LONDON : Across the Channel, <i> Real</i> Clothes for Real Women
British designers went to great lengths--calf and ankle--to make a point in their collections for fall ’92.
Almost every designer who showed here over the weekend went dramatically long, some with more success than others.
This new look takes a little getting used to, since it comes hard on the heels of lingerie-inspired designs.
If this length goes over, it will probably be in knits, like those shown by Betty Jackson, Joe Casley-Hayford and Nicole Farhi. The latter presented a beautiful collection that included knit wrap dresses worn with cardigans, and long, fitted tomato-red and saffron full knit skirts paired with fitted black leather jackets.
These designers seem to understand that, even if they go long, women still want softness, comfort and practicality.
The season’s best collections, by designers John Richmond, Helen Storey and Vivienne Westwood, showed that long can be sexy in tailored clothing too.
Although it had strong whiffs of ‘70s style, from the death throes of hippiedom to the arrival of disco, John Richmond’s show was about creating a new idiom for the ‘90s, and it worked. The outfit summarizing his best ideas was a tailored navy jacket with a paisley-print back panel worn over a long skirt of layered transparent fabric.
Richmond, who made his reputation with the deconstructed look that was once characteristic of London fashion, showed he has a talent to conceive and cut real clothing.
Well-tailored blouses--one had a cutout at the waist that revealed a hint of bosom from below--paired with palazzo pants and long knit skirts also showed how this designer, along with the whole London fashion scene, has matured.
Helen Storey, the 32-year-old daughter of playwright David Storey, earned her reputation again this season as Britain’s rapidly rising fashion star.
She showed long, attractive, quilted coats in jewel tones, mid-calf skirts with zippered side pleats and a clever wide-stripped pantsuit with the trousers cut on the bias to create a barber-pole effect when the model walked.
Vivienne Westwood, who has been showing long skirts for several seasons, had a familiar-looking collection. She cut a mean tweed suit, and her screen-siren fake-fur stoles looked good over long stretch dresses made of a metallic lace print.
The new British emphasis on real clothing for real women was no epiphany for London’s most-talented classicists--Jean Muir, Jasper Conran and Betty Jackson.
Conran avoided the hemline issue by showing hip-waisted jackets, sometimes zip-fronted, with nicely cut trousers. The ‘70s were apparent in Betty Jackson’s elephant-legged pantsuits and long knit dresses in a palette of tans, but the proportions made this clothing much more appealing than the originals.
Jean Muir has always made sumptuous knitwear, and this season was absolutely vintage. Best were her long tunic dresses and wool coats with matching long knit skirts.
As they return to real clothing, the British are showing a contemporary talent for evening wear.
Jenny Packham offered another collection of lively, dropped-shouldered, full-skirted ‘50s- and ‘60s-style party dresses, and Tomasz Starzewski worked from a “Doctor Zhivago” theme, creating opulent ensembles very much in contrast with the sober fabrics and colors seen elsewhere.
