Report by Rebecca Lowthorpe
Fashion Features Director, Elle
It all started with a smile. On the catwalk! True, an almost unheard of occurrence in the straight-faced business of modelling. The girl in question was prancing down Dame Vivienne Westwood’s catwalk and –boom! – out of nowhere, a beautiful, broad, toothy smile.
And so it was that by the time Nathan Jenden’s models stormed the catwalk at the end of his show – dancing, leaping, laughing and encouraging their audience to do the same – there was no question that London Fashion Week (which ended on Wednesday) was in the grips of an optimistism pandemic.
“They all did it spontaneously, even in rehearsal,” said a breathless Jenden backstage. “It’s all about having fun; fashion should be fun.”
There was much to feel good about – a spectacular new show venue at Somerset House, a landmark anniversary celebrating 25 years of London fashion and an international front row, spearheaded by US Vogue’
s all-powerful Anna Wintour, who had flown in to see what all the fuss was about. Luckily, the designers they had come over to see did not disappoint. How embarrassing might it have been if Christopher Kane had presented a dud or Erdem had started over two hours late? But there were to be none of the usual LFW antics; in their place a slick, professional schedule and polished shows of an international class. Phew.
But more than that, a powerful buoyed-up feeling of positivity. London’s 25-year celebration – a kind of coming of age for the fashion city known for producing sapling talent only for it to leave and make a name for itself elsewhere – could even be felt in the stitches of the clothes. There was a sweetness to the London collections, not just with the proliferation of sugared- almond colours and so many pretty dresses, but also because designers actually used the word ‘pretty’ and talked of wanting their customers to feel ‘uplifted’. Antonio Berardi – a huge talent who came back to London having shown his collections in Milan and Paris for the past 10 years – described his show venue, St Mark’s Church in Mayfair, as ‘euphoric’
.
“Women need to feel an emotional attachment with the clothes they buy,” said designer Marios Schwab. “I want them to feel good. It’s the only way people are really going to buy clothes now.”
So the biggest new trend to come out of London this season? Optimism.
CRIB UP ON THE SPRING/SUMMER 2010 TRENDS WITH THE LFW DAILY’S SNEAK PEEK OF WHAT YOU’
LL BE WEARING Compiled by Cat Catalogue in the following posts…
