WATCHING THE 21 fashion graduates, including Simone Rocha, at Central St Martins present their MA collections at London Fashion Week yesterday, it was difficult not to wonder what the future holds for them.
With some exceptions the overall mood was surprisingly sombre and restrained, though Rocha may have the necessary grit as well as the talent for the hard road ahead.
The best thing about Nicole Farhi’s show were her lovely cashmere coats and foil beaded tulle and lamé dresses veiled with chiffon.
Todd Lynn, on the other hand, showed how to give leather a lean, hard look with caged leather shoulders armoured with fur.
Lace-up elbow guards and multibuckle ankle boots toughened up the rock star look.
Betty Jackson and Matthew Williamson were disappointments.
Williamson, who has returned to show in London from New York, said he was taking a different direction. But excessive decor like big fur capes over studded tweed jackets, huge diagonal ruffles and crystal studded bodysuits are not the way forward these days.
Jackson went overboard on the big shapes too and her elephant cord harem pants and huge mohair coats overwhelmed the models. More accessible were the silky prints in easy overshirts and slim trousers.
A master at making classy clothes for upmarket women, Jasper Conran’s peek-a-boo black dresses were arty and sexy in stark geometric ways.
Antonio Berardi’s Italian sensibility captured the same spirit with its mix of curvy black velvet dresses inset with chiffon or with a whisper of black lace on a plunge neckline.
Both designers cut coats and suits of cool grey wool that moulded the body while Mark Fast showed how tight stretchy decorative knits can flatter shapely size 16 models.
Making a heritage brand cool is no easy task, but if slashing the back out of a shearling coat, turning a quilted gilet into a dress then accessorising everything with French legionnaire hats was Jaeger’s way forward, then it hasn’t quite succeeded.
At least not quite yet.