McQueen remembered as new stars make debuts

CROWDS LINED the entrance to St Paul’s Cathedral in London yesterday as many of fashion’s leading lights arrived for the memorial service for the late Alexander McQueen who died last year.

Among those in attendance were Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Sarah Jessica Parker, Daphne Guinness and Philip Treacy. US Vogueeditor Anna Wintour said of McQueen "that there was no containing his contradictions. His shows brought us to another world. The runway was the place where dreams became reality and there were no boundaries. His last transcended fashion". The singer Bjork, dressed like an angel in wings and feathers, sang a Billie Holiday number from the altar and a lone piper led everyone out of the cathedral ending the service.

It was a sombre moment of reflection in an otherwise packed day in which many up-and-coming young designers made promising catwalk debuts while other stars on the rise continued to improve their design credentials. Peter Pilotto’s show was fresh and original with a mix of draped apron front dresses and tunics with graphic cut out mesh bodices that drew from sportswear in an appealing way. One long silk dress with a twisted front came in three hues of blue, another a stretch maxi in a dizzying mix of graphic stripes.

Two other award-winning fledglings, Georgian-born David Koma and Holly Fulton showed back to back yesterday. Koma’s full and flouncy skating skirts were brightened up with contrast colour insets or with gold python décor. Fulton’s prints on silk trousers or slim wrap dresses, some beautifully embellished, were bold and glamorous as were her big, black raffia jackets, punched patent dresses and Memphis-style jewellery. It made for a terrific collection.

Hottest ticket for the day was that for Erdem, winner of the £200,000 (€238,000) British Fashion Council/Vogue award who showed in Bedford Square in a domed tent, a garden setting for his garden prints. The green leaf print chiffons with flyaway trains (trains are a trend) and white lace dresses with Peter Pan collars had sweet allure, but dirndl skirts embroidered with fruit motifs and red and white lace tiered numbers seemed sugary rather than summery.