London Fashion Week kicked off today and with Corrie Nielsen‘s highland fling.  The designer drew on her Scottish roots in her show entitled ‘Vestiarium Scoticum’, which combined references to Medieval English dress and Scottish clan tartans.  Nielsen’s signature sculptural style could be seen in the dramatic dresses and capes that sashayed down the catwalk.  Hair was slicked into horitontal buns under dramatic hats made from feathers and black plaid masks were diagonally placed over faces.  Models were swathed in cream, black, red and green tartan.  Her stand-out pieces came in the form of a Royal Stewart kilt with lace dot overlay and a voluminous floor-sweeping cape in deep purple Duchess satin. The latter demonstrated exactlly why she’s been dubbed by the press as ‘a modern courturier and fashion visionary’.

Next up, Orla Keily held an Twenties-style tea dance in the Portico Rooms, complete with live jazz band, tea and cake, champagne and my favourite - old fashioned pink wafer biscuits.  Models were waltzed around the dance floor under a giant glitter globe, by dapper chaps in tuxedos, while others sat on the sidelines clutching patent red handbags waiting for their turn to dance.  Cute dresses with collars and pretty printed shirts under pinafores were styled with black ankle socks and gold T-bar dancing shoes.  The whole affair had a fabulous vintage feel to it and if it wasn’t for the throngs of jounos standing around the edge of the room, I could have believed I’d been transported back in time.

Bora Aksu‘s collection was pretty and girly, consisting of printed dusky pink and grey dresses which later merged into orange, hot pink and berry-red pieces.  Sheer fabric was draped from collars, and flowing pussy-bow ties and babydoll shapes featured heavily.  Hair was swept into messy up-dos and lips were blotted with metallic grey lipstick.  Signs of Aksu’s sculptural knitwear were minimal and his first foray into print was a successful one, based on 50′s wallpaper and childhood memories of potato prints.  The back story to the collection takes a deeper, more meaningful route through The Vivian Girls’ childhood purity and feminine strength, but I prefer to cut the tenuous references and appreciate it on a visual level, which overall, didn’t blow me away but was more wearbale than previous collections and deliciously pleasing to the eye.

I’d never been to a Maria Grachvogel show before and after the autumn/winter 2012 show, I can kind of see why.  Held in the magnificent Savoy Ballroom, the venue seemed to overshadow the bland offering that graced catwalk.  As expected, there was a shed load of satin, draped from the shoulder into sweeping maxi dresses, jumpsuits and balloon-sleeved blouses.  The autumnal colour scheme of gold, brown, berry red, teal and apple green was interspersed with abstract firework prints in the same shapes.  Unfortunately, there was more wrong with the collection that right, I’d have taken out the clunky tweed seperates and dated cowl neck tops and banished the ugly wedge boots back to wherever they came from. On the up side, there were a few lovely evening wear pieces, made even better when they were worn by Premier model Naomi and the electro-swing soundtrack certainly gave the show an upbeat feel.  Best of all was the Erickson Beamon jewellery which far exceeded the clothes in the style stakes. Glittering cuffs and statement necklaces featured rectangular stones lined with swarovski crystals and a genius body chain edged-up an otherwise boring silk dress.

Felder Felder

When I think of Felder Felder, their signature skater-style dress - short, full-skirted and leather - pops into view.  This season, the sister-act hadn’t veered too far from the norm with ‘Blonde’, a collection inspired by mineral colours, caves and geological elements.  It lacked the hard rock’n'roll edge that previous collections have had, but appealed to grungier tastes with chunky knits in cream, rust and red worn with flippy printed skirts in a spectrum of jewel colours.  Long dresses with thigh high splits introduced a sexier look and the main hits were the rose metallic skater skirt and sparkling navy evening dresses.  The introduction of swimwear was slightly confusing in an already summery collection, and one cream bikini suffered the unfortunate placement of black fringing…not a good look ladies!

The offending bikini...

Shearling capes and sheepskin gilets gave a more wintery feel, but it felt that they were add-ons or afterthoughts to fit in with the autumn/winter 2012 season.  Chunky heeled shoes in metallic rose by Kat Maconie toughened up sweet dresses and hair was left au naturale, messy, wavy and loose. Expect to see the Blonde collection in a pop video near you, when show atendee Alexandra Burke gets her hands.com on the collection.com. OK.com.

Print masters Basso & Brooke showed a return to form with their mash-up of dogtooth, geometrics, stripes and tonal prints which exploded onto the catwalk in a riot of colour.  Prints transcended onto loose tailored seperates, tees, knitwear and later full-skirted dresses. The looks were accessorised with Marni-esque wooden necklaces and gravity-defying Finsk wedges with cream woollen socks.  Hair was worn in low messy knots with straggly loose ends.  Perhaps the most impressive thing about the show was the imposing venue at the opulent Goldsmiths’ Hall and with Marni’s H&M range coming out in a matter of weeks, it might be a case of too little too late.