What We’ll Be Wearing Next Spring: Trends From London Fashion Week
British designers really showed what they had at London Fashion Week this week as the depth, breadth and creativity of their designs
Patterns
Like New York, British designers embraced patterns from florals and repeated graphics to eclectic mixes and picture prints. Julien Macdonald’s handkerchief edged dress had a Wedgewood print feel while Mary Katrantzou excelled again with her mix of rich colours and patterns. Burberry’s graphic prints in blues and orange stood out on the runway and Holly Fulton’s holiday scene dresses bring a south of France resort feel that takes up back to the 80s.
Erdem and Clements Ribeiro went for classical floral prints for their grown-up dresses with pencil skirts – very flattering for most shapes. While Holly Fulton’s monochrome graphics also looked striking on the catwalk.
Fringing
Another trend seen across the shows was the use of fringing to create movement and softness. John Rocha and Mark Fast went for straw coloured fringe skirting that accentuated the movement of the outfits. Matthew Williamson’s canary yellow hip adornment looked great on the runway but is probably best suited to the most lithe hipped of us while Julien Macdonald’s metallic fringing injected glamour.
Brights
Block colours are still very evident on the runways as shown at the Burberry, Jasper Conran and Nicole Farhi shows. It is nice to see the injections of colour continue and blocking it can cover a multitude of sins as well as making us look taller and leaner – that’s win/win in our books!
Icecreamy Hues
If brights scare you a little, don’t fear, soft muted shades also made it across the Atlantic to those showing in London with Giles Deacon, Mulberry and Vivienne Westwood choosing subdued shades that are very feminine and flattering.
Embellishment
Fringing wasn’t the only embellishment that designers turned to for SS12. Holly Fulton’s mirrored adornments created a very sixties feel while both Temperley and Nicole Farhi’s floral appliqué added perfectly to the spring feel. There was also quite a lot of fretwork and cutout as seen at Jaeger and Mario Schwab [not shown].
Neutral
Buff shades were also evident on the runways at Vivienne Westwood, Julien Macdonald and Temperley showing that this flattering trend for fleshtones is not going out of fashion anytime soon.
Belle About Town is for the woman who is time deprived but style rich.
“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” – Coco Chanel.
It is created by journalists who love to discover the latest lifestyle trends and are eager to interact with readers about their wants and desires.
It is as much for you as for us so tell us what you want to know, what you want to discover and want to read about and we will endeavour to post an article about it!
