Fashionable London? Yes, Quite
Undaunted by a disturbing trend of designers abandoning fashion week, which ends here today, more than 50 showed eclectic fall clothes for women that mixed the poetic and the absurd.
Young designers charmed with their inventive and colorful collections, which were a refreshing change from last week’s lackluster shows in New York. In contrast, most of the established designers offered disappointingly predictable looks.
Overall, military chic continued to be front and center, as did 1980s leather and lace, though with a softer, decidedly non-Madonna look. Corsets, bomber jackets, equestrian waistcoats and riding pants were also runway staples.
Expectations for fashion week were low, especially after last season’s breakout talent, Hussein Chalayan, had to liquidate his business and cancel his fall show just weeks ago. Luella Bartley, another up-and-comer, announced she was moving her show to Milan. Even venerable Burberry, which shows today, is staging a presentation in Milan at the behest of its Italian head designer, Roberto Menichetti.
Those who rise to the top here (Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano and Stella McCartney, to name a few) seem to stick around just long enough to become famous before moving on to show elsewhere, effectively undercutting the prestige of the fashion week here. Fashion in Paris has the haute couture tradition, Milan has industry backing and New York is known worldwide for sportswear. London is mostly known as an incubator of talent that, if successful, moves on.
Even Alexander McQueen has had wanderlust, showing in New York under his own name, and in Paris for Givenchy. But he had a homecoming of sorts Wednesday. Always out to impress with the grandeur of his shows, he did not disappoint with a Broadway-worthy production that mocked the myth of childhood bliss.
Set to an eerie soundtrack of children’s playground banter, fierce models with exaggerated, bow-shaped lips stomped around in stilettos, draping themselves over carousel horses and straddling maypoles. Other models had sinister clown makeup and horrifying hair cones atop their heads. One, dripping in torn lace, dragged a gold skeleton from her ankle like some lifelong ball-and-chain.
It was quite a show. But strip away all the antics and McQueen, who left his post with Givenchy last year to concentrate on his own collection, delivered some fabulous clothes. Caramel-colored patent leather breeches were tucked into high-heeled Wellies. Buttery black leather was crafted into sailor pants and paired with military-inspired coats that, McQueen later said, were meant to reference the regimented aspect of childhood.
The designer, whose clothes are sold in the United States, also offered jackets with oversized lapels that buttoned on the side instead of the front. His long leather skirts were cut to look like lace, and he offered a series of completely wearable, draped jersey dresses in black, brown and pale green. Mixing the creative with the commercial, he proved that the Gucci Group, which recently purchased a 51% stake in his company, made a wise investment.
Jasper Conran had the misfortune of showing the morning after McQueen, and it’s difficult to believe that the two designers are living on the same fashion planet. Of course, Brits do have a reputation for conservative dressing, and Conran, son of design guru Sir Terence Conran, clearly aims to be the supplier. His basic leather separates (blazers and shirts nipped at the waist, straight-legged trousers and short skirts in black and brown) were finely tailored but boring, as were purple evening gowns and long skirts covered in black netting.
Nicole Farhi’s bland collection was also dominated by black and chocolate-brown leather. A sleeveless dress with a turtleneck collar fastened with two buckles was beautifully executed, but all too familiar, as was an ankle-length leather skirt with corset lacing in the back.
British label Clements Ribeiro also was uninspired. Perhaps designers Suzanne Clements and Inacio Ribeiro have been distracted by their newest task, revamping French fashion house Cacharel. Their diamond-patterned patchwork fur coat and a black miniskirt with a chain belt were ho-hum, as was an eggplant-colored velvet shirtdress cinched with a studded belt. Fashion-wise, it was been there, done that.
Designer Tanya Same hosted a tea party with an “Alice in Wonderland” theme to show her fall collection for Ghost. Filmy, bias-cut fairy dresses, hand-knit berets and mohair bat-wing tops stayed true to Ghost’s easygoing style, but as a whole, the collection lacked oomph, even with shirts printed with the words “Drink me” and “Shrunk.” Quilted denim bomber jackets, leggings and skirts did little to inspire a happy ending.
On the more whimsical side, Julien MacDonald seems determined to be Britain’s own Donatella Versace. His models rocked out in glam rhinestones, Swarovski crystals and feathers that barely covered the relevant places, to the delight of audience members, including Mick Jagger. There were plenty of furs and tiger prints in gold, pink and purple, lace pants and even Elvis-like denim jumpsuits. It was a starlet’s dream come true, and (surprise, surprise) MacDonald plans to take the entire collection to L.A. soon for award-show consideration.
Another British staple, and the only knight on the designer list, Paul Smith transformed the halls of the Royal Horticultural Society into a winter wonderland with pine trees and plastic snow to debut his desirable ski bunny look. Playful cropped wool sweaters in baby blue, pink and mint green beaded with silver snowflakes were as inviting as a cup of hot cocoa on a cold day. Button-down shirts and shirtdresses were made from a vintage-looking silk print of glamorous, 1950s-style skier pinups. Pom-poms dangled from the waists of hooded faux fur vests, and candy-colored coats were diagonally striped with pink and green. A few things didn’t work: Skin-tight ski pants and shorts were unforgiving even on models, and nubby wool corset dresses worn over white button-down oxford shirts looked just as silly as the first time we saw them five years ago.
Elspeth Gibson’s clothes are not particularly innovative, but for sweet, wearable evening looks, she dazzles. Robin’s-egg blue and blushing pink ballerina netting skirts flecked with silver beading were lovely paired with delicate cashmere sweaters that had rhinestone salamanders or starbursts sewn onto the shoulder. But gray wool pencil skirts and cigarette pants with eyelet lace peeking out from under the hem looked too much like Raggedy Ann.
Of course, Britain isn’t all about the commercial. It has its avant gardists, too.
Russell Sage, who is sponsored by mortgage lender Brittanic Money, sent out a dress and a shirt so unbelievably beautiful that many people in the audience couldn’t even tell that the fabric’s pinwheel pattern had been created using bank notes worth 6,000 pounds, or about $9,000. Sage’s body-hugging, Victorian-inspired pieces are reconstructed from salvaged vintage fabrics: a romantic bustier dress was crafted out of an antique patchwork quilt encrusted in gold leaf, and a button-back shirt was made from vintage lace handkerchiefs (complete with the previous owners’ initials). Sage is a designer to watch.
Victorian biker chick was the look at Preen, a label created by Justin Thorton and Thea Bregazzi, who showed here for the second season. The design duo’s delightfully inventive takes on traditional British tartans and tweeds included a windowpane plaid shirt with sleeves that were fitted from wrist to elbow, then puffed and ruched to the shoulder. Hundreds of antique buttons were scattered over a lace overshirt. A long, black leather waistcoat had ruffles cascading down the back, and a sleeveless leather top was covered with dangling antique brass door keys and crucifixes.
Matthew Williamson mixed the avant garde with the wearable in a rollicking Las Vegas meets Left Bank collection. Models looked gamin-like in full skirts decorated with candy-colored, sequin stripes and fake flowers, and accessorized with berets and suspenders for a flirty look. Leather pants with ruches up the back were paired with gray cashmere sweaters, some decorated with playing card faces, others with rhinestones arranged in necktie patterns down the front. Famed plus-size model Sophie Dahl, granddaughter of author Roald Dahl and actress Patricia Neal, played the perfect ingenue when she closed the show in a red crinoline corset dress with a full skirt and two fuzzy dice hanging off the back.
German-born Markus Lupfer is also emerging as someone who can walk the fine line between cutting-edge and salable. He presented an exciting collection of Crayola-colored separates with digital art-inspired details. Lean skirts and shirts were patterned with graphic red, blue and green paint strokes. A salmon-colored wool bomber jacket hugged the body, a royal blue sleeveless top was textured with hundreds of tiny, horizontal ruffles across on bodice, and skirts and flat-front pants were accessorized with cellophane-like clear plastic belts tied with oversized flower-like bows for an elegant yet modern look.
The London shows have not managed to make the same splash as those in Paris, Milan or even New York, but there are spots of innovation.
