London lowdown
London — Forget fashion -- Sadie Frost has a way with men. She persuaded both her ex-husbands, actor Jude Law and former Spandau Ballet bandmate Gary Kemp, to come see her Frost French runway show here last weekend. Law, who stood by the bar looking over Kate Moss’ head to watch the production at the Titanic nightclub in the West End, even brought along his new flame and London’s current style sensation, Sienna Miller.
It is Miller’s boho vintage style that has captivated Brits. “She’s the anti-Victoria Beckham,†a local fashion editor said of the budding actress. London, like Los Angeles, is having a vintage moment. Outside the shows here this week, the fashionable crowds were not obsessed with the latest “it†bag or tweed shoe, but EBay finds -- ponchos, sheepskin coats and odd sweaters -- paired with flat boots, metallic woven belts and ballet slippers bought at the cheap chic TopShop.
This indifference to hot new designs is coupled with the absence on the runways of several high-profile designers, including native Greek Sophia Kokosalaki, who is showing in Paris because she needed more time to complete her collection after having costumed performers at both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Athens Olympics. Scottish knitwear house Pringle opted instead for a party to celebrate 70 years of the twin set. So it’s no wonder that the purpose of the London shows is again being debated. Of course, the runways are merely window dressing for Britain’s $20-billion clothing industry, dominated by fast fashion chains. And for American buyers here this week, the poor exchange rate means, as Barney’s New York fashion director Julie Gilhart said, “The clothes have to be that much more special.†With that, designers have had mixed success.
At Frost French, which is co-designed by Jemima French, the look was lingerie-inspired, with silky 1950s high-waist underwear and bras in shades of mint green, dusty rose and peach peeking out from sheer tea dresses in glitter-flecked chiffons. The towering shoes by Terry de Havilland were the best thing about this predictable collection. With peekaboo toes and layered metallic platforms, they evoked pin-up girls with a rock ‘n’ roll twist.
He may not have the tabloid intrigue of Sadie Frost, but Giles Deacon is the name on everyone’s lips. The designer, formerly of Bottega Veneta, followed up last season’s debut with another impressive show. Again, it was held at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, where the setup had to be delayed until the pensioners finished their meals in the main dining hall, amid paintings of royals and historic battles.
Linda Evangelista came out of retirement to join other big-name models on the runway, including Karen Elson, Erin O’Connor and Karolina Kurkova. The clothes were theatrical in the way of Alexander McQueen, with formal, at times severe construction -- blouses with puffed three-quarter sleeves, stiff box-pleat skirts and jackets with tall, peaked shoulders and peplums. There were nods to British heritage with references to heraldry, the hunt, old manor houses and imperial splendor, and enough witty touches to keep things from being weighed down. A blouse came in a grainy brown print modeled after marquetry (the art of decorating wood furniture with inlaid veneers), and a pencil skirt was covered in pheasant feathers. A rich-looking gold silk jacquard in a monkey pattern was crafted into a “galleon jacket,†while the green swirl print on a shirt dress was bordered at the hem with dachshunds. A top made entirely of pearl ropes was inspired by the costumes worn by Salome in the Oscar Wilde play, and a flowing silk dress in a dark meteor print sparkled with Swarovski crystals.
One left wondering who would wear these clothes other than British fashion figure and walking designer billboard Isabella Blow, mentor to McQueen and mad hatter Philip Treacy. But that’s beside the point. This was a fabulous collection designed to capture attention, which it most definitely did.
Jonathan Saunders is another one of Britain’s most inventive, up-and-coming talents. Though he works in abstract prints, his look is nothing like Missoni’s or Pucci’s. This season, he drew from Bauhaus and the glasswork of the Art Deco period to create complex geometric patterns for his canvases: minidresses and long, red carpet-worthy tank gowns.
Grass runway and all, Paul Smith took his audience down the garden path, with simple shirtdresses, pencil skirts and cotton twin sets in lively multicolor florals that could have been lifted from a book on horticulture. On a silk shift, rainbow stripes faded into a rose print at the hem. A metallic dusting livened up cable-knit sweaters, while African print purses and hats and Japanese obi belts hinted at spring’s trend toward globalism. It was a pretty show, though it had few surprises.
Husband and wife print designers Wakako Kishimoto and Mark Eley took the multicultural theme to the street, cleverly mixing a top in a fabric reminiscent of African kente cloth with glittery jeans, a 1970s track jacket with a rickrack-trimmed matador skirt, and an oversize-gingham western shirt with cropped pants in an abstract star print. The addition of knit Rastafarian caps and jute wedge sandals worn with anklet socks made it all look very thrift store chic. The designers also debuted their new sports line for Italian company Ellesse, incorporating their youthful prints into retro-inspired shapes.
An Edwardian explorer in India was the idea behind the Clements Ribeiro collection, full of cashmere sweaters in tunic shapes with caftan-like embroidery, dresses in mixed paisley and vine prints, and flip-flops decorated with tiny mirrors. Silk dresses in spicy shades were wrapped like saris, while linen pants and jackets sported oversized corsages made from tin cans.
Alice Temperley could benefit from a few new ideas. (Of course, it doesn’t help that her sequined 1920s aesthetic is everywhere on the runways this retro feminine season.) Working in a pastel palette, she offered plenty of the sparkly short chiffon dresses that starlets scoop up from her. A coral gown with a spider web of gold sequins dazzled, but a cream chiffon dress was weighed down with so much hardware, the skirt resembled buried treasure.
Zowie Broach and Brian Kirby always have something up their sleeves at Boudicca, one of London’s edgiest labels. This season, they held their show in a black box of a warehouse with soot covering the floor. In black and white, the collection was dominated by sharply tailored jackets and cuffed pants worn with leather harnesses, some of which slid off, tripping the models. Billowy white pirate’s shirts were ripped and tied at the arms like tourniquets, or layered under pieced black vests that had been sewn with cord. The shipwreck theme was at its most dramatic, though, when a model came out with broken masts poking out from her torso in all directions.
The tide may not be with her, but pink-haired, 1970s-era designer Zandra Rhodes continues to do her own thing. Her show, held at the Fashion and Textile Museum she opened last year, was more like Pasadena’s Doo-Dah parade than a traditional catwalk presentation. Men in drag, women in drag and Rhodes herself proceeded down the museum’s staircase to rousing opera music. Her signature floaty chiffon print dresses, complemented by artist pal Andrew Logan’s oversized mirrored butterfly brooches, were glorious. It was loads of fun, which is what a fashion show really is all about.
