BA Fashion Panel Discussion
BA Fashion Panel Discussion
BA Fashion Panel Discussion
BA Fashion Panel Discussion
BA Fashion Panel Discussion
LFW:AW20
ERDEM
BENEATH the oil paintings that line the walls of the National Portrait Gallery, Erdem Moralioglu presented his AW20 collection on the penultimate day of London Fashion Week this season.
It is not the first time that Erdem has chosen such a backdrop to frame his characteristically romantic handiwork. However, this time his choice in location seems most significant. With an exhibition dedicated to the work of photographer Cecil Beaton, opening in a month’s time, Erdem chooses to look directly to this for inspiration.
An ode to Beaton’s Bright Young Things of the 1920s and ‘30s, Erdem incorporated graphic modernist prints in checkerboard monochrome, which featured throughout the collection alongside silver chandelier embellished dresses, skirts and tailored jackets.
Exaggerated ostrich feather headpieces and chokers echoed the Beaton influences, as did the models’ hair that was cropped and coiled into finger waves. The colour pallet was relatively subdued with the occasional flash of silver, harmonious with the silver-giled runway and in reference to Beaton’s early portraits of his sisters.
100 years on from the 1920s, a great era of modernisation and technological development fuelled by post-war depression, seems like an increasingly relevant reference point for the uncertain times ahead in 2020. However, Erdem identifies the beauty from within this era and creates a collection for the contemporary woman with this in mind.
CHARLOTTE KNOWLES
A MASTERCLASS in contemporary women’s ready-to-wear, for AW20, Charlotte Knowles presented her second stand-alone collection at London Fashion Week this Friday.
The collection, designed alongside Knowles’ partner, Alexandre Arsenault, and titled, “I can feel it in my bones,” took inspiration from far and wide, with what Knowles called, a “future baroque western” aesthetic.
Armour-like in appearance, harnesses and boned corsets were worn over mesh flared trousers, and curved-neck graphic t-shirts. Shearling jackets and full leather looks, in ochre and burnt orange, were punctuated with lace up eyelet detailing. The colour pallet was more earthy than in previous collections, with additional baroque inspired floral prints and the introduction of chequered tweed.
Accessories were a focal point, with square-toed snakeskin boots, and horn shaped handbags developed from last season. Serpent-like leather plaited belts, coiled around the models nipped waists, and crocheted capes grazed their angular shoulders.
The past few seasons we have witnessed a shift in the codes of female dress, with designers, such as Knowles (and her counterparts Nensi Dojaka and Supriya Lele), pioneering a new way of dressing for women. One that is built on the foundations of femininity, but challenged through technical construction and utilitarian detailing. These young designers encapsulate the need to rethink women’s ready-to-wear in the new decade.