We can’t believe it’s all over already! Probably the most anticipated fashion week of the season is now behind us, with the celebrities sleeping off the fashion hangovers from earlier this week and everyone else with their eyes on Milan and Paris. Since its start in 1984, London Fashion Week has been known for producing young designers with creativity and talent, but who we often lose to the runways of New York, Milan or Paris as their labels develop. London has often been seen in the past as the quirky, underground fashion week and has not always got the attention it deserves from the foreign fashion press. Not this year! Months ago rumours started of huge parties and creative catwalks, topped by the news that a host of designers were coming back to London town to show as part of the 25th birthday celebrations. Matthew Williamson, Burberry, Jonathan Saunders and Antonio Berardi announced they were coming back, thus jacking up the fashion hype even further.
So, did LFW live up to the expectations? You bet it did! From the start on Friday when fashion press from the UK and overseas started twittering excitedly about show rumours, who would be there and how big the queue was to get in, the atmosphere was one of chatty, fashionable over-excitement. And the shows certainly didn’t disappoint: PPQ sending out only black models wearing graphic prints, bold colours and party-girl attitude, Mark Fast creating a media storm for the weekend for the use of three plus-size models in his well-received show full of body-con knitwear, and many, many paparazzi snapping pictures of the young Brit It crew as they jumped from show to show. The first hot ticket of the week was Christopher Kane, who won critical acclaim from the normally hard-to-please fashpack for his sexy-but-innocent gingham style dresses. His new collection for Topshop was also released at the end of last week and has caused Topshop stampedes here and across the pond in New York. All the big shows were a success: Matthew Williamson was back with his trademark boho print style shaped into sexier, curved shapes and sky-high shoes with bows, and Antonio Berardi based his in a beautiful church off Oxford Street – the perfect setting for his pale, wispy but very naughtily sexy collection.
Of course, the biggest show of the week was always going to be the closing show on Tuesday: Burberry. Christopher Bailey was the ultimate homecoming king with his immaculate collection of trenches-with-a-twist, body-hugging dresses with draping and tulle layers creating curves in all the right places and a finale of raining silver confetti. Happy Birthday London was the atmosphere at this show as a British institution in Burberry was the focus of the fashion press around the world.
The front row certainly didn’t disappoint either. Victoria Beckham, Frieda Pinto, Liv Tyler, Mary-Kate Olsen, Emma Watson, Agyness Deyn, Anna Wintour and French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld were all there, in various shades of Burberry classics and modern updates. Frieda and Agyness were wearing Burberry spring summer 2010 straight from the models’ backs!
Obviously, after such a fantastic closing LFW party everyone who had been busy bees over the weekend following the shows were suffering fashion hangovers yesterday. t5m are back eating carbs and wearing flat shoes – London Fashion Week is officially over. Rule Britannia.
