Fashion’s future
London--In other cities, fashion week may be about what’s new, but here, the more important question is who’s new. Buyers and editors who stopped in London this week before heading to Milan and Paris were hungry for the next big name. A birthplace of talent over the past decade, London has launched such internationally known designers as John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Hussein Chalayan, Matthew Williamson and Luella Bartley, who have since moved on to show in the fashion capitals.
Of the 49 designers and labels showing in the official schedule this season, several are on the precipice.
Pringle of Scotland, the knitwear company founded in 1815, is the latest fashion brand attempting to dust off its stodgy image and pull a Burberry. Design director Stuart Stockdale was hired a year ago to give the traditional cashmere cardigans and golf sweaters a fresh and flirty kick. This season, in his second collection, he splashed a classic trench with an allover argyle print in blush pink, white and black. The traditional Scottish kilt was done in solid black and worn as a kind of pleated shawl buckled over the shoulders. And a dainty rose print covered everything from a soft pencil skirt to chic arm warmers -- woolen tubes worn round the wrists to ward off the chill. The collection lacked the whimsy of some of Stockdale’s previous efforts. (In the past he has been more adventurous, designing cashmere puff-sleeve sweaters emblazoned with an ice cream sundae, or a pair of glittery high-heeled shoes, for example.) But he’s on the right track, and Kim Winser, the company’s chief executive officer, will be visiting L.A. next month to scout out store properties.
Julie Verhoeven worked as a design assistant and an illustrator for Galliano in the 1980s before moving into the business of fashion consulting, predicting trends for Martine Sitbon, Marc Jacobs and others. Commissioned last year by Louis Vuitton, she appliqued fairyland images of mushrooms, butterflies and clouds onto logo bags that sold out within days of hitting stores. So it was only a matter of time before she applied her creativity to her own line, now featured at her new Gibo store on Conduit Street. Designing under the name of the Italian manufacturer Gibo, Verhoeven showed her first collection here in September. It was influenced by the work of Matisse and Picasso, with bright colors and sketches of female forms scattered across blouson shirts and dresses. But this time she took a more sophisticated turn. Two-tone wool felt jackets had lace and taffeta sprigs or cape effects at the shoulders, and sexy striped taffeta dresses were topped with boned bustiers, giving the collection the feel of a proper Englishwoman gone insane. Her craftsy accessories were interesting too, including removable collars decorated with sequins, rhinestones and pearls, and outsize Fimo brooches in the shapes of shells, fans and artist’s palettes.
The Greek-born Sophia Kokosalaki has been showing in London for several seasons now, but this time she seemed to hit just the right combination of edginess and salability. In a nod (but not too much of a nod) to “Star Trek,” white miniskirts and tunics were embellished with relief seams in half-moons accenting the waist. Body-hugging black tops were decorated with pewter leather patches in the form of wings, or cutouts inset with chiffon, and worn over skinny leggings with tall boots. In a collaboration with Swarovski, the designer produced spectacular evening separates -- dresses, tank tops and skirts in black silk -- toughened up with panels of black crystal spikes. It was futurism at its best.
Zowie Broach and Brian Kirkby, of the label Boudicca, are also London Fashion Week vets, known for their experimental looks. But they, too, reached new heights with their dramatic show, earning a standing ovation when the last model appeared in a crystal-studded Roman helmet and sparkly jacket. Their opus in black ran the gamut from a shift dress with smooth leather insets at the collar and waist, to a feminine leather cape that fastened with crystal-coated ties, to a skirt dripping with ribbons and lace. But the real delight was in the details: The sleeves of a leather parka were sleek to the elbows, and the back seam of a darkly sexy blazer was flecked with feathers standing on end.
A native of France, Roland Mouret has been living here since the late 1980s and showing here since 1998. But lately he has been so keenly watched by the fashion pack that rumor has it he could be a candidate to take over the reins at Chanel when (and if) Karl Lagerfeld retires. (Some have joked that Mouret may be spreading that rumor himself.) He does seem to revel in the Chanel sensibility, working somewhere between the edge and the Old School. For fall -- like so many designers last week in New York -- he recalled the look of Mary Quant and the Carnaby Street of yore, adding silver hook closures and patent leather buckles and collars to black ribbed wool miniskirts and boxy jackets. Evening was all about shape. Some minidresses had bodices that were mazes of geometric cutouts. Others had patent leather breastplates that brought to mind sets from Fritz Lang’s futuristic film “Metropolis” -- a reminder that London is the city of fashion’s future.
