Fashion Month has moved on to the fashion capital closest to home for me; the fabulous city that is London. We saw a lot of dark colours and controversial Spring time trends at New York Fashion Week and to an extent London has challenged that by bringing forward more traditional, feminine Spring trends and experimenting with them.
SOFT FLORALS
Soft florals are a trend commonly seen during the Spring and Summer months and London Fashion Week saw many designers take this trend and create so many beautiful pieces with it. This first look from Bora Aksu incorporates the theme of soft flowing florals into a new colour palette of rich oranges and purples, which evoke thoughts of tropical sunsets and relaxation. Their entire floral inspired collection tests this theme by using it with a mix of different colour palettes, from soft pastel tones to this more vivid set of colours. Ryan Lo took this theme of soft florals and presented it in two different ways on the catwalk; in the form of vintage inspired floral print dresses, think chic granny dresses, and in this more abstract 3D floral piece. I love the amount of texture and detail on this piece, which extends even on to the head piece. This last piece from Temperley London comes from one of my favourite collections from London Fashion Week, from the soft tulle skirt to the detailed embroidery this piece sums up all of my favourite things to create in the textiles side of fashion and practically defines my idea of springtime femininity.
EARTHY TONES
Earthy tones are coming back into style, bringing with them a whole selection of different nudes, from a light stone to a deep dark mahogany, rich earthy tones were back on the catwalk in full force. First seen in Amanda Wakeley‘s seemingly army inspired collection these tones present a ‘back to basics’ style colour palette which takes inspiration from the world around us; even our skin tones. This rust coloured jacket paired with nude fabrics and accessories shows a great way of combining different shades of this trend together to create a neutral look. Peter Pilotto shocked me with his somewhat muted collection, but it acts as a great example of this up and coming trend; I love these nude satin wide leg trousers and I could see these in my wardrobe as a way of interpreting this trend next season. This last piece from Eudon Choi shows this trend interpreted into a print, this print seems to me to have almost Aztec inspired roots, which ties in with the natural inspiration within this trend as it builds upon our roots and the world around us.
BRIGHT COLOURS AND PRINTS
Bright colours, primary colours and bold colourful prints were seen all over the catwalk at London Fashion Week and inspires us to Crayola up our wardrobe and dare to walk out in all the colours of the rainbow. This rainbow coloured raincoat presented by Minki is a sure fire way to brighten up next year’s April showers and is truly the epitome of this up and coming trend; I love the blend of florals and bright colours within this piece, and although it is incredibly bright and colourful I think that Minki has interpreted this trend into something wearable, and above all, beautiful. Emilia Wickstead‘s collection focused more on one singular block of colour, rather than a bold and colourful print, and this leaf green dress is a fabulous example of this. I love the subtle combination of pink and green, typically contrasting colours, which challenges the classic colour rules and invites us to play around with the colours in our own wardrobes. This hints at unusual colour combinations being on the rise. Pringle of Scotland used block colours, in the three primary colours, layered on top of one another to show off this bright trend. Again, this particular colour combination, of all the different primary colours in one outfit, isn’t one we usually see but this trend is all about challenging our colour palettes.
RED
Red was a colour that was seen all over New York’s catwalks, particularly when paired with black or monochrome pieces, and London was no different; red truly does look set to be the colour of the season. From a subtle red accent, such as in Victoria Beckham‘s collection, to a full red look on Jasper Conran’s catwalk, red is back with a vengeance. I love the subtlety of the red touches in Victoria’s Beckham white lace piece; combined with the lingerie style lace trim the red acts as a rather erotic colour and as figure hugging, feminine and sexy pieces come back into style it may well be the red defines sexiness within fashion next season. Jasper Conran took the red trend and ran with it throughout the whole collection, which is evident in this all red look. Lastly, this geometric red dress from Christopher Kane really excites me, I love the exaggerated neckline and uneven hemline. The rebellious nature of this piece sums up the meaning behind the colour red for me; the passion, excitement and daring nature of this colour has been shown in a variety of ways on the catwalk this Fashion Week and I can’t wait to see how it is introduced into our stores next season.
SHEER FABRICS
Sheer material and clear plastic, which shows either a hint of figure or full frontal skin, is back in style. Moving on from the plastic trend we saw last Spring, with plastic shoes and accessories, this trend promises to be a little more demure and suggestive with its technique. This piece from Simone Rocha, featuring a sheer cape detail, shows just how subtle, yet effective, this trend can be. Layering this sheer material over a practically finished piece adds an extra touch of femininity and can take a look from being bold and harsh to something much softer. Molly Goddard used the sheer material trend within a gown to hint at what may lie underneath, which every classy woman knows is the best way to use your female sexuality within fashion. The ruffles and sheer fabric hints at, yet distort, the body beneath the fabric and keep the viewer guessing at the feminine form underneath. Clear plastic was used by Mary Katrantzou in her collection to add detail to a piece, which was often concealed within said clear plastic. This use of sheer and semi-sheer materials is something that I can’t wait to see replicated on the high street.
FANCY FRILLS AND VELVET
Prim and proper fashion is a big trend this season and it looks like it’s a trend that will continue on over into next Spring. Elements of formal dressing, such as an abundance of frills and luscious velvet, appeared numerous times on the catwalk at London Fashion Week, implying that next Spring will be a very fancy one (which I for one am very happy about!). Jenny Packham‘s incredibly frilly dress truly takes this trend to the extreme with a dress made almost entirely from exaggerated, over-sized frills; this over the top take on the trend epitomises what this fancy trend is all about and I love how pretty this looks. The contrasting black edging on the white ruffles creates a lovely effect and although this dress is very in your face I’m hoping a similar one arrives on the high street! This second, more abstract, creation from Richard Quinn‘s collection incorporates a typical prom dress style dress with extremely long velvet over the knee boots, which takes this trend into more abstract ground. Although not as formal and stereotypically fancy as the other two examples, this completely velvet look from Nicopanda, proves that velvet is definitely going to be popular trend, even within more urban brands.
URBAN
Urban styles were on the rise across the catwalk this Fashion Week and, although it may not be my cup of tea, it definitely seems like it’ll be a big trend next Spring. This layered, dark and urban look from Sadie Williams has a Victorian cockney style to it I feel, especially with the baker boy hat (which I’ve already spotted in lots of shops!). The dark colour palette may not be what we’re typically used to seeing in Spring but, as we saw in New York, darker colour palettes are going to be more prevalent next season despite the norm. Nicopanda provided an assortment of different urban inspired look but my favourite is this pink sheer cami layered look, as it brings in another popular look from Fashion Month as a whole, layering different pieces of clothing on top of one another. This frayed pink denim look from Jamie Wei Huang brings in one of the trends we’ve seen time and time again this year, coloured denim co-ords, and I really do hope that this trend carries on until next Spring as I think it’s a very fresh, cute trend.
That concludes the trends that I noticed time and time again throughout London Fashion Week; which we will more than likely be seeing across the high street stores next season and into next year. I’m particularly excited for the lovely pink florals (what a surprise), but I’m also interested in seeing where this frill trend leads as I quite like this exaggerated, ruffled look.
MY FAVOURITE LOOKS
Let’s see what trends arise from the next few fashion weeks!
Love Chloe x
