London Fashion Week SS15: 7 Things We Learnt From The Shows
The streets of the capital have seen bloggers wearing LED trainers (known as 'lighty-up shoes' to toddlers everywhere), swarms of Mercedes Benz cars spilling over with fash-packers racing from show to show, and A-listers Alexa Chung, Olivia Palermo et al pouting on the FROWs and posing for the street style paps outside Somerset House. Here's what we learnt in London...
The streets of the capital have seen bloggers wearing LED trainers (known as 'lighty-up shoes' to toddlers everywhere), swarms of Mercedes Benz cars spilling over with fash-packers racing from show to show, and A-listers Alexa Chung, Olivia Palermo et al pouting on the FROWs and posing for the street style paps outside Somerset House. Here's what we learnt in London...
1. It's a bare-boobs kind of season
If you're any bigger than an A-cup, SS15 may be a challenge. From sheer trenches at Simone Rocha to sequinned pasties at Tom Ford, nipples were everywhere. On the plus side: we've all got them. Who said fashion wasn't democratic?
2. Tulle is the fabric to watch
Christopher Bailey tied great swathes of it round the girls' waists at Burberry, while Christopher Kane pleated it into structured peaks on his dresses - sheer romance with a tough, slightly menacing, edge is the message.
3. You need 70s hair
The frizzed-out manes at Marques Almeida gave the girls a super-cool halo effect while Tom Ford's glam rock-fest featured Debbie Harry-worthy bleached shags and heavy side-swept fringes. Normcore it wasn't.
4. We got jungle fever
The setting for Erdem's spectacular show was a lush tropical jungle at night, with ferns, palm fronds and streams of exotic birdsong filling the air. As for the African Queen-inspired clothes - palm printed chiffon, exquisitely embroidered botanical patterns and two standout looks all in black and green feathers - tour de force is all we can say. Meanwhile, Giles Deacon's show featured glittery cat claws on everything from shoes to ballgowns and appliqued serpents winding round dresses. Wild.
5. Simone Rocha makes the most beautiful clothes in London
We got up close and personal with Rocha's clothes backstage at the gothic church in Holborn where the show took place - and 'feast for the eyes' doesn't begin to cover it. The black, white and pink collection featured lace dresses with scalloped edges, mesh covered in delicate red applique flowers and a floral print sprouting 3D blooms. Why, we'd even work a face veil.
6. Fairytale ballgowns are back
For a capital of cool, London sure was full of floor-sweeping frocks. Whether you've got a wedding to plan or an Oscar to collect, this is your lucky season. Ref - Julien Macdonald's beautiful lace mermaid dresses, Antonio Berardi's drape-backed gown in shot silk or, our personal fave, Marchesa's pale pink corsage-covered fantasy in chiffon.
7. Anya Hindmarch gives good set - again
It was the last day and while LFW had been great and all, we just felt, ooh, we don't know, as if something was missing. Then we realised. We hadn't seen any revolving fairground-ride stages featuring models sitting in spinning neon teacups while glow-in-the-dark skeleton men danced round them. But Anya soon put that right, so that was a relief. The bags themselves - Anya's version of schoolgirl 'personalisation' covered in pencils, paint splatters and leather stickers - weren't too shabby either. Read our exclusive interview with Anya.
