ENGLISH ROSES.
An icon of British style was everywhere on London catwalks. Erdem took a bet on saffron, indigo and ruby-red Rossini roses for his opera coats, cocoon jackets, pencil skirts and evening gowns with brush strokes, inspired by the costumes that Maria Callas wore in Medea, designed by Salvatore Fiumi. Conner Ives dressed Ella Richards (yes, the granddaughter of Keith) in a long jacquard dress with a pencil-sketched rose pattern. Shimmering rose patterns were spotted at Marques’Almeida, who came back to show at LFW after a longer than expected hiatus. Yuhan Wang chose roses from tableware for her silhouettes, inspired by prominent female figures, think Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Dame Rose Heilbron. And Molly Goddard incorporated roses into her gorgeous cashmere sweaters and tulle ball gowns.
TRENCH 2.0
For his third collection for Burberry, Daniel Lee continued his exploration of the British aesthetics, and presented several trench coats in moleskine, fleecy wool and leather. This season, JW Anderson played with proportions and the notions of nostalgia and eccentric ordinary: the Irish designer turned scraps of trench coats into tops. As did Eudon Choi, who dedicated his lyrical collection to the ancient Roman city of Pompeii and deconstructed the British classic. The masters of elegance and sexyware, KNWLS worked with similar concepts and presented top coats with puff sleeves and pencil skirts, inspired by trenches.
DOUBLE-DECKER RED.
If we had to describe LFW in one hue: it would be the eye-catching and omnipresent Double-Decker red reminiscent of Fire Brigade hue. Erdem chose this tone for his embroidered silk cocktail pyjamas and a show-stopper ruby red ball gown with broken crystal embellishment, inspired by American-Greek opera legend Maria Callas. In her feminist statement against toxic and conventional masculinity, Dilara Findikoglu worked with the brightest of red hues for her corsets, leather bras, sculptured-dresses and hair bow accessories, unrelenting vortex of femme energy. Marques’ Almeida used the bright red tone for the almost couture organza red tops. Molly Goddard played with the same color palette for her party frocks, while Simone Rocha chose it for her knitwear ensembles: who could have thought that a black plush dog can look so effortless with a red silhouette?
HERE COMES THE MODERN BRIDE FROM LONDON.
At Conner Ives, British socialite Tish Weinstock played the part of the headphone bride, and closed the show in a sheer organza wedding dress, encrusted with wire lace made from offcuts of headphone production in Kolkata, based just next door to Ives’ embroidery factory. Dilara Findikoglu in her feminist collection also dedicated a special place to the Brides’, and called her powerful bridal Haute Couture looks Beyond Mind and Question of Time. Simone Rocha presented timeless sheer capes, enhanced with balaclavas or fake fur trimming. This season, Bora Aksu paid tribute to the adventurous life, sublime artistry and timeless style of American sculptor Eva Hesse, and showed an array of romantic ivory lace and soft hand-knitted mohair angora dresses. What would a bride wear in the North? Norwegian brand Holzweiler has an answer in their selection of cozy knitwear in white that would keep you warm even in the extreme weather conditions. Susan Fang continues to explore her land of dreams, filled with love and kindness, where nothing is impossible: the designer dresses her brides in shirt dresses with cut out sparkles and big bows, and organza gowns embellished with lace flowers. Marques’ Almeida’s brides choose satin ensembles that look chic but stay comfortable, giving you endless possibilities to move and spend the D-day dancing and having fun.
CHOSE YOUR TEAM.
Dilra Findikoglu presented another masterfully crafted collection, an ode to the mystical femme vortex, where she played with conical breasted football shirts paired with mini shorts, and took her bow, wearing a red football scarf. Daniel Lee for Burberry, also thought about football hooligans, and topped the heads of his models with checked scarves (backstage, he said that it was also a nod to the late Queen Elisabeth II). Conner Ives thought about the sports’, as well, and completed his collection with rugby polo shirts. For their long-awaited comeback to LFW, Marques’Almeida brought the “family teams” on the catwalk: their friends marched on the runway together with their kids, as did the Portuguese designers who took the bow in a family style. Whereas Saul Nash added a dancing performance into his show, and dressed his models into sweatshirts and jackets with a Smiley logo, a forever symbol of the team of optimists. Whereas Saul Nash added a dancing performance into his show, and dressed his models in Sebago loafers, sweatshirts and jackets with a Smiley logo, a forever symbol of the team of optimists.
ALSO READ: RUNWAY RECAP: 7 UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS FROM LONDON FASHION WEEK FALL/WINTER 2024.
