Spring/Summer 2011 promises a riot of fun
IT’S as if the fashion industry has, this September, burst out of the cocoon of recession, replacing dark drapery and minimalist monochrome with outrageous shocks of colour and extraordinary materials. If this week’s shows were anything to go by, the high street next spring will be a cocophany of pinks, turquoise, sequins, feathers and cowgirl leather.
Fashion week has moved on from London to Milan, and thence to Paris. But as Londoners, the creative decisions that our designers unveiled this week are arguably the most important with regards to our wardrobe next season. Yet with the usual fashion feeding frenzy in all forms of media, it can be pretty difficult to pick out the key looks if you’re not an industry pro. So here are three big London looks to watch out for next spring.
l Shocks of colour. Burberry added serious pizzaz to its staple neutrals with bright neon in clutches, dresses and belts. Expect turquoise, pink and lime green on the shelves come spring. Giles presented clubbing-style mosaics of screaming neons in his jumpers and dresses. Christopher Kane’s collection was described as “Princess Margaret on acid” – flurorescents met perforate leather, lace and vinyl.
l A tough-girl look. Todd Lynn had women in army-style, multi-dimensional jackets of shimmering pale green, grey and blue. They wore brutal-looking skyscraper heels. At Nicole Farhi, there were see-through tops worn with butch Latex skirts with a slouchy, side-pocket. See-through midriffs were accompanied by tough-talking patent-leather bustiers.
l Cowboys and Indians. With ironic panache, Ashish combined colour-shock with a
Western look. His models wore flat leather boots with McDonalds designs on them, leather chaps with hot pink leopard-print and cow-hide dresses, baseball hats draped in feathers and sweatshirts. It was tough, American, and very funny.