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London Fashion Week: An Insider’s View
Listed under: One Voice
Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010
As ever, this season's London Fashion Week was a vision to behold, with some of the industry's finest designers showcasing their latest collections. Fashion Blogger, Edward Thomas, gives us the lowdown on the biggest trends set to take the fashion world by storm this year
Embroidery and Jewelled Embelishments
When designers, who have made their names in the high tech world of digital prints, suddenly start picking up the needle and thread and adding embroidery and stitched or glued jewels onto their cocktail dresses, you know times are changing.
This London Fashion Week I lost count of how many of the highly influential young British designers, including Christoper Kane, Erdem and Mary Katranzou, added serious stitchwork to their womenswear. Elsewhere, the Swarovski-fication of recent collections seemed to give way to an influx of bigger jewels in both perspex and cut glass.
Even Basso and Brooke, famous for their ground breaking pleated digital print designs, tipped their hat to the craft aesthetic, with a range of patchwork-inspired patterns. Further proof, as reported in the last issue of Craft Business, that the patchwork look is set to be something to watch over the next 12 months.
Colour
Amidst the familiar sea of black, there were a few tone tendencies that shone out during the week. Metallics were big again, with copper and brass varieties particularly in favour. Linked to the wider trend for natural autumnal shades, which pretty much dominated anything outside the digital printing camp, these warmer tones featured heavily in designs at this season's show.
Any glimpses of bright colours in knitwear were pretty fleeting and mainly reserved to the most experimental youngsters. Perhaps inspired by the recent taste for vintage fabrics, I also detected the emergence of a trend in Aran knitwear too. Unsurpisingly, this featured highly in the showrooms at Esthetica, the space reserved for ethical designers, and when Julien Macdonald sent his models down the runway in oversized off-white cable knits, the trend seemed to solidify.
Finally, it looks like dark blue will be a big hit come next winter. Often combined with black for a Lanvin-esque feel, it ruled all the men's collections and was used extensively by Jonathan Saunders and Louise Goldin in womenswear.
Textures: Wood and Fur
One of the key looks I've been blogging about for a while, which originated from the cool streets and designers of East London and has influenced pretty much everyone over the past six months, is the post-apocalyptic trend.
At it' most raw, this has been born out by designers using unfinished fur, taxidermy and heavily draped knits in earthy colours. As the fur trend has continued to work its way up the mainstream fashion chain this season, it's been incorporated into luxury shawls and colourful fur pieces.
Feathers and human hair also continued to rise in popularity and, leading on from the trend for raw, salvaged materials – symbolic of the detritus that may be left after armageddon - I noted the rise of wood as another material of choice for accessories.
When designers, who have made their names in the high tech world of digital prints, suddenly start picking up the needle and thread and adding embroidery and stitched or glued jewels onto their cocktail dresses, you know times are changing.
This London Fashion Week I lost count of how many of the highly influential young British designers, including Christoper Kane, Erdem and Mary Katranzou, added serious stitchwork to their womenswear. Elsewhere, the Swarovski-fication of recent collections seemed to give way to an influx of bigger jewels in both perspex and cut glass.
Even Basso and Brooke, famous for their ground breaking pleated digital print designs, tipped their hat to the craft aesthetic, with a range of patchwork-inspired patterns. Further proof, as reported in the last issue of Craft Business, that the patchwork look is set to be something to watch over the next 12 months.
Colour
Amidst the familiar sea of black, there were a few tone tendencies that shone out during the week. Metallics were big again, with copper and brass varieties particularly in favour. Linked to the wider trend for natural autumnal shades, which pretty much dominated anything outside the digital printing camp, these warmer tones featured heavily in designs at this season's show.
Any glimpses of bright colours in knitwear were pretty fleeting and mainly reserved to the most experimental youngsters. Perhaps inspired by the recent taste for vintage fabrics, I also detected the emergence of a trend in Aran knitwear too. Unsurpisingly, this featured highly in the showrooms at Esthetica, the space reserved for ethical designers, and when Julien Macdonald sent his models down the runway in oversized off-white cable knits, the trend seemed to solidify.
Finally, it looks like dark blue will be a big hit come next winter. Often combined with black for a Lanvin-esque feel, it ruled all the men's collections and was used extensively by Jonathan Saunders and Louise Goldin in womenswear.
Textures: Wood and Fur
One of the key looks I've been blogging about for a while, which originated from the cool streets and designers of East London and has influenced pretty much everyone over the past six months, is the post-apocalyptic trend.
At it' most raw, this has been born out by designers using unfinished fur, taxidermy and heavily draped knits in earthy colours. As the fur trend has continued to work its way up the mainstream fashion chain this season, it's been incorporated into luxury shawls and colourful fur pieces.
Feathers and human hair also continued to rise in popularity and, leading on from the trend for raw, salvaged materials – symbolic of the detritus that may be left after armageddon - I noted the rise of wood as another material of choice for accessories.
