Live From...Milan Fashion Week, Day 3

Alexander McQueen

Without naming any particular names, Sarah Burton drew inspiration from English rock, channelling the rakish charm of iconic frontmen. It was a natural fit for McQueen's signature tailoring and dark flamboyance, but also tapped into the emerging trend for a rock 'n' roll renaissance seen elsewhere in Milan this week.

The look: Rock gods

Silhouette: A mix of lean tailoring and occasional easy volume

Key items: The opening looks are the leanest and meanest –  a pair of elongated straight-cut suit jackets with sharp shoulderlines is paired with straight-leg pants cropped before the break of the boot, their clashing checks and stripes setting the tone for the looks that follow; there are velvet blazers pinched at the waist with single buttons, softer shaped jackets albeit still in that longer length and wide pyjama-style pants. The sometimes foppish flamboyance of the rock god translates into shirts with flyaway neck ties or a long fluid trench coat worn with dusted plum-coloured pants and a printed silk shirt, while the offbeat sartorialism of the English rock star arrives as mix 'n' match three-piece suits; occasionally there is also a hint of early 60s mod styling, with the snug-fitting bomber jackets and nautical striped sweaters

Colour: Optic black and white with shots of red and yellow, tempered with dusty pinks, chalky neutrals and inky midnight blue

Fabric & knit: All the rock 'n' roll favourites are present – velvet, silk, lustrous patterned jacquards, lurex metallics and chest-baring semi sheer knits

Print & pattern: Bicolour humbug stripes (vertical), gingham checks in clashing scales, photoreal flames, diffused stripes

Details & trims: Lurex stripes, a creeping floral embroidery, shell trims

Footwear: Pointed ankle boots some with spectator toe caps, dusty suede Chelsea boots, slippers

Accessories: Foppish floppy hats, structured fedora with velvet ribbon and upward feather trim, round sunglasses with black-tinted lenses and glossy black frames, shell-studded belts

D&G

Print and pattern were at the top of the agenda for Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana's showing for their D&G label. They ploughed a furrow through their scarf drawer, combining traditional silk foulard patterns in clashing combinations and relaxed summery silhouettes.

The look: Summer resort

Silhouette: Unstructured volume

Key items: The relaxed mood of the show permeates the soft drapey pant shapes worked in silk foulard or washed linen, often sporting a denim waistband – a homespun look, which also impacts on pieced and patched denim shirts with mismatched pockets or silk foulard panels and jersey sleeves. Drapey blousons and bombers in richly patterned silks partner soft silk shorts, distressed denim jeans and marled grey or silk foulard tees. Denim effects and washed linen ground the collection for soft unstructured suits, maybe teamed with semi-sheer knits, while a parade of foulard patterned swimwear adds the final flourish

Colour: A multicoloured extravaganza with a grounding of washed denim blues and warm nutmeg browns

Fabric & knit: Silk foulards, washed linen, leather, denim and denim effects, washed drill, jersey

Print & pattern: Extravagent scrolling scarf prints worked in clashing combinations

Details & trims: Cut-off recycled denim waistbands, elastic welt trims, drawstring waists

Footwear: Hand-stitched moccasins in foulard printed or brightly coloured suede

Accessories: Raffia trilbies, foulard printed hats

Gucci

Frida Giannini drew on the sort of  young bohemian aristos-come-rock stars that inhabited Saville Row and private members clubs like Scotch of St James in the 60s and 70s for her spring/summer inspiration. The result was a beautifully crafted collection that played with traditional values and gave them a modern youthful twist.

The look: Gentlemen’s club

Silhouette: Classic with a modern twist

Key items: This collection was built on classic wardrobe pieces, revamped with modern detailing in the snap hems on skinny pants, the collarless necklines on soft jacquard shirts, piped pockets and covered buttons on neat SB tailored blazers, thermoseal details on lean colour-blocked cabans and safari jackets or the micro check lining on a washed nappa coat. Pant shapes veer from easy rise and pleated to ankle-skimming and skinny, teamed with marled or melanged knits and a raft of luxe leathers from quilted bombers to smooth Harringtons and sinuous shirt jackets. And for evening those dashing young dudes are perfectly suited and booted in graphic checked tuxedos, blazers and silk faille pants or rock-star gold brocades and sexy lurex knits

Colour: Sand neutrals, inky blues, steel greys with pops of brick red, aubergine and sky blue for shirtings. Black and white or old gold for evening

Fabric & knit: A twist on the traditionals with pied-de-poule suitings, micro checks, Prince of Wales checks – new in waterproofed nylon – black-and-white checks, suede, washed nappa, velvet and brocade. Textured marled knits, lurex knits

Print & pattern: Woven checks rather than print and pattern

Details & trims: Contrast top collars, piped flapped pockets and covered buttons, thermoseal details creating graphic contrast on casual jackets and outerwear, back vents, buckled tab details

Footwear: Classic crocodile loafers with horsebit buckles, contrast heavy-sole derby lace-ups

Accessories: Maxi travel bags in crocodile or rawhide and canvas. Leather framed sunglasses

Versace

   

There was an experimentation with volume and proportion that felt new for Versace this season, as Donatella played with shrunken uppers and new fuller bottomweights, which, after winter's severe and strict offer, felt better for it.

Add to that Donatella's bold injection of summer colour and several of the house signatures - such as baroque motifs and Greek key prints - and the show steamrollered into a fresh and successful position.

The look: Italian stallion

Silhouette: A new focus on volume

Key items: Jackets including a plethora of bombers and bikers in a variety of fabrications feature narrow waists drawn taut around the torso to create upper volume, while pants and long shorts feature triple-pleats to bring this same sense of volume to the bottom silhouette. Tailoring also feels fresh, with new proportions seeing broad DB suits with low-breaking buttoning or elongated SB suits drawing the eye downward. Elsewhere key pieces include sleeveless tanks in glazed wet-look knits, a suede-panelled Western shirt and a slimmer trouser shape with bondage style buckles running the length of the leg

Colour: Donatella wreaked havoc with summer's colour card, going all out with shocking brights of azure blue, canary yellow, bold Kelly green, coral red with hot pink, and salmon, worked against steel and slate greys, sandy neutrals and rich tan leather; watch also for crisp resort white and lustrous black as key anchors

Fabric & knit: Light summer suitings including Prince of Wales check and dogstooth, crisp neat cottons, printed silks, perforated suede, slicked leather, mesh, open stitch knits, engineered knits, wet-look glazed knits, sheer patterened knits

Print & pattern: Greek key placements, optical Greek key repeat, signature curlicues and baroque leaves

Details & trims: Gold eyelets in placement formation, medusa-head buttons and medallions, multiple buckles

Footwear: Leather sandals decorated with Medusa-head medallions, multi-strap patent gladiator sandals styled with socks, smart suede loafers

Accessories: Smart leather holdalls, hugely oversized totes, squared sunglasses with metal greek key detail across the flat topline, ribbon key chains

Nicole Farhi

Nicole Farhi returned to the men's runways with a sparsely styled collection of clean minimal silhouettes, with an emphasis on functionality, teamed with innovative fabrications. The result was ineffably modern and clinical with a lightweight fiunctional feel.

The look: Modern minimalism

Silhouette: Clean simple unstructured layers and neat tailoring

Key items: This collection emphasises fabric innovation and functional detailing through strong tee-shaped tops and simple half-sleeved shirts overlaid with clear plastic, teamed with straight-cut basic pant shapes. Bonded Aran effects bring a tailored blazer shape up to date, while casual double-zip jackets and trench coats conceal matching mesh inners. Knitwear veers between simple textured ladder stitch tunics to a V-neck cabled tank layered over a ciré tee. This key silhouette is also worked in Neoprene with a contrasting mesh back, while mesh shorts take on an airy summer feel and functional parkas and double-zip casual jackets provide lightweight outerwear options


Colour: White dominates for a clean clinical feel, teamed with sandy neutrals, pale pebble greys, taupe, ink and black with accents of bright yellow and sage

Fabric & knit: Innovate fabrics have dominated the last few seasons at Nicole Farhi – the sort of fabrics you need to touch and feel before their compexity becomes a reality, with papery cotton, Neoprene and bonded effects, clear plastics, cire nylons, airy mesh, smooth flat jacketweights contrasting with canvas

Details & trims: Detailing takes on a new emphasis, with mesh inners, contrast fabric facing, knitted welts, double-ended zips, binding trims

Footwear: Contrast sole derbys with exaggerated rands

Accessories: Plastcic clip harnesses, sou’wester hoods

Etro

Provence and the Mediterranean coast proved fertile ground for Etro's spring/summer collection, providing a landscape of opportunity for different looks, ranging from nautical to bohemian intelligensia and Riviera playboys.

The look: A year in Provence

Silhouette: Louche, layered and unstructured

Key items: Easy oversized trench coats and soft duster coats are the perfect lightweight throw-on coat shapes to offset softly structured SB and DB tailoring layered over paisley shirts and tunics, or even sporty nylon cagoules in an offbeat sporty/formal mix. Textured knits are a key item for next summer and here they are worked with easy plaid shorts and printed paisley pants. There are nautical connotations too in the piped-edge SB blazers and striped knits, while colourful pattern mixes and relaxed separates speak of a more artistic look at play

Colour: The Provencal landscape colours a palette spanning warm earthy neutrals and sand-toned pales through to an ocean of marine and washed sky blues, with vivid accents of mimosa yellow, poppy red and lavender

Fabric & knit: Linen forms the core to the collection, coming in muted micro checks, windowpane plaids and washed plains, along with two-tone suitings, mohair, Madras plaids, cottons, nylon or ciré, silk, suede and textured cotton-blend knits


Print & pattern: Paisley is a signature of this house, and for spring/summer 2012 it is worked in warm muted colours or in bold bicolour combinations in a dark motif on a white ground, which looks new and fresh. Paisley motifs even scroll in faded tatoo-like patterns across fine-gauge knits. Elsehere, simple coin spots proliferate across shirts and even suiting, while multicoloured checks clash in mismatched combinations 


Details & trims: Nautical piping or contrast-bound edges

Footwear: Tasselled or kiltie-fringed loafers, classic loafers


Accessories: Wide-brimmed unstructured straw hats, flowing scarves, woven or plaited leather belts, striped knitted ties, Paisley printed leather totes, leather bags

Iceberg

Achieving the ultimate smart-casual mix was the aim at Iceberg, where cardigan-jackets replaced tailored blazers and traditional wool suitings such herringbone and dogstooth arrived crumpled in thin summer weights.

The look: Smart-casual

Silhouette: Comfortably lean, unstructured

Key items: The knitted 2B blazer is undeniably the star piece, as snug and comfortable as a cardigan but with definite tailored constructions. These are teamed with casual pants – either flat-front or with a double-pleat creating roomy volume at the crotch - both options rolled or cropped above the ankle. Summer styling relies on layering contrast-coloured tees with cutaway or irregular necklines, while a few sporty outerwear options including yacht jackets and flyweight nylon parkas are typical of the brand. Suits are deconstructed to achieve that smart-casual tone – a pair of Prince of Wales checked trousers exited with a snug-fitting Western shirt, its matching DB jacket arriving in the next look

Colour: The palette is built on tonal ranges of blue – from sky and ultramarine through to navy, and grey – from ash to slate – that are punctuated with flashes of bright pillarbox red and sunshine yellow

Fabric & knit: Cotton, silk, marled jersey, fine-weight suitings, pique knits, silky nylon, Prince of Wales check, herringbone and dogstooth wool suitings, thick double-faced wool, knitted Breton stripes, chunky knits, cable stitches, smooth leather

Print & pattern: Overdyed denim-effect treatments in black or blue, dip-dyed jacket edges

Details & trims: Untrimmed edges, cutaway T-shirt necklines, coloured waistbands, coloured knit strips on the inside of jacket and cardigan closures, contrast colour drawcords

Footwear: Casual blue or grey suede lace-ups with rubbed/stained toes, chunky crepe-soled kiltie-fringed suede loafers

Accessories: Bookish optical, faded leather holdall, tricolour leather satchel, a coloured nylon utility bag

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Live From... London Fashion Week, Day 3

Mulberry

Mulberry has emerged as the hottest label to watch in terms of all that is quintessentially British in the international fashion arena. With its concentration on good design, immaculate finish and quality fabrications, along with its ever-expanding range of must-have accessories, this is the name that could topple Burberry from its position as the ultimate British aspirational brand. 

The look: Country classics with a twist
Silhouette: Subtle structured shapes and ladylike longer lengths
Key items: Luxurious outerwear included quilted macs with shearling linings, easy trench coats, boyfriend jackets, lambskin poacher jackets and duffels, or the plush touch of a Toscana lamb gilet. All perfect to throw over culottes, classic trousers, feminine printed blouses, sweeping long skirts and ladylike shirtdresses with pleated skirts and bow-tied necklines
Colour: The palette reflected the colours of the countryside, with mole greys, rich russet or conker browns and heathered lilacs, with accents of brilliant kelly green, foxglove pink, lavender and pheasant green
Fabric & knit: Toscana lamb, waxy sheepskin, quilted cotton, wool-cotton blends, herringbone tweeds, stretch wool, double silk georgette, metallic crepe, double-faced silk, corduroy, rabbit, cashmere, charmeuse, jacquard silk
Print & pattern: Prints too evoked a rustic spirit, featuring woodland imagery - think squirrels, birds and flowers contrasted with a peace-and-love jaquarded silk for an urbane urban touch
Details & trims: Ski-clip-style gilt hardware closures on outerwear and jackets
Footwear: Ankle boots with smooth wooden wedges and tilly-buckle hardware in rich colours and textures including tweed, jumbo cord, grained metallic leather and lambskin
Accessories: The heritage Bayswater and Bayswater satchel with poacher-style straps; stud closures and a new across-body strap; double-chain wrapped handle bags; new hardware details to update the Alexa; butter-soft quilted leathers and a conker-coloured patent highlighted some of the latest must-have bags

Acne

From the quintessential Britishness of the Mulberry show, the fashion pack was whisked straight to the urban gritty show space of Acne, the fashionista’s go-to brand, with its signature androgynous style reworked in a mix of unexpected fabrications and fashion colours.

The look: Urban girls
Silhouette: Relaxed and boxy
Key items: The cropped pant manifested itself in butter-soft leather to team with throw-on tie-belt wrap coats, big cocooning shearlings or a silver leather shell top sporting a dare-to-bare sheer back. Leather dungarees and a workwear-inspired boilersuit added to the urban vibe, along with workwear jackets and a roomy biker. A more decorative element came into play, with the cloqué skirts worn with a mannish denim shirt or in the side-split palazzo pants and their matching maxiskirt. And there was a luxe appeal in the drapey camel tunic knit and cropped leather biker skirt
Colour: Urban blues and greys, burgundy, rose and pale shell pink, hyacinth, pea green, marigold and dijonFabric & knit: Leather, drills, denim and cloqué, tulle overlays, silk velvet, shearling
Footwear: Wooden-heeled platform sandals in patent or silver, camel-coloured wedge-heeled broguesAccessories: Natural-coloured pop socks

Jasper Conran

After last season’s acclaimed resort-inspired collection, Jasper Conran turned to a more minimal, structured look for autumn/winter, teaming his rigorous tailoring with slick minimal modernism with a strong graphic appeal.

The look: 60s chic
Silhouette: Modern and minimal
Key items: Strong graphic lines came into play for the collection’s simple tank dresses and A-line skirts, worked in a variety of reptile-inspired patterns, or overlaid in sheer mesh. That same minimalist look was worked into hip-belted scalloped-hem shifts and a micro-shorts all-in-one. DB tailoring, an immaculate tuxedo jacket and a grey reefer-style skirt suit had a structured appeal, while shimmering sequins, rectangular paillettes and an ostrich-feathered coat were worked into sparse lines for a less-is-more appeal for evening Colour: Intensely saturated oxblood red and espresso, punctuated with accents of amethyst and deep inky blues
Fabric & knit: Emerging fabric trends were addressed in the use of silky calfskin and plush Toscana lamb, complementing wool jersey, viscose jersey, silk crepes, suede, silk tulle, cashmere, soft leathers and silk chiffons
Print & pattern: This was more about surface decoration than print, with reptilian patterns worked in bold black and white combinations, which were moulded or stitched and carved
Details & trims: Self-covered hip belts, contrast top stitching, fringed and tiled leather and suede, lacing details
Footwear: Square-toed flat pumps in patent or satin, over-the-knee boots in suede or croc effectsAccessories: Flowing head scarves, bucket hats, jersey beanies, shoulder bags with Perspex or acrylic trims, suede hip belts, opaque tights, Toscana-lamb clutch bags

Nicole Farhi

Nicole Farhi continued her exploration with innovative fabrics for her immaculate autumn/winter collection, full of those items that have made her one of the stalwarts of London Fashion Week - the perfectly cut trouser, great outerwear and covetable knits. 

The look: Streamlined and functional
Silhouette: Minimal and linear but softly structured
Key items: Farhi cuts a mean pant, and this season they came with a masculine full leg and a high cummerbund waist, the perfect team mates for her fitted metallised herringbone tweed jackets or her jersey tops, which shimmered with moulded sequins. Bonded knits took traditional Aran structures into a new dimension, and there was a play on the masculine shirt, here cut in oversized shapes with a flowing caped back or with pintucked details. Outerwear is another strong suit with this label, and the easy kimono wraps and unstructured wide-cut silhouettes didn’t disappoint. Sinuous jersey dresses featured coiled zips, tracing curvilinear seams or the spine of a floorlength shift, and for evening columnar dresses in chainmail yarns or the contrast of billowing crystal-pleated floor-sweeping skirts
Colour: A tightly focused palette of lamp black, inky midnight blue, deep oxblood and winter white, with a flash of vermilion red
Fabric & knit: Innovative finishes and techniques took traditional wools and meltons into another stratosphere, with bonded, laminated, boiled and pressed effects. Herringbone tweed had a silvery metallic finish, while calfskin, moleskin and suede added a tactile touch among Farhi’s moulded and laminated sequins
Details & trims: Exposed coiled zips, cutout backs, contrast edging
Footwear: Laced suede needle-heeled ankle boots, ponyskin ankle boots
Accessories: White hosiery

Unique

With a new venue, Anna Wintour and a cast of London it-girls front row, expectations were running high at Topshop Unique’s autumn/winter showing for a collection that was inspired by post-depression 30s America - a theme that offered scope for looks that veered from stevedores to Hollywood glamour queens, via showgirls and sultry Art Deco sirens. 

The look: 30s Americana
Silhouette: Va-va-vroom meets hello sailor
Key items: The collection was a cavalcade of looks and key items too long to list, but key pieces included matelot pants and skirts, sailor tops and shirtdresses, laced-back hotpants, a masculine trench coat and ticking western-style jeanswear. Flippy bias dresses and long-line pencil skirts sometimes veered towards a strict 40s silhouette, and there was a play on Cruella de Vil, with a posse of faux furs and exaggerated fur trims. One standout dress was a simple devoré shift with a burn-out of the Brooklyn Bridge
Colour: Black and white, warm gingers, camel and a raft of yellows, silver
Fabric & knit: Faux furs by the yard from fake mink to dalmatian-print ponyskin, cocooning shearling, rubber-backed canvas, ticking stripes, mohair, flocked Lurex, striped jersey, satin, devoré and marabou, silver leather
Print & pattern: Dalmatian spots, a micro dog-print repeat, Hollywood logos, Manhattan-skyline motif
Details & trims: Deco appliqués
Footwear: High stomping metallic Mary-Janes, dalmatian-patterned heeled ankle boots
Accessories: Lace hosiery and ankle socks


Antonio Berardi

For winter, Antonio Berardi aimed to break out of his after-six reputation with a new focus on daywear and, more particularly, outerwear. And for the first part of the show he did just that, layering coats, jackets and heavy knitwear to chunky extremes before giving way to his more familiar high-octane evening looks. “I wanted it to be luxurious, but it was tougher than usual,” said Berardi. “I wanted it to feel like London.” 

The look: Statement luxury
Silhouette: Bulky outerwear created heavily proportioned uppers layered atop strictly tailored shapes
Key items: In line with the season so far, outerwear was a key focus for Berardi as he layered jackets and coats in bulky proportion play - a cropped biker with oversized revers and bullion-beaded sleeves sat atop a flare-skirted wrap coat, while a heavy curly lamb jacket with cropped sleeves was styled atop a long grey wool coat, both with hugely exaggerated revers. Beneath these heavy layers came neatly tailored cropped wool pants worn with crystal-studded poloneck jumpers, or folded skater skirts. As the looks moved toward cocktail hour, there were panelled and contoured sheaths in optic black and white, tailored dresses with daringly exposed sheer lace panels at the chest, and a strictly tailored midnight blue pantsuit, its raglan-sleeved jacket featuring a sheer lace back. For full-on evening looks there were lean column gowns in molten metallic Lurex
Colours: Winter white, intense midnight blue, slate and smoke greys, bright pea green and brash metallic red and gold
Fabric & knit: Laser-cut/punched wool, crystal-studded ribbed knits, textured wool jacquards with a scratched patina, cashmere, double-faced silk, organza, fine Chantilly lace, over-dyed Lurex, Mongolian lamb and shaved mink
Details & trims: Sculptural fold-back revers and collar details, dropped shoulders and sleeve heads, exaggerated back cowl drapes, jewel-striped sleeves, heavy studded hardware on sleeves and hems, punched wool mesh, crinkle pleats, eyelet studding, sheer lace panels
Footwear: Multi-strap heels with extended buckle straps by Manolo Blahnik, in lime suede or black patent leather
Accessories: Fine jewellery by Annina Vogel

Matthew Williamson

The opening exit set the tone for the show - a patchworked ethnic-textile parka with leather sleeves and fox-fur hood, worn with chunky buckled biker boots. This was Williamson’s pretty hippy-chick going through a tough-girl phase. 

The look: Boho goes biker
Silhouette: Short and leggy
Key items: The leather-sleeved woven textile parka, patched zip-fly leather pants with quilted knees, and a host of motocross biker jackets gave the collection its tougher edge, while blanket coats, shaded Mongolian-lamb chubbies and gilets were more familiar Williamson boho. Signature minidresses were rife - either printed, panelled or featuring embroidered yokes - while the wrap-over miniskirt and softly tapered peg pants had strong commercial potential. Elsewhere there were pin-tucked sheer shirts, tailored jackets featuring a slashed shoulder detail, and that longer-length T-shirt shape that has been is fast becoming one of London’s key pieces
Colours: Clashing coral, pink and red, signature nude, shaded olive, smoky greys, and flashes of bright turquoise and royal blue
Fabric & knit: Degradé curly Mongolian lamb and bouncy silver fox furs, marabou, silky micro-patterned jacquards, silk, chiffon, tinsel-like Lurex, quilted leather, wool, patchworked wovens
Print & pattern: Black-and-white checkerboard squares and zigzags, kaleidoscope/mirrored digital prints, a mint-on-nude floral, diffused animalia
Details & trims: Marabou fringing, pin-tucked pleats, leather edging on blanket coats, crewel embroideriesFootwear: Buckled clog boots, cutout satin sandals
Accessories: Knitted fur scarves, structured metal through-belt on chiffon gown

Vivienne Westwood Red Label

Drawing inspiration from the characters that populate west London’s famous Portobello Market, Vivienne Westwood and Red Label designer Murray Blewett’s collection of individual looks worked best when simply styled. 

The look: Anything goes
Silhouette: Chaotically layered, twisted and swagged
Key items: Amid the eclectic layers of tartan mini-kilts, ribbed-cuff bloomer shorts, twist-seamed skirts and off-centre button-up shirts, there was much to take away from the collection - simple slouch-fit sweater dresses, high-waist tulip skirts and chalk-striped mannish pants. Best were the dresses that were spared the trash-bag styling - a stunning navy-blue silk blouson dress with delicately gathered full skirt and draped shoulder, or the collared halter in a bronze leopard-patterned taffeta
Colours: A concentration of sludgy browns, olive drab, greige, fawn, mustard and maroon, with richer shadings of grenadine red and bronze metallics. Bursts of royal blue, turquoise and vermilion worked as here-and-there highlights
Fabric & knit: A mix-and-match grab-bag of textiles and textures - patchworked checks and signature tartans in red-blue colourways, chalk-stripe suitings, wool, silk, velvet, wool jacquards, thin jersey, blue broadcloth, charcoal flannel, metallic leopard jacquard, gold brocade
Print & pattern: Knitted squiggle stripes, gold over-painted effects
Details & trims: Neon feather tufts, fuchsia satin blazer trim
Footwear: Tall fur boots, bow-trimmed kitten-heeled mules, suede courts decorated with a rosette, tartan willies, leather ankle boots
Accessories: Silk headscarves, strings of pearls and a plethora of headwear including cable-knit beanies, a feathered alpine hat and overblown formal hats such as bowlers or trilbies


Richard Nicoll

Tired of waisted silhouettes, Richard Nicoll looked to the 1920s as inspiration for elongated lengths and dropped waists, fused with his signature sportswear directions. 

The look: A refined sports-glamour fusion
Silhouette: High-low columns and proportional layering
Key items: Sporty dropped-waist knee-length parkas with face-framing collars and panelled raglan-sleeved blouson jackets layered over casually wide pants or cuffed semi-sheer track pants, while long-line sweatshirts were teamed with midi-length skirts for an elongated silhouette. Tops included collarless tunic-length shirts, blouses featuring fly-away fins of parachute silk, and long satin cycling T-shirts emblazoned with crystal-beaded names
Colours: Olive with mustard, nude with ghost white, shades of peach and tonal blues - petrol, Prussian and inky midnight
Fabric & knit: Merino wool, iridescent techno nylons, chiffon and georgette, scratched-effect jacquards, delicate sheers, molten metallic Lurex, quilted double-face, velvet
Details & trims: Elasticated hems and cuffs, face-framing drawstring collars, high-low hems and tails, crystal beaded typography (Latin names of rare moths), skinny cutaway halternecks, colour- or fabric-blocked raglan sleeves
Footwear: Velvet T-bar peep toes


Temperley London

As the brand enters its 10th year of business, Alice Temperley brought the label back to its core focus of eveningwear for winter 2011. 

The look: Decadent after-six partywear with a Deco feel
Silhouette: Fishtails and dropped flares with some hourglass waists
Key items: The swishy skater skirts seen elsewhere this week arrived as knee-length fit-and-flare dresses, which contrasted with the longer, form-following lines of the tailored cocktail sheaths and fishtail column gowns. Tailoring arrived as palazzo-pant jumpsuits, and a tux redux comprising cropped jacket and long peg pant. Other party ensembles included flat-front satin flared pants paired with a metallic halterneck top, or a ruffle-shouldered corset top and sheer maxidresses. The occasional daytime look saw skin-tight leather leggings paired with knitwear - either a popcorn-stitch hooded poncho or a ruffle-shouldered cardiganColours: Ghostly pales of peach, blush, skin pink and white, punctuated with black, bronze metallics and a rich ruby red
Fabric & knit: Satin, watery silks, tulle, spotted point d’esprit, mid-gauge knits and a chunky popcorn stitch, silk twill, glittery Lurex metallics
Print & pattern: A digital Venetian fan print used as a border placement
Details & trims: Crystal embroideries, black star-embroidered sheers, three-dimensional rosette appliqués, folded ruffles created cape sleeves, crochet tiers, tiered ruffle hems
Footwear: Metal-heeled ankle boots
Accessories: A wide leather waspie belt

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