Friday 5 March 2010

Party Monster Meets The Matrix

A little belated I know, but I'm trying to mix up my posts with equal measures of reviews, personal style and editorials. So in this post I take a final look and overview of the shows I saw at London Fashion Week a fortnight ago. There seemed to be a real 80's injection in lots of the collections, and Bernard Chandran was no exception. The textures stayed true to a sharp sci-fi feeling, with feathered shoulderpads evoking an electric jungle green that sparked to the eye, and peacock texture that looked like it'd caught on 'dancefloor fire.' Imagine the glamorous side of The Matrix, and you have the perfect juxtaposition of industrial attitude with playful'party monster' undertones. If Rihanna went down an 80's route, expect her wardrobe to fit this bill from Bernard.

I also had the pleasure of seeing Bryce Aime's collection at On/Off, and despite a slightly restricted view, I was still very impressed. The blocky avant garde shapes were like impressionist jigsaws, but it didnt fall into an 'ikea' spectacle, as purple laced and tattooed itself magically around the tights to create wonderful illusions. It looked like wood chippings that had been dipped in 80's acid. And the tops married electro visions with a 'Robin Hood' style shield, with capes, corsets and forest reds mixed together in a Medieval manner. For fans of daring Lady Gaga and Rihanna styles, Bryce Aime is a name to staple.

The highlight of Fashion Week for me was Iris Van Herpen's daring and conceptual collection. The runway started with golden thunder and lightning, sending us into an ambient trance. The models then arrived out of the wild lighting in truely unique items. Gothic black looking piano strings/bird feathers warped and bent around the body like a performing arts crow in a Neil Gaiman fantasy. Golden springs hang from the arms like quirky sleeves, and injections of colour shoot through the black wire to ignite the senses. The long dresses flow like grecian robes, but have a sinister sensuality to them, with an intricate design melted in that looks like silver veins. Even the ice white dresses stay true to these ideas, with a pattern that lattices about unconventionally but beautifully. The collection is almost like car parts that have been moulded into avant garde designs and sprayed in fantasy colours. The show was a visual drug that has left me on a constant high.

I regularly write reviews for brands and designers that get in touch with me, so if you like my biro style, I'm only an email enquiry away. I've just landed local work as a freelance journalist for The Stroud News & Journal, and while it might not be the fashion and music dominated magazine that I eventually hope to work for, I'm thrilled at my published stepping stones so far! Hope all of your endeavours are being spurred on by Spring's charming influence. Leave a comment, as I try and respond to every one of them!

Images taken from www.vogue.co.uk














2 comments:

  1. wow.... a lil bit of gareth pugh and mcqueen.. but i appredciate the deisgners vision.. keep em coming charles!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved Iris! She was amazing!

    ReplyDelete