The opening commenced last Friday with a dark shadow cast over by the untimely death of designer Alexandra McQueen. An icon in the industry and true master of his art, McQueen was honoured with a remembrance wall in the BFC tent at Somerset House. This soon became the centre of attention and hundreds of messages were posted.
Sarah Brown, the wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, officially opened LFW accompanied by Harold Tillman, Chairman of the British Fashion Council. Mrs Brown said the week-long event would be a "reflective time with sadness at the passing" of McQueen.
Despite the pensive mood, there were plenty of canapés and champagne at several receptions. The fashion-familiar sound of champagne corks popping off
set a bit of the gloom.
The long list of prestigious catwalk events set for the next five days emphasized that London's talent pool is still deep. Anticipation built for shows by Paul Smith, Burberry, Vivienne Westwood, Matthew Williamson and other stalwarts. FC were on fire this season with a fantastic team of journalists and photographers ensuring our readers were the first t
o review the top designer collections each day, all of which can be found here. Members of FC will soon be able to access a full gallery of each of the shows this season.
Collections that really stood out for us included PPQ, Julien Macdonald, Jaeger, Belle Sauvage and Ziad Ghanem particularly for its unconventional models and theatrics!
It was also fantastic to see some of our very own designers showcase this year. Samantha Cole, Whereareyounow? Josie and Alice Palmer all took to the catwalk. Cole opened the On/Off show on day one with an eerie all white collection. There were her signature angular pieces with high collars and geometric lines and Palmer hit just the right balance between experimental and commercial.
Yan To, who was recently featured in the Metro, presented his A/W 10 collection entitled Haringey which was produced at Fashion Enter’s factory The Wor
kshop and Beautiful Soul took a prime position in the Esthetica exhibition.
Over the week key trends emerged dictating what will dominate next season’s wardrobes. Here’s your insight on what to look out for:
Key Trends
The longer length
Jersey hobble skirts and satin maxi skirts provided interesting new proportions to play with next season and outwear was often seen sweeping the floor
The belted trench
An autumn classic this was revamped in deluxe or hi-tech fabrics – silk gazar, Spanish lace and high-shine patent.
Velvet
The fabric of choice for many of the long skirts, unstructured jackets and evening dresses.
Aviator Jacket
Usually cropped and in sheepskin or marbled leather with fluffy shearling collars
Emroidery
Whimsical embroidery flowers, butterflies and birds adding texture and interest to a garment – replacing last seasons sequin craze
Asymmetric shoulders
The new one shouldered dress provides a strong and dramatic look
Leather and fur revisited
Dresses with lace or satin insets gave leather a lighter new look, and fur trims were in abundance!
So there you have it. London Fashion Week is over for another season. We hope you enjoyed the coverage on FashionCapital from the fantastic team including journalists Rivkie Baum, Emma Westwood, Lynsay Mcconachie and Annette Traczyk and photographers Andy Espin and Gabriel Corcuera.
1 comment:
Great post :) Ps. thank you for featuring my blog in your 'In The Blogs' feature :)
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