The Top 12 Shows From London Fashion Week AW16

The catwalks were awash with autumnal shades, tweed suiting and climbing floral appliqué and embroidery at the likes of Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Temperley London and Erdem. And as three makes a trend we are sure to see this on the translated by the High Street by the end of the year.

Looking back at the past with obvious influences from the 20s to the 70s was also apparent as designers showed their latest collections in London. Here are our picks of the best show.

Mulberry

Mulberry returned to London Fashion Week after a two year absence with former Celine accessory designer Johnny Coca as the new creative director. It was a return to the classic leathers and wool with splashes of neon adding a modern touch, with a deconstructed floral motif repeated  o a number of items.

David Koma

David Koma created a cohesive, beautifully cut collection for autumn winter which brought together geometry and body contouring with industrial studs giving the pieces edge. It’s easy to see here why the house of Mugler also chose him as their creative director.

Mary Katrantzou

Clashing colours and patterns are a signature of Mary Katrantzou and she has once again shown what an impact this can make on the catwalk. Less architectural than previous collection she let her textile flow and talk for themselves.

Gareth Pugh

Luxury leather, cashmere and shearling in classic camel and black may lead you to think that Pugh has lost his edge but with 80s power shoulders, flashes of colour and star-studded prints and mountains of attitude, this gorgeous collection is not for the meek fashion follower!

Bora Aksu 

Turkish designer Bora Aksu’s use of layers, crochet lace and luxury cashmere and fur coats gave an essence of country peasant girl introduced to big city grandeur. The contradictions in both textures and fabrics worked well to create a stunning collection from this oft overlooked designer.

House of Holland

Henry Holland took his inspiration from 70s groupies and party loving flapper girls for this flirty and fun collection. The riot of colour, textures and prints is perfect for the cool Britannia London girl he designs for so well.

Simone Rocha

Relative newcomer Simone Rocha, who is also a new mum, was heavily influenced in this latest collection by her changing personal situation which lent itself to gauze-like dresses, and what she said in her show notes was “something a bit surgical and matronly”. Despite this the collection is relaxed and feminine if a little worn-in.

Julien Macdonald

Nobody does Brit sexy like Julien Macdonald. The body con dresses in their fine knits and lurex with artfully positioned slashing to best highlight womanly curves are made for model-like heiresses trawling the top London clubs as well as his A-list clientele. These are dresses made to grab attention!

Burberry

Christopher Bailey seemed to take inspiration from the 70s with autumnal shades, flowing maxi dresses, swirling patterns of colour and cute minis. He too embraced floral and with front row fashionistas, like Suki Waterhouse, already wearing his range, it shows he still has his finger on the pulse.

Erdem

Canadian designer Erdem Moralioglu produced a retrospective collection with suiting and frocks that reflected the glamour of the 20s, 30s and 40s. Ruffles, fringing and brocade were mixed with flowing chiffon in dresses you could imagine on the likes of Vivienne Leigh and Lauren Bacall.

Temperley London

It might be an autumn winter collection but spring seemed to be in the air for Alice Temperley as she had a continuing motif of birds and flowers that peppered her designs. She clarified this by explaining it was in fact tattoos that had been her inspiration however with the delicate prints and embroidery these added a feminine touch rather than making a more macho impression.

Alexander McQueen

Sarah Burton’s etherial and whimsical collection sent people down the rabbit hole to a world of garden teas and midnight parties. She described her woman as: “Almost sleepwalking, in a state where reality and dreams become blurred.” and this dreamy collection certainly reflected that rhetoric.