Oh London. You can completely tell I'm British when London Fashion Week rolls around, I get all misty eyed and my heart does a little pitter patter whilst phenomenal designers such as Erdem and Henry Holland march their designs down the runways.
London offered a welcome relief to the vastly neutral looks we saw in New York, presenting colour from lipstick reds to muted neons and pattern, pattern pattern! Digital patterns were quite literally everywhere.
The following, in no particular order (with the exception of Erdem – which is first for a reason – it's first in my heart) are my favourite ten looks from London Fashion Week.
Le sigh, Erdem. By far my favourite collection of all the fashion weeks thus far. Erdem get's it right every single time, perfectly delicate and feminine and again ballerina inspired (like one of my NYC favourites J. Mendel) The colours, the lace, the super girly silhouettes. If only I could afford to live in Erdem all summer long. But like I said with J Mendel, those ankle ribbons are coming out early..stay tuned!
Mulberry was both refined and feminine as per usual. Models donned red wigs (in the perfect shade of red that unfortunately just does not suit my skintone) and the seventies inspired looks appeared in pastel shades, with chambray and navy. I loved the ruffles and the exaggerated collars.
There's something about willowy girls in floaty dresses wearing platforms with bangs (Ms Pandora anyone?) Charles Anastase perfected this look, down to the oversize glasses, and the dresses are perfection. I shall work on the willowy so I can pull off the billowy….!
The first ever designer piece of clothing I ever owned (that I was aware of anyhow) was bought for me by my Mummy when I was 12 years old. It was a white Betty Jackson bikini, and I thought I was the bees knees, it was ruched and feminine and honestly probably a little too sexy for a 12 year old, but mini fashion me fully embraced it. Anyhow, Betty Jackson, to me still produces this sexy feminine aesthetic that's wearable and gorgeous at the same time, and *cough cough* years later I still want to own Betty Jackson (and fit in my white bikini which I never threw out – it's back in England probably in the attic)
Now let me preface this mini review by stating I was not a fan of the "Princess Margaret on acid" (his sister's words) separates earlier on in the show, I thought I would be but they did not grow on me in the way that I expected. However, the muted neon lace and chiffon dresses were practically breathtaking, the -like colours were fantastic and the fabric resembles spun sugar. Simply gorgeous.
Henry Holland presented a much more refined whimsy than I have grown to expect from him, but I liked it, a lot. The palette of blues and lilacs was so pretty, and a nice change of pace. And if you didn't realise by now – I'm a total sucker for a floral print – but I also love me some stars and this collection had both. Particularly fabulous were the giant pom pom earrings – DIY coming this way soon? It's been awhile!
I felt a little fashion ignorant perusing the Holly Fulton collection, as I've been unaware of her all this time. A little research had me discovering that this was her 4th collection since graduating with an MA from The Royal College of Art and that she served a stint as the accessories designer for Lanvin. Yes apparently I am a fashion ignoramus.
Nonetheless a beautiful collection, artisan and travel inspired, the detail and beadwork was clearly the work of an artist and the prints (clearly a speciality of hers after exploring her previous collections) on the maxi skirts were fantastic. I need the third one along – dream clouds – yes, I've given it a secret nickname…!
Temperley London explored a seventies inspiration, more neutral than some of my other picks, but stunning all the same. The mis of dusky pinks and neutrals combined with the tan leather and the metallics creates a fantastic bohemian vibe. I really love the slouchy maxi separates. It's my current favourite look, I was afraid I would bulkier in this style, like I was attempting to hide my insecurities, but instead it makes me look longer and leaner – fantastic!
Ooh feminine and fun and basically a total hodge podge of what these sister's think is cool, without particularly giving any reverence to the idea of creating a cohesive collection. I mean it's cohesive in as far it's all really damn cool – and I want to own it all, and the American road trip inspiration story certainly makes some sense – but who cares about story when everything is so fabulous? The poufy denim dress for starters had me ebaying vintage petticoats immediately and the prints are fun and kitcshy without being over the top. Fan-flippin-tastic.
Unique's collection was beyond vast and honestly felt like about 3-5 different story's were going on, some of the looks were not good, and honestly for a collection than is sold in a high street store – not particularly wearable. The last set of looks however, where the prints and the palette calmed themselves, was really very beautiful. Again this slouchy, layered maxi look is completely lustworthy, I love the rock and roll vibe of pairing t-shirts with silky maxi skirts and platforms and again the laces and layers were definitely balletic, an inspiration I'm very excited to explore…rock and roll ballerina here I come Spring 2011!
Photos via Style.com
Words and Graphics: Kelsi Smith.