London Fashion Week

Fyodor Golan

Last year’s winner of the Fashion Fringe prize, Fyodor Golan, was one of the openers for London Fashion Week. Their debut solo on-schedule show heavily featured form-fitted and well-tailored designs within a strong colour pallet of white, black, red and metallic gold and olive. Fyodor Golan have stated that the show was inspired by Russian peasantry, the Romanov family and insects; a scene that is fairly difficult to perceive together. Yet the latter is evident through the prints on the flowing skirts and metallic, scale-like detailing within the structuring of some of the dresses. High necklines and fitted bodices feature in all the designs, with the slight exception of the black and jade green dress worn by a model covered in jade green sparkles. The colour of the piece and the glittery display stood it entirely on its own, which ultimately disrupted the coherence of the rest of the co-ordinated collection. Another show stealer, albeit a more congruous one, was the last design to grace the catwalk, a floor length, encrusted, pure-white dress with an avant-garde addition – white chiffon covering both the model’s face and an intricate golden headdress in a style not dissimilar to Lady Gaga’s creations. The overall appearance was slightly hampered by the bull-like nose rings worn by the models, distracting from the designs a little too much and incoherent with the established theme, but the clearly well-made, well-fitted and generally impressive designs did display the designers’ talents within their craft.    R.L.

This dynamic duo kicked London Fashion Week off to a great start, with the pair’s previous experience at Alexander McQueen certainly showing through. Striking drop-waists and bold monochrome colours were the order of the show, and though the majority of the pieces were black or white, the collection could never be described as bland. The only other colours to feature on the runway were a punchy red and rather opulent shades of beetle green and metallic copper. These provided a dazzling relief from darker hues, successfully creating a collection out of the pieces on the runway. The rather basic colour palette was offset by either metallic or same-colour embellishment on each outfit, creating a collection that was rather striking. It was texture-tough and rich, with each piece dense in its decoration – be it plaited or woven, encrusted or boasting mosaic. The only blip was a model who was somewhat covered entirely in emerald green glitter – perhaps a reference to beetles too far. The clean lines of each item of clothing, alongside the strong eyes and bull-rings worn by the models gave a sense of elegant power to the show as a whole. It was dramatic and defined, with any exaggerated shapes also having a regality to them. All in all the show was a promising start to the week, leading the way for longer-established brands to follow them down the catwalk and hopefully leave us with as good an impression.  A.S.

McQ

If you think Sarah Burton outdid herself in the making of the royal wedding dress last April, think again. This season’s collection for the sister line of Alexander McQueen, McQ, continues to show her talent as the deserving successor of the late designer. Last week was the first couture show of McQ, and was definitely one to remember. Set on a sheet of autumn leaves (reminding us in February that this is the Autumn/Winter 2012 show), viewers are transported back to an amalgamation of glamorous clinched waists and long leather gloves of the 1940s, 1950s lace and traditional Scottish tartan. The models’ hairstyles are in an interesting updo, which has a shadow that draws the viewers attention away from the face and focus on the clothes. The khaki trench dresses gradually transform to sharp leather jackets and then on to subtle floral mini dresses, growing bolder with a splash of colour as they go along. The whole show ends with a beautiful white lace and tulle flowery wedding dress. There is juxtaposition with the soft floral dresses against the splattering of sharp tailoring which is present throughout. There is also the occasional fur snood here and there, but not as controversial as the use of fur knickers in Mulberry. The overall feeling of the show is pleasant and approachable, and incredibly wearable. Get inspired by this sensational show and look out for autumn florals, well-tailored khaki coats and dresses, and the occasional bit of tartan in the high street next autumn.  F.P.

McQ was very WW2 – sombre shades and military boots joined slick hair on a catwalk inspired by autumn leaves. Women were traditional yet flattering – lace met thick tartan, buckles were sewn onto bustier-dresses and fit-and-flare was balanced out with heavy leather boots and belts. Men oozed military chic, and I suddenly felt like a character in every single wartime romance film I’ve ever seen (bar Pearl Harbor – vomit). Clashing prints and textures have been seen all over the LFW catwalk – especially Topshop’s new heroine Mary Katrantzou (she makes me want to cry) – however Sarah Burton’s delicate lace shoulders on structured wool and tulle dresses are the only pieces inspiring me to rock more than one pattern at a time. Men’s contrasting fabrics featured heavyweight winter suits with leather lapels and wool coats – totally defining the sultry dark-and-handsome look for AW12. My favourite pieces overall came from the women’s occasion wear of gothic fabrics – lace, black netting and luxurious velvet and corseted styles with huge skirts were offset by brightly coloured flower embroidery and simple dainty shoes. I loved this collection; until now I wasn’t too sure about Sarah Burton as a successor of the late Lee McQueen – I think I was the only person NOT drooling over Kate Middleton’s wedding gown. But she’s really outdone herself with this show and I’m left sewing flowers onto everything I own to capture her style on a student budget.                                                                                                                        F.J.

St Martins

Although I knew of St. Martins and the reputation it carries among the fashion world – from Alexander McQueen to top designers at Chanel – I was a newcomer to its fashion show, and boy was I eager to see what the future Karl Lagerfelds were going to bring me. AW12 makes a pleasant start by introducing simple t-shirts and dresses emblazoned with cartoonish patterns and elaborate head-dresses, along with structured male tailoring and simple colours that flattered their female partners. Sparkling pencil skirts featured with chunky footwear and baggy jumpers, colour-blocking was addressed with bold tones draped over parachute-inspired maxi dresses while Grecian maxi-dresses appeared with square extensions on the waist and shoulder. Usually I find designers lean heavily on the ‘blocking’ part, leaving me with beautiful dresses and unflattering patterns. But St. Martins’ colours were added as fabric extensions to parachute-dresses, ensuring that the blocks of colour wouldn’t distract from the original flattering design of the dress. Although there were potential future-trends and a few wearable outfits, I found that overall collection made me worry a little for the fashion world. Perhaps the gap between fashionable and functional is becoming a canyon. Towards the end the men all sported interesting-looking gags… maybe a last minute addition to prevent the models sharing their opinions.     F.J.

Famed for producing many esteemed designers within the fashion industry, the hour-long Central Saint Martins MA show featured extremely varied creations from the graduates likely to be the future of fashion design. The ingenuity of the designs (from an Olympic-inspired dress complete with emblematic rings as a headdress to a man genuinely dressed as a house) displays the energy and perhaps the youth of their designers, clearly not afraid to take risks or think outside of the box. The range of textile materials used was impressive; structured rubber rings, PVC, polystyrene coated knit and wire springs were all used extensively within designs. A further interesting use of texture was the simple yet well-tailored designs by Yifang Wan, using both woollen fabrics and wooden belts. However, many of the less wearable pieces were more reminiscent of an art instalment rather than a fashion show, like a sack-style dress and straw headdress in the shape of the word ‘why’ (a question I, too, was asking). The spectacular breaking of a model’s shoe highlighted this infeasibility within some of the designs. Whilst I wouldn’t hold out for similar pieces to be reflected in the high street, it is the future of fashion, and of the textiles used within it, that will be altered when the designers eventually tame their ideas within the powerhouses of the fashion world.  R.L.