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What do London fashion girls wear? Once, the answer was a Kate Moss-like mix of denim and vintage. Georgia May Jagger, Alexa Chung, Poppy Delevingne and Sienna Miller all went that route with the occasional detour via boyfriend dressing, boho and biker jackets.
But today’s London look is more Hairspray than Cool Britannia. It’s about sugary pastels, Valley of the Dolls smocks and tulle for breakfast. Sort of a Harajuku vibe but scruffier.
It makes more sense than you might think.
Dressing like a cake has always worked for a certain type of eccentric Brit. There’s a debutante element to it – think 1950s society darlings dolled up in Dior’s New Look – and a punk edge too. London girls don’t wear their frou-frou frocks with heels – they’re in Converse or Stan Smiths or Dr. Martens.
A new wave of young British designers, selling to stores like Dover Street Market and Colette, is pushing this aesthetic. They include Shrimps, Bora Asku and Ryan Lo, who all showed on Friday, the first official day of London fashion week.
Their poster girl is (pregnant) blogger Susie Bubble, who’s also a fan of Simone Rocha, and newcomer Molly Goddard.
Everybody here is eager to see what Goddard will do next (her show is on Sunday). Last year her girls constructed white-bread-and-lettuce sandwiches while the audience ogled their enormous tulle trapeze dresses.
All these designers mix sweet with subversive, pump up the volume and work in an ice-cream palette.
Bora Asku’s exquisite show today was inspired by his grandmother’s joie de vivre, played out in pinks of all shades and a yellow he called “egg yolk”. There were frills, vintage florals and naive laces but if some of this had a purposefully crafty-feel, the overall effect was one of great sophistication and almost couture-like artistry.
Later in the day, Hannah Weiland presented her Spring ’17 Shrimps collection at Christie’s in Mayfair, with girls standing still in an installation of pear-encrusted shells on plinths.
Weiland made her name with faux fur coats dyed sherbet colours, and they showed up again today – in Sesame St green and bubble gum pink. Weiland’s excellent message: Who’d want a real fur when the cruelty-free version can be this fabulous?
Ryan Lo was another standout – learn his name. His vibrant collection of harlequin clown trousers and glittery disco tops was accessorised with enormous pirate hats by the master milliner Stephen Jones.
