LONDON FASHION WEEK:LONDON FASHION Week opened yesterday, putting on a brave front as the worst recession in decades tightened its grip on the country. This year marks its 25th anniversary and in a surprise announcement, Harold Tillman, chairman of the British Fashion Council, said the event would move in September from the Natural History Museum to Somerset House, the neoclassical palace on the Embankment. "It will be a new location and a new era", he said.
He also announced the establishment of a new website britishfashioncouncil.com, as part of a “legacy” of projects to help celebrate “the creativity of our inspirational designers” with funds to help them grow their businesses. Many designers this season have opted for smaller presentations in smaller venues, forgoing costs of up to £40,000 (€45,000) for a catwalk show. While there are fewer designers taking part in the exhibition, Esthetica, which was founded to showcase designers working in an environmentally sustainable way, has grown from 13 to 37 participants this season.
“We are the only fashion week in the world which has an entire exhibition on sustainable fashion” said Lord Hunt, the minister of state responsible for sustainable development and energy innovation, announcing a clothing action plan.
Paul Costelloe, a stalwart of London Fashion Week who epitomises sustainable development in another sense having run a successful fashion business for 30 years, opened the week for the sixth time with a stellar winter collection which, inspired by the spirit of the 60s and 70s, was girlish and modern.
He had in mind Diana Ross and Jackie O. Tunics and tailoring were key and shapes were sleek and sculptural in flecked tawny tweeds, metallic brocades and pintucked mohair.
A trapeze dress in silver and gold metallic brocade with a cowl neck looked chic and sophisticated (and easy to wear) and a green coat with a stand-up contrast collar swung airily at the back. You noticed the details; the pretty scallop fronts, the neat jackets with Peter Pan collars, the bracelet sleeves, the slight hip frill. A standout number was a black brocade empire line trapeze dress decorated with oversized black rosettes.
If Costelloe’s colours were subtle, it was all shades of black and white at Noir, a Danish company with a commitment to ethical sourcing and production. The collection consisted of mostly black leather leggings or harem pants topped with slouchy draped silk or sequinned blouses and a lot of leather detailing like gaiters, chokers and belts. It was a hard look toughened up even further with thigh-high boots and black leather stilettos, as if girding up for bleaker times ahead.