This season, the differences between New York and London Fashion Weeks seem especially pronounced. Maybe it was the slickness of New York’s location in the grand, almost regal, Lincoln Center, but London is feeling a bit more down to earth in a fun way — like going out to a nightclub after an evening spent at the ballet.
The editors here in England are smiling more, the fashion doesn’t seem to take itself quite so seriously. London is the necessary yin to New York’s yang.
1-Unique
Topshop’s in-house line continued the season’s love of the ’70s with dreamy, glam, slightly Stevie Nicks-ish dresses and flared, billowing trousers in orange, amber, red, caramel and yellow. In the beginning, they came in painterly prints, but later transitioned into cleaner, pared down silhouettes in white and black.
Highlights included a cream, distressed denim jacket with a fringed back that is sure to be a hit on the sales floor. On the beauty front, the models wore fantastically frizzy, Fro-y Guy Bourdin-inspired hair, which we’ve seen quite a bit this season and frankly love.
2- PPQ
Wildly graphic prints in bright yellow, purple, blue, fucshia and orange and up-beat details such as ruffles and peplums gave this show a kind of late ‘70s good-time feel, with a North African undercurrent.
The clothes weren’t always the most wearable (see the orange dress with the cut-outs along the side) but one doesn’t exactly go to PPQ for the office wardrobe anyway.
3-Twenty8Twelve
With Jude Law creating a paparazzi flurry front row beside Matthew Williamson, Sienna and Savannah Miller showed a tight collection of fun, leg-revealing dresses and shorts.
The sisters showed vacation-perfect maxi dresses, but the shorter looks were the real star of the show.
The easy, summer pieces filled a need for all of those girls out there who won’t necessarily want to buy into the season’s ubiquitous longer hemlines.
Highlights included a denim, button-down dress with a ruffled petticoat.
4- Basso & Brooke
The looks ranged from ’60s short-hemmed shifts to floaty ’70s style dresses. For the most part, the colour palette was one of muted, pastel tones which were occasionally interspersed with electric blue, steel gray and orange among others.
However, it wasn’t the colour, which were making the statement but rather the trompe l’oeil floral prints and literary scripture, which adorned the majority of the collection.
