From burgers to backpacks
Eight key moments that made it all worthwhile…
The best thing about London Fashion Week? The decorating tips, of course.
Lofts? So last year
1 LFW offered the following (admittedly niche) aperçus on interior designing car parks, courtesy of Alex Eagle, the woman responsible for turning Soho’s NCP into fashion HQ: “Touches of fun colour and texture contrast against the industrial and the rough. The grungey loft look is over – think marble, sheepskin and major 20th-century furniture.”
We gleaned more tips at the US ambassador’s London residence on Friday for the J Crew/ Vogue party: Always read the label. The green chinoiserie paper in the drawing room at the American Residence, it is said, once derived its hypnotic green hue from arsenic. Beautiful but deadly.
Out with the old, in with the new
2 Fashion week would be a sad disappointment if we couldn’t proclaim trends we loved six months ago to be irrevocably over. So here goes: backpacks are the new mini-bags; sleeves are the new flares (trumpet, tulip, leg-o’-mutton and trombone shapes, anything really, so long as they’re flamboyantly impractical – just channel Marie Antoinette); yellow is the new orange; minimalism is in intensive care; and ruffles are all over the damn place. You’ll adore them by spring.
Forget quinoa – fashion week food has gone lo-fi
3 In a reassuring backlash to the earnest #eatclean movement (we love a green smoothie as much as the next pretentious Instagrammer, but this fad is seriously lacking in larks) fashion week food went all Eighties school trip packed lunch: Molly Goddard’s be-smocked models knocked up white bread cheese and tomato sandwiches as we admired their dresses, while at the Fashion East presentation, newcomer Jenna Young’s “This is the Uniform” presentation had Maccy D’s fries and cornershop sweets. But this isn’t just an up-andcomer on-a-budget thing: at Versace’s champagnefuelled Versus after-party, waiters proffered fried chicken burgers piled high. In Versus branded wrappers, obviously.
We have reached Peak Middle Class
4 Having tackled trucker favourite Little Chef last season with her roadsignthemed collection, for spring Anya Hindmarch took it back to the street, mining the branding back catalogue of classic British high-street behemoths: retro WHSmith logos were repeated all over a tote bag, and a blue pair of knee-high boots was emblazoned with the italic script of pharmacy giant, Boots. Then came the stripes and slogans of every Home Counties bargain hunter’s favourite department store, John Lewis. A clutch bag declaring “never knowingly undersold” confirms one thing: fashion has reached peak middle class.
A sartorial soliloquy
5 To Burberry, or not to Burberry? That was the question for Benedict Cumberbatch, pondering whether ’tis nobler to accept a front row ticket to a fashion show on a rare morning off from playing the Dane, or by opposing, end all chance of an aftershave campaign contract. Luckily for us, the actor chose to endure the thousand natural shocks that constitutes the Burberry pre-show red carpet and ended up centre stage with his wife, Sophie Hunter, all the while holding her hand. Meanwhile, at Versus, our attention was held by FKA Twigs, herself being held together by a smattering of safety pins on a black Versace dress; while at Aspinal we were thrilled to bump into Anthea Turner, looking suitably retro in cargo pants. The best spot on the celebrity rollercoaster, though? Ronan Keating, at Julian Macdonald. Who knew the Boyzone man loved glitzy glamour so?
The models really earning their crust
6 An aptitude for putting and sandwich-making doesn’t usually feature on a model’s casting card, but this week it was those finishing school details that made the difference. Molly Goddard’s models, sporting beautiful neon tulle dresses, were tasked with creating hundreds of sandwiches as guests observed them over the course of two hours, filling slices of white bread with chopped tomatoes, lettuce and cheese. Over at Orla Kiely, gamine girls had to showcase their golfing talents in micro-miniskirts, instead of the usual catwalk strut. Meanwhile Faustine Steinmetz’s models The Cumberbatches, left, at Burberry. An Anya Hindmarch slogan bag, above right. Cecilia Chancellor, far right resembled human statues as they posed through strategic holes in the wall in not entirely comfortable contortions.
The old ones are the best
7 Extracurricular activities aside, why do we get revved up about a model comeback? Maybe because it’s nice to be reminded that beautiful women don’t stop being beautiful – or great models – after 30. So thanks to Giles Deacon for casting Karen Elson (36), Erin O’Connor (37) and Eva Herzigova (42) in his show on Monday. They were topped by British model Cecilia Chancellor (49) appearing like a vision at the Joe Richards presentation on Sunday. Chancellor met Richards a few days previously and, having tried on a few of his clothes, agreed to open the show. “For her to take a chance on my debut? I still haven’t quite registered that,” said Richards.
Gloom is in for spring
8 Guests who shot up to floor 36 for Christopher Kane’s show, held at the Sky Garden in the City, London’s highest public garden, were met with a less than glamorous view (bar the trays of champagne) on Monday. Everything beyond the soaring glass dome was shrouded in rain and fog – a classic pea-souper. That didn’t detract from the drama – the Shard looming, the Tower of London lingering, the Thames sulking – and anyway, it was all part of the plan. “I didn’t want sunshine,” said the sunny Scotsman, backstage after the show. PG Wodehouse springs to mind: “It is never difficult to distinguish between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine.” We’d add to that – nor Kane’s signature acid brights.