London Fashion Week is here and it would be remiss of me not to at least acknowledge one of the highlights on the UK Fashion calendar.
I am by nature a critical designer – if you have strong design ideas of your own it’s inevitable and fashion should be there to make a statement whether it’s good or bad. I like to see new ideas coming to the forefront but I find some design concepts a little hard to swallow. I do sometimes get annoyed at the seeming lack of effort in some of the couture ranges on the runway. I would hate to think that some designers sit back and rest on the laurels of previous successes but I can’t help but think this is sometimes the case.
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This of course is only my personal perception. But as a designer I am entitled on some level to critique responsibly. I know art means different things to different people and we all have our own interpretation. I did however, find much of it generally uninspiring and repetitive and it didn’t come across to me that much thought had gone into some of the ranges.
I’m only going to focus on the highlights. There have been some design ideas which I have found inspiring and progressive and may experiment with in my own work. Fashion is about personal preference, style, desire.
These are my points of note:
Daks AW13 – there were some interesting design elements to the Daks collection. In particular I liked this double collar detail which appeared on several pieces on the runway.
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David Koma AW13 – I loved some of the constructional detail which appeared across Koma’s range for the AW13 season. The silouettes were strong and it certainly made this collection stand out from the crowd.
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Paul Costelloe AW13 – Costelloe’s simple but precise tailoring gives him an edge with a customer who likes quality and longevity. Most of it was a little plain for my tastes but the tailoring was beautiful. I really liked this coat design and it gave me some ideas for my own work.
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There was also some fabulous use of colour filtering down from SS13’s acidic palette with designers such as PPQ, Matthew Williamson, Peter Pilotto and Fashion East.
The monochrome scheme was still evident with KTZ, Moschino Cheap and Chic, Temperley London, Pringle of Scotland and Meadham Kirchhoff.
And use of textured leathers, fur and feathers was present though not as much as in previous seasons.
Creative Process 