CASUAL: Yes there were furs and velvet and silk – signifiers of wealth and elegance and most pressingly, dressing up – but their presentation from Marques’Almeida was totally natural, completely effortless. The silhouettes that strode past, emphasised by voluminous bed head hair, were easy, soft and unrestrictive.
The label’s trademark denim shone through in several washes and additional glittering variations; elsewhere Marta and Paulo introduced colour. Bright, in your face silks of red, yellow and navy, a step up from SS14’s transparent limes and pinks.
Confident and cool, this was Clash’s show of the season, not one bit hindered by its 9am start.
Top look 33: A yellow knit, fur and indigo jeans.
EMBELLISHMENT: Amongst a sea of fur, snakeskin and Elizabethan style beading, it was five looks in plain black that caused Clash hearts the biggest of flutters at Simone Rocha. From an oversized above knee style coat to a sleek shift dress, each with ruffles at the side honing in on the collection’s inspirational era, looks 14-18 were where the aforementioned times and the modern day truly collided.
Further in the show tartan, crushed wool tulle and so-called “gold embellished checks” were also noted, marking perhaps the most decorated Rocha collection yet.
Top look 18: A black dress with ruffles either side.
MONOCHROME: There was a lot going on in Louise Alsop’s first collection with Fashion East, though colour wasn’t one of them, being 18 looks of predominantly black and white. An additional mint green, almost sorbet in tone, complimented the monochrome, softening what could have been heavy going stuff (if it wasn’t for the use of sheer materials and the delicate handwriting that made its way onto a number of pieces).
Top look 1: A white top branded with ‘Louise Alsop’ and black skirt.
PASTEL: Also making her Fashion East debut, Helen Lawrence maintained the angular black scribbles previously noted in her SS14 collection – presented as part of Fashion Scout’s Ones to Watch – adding leather and denim pieces to the mix too. Her knits – for which the label is most known – were both soft, rugged, and referenced a similar easy viewpoint to early Maques’Almeida.
Top look 27: A mint knit and grey leather skirt.
KITSCH: For her last showcase under Lulu Kennedy’s initiative, Ashley Williams kept it simple, on the surface at least. Colours – though there were a lot – weren’t hard to read, prints likewise passed by with ease, and shapes were sleek; layering meant a jacket over a top or a tee under a dress. But it was strong, the use of pink with snakeskin for example, felt fresh, while the styling of a yellow cat knit with stonewashed jeans (and the accompanying accessories, courtesy of Claire’s Accessories), could have been lifted straight from a California shot editorial.
Top look 45: The yellow cat knit and jeans.
YOUTH: Consistently on the collective mind of the fashion industry, this season Meadham Kirchhoff took the idea of age and mixed it up, showing a collection that saw teenage girls dressed in oversized tweed suits and 70s era chiffon gowns; elsewhere a selection of velvet frocks made reference to circus tops, in a further tale of never growing up.
Gliding through a set of red cut out hearts and golden streamers, what was perhaps a complicated set – witnessing the run though from the public balcony at the Tate Modern, Clash saw Benjamin Kirchhoff having to tell many of the girls to go through the archways as opposed to around them – the outfits too were excessive in detail. But broken down, pretty dresses and fine design rained supreme.
Top look 22: A metallic purple coat over an orange lace dress.
Track of the Day: ‘Edge of Seventeen’ by Stevie Nicks at Meadham Kirchhoff.
Images via Style.com, except for Fashion East.
—-
