Anderson AW 12
This brave collection of voluminous fleece-backed quilted pieces and super-shiny PVC tunic and trousers in matching sombre colour combos, had some sinister inspiration. Named the Chamber of Isolation, ‘the collection was inspired by a psychotic woman in surburbia who becomes neurotic’, said Anderson backstage, ‘the quilting is like a life jacket – it gives an awkwardness’. Creepy but cool.
JW Anderson AW 12
Vivienne Westwood
As always the flashbulbs were going crazy for supermodels (Jacquetta Wheeler, Janice Dickinson), actresses and strangely celebrity chefs (Heston Blumenthal – nope we don’t know why either). Cue Westwood favourites on the catwalk from tailoring in ticking stripes and tweed check, jersey cowl blouses and dresses and some corseted red carpet numbers in a jacquard and velvet – well Meryl Streep was wearing Vivienne to collect her BAFTA so maybe the A-list will see Westwood as a lucky charm for the Oscars later this month.
Vivienne Westwood Red Label AW 12
PICTURES BY OWEN REYNOLDS AND YASMIN COKE
ADDITIONAL WORDS BY YASMIN COKE