DEFYING PERSISTENT wintry weather, BT2 yesterday unveiled its spring-summer collections, which turned out to be a heady mix of colour, frothiness and print.
“It’s a very romantic season with sheer fabrics, lots of lace details, wrapping and draping”, commented BT2 buyer Karen Higgins, emphasising the continuing vogue for dresses and soft military details, or feminine utilitarian cool.
Blush is the season’s premier shade, a kind of plaster pink otherwise called nude, along with navy, coral, yellow and icy blue. Lengths were short and leggings essential either in lace, denim or print.
Showing how quickly the catwalk translates to the high street it was easy to spot the references to Balmain in denim jackets with chained epaulettes and ornamental silver frogging (Guess) and the influence of Stella McCartney in layered jersey and mesh dresses with roped racer backs and draped pockets.
Plain silk tunic dresses with Peter Pan collars from a new brand called TBA came with brass buttons and gold trims, a demure look, surprising from a designer who hails from Harlem.
Making the biggest impact were the prints, a playful mix of modern digital and Andy Warhol pop art images (Pepe) to familiar stripes and snakeskin patterns.
In the Sonia collection by Sonia Rykiel roomy tunic style dresses boasted oversize leopard spots in hot summer colours while short Lipsy dresses in bandeau or draped front styles came in a rash of cherub, floral or abstract prints.
Many of the BT2 collections are from female designers like Sonia Rykiel and Manoush from Paris and Gestuz from Denmark. Manoush’s 50s style pleated coral prom dresses, Sgt Pepper jackets, ruffled corsets and flamboyant mix of brocades, ginghams and broderie anglaise with decorative flourishes like rosebud buttons summed up the season’s triumphant girly spirit.