Saving the best of the London womenswear RTW till last? Judge for yourselves.
CHRISTOPHER KANE
Christopher Kane AW 12
That Mr Kane has been watching some dark stuff in the run up to this show, namely the serial killer movie, Cruising. It was all a little sinister in reference with the purest blood red dresses that had the illusion of looking almost wet and watermarked silk pieces reminiscent of coffin linings. Dark? yes, even the placed florals were on black and in sinister shades, but it could in no way be described as gothic – it was strong, powerful and beautiful in Kane’s signature style.
Christopher Kane AW 12
Town and Field was the name of the collection and that’s exactly what we got. Christopher Bailey worked country classics like flat caps, tweed and heritage tailoring with towny dressed-up references – lace, bow belts, peplums, ruffles and voluminous sleeves. The final curtain call came with the style and panache you would expect from a Burberry Prorsum show with the rain ‘turned on’ outside the clear tent and the models walking done the runway with umbrella’s that are surely going to the must-have accessory for Autumns showers.
Burberry Prorsum AW 12 (Picture from Burberry)
OSMAN
There’s nothing like a swirling-colourful carpet catwalk to get us excited. Osman cited the work of Albert Kahn and his photographic catalogue of the world as inspiration and this translated into knock-out details on crisp white shirts with hand-loomed brocade collars, tailored trousers, sleek leather dresses with fishtail hems and bright and bold floral prints on silk. We were blown away with the attention lavished on this crisp silhouette.
OSMAN AW 12
OSMAN AW 12
McQ
As the last show of a very long Monday it needed to be crowd pleaser – and of course it was. On entering the nondescript warehouse space in New Oxford Street we were transported into an enchanted forest (with a bar) and a crunchy floor of autumn leaves. This show took elements of mainline Alexander McQueen collections and made them accessible with a bit of an urban and military edge – the volume trend continued shooting from the hip here too, either tulip shape skirts or full on stand out pleats.
MARY KATRANTZOU
A fabulous start to Tuesday morning, and a riot of colour. ‘Colour is the fruit of life’ by Guillaume Apollinaire read the title of the show notes and this set the scene for the show.
Mary Katrantzou AW 12
A succession of colours came out, each colour associated in print by specific everyday objects. ‘I like to find the beauty in everyday things’ said Mary afterwards to the assembled crowd. Hence Crayola box colours of yellow, blue and green were accompanied with pencils, 70s telephones, lawns, watches and many more objects. This wasn’t the end of the story though ‘I wanted to challenge myself by really engineering the silhouette around the prints, which is very difficult to do’, and indeed these prints came to life with the amazing structure built out of the pieces, no two the same. She worked with Lesage, the atelier de broiderie owned by Chanel to work the sequins and embellishment onto the pieces too. ‘It literally took my breath away’ said Matches International Buyer Natalie Kingham after the show.
Mary Katrantzou AW 12
Mary Katrantzou AW 12
There had been a few questions asked as to how super-star bag designer Anya Hindmarch was going to pull off a ‘show’ of her own this fashion week rather than a presentation. She delivered. Seats were facing a still set built of conveyor belts, old furniture, piled boxes and a plywood ferris wheel. As two headscarf wearing 40′s housewives chatting accidentally released a handle the whole thing came to life. Robotic bags and shoes moved around the conveyor belt, a steam train lead pieces around a track, furniture opened, bags danced and gloved hands appeared to shake and play with Anya’s sparkly clutch bag, pumps and platforms. Towards the end curtains went back at the top of the set to show Anya peddling away on a bike ‘powering’ the whole thing. An explosion of ticker tape signalled the end. Fabulous!
ROKSANDA ILINCIC
Roksanda Ilincic AW 12
The queen of cocktail dressing decided to take a slightly different direction; leisure and weekend wear. ‘I wanted to dress up leisurewear, I wanted my woman to rebel a bit, take some androgynous pieces and menswear influences’ said the designer. Jersey fabrics, sweaters, cute monogrammed crisp white shirts and parkas somehow fitted in effortlessly with Roksanda’s jewel toned evening aesthetic to create a show that in no way seemed dressed down. A duffle bag and cropped puffa jacket with an evening dress? If it works why not.
Roksanda Ilincic AW 12
HOLLY FULTON
‘The starting point was Lady Chatterley’s lover and I imagined my woman as a glamourous lady just on her way back to her grand house from misbehaving in the green house with the gardener – she’s still immaculately turned out and accessorized but has dew in her hair’ said he Scottish designer backstage. Doesn’t she sound like fun?
Holly Fulton AW 12
This high-maintenance-woman collection stuck to just two colours – fuchsia pink and bright turquoise, scattered with small repeat patterns of the art deco prints that are Holly’s signature. Did we also spot some palm leaves and butterflies in there? ‘I was thinking about greenhouses and my Mum – she only ever wears blue and works in a botanical gardens’.
Holly Fulton AW 12
PICTURES BY OWEN REYNOLDS
ADDITIONAL WORDS BY YASMIN COKE