Gareth Pugh
Gareth Pugh was certainly making a huge impact this season, not wanting to play it safe, his clothes consisted of strong, architectural silhouettes with pieces that resembled police riot gear, dusty combat boots, billowing trash bag silhouettes and display hats with netted veils. This collection expressed radicalism, anarchy and the commanding power of femininity.
House Of Holland
House of Holland pulled out a collection with a different take this season, the designer pushing his usual “London Cool-girl” aesthetic aside for a more retro Americana vibe. The House Of Holland Collection featured a mix of checkered prints, red white and blue stars and fringed flares. This collection brought the fun to a new level through the use of adventurous pieces that remain wearable.
Versus Versace
Quickly presenting itself as one of the showiest runway shows of LFW, this year the sister line of Versace did not hold back. Having the Hadid sisters open and close the show, the famous faces didn’t stop there with the runway holding a star studded line up of supermodels which included Adwoa Aboah, Stella Maxwell and Yasmin Wijnaldum, making this a near perfect lineup. In a tribute to Versace’s partying days this seasons collection took to the runway with special effects using lights that created a cage-like effect in the darkness emulating the inside of a club. The collection featured neon, oversized puff jackets and chokers. It was described as “a fresh play with heritage on everything.”
Burberry
Christopher Bailey presented Burberry’s collection to a star studded audience. Set in The Makers House the Burberry show was a spectacular performance. Featuring a series of asymmetrical cable knits, it made for a modern arty twist to your regular sweater. Calling in the trenches, Bailey’s coats came in satin, transparent rubber and many different shapes and styles such as oversized collars and draped sleeves. After all, what’s a Burberry show without a trench coat. Shirts and sweatshirts were fun and fresh as they featured hand drawn cartoons and arty prints. There was also a surprise visit this season from denim, which is a rarity in Burberry collections. Playing with the staple piece, Bailey created wide legged jeans for women and a more work inspired, jacket and pant suit ensemble for the men.
Marques’ Almeida
Capturing the youthful and multicultural spirit of London this Portugese power duo made a strong statement with their latest collection, featuring geometric checks and stripes, big shapes, over-sized styles and bold colours. The models hair were styled into afros. Confidence was key and this was apparent as the models successfully stunned in each item. Drawing inspiration from Mali born photographer Malick Sidibé, Marques was quoted saying “The whole thing with graphics is mainly from Malick Sidibé photographs,” “I think it is a time to speak about diversity – it makes sense.”
“Sidibé’s photography was all about youth in the Fifties and Sixties celebrating in their best clothes and best earrings. It made sense for us to do it now with all those different girls in our casting.”
Dilara Findiklogu
Corpse paint, piercings, facial jewellery and faux tribal tattoos took centre stage this time around as Dilara mixed it up by showcasing a more grunge, nu-metal look while also teasing a possible collaboration with Marilyn Manson. Packing a visual punch was the aim of the game this season as Dilara added sheer fabrics and an array of flashy details to her anticipated collection.
Simone Rocha
With a line-up of military inspired clothing, the collection flaunted trench coats, faux furs, leathers and colourful embroidery that featured flowers over sheer tulls. Rocha was quoted saying “It was my version of camouflage — all that deep floral foliage coming together, and then almost becoming this tapestry, this idea of protection,”. Throwing major women power vibes in her runway show Rocha iterated that age knows no limits in the world of fashion with models ranging from youthful to mature, emphasising that her collection was for everybody. Overall it was a confident collection that stunned with the play of different volumes.
Mary Katrantzou
Inspired by Disney’s 1940 hit Fantasia this collection showcased a magical vibe through its animation of fabrics. Trouser suits were cut in a structured style with exaggerated hips for a feminine touch while piping traced the curves on dresses outlining an hourglass silhouette.The evening wear shone with embroidered Tinkerbells and beaded flowers emphasising the cinematic collection feel.
Christopher Kane
Christopher Kane’s FW17 show was details! This collection combined edge, femininity and futuristic silhouettes. There was over-sized wool coats and feministic silks that were worked into angular shapes while floral design shift dresses with sharp edged panels on the sleeves were all featured heavily throughout this collection.
Ashish
Taking on a whole new meaning this season, the Ashish show made some important statements this season. Covered in sequins the collection featured phrases such as “Nasty Woman” embroidered on sequinned sportswear and “Unity in Adversity” featured on a New York Yankees baseball jersey, while “Unfinished Business” sparkled on the sleeve of a USA themed jacket. Ashish also included “More Glitter, less Twitter” on a fully black sequinned tee that was layered over a black and gold check sequinned sweater.
Flaunting sequins galore with bright, bold statements and interesting face paint designs instead of makeup, the runway was lit up. Ending on a positive note with the phrase “Stay Woke” embroidered onto a white sequinned over-sized t-shirt, it reminded us of the importance of self-love and staying kind to ourselves with the designer quoted saying “You are much lovelier than you think!”
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham returned to LFW bringing with her an array of new and exciting pieces to showcase from her London inspired collection. The collection featured pieces such as slouchy trousers, wide leg trousers with pleats, long cashmere coats and long funnel neck sweaters and not to forget an impressive range of dresses with a stand out being a long tangerine crepe dress with knife pleats on the skirt paired with high leather boots.
As always the fashion was just as important off the runway as it was on, with this seasons street style boasting impressive new edge. Key looks included puffa jackets for both men and women, prints and bold colours showed as a hot trend this season in shows such as Marques’ Almeida as well as over-sized jackets and anything with a grunge inspiration, think leather jackets, vintage rock tees and boots.
Never one to disappoint London Fashion Week designers pulled in the goods with a jam-packed audience which included celebrity front rows and supermodel runway stars making this fashion week a hard one to top!
Check out our video roundup above!