There is always debate about whether London is the laggard of the fashion elite. The city doesn’t hold the couture grandeur of Paris, the wealth of New York, or the big business fashion groups of Milan. But what it lacks in history or industry it makes up for in diversity. London is the launching pad for new designers. It’s a city that encourages adventure and independence and its market is one that is flexible and responsive to fashion’s quickening pace.
For the next installment in Canvas’ Editor’s Pick series we have analysed and edited the collections shown recently on the runway at London Fashion Week and selected six designers who understand how important uniqueness is in fashion today, who have a boldness in their beliefs, and who we feel best represent the diversity of London’s scene.
Richard Nicoll
How exciting to claim Richard Nicoll as one of our own, given his stature on the London schedule. After eight consecutive seasons on the runway, he’s practically a stalwart of the sartorial scene. Renowned for clean tailoring with a distinct masculine approach, Nicoll has a democratic attitude towards design and each season presents something that is more inventive, more convincing and definitely more wearable.
Necklines plunged, waists were draped to exaggerate shape, and every look was layered to give a modern vision of 70s Parisian chic (a trend clearly noticeable in many of the pre-fall collections). The collection moved beautifully from soft dove greys to white-wall creams, through to burnt oranges and striking teal blues. It’s interesting that a few fashion journalists and bloggers described Nicoll’s season as ‘casual chic’ because there is nothing casual about this collection. Chic, most definitely. Sophisticated too. Relaxed, maybe, but only because of the drape and slouch of the fabric. Rather, it’s an exciting approach to soft tailoring, carried off with confidence.
Hannah Marshall
If there’s anarchist amongst this group of designers, it’s Hannah Marshall. Her look is synonymous with tough-girl dressing and overt sexuality, all in celebration of the female form. With an underlying hint of a rock and roll edge, each season is engineered with precision and control and always in a palette of black.
Winter is a clever nod to the cross-dressing movement of the 80s music scene, pioneered by the great Grace Jones. It’s a severe look with square-cut, angular lines that certainly fits with Jones’ androgynous tone. The clothes are quite simple to look at - leather trousers, flocked velvet jumpsuits, structured, boxy jackets - but the sharp cut-outs, amplified proportions and interesting fabrics are modern and stop the collection just short from being a complete and an all-too-literal homage to Jones.
Maria Francesca Pepe
MF Pepe’s collection is perhaps more macabre than most, although it is not necessarily easy to assume at first glance. Inspired by the cycle of life - birth, growth, life, death, decay - Maria’s winter collection is about reshaping the body and adding volume where needed. The clothing remains the frame for the jewellery which continues as the main focus of the collection, replete with animal teeth, religious symbols and bondage style chains. It’s a little less fluid than summer but their are hallmarks of design - namely the draping - that are carried over. By no means is this Maria’s best collection, but her concept of evolving accessories into clothing, or jewellery wear, is a very avant-garde approach to design.
Louise Goldin
Up until a few years ago there was a stigma attached to knitwear. We all know the misconceptions, that it’s reserved for the more mature generations, shall we say, who prefer to create something that is more inspired by flora than fashion. And it’s usually hideously itchy. Fortunately Louise Goldin is the kind of designer that takes chances with knitwear. No longer is it deemed old-fashioned!
The tactile play of fabrics is an important element of Goldin’s work, as luxurious yarns are fused with traditional methods to create body contouring that defies traditional knitwear structures. It is in no way an easy collection, to sell or to wear, given the exaggerated proportions through the hips and the space-age military theme, but her sensibility in creating futuristic patterns makes her work all the more exciting.
Mary Katrantzou
Much as been made of fashion marching into the digital age - particularly this season with the streaming of live fashion shows in 3D - but one designer has been making digital waves of a different kind. Mary Katrantzou’s dramatic, mulit-coloured trompe l’oeil prints have been a standout on London’s catwalk for the last few seasons and are a defining, technology-based signature of her work.
This season’s print was inspired by 18th century portraiture; the colour and expressive, confident brushstrokes of the Rococo spirit. Romantic shapes were draped with cascades of chiffon. Structured shift dresses in delicate floral prints were edged in lace frills. Having only graduated from Central St. Martin’s in 2008, Mary is still evolving as a designer. While there were a few pieces to the collection which seemed out of place there is a definite aesthetic and visual language that can only be considered Katrantzou.
Krystof Strozyna
Another student to pass through Central Saint Martin’s, Krystof Strozyna started his eponymous label after winning funding from the British Fashion Council’s New Generation sponsorship scheme. His signature: short dresses with precision cuts and graphic panels. Winter is a continuation on ideas left over from summer; figure hugging dresses with geometric lines but this season added a futuristic element to his classic silhouette.
In a palette of predominantly nude and black, Strozyna worked a little with draping to give his girls a bold look with a hint of sci-fi (that seemed to be a recurring theme for some designers during the week). References were diverse, from the mystic of the Aurora to the terrestrial beauty of an orchid. Body-con dressing has hung around for a few seasons, courtesy of the Leger-inspired bandage dress that kicked the trend into full gear (as well as an avalanche of copies), but Strozyna is more considered than simplistic. You can see he’s careful about how the dresses will work, from the direction of the drape, to the precision of each panel; will it flatter? Sure, runway girls have an advantage of being a little skinnier than most but you know these dresses can look good on girls who don’t fit the model mould. And that’s a tough challenge to meet.
