Catwalk

February 23, 2011

Emilio de la Morena

As a woman of a certain age, my heart leaps when I see a sleeve.For years they have been out of fashion, as a generation of gym-toned triceps were shown off. Read more »

Mary Katrantzou

If you are on your third or fourth Mary Katrantzou show, you might have forgotten the impact of seeing her for the first time, as I did yesterday morning. Read more »

Marios Schwab

Fashion’s fearlessness has passed across every known frontier.Is there anything it won’t appropriate from the street? We are long used to bondage and fetish, and now… the puffa jacket, that garment beloved by people who say they never pay any attention to fashion. Read more »

February 22, 2011

Erdem

The biggest problem when faced with Erdem’s collection is how to make rapid notes on all those incredible prints, intense colours and finely worked details (perhaps, for a start, someone could come up with a colour sequel to Niki Segnit’s Flavour Thesaurus). Read more »

Michael Van Der Ham

Like many designers this season, Michael van der Ham explored velvet for autumn, draping, folding and  wrapping it into a series of dresses in rose pink, fuchsia, lilac, peacock blue and turquoise, before exploring draped tops in the same material, which were paired with fluid silk trousers in matching colours. Read more »

Burberry Prorsum

It was fitting that Christopher Bailey chose to move his Burberry show to Kensington Gardens this season – the vast marquee was a stone’s throw from the stamping grounds of the original Chelsea girls who inspired his collection. Read more »

Peter Pilotto

The show notes for Peter Pilotto’s collection talked of  “a new tough territory”, but tough is probably the  wrong word, as there was nothing hard about the draped dresses, the dynamic digital prints or the foray into knits that the duo showed first thing yesterday morning. »

Mulberry

It takes a lot to get the fashion and celebrity contingent up on a Sunday morning. »

Charles Anastase

Charles Anastase played us in (out of the pouring rain) to The Doors’ Riders on the Storm, and then let Brigitte Fontaine’s Il Pleut take over. »

Fashion East

This year, Fashion East celebrates its tenth anniversary, and founder Lulu Kennedy invited Heikki Salonen and newcomers Felicity Brown and Simone Rocha to the party. »

Erdem

“It was all about the Ballets Russes,” said Erdem Moralioglu backstage after his pretty show, set beneath the plane trees of Bedford Square in Bloomsbury yesterday. »

Acne

As if to add to the slightly eccentric aura that hovers over this Swedish brand, Acne chose Kensington Palace, and specifically Princess Margaret’s former apartment, in which to launch itself on the catwalk. »

Matthew Williamson

If you were sitting at a party, you’d want to be placed beside a Matthew Williamson girl. »

House of Holland

“I started with heritage fabrics and then had fun with granny pastimes – bingo, crochet and keeping budgies,” said Henry Holland by way of explanation. »

Todd Lynn

Todd Lynn has long been the go-to designer for anyone favouring a rock’n’roll aesthetic. »

Christopher Kane

Kane is the master of taking something that could be repellent and turning it into the main event of his collections. »

Antonio Berardi

Let’s start near the end: an army-green mac thrown over powder-pink satin in the form of a lady’s blouse and loose, low-crotch trousers, followed by the sweetest of finale dresses spilling silk crocus buds down the front. »

Twenty8Twelve

The media hoopla surrounding Savannah and Sienna Miller’s Twenty8Twelve collection for S/S 11 will centre on the presence of Jude Law on the front row. »

Osman

Grab yourself a pair of Osman trousers, because the man cuts them like a dream. »

Issa

She’s in a celebratory mood, and no one could begrudge Daniella Helayel her dance along to Kool & the Gang, flanked by her star models Yasmin Le Bon and Andrea Dellal. »

Ashish

Cowboy boots painted with Coca-Cola bottles, portions of McDonald’s French fries, horseshoes and cactuses, anyone? Whatever would you wear them with, I hear you ask. »

Roksanda Ilincic

The clusters of flowers that decorated the pillars at Roksanda Ilincic’s venue on Bloomsbury Square were a hint of what the colourist had in store for us for Spring/Summer 2011. »

Michael van der Ham

Any piece by Michael van der Ham is so beautiful, so unique in its construction and so desirable in an age of cookie-cutter, mass-produced schmutter, that it is truly hard to bring oneself to ask the question: what next? Will these brilliant patchworks of fabric and era continue to wow, and, if so, for  how long? The designer said that the Forties had particularly inspired his current “montages” and proceeded to point out the introduction of print –black rain splashes on silvery silk and ornate patterns, like flocked wallpaper, on devoré velvet – all highlighted his incredible instinct for colour. »

Emilio de la Morena

When I heard that Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Kate Moss and Leighton Meester loved Emilio de la Morena’s high-fashion cocktail dresses, I thought: “Hmmm. »

Nicole Farhi

Some shows leave you weary, wishing someone strict had forced an edit on an over-enthusiastic designer. »

Kinder Aggugini

Imagine the fashion chaos that would ensue if Coco Chanel married Sid Vicious – Kinder Aggugini’s latest collection was inspired by this notion and, he said, it’s perfectly embodied by the legendary art collector Peggy Guggenheim: “Her father died on the Titanic and she inherited millions of dollars at 21 – the perfect age to inherit money in New York. »

Burberry Prorsum

Question: How many ways can you wear a trench? Christopher Bailey has a knack for updating and reinventing this wardrobe classic, and this season was no exception. »

Mark Fast

Fast found fame quickly for his super-stretchy, totally unforgiving knitted dresses, after moving swiftly from completing his MA at Central Saint Martins to showing at LFW a couple of years ago. »

Julien Macdonald

It was great to see Julien Macdonald on romantic form.“I’m goin’ softer as I’m getting older,” he said with a smile backstage, post clinch with Elle Macpherson. »

Topshop Unique

If anyone was in doubt that the Seventies are the mega-trend in the making for S/S 11, then the Topshop Unique show was the decider. »

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