London Fashion Week

Sunday worship: Margaret Howell SS21



Margaret Howell SS21 LOOK 23

This weekend I would usually be darting across the four corners of London to see what Fashion Week had to offer. Not so this season, which means for once I got to have a lie in on my birthday! But it also means I’ll miss my favourite LFW ritual, congregating on the Sunday worship benches of the Margaret Howell show at Ballet Rambert on the South Bank. Here I’d normally huddle in a sea of buff trench coats with Alyson, Brittany, Dal and Alexis, to appraise next season’s stylistic nuances, while catching up on industry (both fashion and publishing) goss.

In lieu of a Margaret Howell show, we have look book pictures. (more…)



So how did Digital London Fashion Week go?



Nicholas Daley AW20

Digital LFW was overall a bit of an anti-climax. Unlike many, I don’t ridicule the British Fashion Council for it. I applaud them for trying in #unprecedented times. The main criticisms of the new ‘digital hub’ format were that the content wasn’t exciting enough, there were too few new collections, the panel discussions were too focused on the same topic (Covid) and panellists were ‘the usual suspects’. (more…)



London Fashion Week AW19 – in brief(ish)



JW Anderson London Fashion Week AW19

This felt like an extremely polished London Fashion Week. Roksanda, JW Anderson, Victoria Beckham and particularly Mary Katrantzou showed mature, slick collections that nailed their individual DNAs. And while you expect the newbies to be a bit scrappier in their presentation, they too were impressively coherent.

I was blown away by Matty Bovan, who, assisted by Katie Grand’s crack styling team and a helping hand from Coach, delivered a super-sophisticated spectacle reminiscent of Westwood or Galliano. His USP is a very British artsy-craftsy take on knitwear that was bricolaged with crochet, ruffles and Liberty-print florals (more…)



First impressions: Riccardo Tisci for Burberry SS19



Burberry ss19 by Jamie Stoker for Vogue International

First impressions of Ricccardo Tisci for Burberry SS19 aka New Burberry? I thought he was very smart to open on those super grown up, chic, gentlewomanly pieces. Gorgeous honey-coloured trench coats with silky pleat skirts and scarf-style blouses, worn with elegant leather waist bags and stilettos. So not what we expected!

I noted that the younger models struggled on those pin heels (well they have been wearing Nikes for the last five years) but the supermodels (Stella, Natalia, Mariacarla et al) walked with grace and purpose. There was a little bit of Burberry check, but executed in a nuanced, respectful way, rather than the brash check of last season. (more…)