London Fashion Week Daily

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARCUS DAWES

PHOTOGRAPHY SHANIQWA JARVIS

In a grand setting in Whitehall, Julien Macdonald continued to set the pace of change in his label. Thanks to new backing, in the space of a year, he has revved it up to modern luxury status. From the off, we recognised that the equestrienne was an inspiration, as girls with bedroom hair and come-hither eyes strode out in tobacco riding capes bonded with black leather over leather and suede panelled jodhpur leggings; or extravagant looped Aran sweaters with a grey pegged trouser and fierce, high ankle boots. Then came the great coats, a biker-and-coat combo, and shredded knitted dresses only Julien can do best. The curveball? Sexy negligée dresses – and what fine filigrees they were in black and pink or navy and black; long and short; pleated and fluted. What was the sexy horsewoman doing with a bare breast on show beneath gauzy black lace under her riding cape? Backstage, Julien’s inspiration became clear: “It was Jilly Cooper’s novel, Riders,” he grinned. “By day, they ride horses, and by night, they do naughty things to men in stables.” Don’t you just love Julien?

report by melanie rickey

A ripple of excitement went through the crowd as the lights went down for Todd Lynn yesterday – and then the paparazzi descended. Who were they here for? I spotted Marc Almond sitting next to Roland Mouret, but as the show commenced, a beam of light hit Mouret’s other neighbour – Janet Jackson! The show went on to be what you’d imagine the undead in a fashionable bar in True Blood would wear. Forget studs and chains – these vampires would be wearing Todd Lynn while standing around looking serious yet sexy. Todd designs brilliant jackets and slim trousers – a modern urban uniform of androgynous cool. His outfits operate on a one-colour basis; the colours in this show were pale nude, honey, tobacco brown and grey. Fabrics included suede, leather, wool and canvas. Matching high-heeled Louboutins were worn, and fox fur sprouted dramatically from shoulders. “It was about the hunter becoming the hunted. And, as always, I studied military uniform through the ages,” said Lynn. And the Janet connection? “We worked on her last video together. She flew over to see the show.”

REPORT BY MELANIE RICKEY

We’ve been keeping a close eye on developments at Aquascutum, holding our collective breath last season when the business was sold. Six months on, the brand, in the safe hands of fashion businessman Harold Tillman, is transformed, and its show last night was a pleasure to behold. Thus far, London designers have been treading safely when it comes to making new statements for A/W 10. Not Michael Herz for Aquascutum. He went long, long, long in a colour palette of navy, grey and military green, alongside camel wool, gold jacquard and black leather. Think a long, tailored skirt with a white shirt and a short, belted jacket with flat, silver dance shoes. Or wide-leg trousers worn with a tiny, belted padded jacket, again with a white shirt. Throw in a cape, a long, slim, covered- up dress and a trench and you’ve got the collection in a nutshell. But it was Herz’s confidence that made this a show-stopper. “It was inspired by The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” he said, “and it was my conviction to carry on the long silhouette I started for S/S. It’s the way the girls walk, wearing long with flats. It just feels right.” And it did.

REPORT BY MELANIE RICKEY

Jaws dropped when the Meadham Kirchhoff show began. Used to seeing black, moody collections from Ed Meadham and Ben Kirchhoff, the Arabic rugs, streams of tinsel on the floor and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring should have been a clue that this would be a bit different. The first look was a celebration of colour with a red mantilla worn over the face, topped with a tinsel tiara. Beneath that were two layers of floral dresses and long- john trousers, I think… There was so much to take in at once! Among the best individual pieces in this riot of a collection were the hand-painted biker jackets; the embroidered long skirts; the piles of Indian-inspired bangles created in collaboration with Erickson Beamon; red “nightie” dresses, orange floral blouses and the long event gowns. Oh, and the tinsel-embroidered shrunken- wool cardigans and sweaters. “We wanted to do as many pretty, amazing things as possible and put them all together,” explained Meadham. “It’s a narrative that begins in southern India and ends in southern Spain.” And success. Meadham Kirchhoff has arrived.

REPORT BY MELANIE RICKEY

Henry Holland is all about instant gratification; his front row provides plenty of activity – yesterday afternoon it was courtesy of Mr Hudson, Alexa Chung, Pixie Geldof and Marina Diamandis. His clothes are immediately uplifting – all that colour, all those Eighties references (lots of topknots and gold hoop earrings courtesy of Katie Hillier) – and, now, you can instantly buy it straight off the catwalk. Those with BlackBerry phones were invited to download a shopping application, allowing show spectators to shop from Holland’s show and order directly from the eight-piece slogan t-shirt range debuted mere minutes ago. Aside from t-shirts, what else was on display? Bandana paisley-prints on silk-crêpe de Chine breezy boiler suits and shirt dresses, shearling jackets, tight leather dresses and lots of hosiery (a collaboration with Pretty Polly) in candy-coloured hues of pink, aqua, lilac and palest grey. Unfortunately, shoppers will have to wait a bit longer for those pieces – in the meantime, buy the t-shirt.

Florals, flashes of neon-pink, swirling seams, sheer panelling, mohair… and that was just one dress. There is so much going on in a Michael van der Ham creation that it can be tricky keeping up. This season, London’s patchwork prince continued to explore the possibilities of his cleverly pieced-together party dresses comprising collages of clashing prints – many of them vintage fabrics sourced from Liberty’s vast archives (a silk pansy print was particularly pretty). But it was when he loosened things up with a series of sheer and blousy midi-length dresses that it suddenly began to look new. In addition to these were fisherman-ribbed sweaters that were backless with slashed necklines and spliced with mohair and softly draped silk. Van der Ham’s navy finale gown, with oyster crinkled silk-crêpe inserts and a smattering of chunky crystals dripping from one sleeve, was pretty sensational – now all he needs is a budding starlet to premiere it.

Emilio de la Morena’s star has been on the rise for a few seasons now. And this season, it sparkled. Inspired by otherworldly atmospheres and a young nomadic woman, de la Morena sent a collection of hits out onto the runway, with plenty of them venturing into new territory – namely in the shape of chunky silvery knitwear and outerwear such as sumptuous parkas, fashioned in softest wool from Italian luxury house Loro Piana (imagine, for a moment, how good they would feel to wear). But it was his, now signature, draped silk mini dresses – with their cleverly folded flippy panels and decorated in those mesmerising painterly prints resembling planetary landscapes (achieved by mixing oil paint with wax and others created by the crystallisation of watercolour and salt) – that this collection will be remembered for. Front row attendee Olivia Palermo would certainly look great in any of it. Order books at the ready.