Catwalk Reports from The LFW Daily
Today's reports by Dolly Jones, Editor, vogue.com
EMILIO DE LA MORENA
He claimed it was daywear, but if Emilio de la Morena’s sexy, body-con, intricately constructed dresses are anything to go by, Morena women don’t do daywear. With Julia Restoin-Roitfeld and Tallulah Harlech in his front row and Lana Del Rey on the soundtrack, this Spanish designer’s sole distraction seems to be party dresses for pretty girls. They were just as good as ever, with panels of chiffon fanned in every direction upwards from the waist, often cut away to show off as much bare flesh as possible, with light organza full skirts bouncing out around the thighs below them and cut away at each side to show the body-con version beneath. Mustard yellow and nude body-stocking knits had sweet polo-shirt collars, in what was presumably a daytime version of the same – still sexy enough for a pre-watershed warning, but somehow we believed in Morena’s more demure determination, as he attempted to distract us with panels of multicoloured scribble prints or sumptuous bursts of buttercup yellow and peacock blue.
JULIEN MACDONALD
Super yachts and Asian antiquity – not a combination that easily springs to mind, but with Julien Macdonald’s
infectious energy and determined glamour-without-measure, it meant a show that sparkled with elaborate ambition. Macdonald sees himself as a couturier for ready-to-wear, which meant one evening dress had been worked on by no less than 60 embroiderers, while his daywear was all bonded jersey and leather, plasticised cotton-mesh (for black, white and yellow “squiggle” knits that added a modern, sporty element), and a fresh
blue and white print inspired by Japanese crockery.
Shiny metallic belts, patent porter caps and silver spiked heels worn with cutaway leather coats were as hardcore
as ever from the Welshman, but he really got into his stride with barely there nude dresses embellished in ruched lace, sequins and beaded scales that rippled down the catwalk. One wrapped the model head-to-toe in chain mail, while others dropped to mid thigh, glittering with Twenties tasselled sassiness.
JAEGER LONDON
Jaeger London has a younger feel for S/S 12. Promising “the glamour of the late Sixties and early Seventies
jet set and far-flung, exotic destinations”, it produced a collection of sweetly innocent dresses in enlarged broderie anglaise with knife-pleat hemlines, scalloped-edged tunics, chiffon blouses in green and yellow under contrasting dungaree dresses and a finale of incredibly pretty black lace robes that are bound to be big business for spring. Varied in texture, summer tweeds and jacquard jackets balanced the lighter chiffon choices, while platform-soled espadrilles let the models walk with as much confidence as this collection seemed to have; a dusty summer palette of pastels was interrupted by navy dotted day dresses that bled to rusty gold, saffron and green. A premium label often has to justify its place in the spotlight among the creative fashion names the city is so famous for, but this was a fresh take on a heritage brand that, with Olivia Palermo in the front row to prove it, is just as weighty as those.
CLEMENTS RIBEIRO
Sugar and spice and all things nice – Clements Ribeiro’s S/S 12 collection was the perfect accompaniment to
a little British sunshine yesterday morning in London. Pale cream silk shorts and vests featured inky, floral prints of maroon, brown and green, while matching breathe-light dresses were fixed on lightly with loose laces across the cutaway back. If you choose prints next season, you’d better mean it – wear them from neck to ankle and don’t be shy. The Clements Ribeiro versions grew coloured vines up full-length, bias-cut dresses, or grabbed the spotlight in black-and-white checked trousers and vests, finished with touches of lace at the shoulder. The prints were even better when they became 3-D with lace overlays or combined with candy-striped cashmere knits and block-heeled sandals in the same creamy palette as the silk prints above them. This is optimistic, understated and feminine fashion with a shoulder-shruggingly effortless attitude, which is exactly what everyone loves about London style
.