London Fashon Week SS 2010 Highlights

LFW SS 2010 Catwalk Shows

BASSO & BROOKE
Original Fashion Fringe winners Basso & Brooke took inspiration from a variety of sources for SS10. Jeff Koons, Herborwtiz photography and the early 90s supermodels were all influences for their multi-faceted collection.
A kaleidoscope of loud colours, the first looks were draped, slinky, body-conscious pieces that Chris Brooke refers to as ‘pure sex’ with models styled with wet hair, dark lips and shimmery skin. Two dresses with straps that looked tangled and entwined were chosen to display the look of a confused, dangerous but always-beautiful woman.

The duo also chose to explore something new for the collection with strong monochrome dresses and sharp tailored pieces. Chris Brooke said of their new colour exploration that whilst they ‘will always be a powerful print driven label, we want to keep people on their toes.’

AMINAKA WILMONT
Asymmetric, cut out, ruched and draped pieces covered in marbleised prints of dusky pinks, beiges and off white make up the first part of the Aminaka Wilmont SS 2010 collection. The fairytale theme was shown through wispy yet sexy shirts, shifts, leggings and dresses, with enchanted white and beige feathered headpieces.
The backdrop turned from beige to violet and the prints become slightly larger and defined on one-piece dresses with cut out details and ruching. A pair of gorgeous footless printed stockings teamed with a short wrap dress made the second collection much more edgy. Beautiful woven wave shaped headdresses reinforced the idea of the fairytale.
The third instalment saw the backdrop lighten but the collection darken. The ruching and cut-outs details were sustained; the colour palette became black, deep grey and purplish prints and solid black. The printed pieces remained clingy and sexy but styled with leather jackets, some with fringe detail or panelling transforming the looks from pretty to dark. The headdresses transformed into black feathers, finishing with a dramatic large feathered headpiece like antlers or horns coming down in to smaller feathers over the mouth.

ELEY KISHIMOTO
An ode to interior designing, and definitely the 70s, the designers found inspiration in clashing ‘old value’ with ‘modern commodity’.  The ‘quiet madness of chaos’ was evident from start to finish. Some of the pieces resembled tablecloths, curtains, aprons, wallpapers, sofas and other items reminiscent of a flamboyant bygone era.

Feathers, stripes, florals, zig-zags, geometric shapes, plain block colours, prints, prints and more prints provided a magnitude of colours and designs for the Beyond the Chintz collection.
Black, blues, creams, yellows, reds, greys, oranges, peaches, whites, pinks, greens, in a spectrum of bold, muted and subtle tones were used throughout the collection.
Contrasting colours, patterns and shapes were combined to create pieces such as a brown and yellow diamond patterned blouse tucked in to a mint green and beige skirt with a bold green bamboo print streaming down.  Separate prints that shouldn’t really go together were faded into individual pieces creating a unique and undeniably Eley Kishimoto collection.

TIM SOAR
Whilst minimalism and the avant-garde are constant inspirations in Tim Soar’s career, his SS10 collection was inspired by origami. The colour palette was black, white, cream, silver, ochre, gold and charcoal.
Shirts were crinkled, rippled or folded creating uneven yet sleek finishes. The suits and trousers sustained the exceptional tailoring associated with Soar’s work.  Use of materials such as sheer plastics and silver leathers continued to excite with a translucent mac and silver tanks tops and trousers. Trousers were all high waisted, many with purposefully unfinished hems, the contrast keeping the collection modern and the textures keeping the collection bold and edgy.
The highlight of the collection was the footwear. Oxford shoes cut out at the back and turned into slingbacks successfully pushed the boundaries of tailored and sophisticated menswear.

London Fashion Week – Exhibition

REEM
Reem Alasadi, the Iraq-born designer who grew up in London exhibited her designs as part of London Fashion Week for the 3rd year now.

Nomads inspire her collection of handmade pieces created from vintage, antique and recycled fabrics. ‘Every garment is different since we use different pieces of laces, cotton and vintage. And everything is produced in the UK, mixing recycled and new fabrics. We are quite ethical in that way.’

ROSS & BUTE
Lindy Ross and Serena Bute showcased their SS10 collection at the Somerset House. ‘Our signature element has always been lace, with interesting trimmings and traditional Nottingham lace. We tend to do feminine things but not too girly.’

The main theme this season was Alice in Wonderland, and the main elements pearls on knitwear, spots and hearts, black & white, and Chanel-style. ‘Also mixing a cotton knit cardigan with Nottingham lace, for a masculine edge and a bit of a twist.’

‘There’s a feel of after the revolution: luxurious fabrics but not in such luxurious style.’

FRED BUTLER
Fred Butler showcased her ‘Hibiscus Ridiculous’ S/S 10 accessories collection at the Somerset House. This collection, in collaboration with print designer Brie Harrison, comprises of oversized extravagant jewellery and headpieces in Fred’s signature complex origami structures.

‘A combination of bold armour and design showstoppers in vivid hues’, the pieces are sure to be commissioned by more artists and musicians, following her collaborations with Patrick Wolf, Sigur Ros, La Roux, The Gossip and Little Boots.

Fred revealed: ‘I’d like to collaborate with the high street to make a diffusion line because since I still do everything myself, it is very expensive, and I don’t want it to be exclusive. I would like my pieces to be accessible to more people.’

SAM UBHI
Sam Ubhi, the jewellery designer, who has been showing as part of London Fashion Week exhibitions for just over 20 years, now, presented her new collection in Somerset House. True to her signature style, the collection included a lot of eclectic raw materials: from bone to horn, semi-precious gems to plain stones.

Reindeers, tigers and other silver creatures gracing necklaces and rings, all inspired by Sam’s travels, particularly by her recent trip to Indonesia.

The pieces have a true antique feel which Sam explains: ‘I have a great love for vintage, which comes from my mother, from bags to jewellery, and vintage also inspires me a lot. In that spirit, we also do a lot of one-off pieces.’

BALLANTYNE
The centre of the Portico Rooms was the venue for Louise Goldin’s presentation of her capsule collection for Ballantyne.
A palette of pinks, blue and greens the collection remains typically Ballantyne whist incorporating Goldin’s signature style of fitted body-con knit dresses and sheer panelled tops.
The entire collection comprises of 40 pieces that go on sale early in 2010 with Goldin working on a second collection for AW10.

TOPSHOP NEW GEN

CRAIG LAWRENCE (as show above)
For his second season sponsored by NEWGEN, the CSM knitwear graduate Craig Lawrence was inspired by the English summer weather by the seaside, where nostalgia and decay reminds him of his childhood in Ipswich. Hence the use of a lot of plastic materials in the new collection.

Although his pieces are slightly more wearable, they still are showpieces such as the designs he previously made for Gareth Pugh, Patrick Wolf and the front cover of AnOther magazine.

‘None of the fabrics are recycled, we bought all the material new, and since it is all waterproof, it looked beautiful in the last shoot we did in a lake with the outfit of the model floating.”

With thanks to Alizé Morand