Now that London Fashion Week has come to an end, and buyers, editors and
fashion weeks followers have moved onto Milan, FashionUnited reflects on
some of the trends to have emerged from LFW autumn/winter 2017 collections.
Whilst this season truly saw a mixed bag of designs take to the catwalk,
ranging from commercially viable to fantastically whimsically, one thought
on everyone’s mind was the upcoming calendar shake-up, led by none other
than British luxury fashion house.
Following Burberry’s final Prorsum show on Monday, the entire women’s wear
collection was presented in its Regent Street flagship store for consumers
to see and touch in person. Named, “A Patchwork,” the collection is
currently available for pre-order, with a select number of outerwear and
bags available for personalized online until March 7, for delivery ahead of
arrival in store. Whilst a number of fashion houses have announced their
own plans to align catwalk shows with collection drops in store, including
the likes of Tom Ford and Tommy Hilfiger, a number of smaller labels have
shared their concern regarding the “see-now, buy-now” business model.
“As a small designer brand, we get the orders from buyers, put them into
production, wait for the fabric, deliver that so we need to time to prepare
that,” said Jackie Lee, a Korean designer based in London to Reuters.
Companies which may not have the pockets as well lined with coins as
Burberry tend to need more time to develop their collections for wholesale,
and may end up in finance trouble in the form of excess stock if they were
unable to test consumers reactions to the collections first. “If you are
quite a small operation, it’s hard to see how you can make that shift and
have access to the funds to make that shift,” added Holly Fulton, a
seasoned, fashion week designer, echoing the sentiment of designers such as
Roksanda Ilincic.
As the between menswear and womenswear
continue to blur, designers in London seemed to embrace the peaked interest
in genderless fashion by adapting their silhouettes and tailoring. This
season saw a striking number of male tailoring and power suits, with
Margaret Howell showcasing a collection which featured cropped trousers and
sensible, over the knee skirts paired with boxy blazers and loose blouses.
Touches of the British countryside, student uniforms and dandy dressing
served as a source of inspiration for the collection,
which study materials, such as wool, tweed and velvet.
Other labels, such as 1205, Gareth Pugh and Paul Smith, featured similar
versions of the new power suit, complete with wide, cropped trousers and
slouchy blazers in an array of dark winter hues.
A number of designers paid close attention to their sleeve game this season
at London Fashion Week, as sleeves were dropped from the shoulders, puffed
out at the elbow and cinched in at the wrist, ruffled out at the wrist,
laced up and sheer or heavily embellished. Designers ranging from Molly
Goddard and Simone Rocha to House of Holland and Temperley London to
Alexander McQueen featured elaborate sleeves, which
sometime ballooned after the shoulder, or by the elbow. Some designers
favoured sheer, lacey and semi-transparent sleeves, with a hint of the
gothic/victorian, such as Simone Rocha, whilst others leaned towards
embellished sleeves featuring graphic shapes, seen at Mary Katrantzou.
Others went for romantically ruffled sleeves with tiered lace, as seen at
Temperley London and Marques Almeida showcased oversized and
longer-than-average sleeves.
Another trend spotted on the runways during London Fashion Week was
military inspired outerwear. Topshop Unique favoured army-green, boxy
jackets complete with faux fur collars, whilst Johnny Coca debut collection
for Mulberry showcased a series of military-esque wool capes, complete with
topstitch and embellished buttons. Temperley London gave military a
vintage, almost pirate-esque touch by pairing an ankle length, jacket with
black topstitching, with a white, ruffled shift dress and fringed floral
scarf. But it was British heritage label Burberry who really embodied this
trend, showcasing cashmere military jackets, shearling aviator jackets as
army green trench coats, complete with golden, oversized buttons and red
stitching.
Photos: British Vogue