The Royal Treatment
With all due respect to Queen Elizabeth II, the thought of Britain’s hip young things clamoring to wear the designs of her most enduring couturier, Hardy Amies, seems unlikely.
However, not a single sky-blue suit with matching gloves, bag and hat was in sight at the launch of the designer’s first ready-to-wear collection shown during Fashion Week here.
Amies, 92, personally approved the design of each piece in the collection though he sold his business to Luxury Brands Group PLC in May last year. A three-person design team was briefed to take the designer’s timeless, British tailoring into the future with clothes aimed at the young.
His fall collection, titled “Work in Progress,” offered deconstructed vintage-style suiting for women with slightly Victorian yet unfussy jackets and coats of varying lengths with just-puffed sleeves. They were teamed with low-waisted swing skirts with exposed back zips and inverted pleats in beautiful tweeds in olive green flecked with black, and red with white.
If prolific clothing designer Nicole Farhi has her way, fashionistas will be wearing cropped pants with large pompoms on the hems to keep their legs warm next winter. Like her British predecessors earlier in the week--Jasper Conran, Betty Jackson and Jean Muir--Farhi’s creations focused on playing different fabrics and textures off each other.
Key looks included the ubiquitous faded denim jacket, in a classic style, worn with a delicate knife-pleated black silk skirt; a gray chunky down-on-the-farm style knitted cable cardigan worn with a very girlie black silk embroidered skirt and black leather pleated top; and a black goatskin sleeveless jacket worn over a sheer black chiffon wrap top. The military feel crept in with a luxurious, full-length olive drab leather coat worn with soft gray woolen cropped trousers and suede boots.
The ultra-hip London-based design duo Roger Lee and Lesley Sealey, more commonly known by the label i.e. uniform, drew inspiration from the technical symmetry of nature.
Again different fabric textures were juxtaposed, with soft woolen herringbone skirts and pants in neutral gray worn with highly polished gunmetal belts and full, gathered blouses in soft peach silk and polka-dot lace. Colors were muted grays and blacks, brightened with deep turquoise, silver lame and flamingo pink.
Raw-edged hems were everywhere at i.e. uniform. They lent a streetwise feel to what would otherwise have been formal, intricate tailoring that defied the genres of day and evening wear.
Quirky label Antoni & Alison, one of the most wearable of the top British lines, conveyed an eccentric vision for winter. Characteristic, catchy slogans were mixed with well-known images--this time works by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh--printed on knitted tops and worn with pretty knee-length skirts.
Betty Jackson, who has been at the fore of British fashion for more than two decades, presented an eclectic collection. Edgier than her traditional trend toward classic wearability, Jackson’s vision for the autumn/winter season was overtly luxurious.
