From a set remniscent of pyjamas to fishtail parkas, James Gabrillo picks five of the best looks from day two of London Fashion Week.
J W Anderson
“The minute your brand can be predicted, you’ve got a problem,” J W Anderson said in a recent interview. The youthful British designer’s latest offering is as unpredictable as it can be. High-waisted jodhpurs, pantsuits and neoprene tops jostled for attention in a show inspired by 1980s maximalism. The highlights were the printed tops reminiscent of Keith Haring’s squiggles, worn with colossal shoulders and two crossed messenger bags. It was dramatic, radical and quite insane – yet Anderson’s women looked effortless, even easy.
Mother of Pearl
If there was a theme to Mother of Pearl’s show, it was “less is more”. It takes confidence to eschew the showy prints and vivid colours that spring/summer collections are known for. Instead, the boldness in the label’s latest line lies in its top-notch tailoring of sport-luxe clothing. Our favourite look featured a spectacular midnight-blue neoprene coat worn over a pie-crust-collar shirt and a deluxe take on track trousers. As the models strutted down the runway, folk band Bon Iver’s Holocene played on the banjo, a suitable soundtrack to Mother of Pearl’s calm and collected clothing.
Jasper Conran
A white, knee-length silk dress in a graphic nature print was just one standout in a quietly mesmerising collection from the esteemed British designer Jasper Conran. His palette revolved around dozens of shades of green. His show notes even playfully listed them – from “avocado” and “bottle” to “lichen” and “verdant”. We appreciated the looser cuts Conran offered, with his clothes looking more comfortably draped than tightly clinging, the pieces cascading languidly on the algae-covered runway.
Hunter Original
It’s the parka as fashion statement. Who would’ve expected the 160-year-old rubber-boot company to produce London Fashion Week’s most exciting collection so far? Envisioned by Alasdhair Willis, who was appointed its creative director in 2013 (and is Stella McCartney’s husband), Hunter Original gave us fishtail parkas, rubberised coats and patchy ponchos. They felt completely at home in the show’s location: a post office near London’s Euston train station, which had been furnished with a muddy runway and a tattered tent. The opening look was electric: a pastel parka and a covetable olive trucker jacket worn with a pair of desert boots.
House of Holland
Inspired by Terry Gilliam’s 1998 cult movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, designer Henry Holland presented psychedelic shirt-dresses, patchwork safari jackets and abstract jacquards. The punchiest look was an adorable pyjama-inspired set, the print on which featured insects crawling down the clothing. It was worn with a pair of ostrich-feather sandals, which made a statement that was loud and clear: don’t take fashion, or ourselves, too seriously.
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