A ghostly Kristen McMenamy opened Giles’s fall 2013 show in a silk white maxi dress with ballooning sleeves, which flounced down the runway like a vision in a dream. It was the perfect opener for a collection that was equal parts darkly moody and ethereal. Following McMenamy’s white gown came a series of looks in Read more →
For his London runway debut, Tom Ford sent out a “Cross Cultural Multi Ethnic” collection—-his words, not mine-—filled with patchwork fur coats, zebra-print gowns, exploding cartoon-punch star bombers (POW!), and embroidered floral everything. It was excessive.
My split-second reaction after looking at the images on WWD last night? “Wow, that’s gross.”
Erdem got in touch with his dark side this season–quite literally–with an almost entirely-black collection.
It’s too bad Christopher Bailey’s fall 2013 Burberry show missed Valentine’s Day by only about four days. Dubbed ‘Trench Kiss’ by the designer, it was the most romantic, loved-up collection we’ve seen from the designer. Perhaps it was a love note to all of Bailey’s adoring fans–the front row included A-listers like Douglas Booth, Olivia Palermo, Melanie Laurent, Michelle Dockery, Rita Ora, Freida Pinto, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and Kate Beckinsale.
There were hearts and leopard prints, which gave a quirky, girly twist to the brand’s signature trenches and daywear.
J.W. Anderson’s show was entitled “Semiology of the Self.” Now we don’t want to talk semantics, but this had us a little intrigued. The show notes were just as complex, describing the show as “an examination of cacophonic chemistry, reconciling opposites through textural bipolarness in order to achieve hypernormality, the new normal.”
Has hell frozen over? Sunday at two of London’s most redoubtable print masters, Mary Katrantzou and Jonathan Saunders, bright digital prints were not at display. (Boobies were though, at the later.) Also of note were the grown-up womanly looks at Mulberry and Preen as well as at L’Wren Scott’s UK debut, where look seven (a cobalt wool dress with gold collar) premiered on the runway after it premiered on Nicole Kidman at the Stoker premiere.
Jonathan Saunders may have originally caught London’s eye with his bold silk-screened prints, but in recent seasons the designer has been charming the industry with a quieter, cleaner, and more architecturally-based aesthetic.
This season, Saunders showed perhaps his least prints-heavy collection yet. When there were prints they were subtle: sheer monochromatic spotted fabric–on black and red frocks, and a vine pattern in blue and in red.
While Mary Katrantzou and Jonathan Saunders may be stepping away from the prints, Peter Pilotto is not. Designers Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos pushed their signature leitmotif–bold patterns and prints–forward with a collection that was as interesting as it was consistent.
Everything about the fall 2013 show announced: Christopher Kane has made it to the big leagues.
If there’s one item to invest in come fall 2013, make it a cape–or at least that’s the case that Schwab’s most recent collection makes.
The Paul Smith show was an exercise in color blocking–primarily in navy, fuchsia, and burnt orange. Loose wool trousers (there were many in this collection) were incredibly well cut, as were blazers and overcoats. The things Sir Paul does well, he does very well.
As we entered the Royal Opera House for the Matthew Williamson show, there was definitely something special in the air: The entire venue had been scented with roses, in a nod to the floral prints that adorned silk shirts and pleated full skirts in some of the first looks.
