London Fashion Week SS17 presentation round up

Catwalk shows may still be the driving force for London Fashion Week,
but presentation showcases give designers, especially those emerging on the
scene to show the full vision behind their collection in a creative and
more cost-effective way. This season, 31 on-schedule designers opted for a
presentation, and numerous off-schedule designers and FashionUnited has
rounded up the very best.

Edeline Lee

Canadian-born, London-based Edeline Lee was influenced by the British
capital and post-Brexit for her spring/summer 2017 collection, held at Elms
Lesters Painting Rooms, which has become the hot place to hold a
presentation during London Fashion Week.

“This season is about the pleasure I find in the everyday moments of a
London life, observing the people walking down the street outside my
studio,” explains Lee. “London is endlessly luxurious, yet homely and grimy
at the same time. It is abundant and stark, pedestrian and refines, hectic
and lonely, polite and rough, formal and colloquial, joyful and
frustrating, slow and fast. Everything you need is in London. You can get
fed up and escape it, only to come back with a sigh of relief. It’s my
definition of fun, and I wanted to make a fun collection.”

Models stood in front of a backdrop of a series of London textures
including a Victoria black paint door, the Edwardian bricks of Bloomsbury,
as well as the back alleys of Soho all photographed by Switzerland-based
artist Kyung Roh Bannwart.

The collection was playful with dresses, trench coats and two-pieces
seen in bright colours including red, blue, green, yellow and turquoise,
with some featuring graphic colour-blocked patterns, stripes and
embellishments, as the designer teamed up with Swarovski this season. The
end result was a happy, fun, and feminine line-up of casual dresses,
trouser and top combinations and coats.

Isa Arfen

London-based womenswear label Isa Arfen founded by Serafina Sama was
inspired by the body painting and decoration of the tribes of the Omo
Valley tribes in Ethiopia combined with the elegance and femininity of
Seydou Keïta’s 1950s and early 1960s portraits of Malian women, as well as
“dash of Nineties ethnic” for her spring/summer 2017 collection.

The result was a sophisticated and modern collection of dresses,
playsuits, trousers and skirts featuring vibrant bold tribal patterns,
while other pieces had frilly organza sleeves, asymmetric necklines, bow
ties, and feathered trims. A number of pieces you could instantly spot will
be coveted by street-style stars such as the bold trench coat, the
off-the-shoulder black dress with frilly white organza sleeves, and the
khaki-and-white shirt worn with a pair of black cigarette pants painted
with bold tribal strokes.

These
beauties! ❤️ Make up by the incredible @thomasdekluyver @maccosmetics
@maccosmeticsuk at our SS17 presentation #isaarfen #LFW

A photo posted by Serafina at isa_arfen (@isa_arfen)
on Sep 21, 2016 at
2:18am PDT

Judy Wu

Raised in Shanghai, Judy Wu first expressed herself through painting,
before moving to London to study at Central Saint Martins where she
graduated in 2009. For spring/summer 2017 Wu was inspired by neo-futurist
architecture with complex structures transcending into streamlined forms to
create a sports-luxe collection, which featured the designer’s first
handbag collection.

Fabrics in the collection include translucent organza, sculptural
neoprene, geometric broderie anglicise, and a twill jersey, which added
texture and body to the tops and jackets, while chiffon layers added
fluidity to the ethereal skirts and dresses. These sit alongside the first
Judy Wu handbag Ling, named after her mother, which features leather and
cotton canvas with a contrasting suede lining and the designer’s signature
zip-strap.

A photo posted by JUDY WU (@studiojudywu) on Sep 18, 2016 at 8:01am
PDT

Steven Tai

Vancouver-born Steven Tai continues to be inspired by his geeky
“bookworm” muse for spring/summer 2017, first seen in his 2011 graduate
show.

“She’s an old-school intellectual with a sense of humour, an obstinate
optimist with a paperback tucked into her high-waist trousers,” explains
Tai. “Her wardrobe a more refined, more wearable, yet equally complex
update on what she wore in 2011.”

Last season was a collection of nostalgic wardrobe staples, for
spring/summer the Tai geek-yet-feminine girl is more refined and flirty,
wearing ruffled tops, pinafore dresses with rough-edged hemlines. There is
still a sense of innocence in the Tai geeky girl, with the models all
wearing round spectacles, while gently swaying on wooden swings in a
playground setting.

One of the highlights was the papery texture effect on the clothes
achieved by layering panels of fabric upon the other to make it look like
pages of a book, which were hand-cut and woven to create the desired
effect.

A photo posted by Danielle Wightman-Stone
(@fashionistabarbie) on Sep
20, 2016 at 12:34pm PDT

Clio Peppiatt

South London-based designer Clio Peppiatt, who gathered experience from
positions at Alexander McQueen and Matthew Williamson before launching her
own label, was inspired by the masculine arena of F1, race car drivers and
motorcycle gang for her spring/summer 2017 collection.

Her fun and creative presentations always draw a crowd and ‘Fast Women’
saw the fashion pack immersed into the world of cars with a twist, filled
with strong, independent women with a whole lot of attitude rather than the
stereotypical men.

The Clio girl for spring will be wearing embellished body stockings with
faux fur, lights silks and lace alongside heavy denim biker jackets and
leather bustiers, with added humorous embellished and embroidered slogans
including ‘Carnage’, ‘Heels ‘n’ Wheels’ and ‘Fast Women’.

In addition to continuing her collaboration with Tatty Devine on the
jewellery, this season Clio Peppiatt has teamed up with Skinny Dip to
create a bold range of phone cases, stickers and patches that are available
to buy now.

Set Design :
@aidanzamiri Casting : @chloerosolek Styling : @adelecany Shoes :
@liudmilahq Watches : @babyg_uk Hair : @tinafarey using @lorealprouk Makeup
@amandabellmakeup using @pixibeauty #fastwomen #cliopeppiatt #cliopeppiattgirls #prettytoughgirls

A photo posted by Clio Peppiatt (@cliopeppiatt) on Sep 19, 2016 at 7:49am PDT

Images: courtesy of Edeline Lee