London Fashion Week came and went in the blink of an eye — at only four days long, it was a whirlwind affair full of bright colours, architectural details and marvellous showings by emerging young designers.
Vivienne Westwood Red Label
Westwood transformed London’s National Hall into a private school with her subversive interpretation of tartan skirts and cloaks and blazers with crests. If only school uniforms were as cool as these. Headmistresses, meanwhile, would do well to rock the designer’s sexy suits with trademark draping. Jo Wood, the ex-wife of The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie, gave the show an extra dose of rock ‘n’ roll cred, while Kanye West, sitting front row with new girlfriend Amber Rose, kept the paparrazi bulbs flashing. —Kenya Hunt
Aquascutum
The 155-year-old classic British brand continued fall’s obsession with fur, using it as shoulder accents on sophisticated coats and dresses. The colour red, another big idea for the season, surfaced later in the show with a houndstooth suit, dresses and separates that will probably appeal more to twenty- and thirtysomethings. —Kenya Hunt
Luella Bartley
Bob Geldof and daughter Peaches sat front row while her sister Pixie walked the runway in a flirty, punky strapless number worn over a textured long-sleeve tee. The celebrity cameo aside, the real standouts came in a series of more tailored looks in chocolate brown, metallic gold and black such as an easy, A-line skirt paired with a navy cardigan featuring Luella’s trademark polka dots. —Kenya Hunt
Osman Yousefzada
The designer sought inspiration from Blade Runner, which surfaced in the collection’s futurist undertones. Standouts were his clean, minimalist dresses such as a beige long-sleeve dress with a pleated skirt. His trousers, which usually came high-waisted, cropped with wide-legs, were a bit of a harder sell. —Kenya Hunt
Armand Basi One
Plays on volume in a monotone palette of black and gray were the dominant ideas here from billowing button-down shirts with dolman sleeves and the lowest drop-crotch harem pants. Mix in high waist lines, architectural shapes and broad shoulders and you’ve got a challenging collection to say the least. But one doesn’t come to London for the “sellable.” —Kenya Hunt
Topshop Unique
The British mega-high street chain left spring’s obsession with the ’80s behind in favour of a more futuristic sci-fi approach for its in-house label. Led by head designer Karen Bonser, the Unique team’s vision of the future looks more Blade Runner meets Mad Max than Tron. That meant a lot of volume (oversized shaggy coats, massive knit sweaters and ginormous scarves) and even more layering (a draped dress worn over a long sleeve tee with above-the-elbow gloves, over baggy sequined pants, for instance.) On the one hand, the Blade Runner brand of eccentricity seemed fresh (the idea of looking forward is a nice one in this climate) and British to the core. But on the other, it seemed heavy and unflattering for such a mainstream, high street brand (I can’t see many girls pulling off those shaggy coats and dresses). I’m curious to see how it performs Stateside when Topshop finally crosses the Atlantic in April. —Kenya Hunt
Graeme Black‘s bold use of red
