London Fashion Week round-up
While most people have begun the hunt for the perfect winter coat and boots, there’s a certain sector of society that are onto the next season without giving autumn/winter 08 another thought. That’s because last week London was transformed from capital city of the UK to fashion capital of the world, thanks to London Fashion Week.
Running for six whole days, the fashion pack flocked to hundreds of shows presenting the new spring/summer 09 collections. And although we lost some of our designers to New York (Alexander McQueen, Matthew Williamson- ahem), there was still the likes of Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood, Giles Deacon and Julien McDonald to fly the British fashion flag. Lighting up the stage with the latest creations, fashion week isn’t just about the clothes; it’s about what trends we can expect from the designers next season, and that doesn’t just include the cloth and thread that binds the outfits together. It’s about the entire package – from hair to make-up, shoes to bags, jewellery to sunglasses- even the soundtrack plays its part in relaying the designer’s inspiration and defining which target market they’re appealing to.
As you’d expect, one area that particularly caught our eye were the accessories, especially those of the sunglasses variety. Continuing to make an appearance on the catwalks were coloured frames with House of Holland intertwining flora and flowers around the upper rims of lime green and pillarbox red frames which, when combined with the rounded lenses, made them look a little John Lennon-esque (despite the rest of the show having a more 80s feel). Olanic also looked to be taking their inspiration from the 80s era with bright detailing in red and white and some creative designs in monochrome with rim-free lenses and winged frames. Over at Betty Jackson, black and white was also a popular choice for frames, which were presented with paler lenses and then worn propped at the end of the nose á la school teacher. Elsewhere, Todd Lynn showcased Linda Farrow sunglasses, Topshop Unique opted for blue-tinted lenses, and Ashish teamed up with accessory brand Tatty Divine and fashioned mirrored sunglasses into hair-bands and necklaces for a totally different take on the trend – genius.
