Thursday, February 24, 2011

London

If I was worried about The Brasch's seeming lack of appeal as a show opener, I have no worries at all in London! On Friday she walked one show in the English capital (At this point, I don't doubt she would have done a few more, had the flight from New York to London been shorter... The dedication is astounding.), but she made it count, showing two looks for Sass & Bide, including the opener. It was a very tribal collection from Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton, but the palette used veered away from the natural and instead focused on pinks, oranges and reds. Still not sure what's up with the hats, but they remind me of the one the Pope wears. Just backwards.


On Saturday, the run of form continued with two looks at DAKS, again including the opener.


 

Jaeger London was next up, with two more looks added to the tally. Her first outfit included a pair of golden yellow Wellies, which are perfect for those rainy days you get now and then in London, while her second look  was verging on forest hunter apparel. I mean the gloves? Perfect perch for your hawk, I'm only saying.


Another two looks at Jonathan Saunders, bringing stripes into the mix. Her second look was not unlike what we saw at Herve Leger in New York, with the feel of armour. I wonder if any other designers will be picking up on that? It was a very interesting trend on runways a few seasons ago, to say the least.


J.W. Anderson gave the Brasch an additional two on the day, and I'm just peachy with all her success right now. What's going to happen when she hits the Milan/Paris tandem? Surely nothing can stop this rolling stone... Anyway, her looks here included a simple gender bending suit with tshirt set, and a cute cozy (though, by the looks of it, itchy, as well) sweater.


Sunday dawned with a single look at Swedish favorites Acne, along with Sara B and Doro. Go team Scandinavia! (But on a serious note, Sara's having quite a season, herself. She very nearly walked all the same shows as Caroline in New York; a trend that is continuing into London) Anyway, Caro was outfitted in a pair of leather overalls. I can't say I've ever seen a pair before in my life, let alone on the runway. I wonder if these babies will transition to the streets?


At Topshop Unique, there seems to have been an attempt at transforming several models into mice with the application of little tiny noses and hair in a shape akin to ears. Or perhaps they were meant to be puppies: I couldn't help but pick up on the fact that Cruella De Vil would adore the spotted coats early on in the show.


Matthew Williamson gave the Brasch two looks in his show as well: the opening and the closing ones! I was quite taken by the first look, in particular. It was like a patchwork of all these flags from medieval times put together to form a wool coat. With the addition of a fur hood and leather sleeves, it became a fascinating piece that looked as though it had many stories behind it from many places, and indicated a slightly nomadic lifestyle. The second look incorporated colourful tribal patterns, akin to those we saw earlier at Sass & Bide.


On Monday, we started off with one look at Christopher Kane, who intended to base his collection around the use of a new fabric that has never been applied to the clothes making process before. The material of choice? Plastic. Not exactly foreign at all, I know, but the effect it offered the clothes was almost like enamelling, which was certainly very interesting, at the very least.


Christopher Bailey gave Caroline one look at Burberry Prorsum. I was a little bit surprised that only had one look (contrast to Jourdan Dunn who had like seven...); I know she hasn't walked Burberry before, but with the amount of success she's had booking shows this season, and the fact that she's in Black Label's campaign seems enough to merit two looks, don't you think? Either way, it was great seeing her at Burberry's 60s-inspired show, being the jackpot runway in London. And as much as I wish she had more looks, she did get my favorite look on the day with a gorgeous fur-embellished trench.


Finishing off in London early to get a head start in Milan, Caroline's last show was Giles, also on Monday. Her one look was a rare burst of colour in the collection, which tended towards traditional black and white, generally. Having said that, ignore thoughts of this being a boring collection: it's not often that Giles Deacon disappoints, and he certainly didn't on this day. 


In sum, the Brasch stormed London for the first time with an impressive 11 shows, 3 openings, and 1 closing, and 18 looks in total. So for the season, that brings her up to 36 shows, 4 opens, 1 close, and 56 looks. Not having even counted Milan and Paris yet, this season is really shaping up to be quite a domination by our girl. Insert generous applause here.

Photos courtesy of vogue.it, elle.com, style.com

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