20:58 PM - The Cinematic Spectacle by Charlotte Olympia
London Fashion Week wouldn't be London Fashion Week without a Charlotte Olympia spectacle. After last season's fruit salad extravaganza, this year it was all about film noir. And what fits Charlotte Dellal's 1940s aesthetic better than a bit of drama in black & white.
Set at the Curzon theatre in Mayfair, the performance started even before stepping into the building. On the cobble street in front of the entrance, there were young actresses and actors, dressed in full 1940s fashion, rounded off with Charlotte Olympia accessories. Speaking in a dramatic Mid-Atlantic accent, they were looking for a criminal. After getting into the cinema and grabbing some Charlotte Olympia-branded popcorn, we were sat down in the theatre - "An Accessory to Murder" was the title of the flick we were watching. A true 1940s detective investigation directed by Sophie Edelstein and starring model Bambi Northwood Blyth was a black and white nod to film noir. Funny and original, it was a brave way of presenting a collection - you couldn't even see the colour of the accessories. However, if any brand could pull it off, it would be this one.
What about the accessories? Everything you would expect and more. A satin newspaper clutch with "Charlotte Olympia Gazette" written over it and a pair of high boots with a very Dellal-like character smoking a cigarette in a 1940s illustration. Drama is the language of Charlotte Olympia.

19:45 PM – Phoebe English Gives Us Reason to Celebrate

Hope

Phoebe English continued her theme of designing around particular characters for her autumn/winter 2017 collection. This time, she chose to celebrate a series of strong women who each represent a different story: hope, courage, voice, tyranny, unity, apathy, and repair. It was a moving and powerful presentation. 'We wish to celebrate unity over division,' said English and chose to use colour symbolism to help her on her journey. She confessed to being scared of colour but felt that now is the time to confront your fears.

The collection was shown in the extraordinarily magical Fitzrovia Chapel which is newly restored. English designed the collection with the Chapel in mind. 'I need to know the context before I can start to design, she said.

Voice

18:45 PM – The Eternally Romantic Alice Temperley

Lace, sparkle and pussy bows. Styled by Caroline Issa, Alice Temperley designs for autumn/winter 2017 are made for the girl-in-love. She's elegant and feminine, going from party to party in her effortlessly embroidered Victoriana dresses. Temperley knows their girl and where she is going. For autumn/winter 2017 she's wearing strong tailored coats over flowy dresses and the chicest party look out there.

 

16:00 PM – Any Way You Want It

Anya Hindmarch's eclectic sheepskin accessories

It seems like London Fashion Week designers must have had a field trip to the countryside in recent months because sheepskin is, quite literally, everywhere this season. From bags to slippers, this slice of the great British heritage is being reinvigorated on the catwalk everywhere you look. Anya Hindmarch is amongst those championing the movement in dreamy pastel hues whilst MM6 Maison Margiela are churning out incredible sheepskin trousers. Meanwhile, if you prefer a more traditional approach, Toga have created a masterpiece of a flight jacket. In any case, with countless options becoming available you can have your autumn/winter sheepskin in whichever way you’d prefer.

15:30 PM – A.W.A.K.E.'s Underwater Universe

Natalia Alaverdian's brand A.W.A.K.E. is a fashion favourite. Her humorous, voluminous designs speak to a luxury customer in a different way - it's all about the clothes and how to wear them. The highlight? The octopus-printed pieces that will look perfect with a pair of black tailored trousers. We need some A.W.A.K.E. in our wardrobes.


15:00 PM – And the Award goes to…

Karishma Shahani Khan honours one of India's most famous pastoral nomads, Rabaris, for the Ka.Sha exhibition including hand-woven indigenous and artisanal fabrics and intricate finishes inspired by ancient traditions.

In collaboration with cultural institutes and London embassies, this year’s festival of emerging designers at the International Fashion Showcase is more rich and eclectic than ever before. The British Fashion Institute announced the winners of the annual event today, celebrating creative talent from all over the world. Younchan Chung of the-sirius picked up The International Fashion Showcase Designer Award for his innovative design in the Korean installation whilst The International Fashion Showcase Country Award was won by India, for its exhibition The Indian Pastoralists. Finally, the award for International Fashion Showcase Curation was presented to Poland’s Wojciech Dziedzic and Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka.

14:15 PM – Toga is Simple yet Dramatic with "Hole, Classic Ornamentation, Skin"

The show notes for Toga’s autumn/winter outing, entitled simply “Hole, Classic Ornamentation, Skin,” were brief and to the point. “Accessories pop out, skin is exposed, and forms are destroyed.” And that pretty much summed up this collection which was an exercise in how to develop a simple idea – both creatively and commercially. Toga which is designed by Tokyo-based Yasuko Furuta, has a cult following, particularly for the accessories which, a little like at J.W.Anderson’s collection, took centre stage. Sparkly brooches were pinned everywhere, from the hair to a long glove spiralling around the arm. Straightforward cotton shirts were slashed into and the holes filled with crustacea of crystals that seemed to spill out from within.

Furuta always has a strong spirit of punk in her designs, but she also has such elegance and finesse and so finely tuned a colour palette that this collection felt like a masterclass.



13:00 PM –  SpongeBob Goes for Gold 

Kicking off a year-long international campaign celebrating the most famous pineapple-inhabitant in the world, Nickelodeon are releasing a SpongeBob Gold collection, available outside of America from May onwards. Collaborating with Peter Jensen, Bobby Abley, Salar, Maria Francesca Pepe, Suecomma Bonnie and Bad Denim, the fashion collection is for both men and women and includes footwear and accessories. Looks like 2017 will be a year to put a smile on your face!

11:48 AM –  Painting with clothes according to Preen by Thornton Bregazzi

No one does florals quite like Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi. The designer duo behind Preen by Thornton Bregazzi have been making dowdy couch florals cool again since 1996. Lovers of all things Victoriana, they take antique ideas of clothing - high collars, lacy textiles and big sleeves - and inject a new, exciting, and often floral life into them. For autumn/winter 2017 Bregazzi and Thornton quoted Leigh Bowery and the New Romantics as well as Tracey Emin as their inspirations. And all were very evident, but not obvious.

This season, their colour palette is heavier than usual - jewelled tones as well as saturated floral prints, interpreted in familiar silhouettes that now became slightly askew. It's not about asymmetry, yet it just happens to happen. Organic might be an overused word in fashion, but it captures the Preen by Thortnon Bregazzi show quite perfectly.

09:30 AM – Margaret Howell's Student Lifestyle

It makes total sense for Margaret Howell to show her menswear with her womenswear. Menswear is what she does best - whether for men or women. For her show at the suitably bright and modern Rambert Space, it was as though the boys and girls had all been raiding each other's wardrobes. We're not sure what was going on because some of the boys seemed to have got dressed in a hurry, shirt tails hanging out, collars messed up, not the usual pristine Howell way. The men seemed to be channelling Will Self on a good day, while the girls were reliving their student days in their long box pleat skirts, their cute fair isle sweaters, their school shirts. In the madness of this Brexit world, we are happy for Margaret Howell to fly the British flag for clothes that are rooted in this country's best traditions and textiles but are intelligent, functional, eternally useful and, ultimately, made with thinkers in mind.