London SS13

A round up of my favourite London shows so far.

Burberry Prorsum’s show took place in front of a celeb filled runway, something consistent for Christopher Bailey’s shows. It opened with the brightest of white trenches but as the show developed a difference became clear; colour. There were the expected looks of beige (this season splashed with maroon), but the usual greens and yellows of Burberry were muted, giving way to flashes of magenta and cerulean. The wedges the models walked in were every colour of the rainbow, along with the PVC bags they carried. Moreover new lies and shapes were explored; an oversized bomber, ruched bodysuits, cropped jackets, and cocktail dresses. And finally came the metallic. One notable look was a cropped blue and green jacquard bomber jacket thrown over an indigo peplum. Burberry’s classic trench was reinvented in a trio of purple, blue and pink. And let’s be honest, who hasn’t got time for a metallic trench?

 Christopher Kane made a departure from his dark Fall 2012 collection with a confection of pastel and soft tailoring. First up a set of white oversized pieces; a biker jacket, a draped skirt, a boxy dress. Then came the pastels; a draped baby pink blazer which folded at the waist, a trio of rubberised dresses in lemon and pink, and then pieces in soft grey. This was not too much of a departure from tradition though; in usual Kane style there were still darker elements, a touch of black, and even a Frankenstein face on a t-shirt. Plus a twist of strangeness – two pink organza dresses dotted with duct tape.

Antonio Berardi took us in a more structural direction than we have seen before from the designer. The first half of the show was dominated by dip hems, structural lines and curves, and injections of electric blue (a colour which alongside coral is emerging as a key trend). This made a nice departure from the designer, and showed his skill is beyond just embellishment and cocktail dresses; however for the fans, the Berardi style was still here – a trio of white and blue embellished dresses were a hit, and two embellished dresses, one in black and one in white will surely be red carpet bound.

Australia’s second most fashionable export (second only to Miranda Kerr) Dion Lee returned to London Fashion Week with a collection of new definition. We have seen Lee do cool; clothes for stylish young women, clothes layered and cut in ways that you just want to wear his clothes all the time. Here we saw a movement towards a brilliantly clever fashion; the prints here were literally geothermal, -created by mapping body hotspots, applying them in 3D, and finally cutting and slashing the materials. For all that effort, it would only be just that these clothes kill at retail.

Mary Katrantzou’s label is in vertical takeoff, a theme reflected here; this season’s intricate prints took the form of banknotes. Serrated edges of stamps were used to border slim-leg trousers, words were splashed across waistlines and greek-style borders created horizontal lines. These designs were innovative, beautifully difficult and impeccable; a deep navy printed banknote suit with lurex lines was outstanding. 

And in other news...
These two carpet-like dresses at Peter Pilotto caught my eye.


That shade of blue never gets old, and neither does a bit of Matthew Williamson’s embellishment.


Topshop Unique grows up. Someone get me that white jumper.