by Charlotte Moore
t's not just the weather that's thrown everything at us this weekend. London Fashion Week has had us zigzagging across town and catapulted into the '80s New Wave (J.W. Anderson), the truly, madly, deeply '70s (Burberry), and then onto the freeway (Anya Hindmarch). This season creativity seemed to be back.
back, back -- with a confident mood amongst London's designers.
I
Whereas some LFW's, there might be one or two killer shows, the big five (Christopher Kane, Roksanda, Mary Katrantzou, J.W. Anderson, and Erdem) all had particularly strong collections for Autumn/ Winter 2015. Not only that, Gareth Pugh -- a more conceptual British designer who has shown in Paris for the past seven years -- came back to London with a dark spectacle that reminded us that fashion as an art form can be incredibly provocative and thought provoking.
Set amongst the Renaissance paintings at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Pugh's show opened with an otherworldly film projection of a lone woman gradually hacking off her own hair before smearing her face and body with a red Saint George's cross. Disturbingly beautiful, the models emerged from the darkness like warrior women, 21st century Boudicas, if you like, in floor-length black gowns with leather bodices and huge military-inspired headpieces. Then, as the show progressed, the backing track was flooded with sound of Sunderland football chants. This was a comment on England right now -- the hate, the love, the history -- and all the complications that go with it.
Sunday, however, proved that fashion can be as fickle as it can be profound, when Kendall Jenner arrived at the Topshop Unique show at the Tate Britain gallery. What with her new best mate, Cara Delevingne, on her arm, it caused instantaneous Instagram meltdown with every show-goer (and we're including even the more intellectual ones here) grappling to get a shot of the two newbie supers trotting out of the gallery.
Celebrities, and particularly US celebrities, seemed to be out in force, despite the Oscars clash. As well as the usual Alexa Chung, Daisy Lowe, and Pixie Geldof contingent, Dianna Agron of Gleefame was spotted coming out of the Erdem show, while Kanye West showed his fashion chops by rocking up at the Thomas Tait show -- a hot, but relatively under-the-radar ticket with Tait's recently-acquired LVMH Prize.
But it was Christopher Kane's show -- always a big-hitter -- that really had the fash pack in rapture. Perfectly tailored velvet suiting, slippery, two- tone velvet dresses, and a series of delicate lace dresses that featured bodies intertwined with each other, which he dubbed "Lover's Lace" in the show notes. This was the sexiest Kane has ever been but in a way that cool girls want, which is something only the greatest designers pull off.
Written by Charlotte Moore for http://www.wesrch.com/
8