London Fashion Week Spring 2009 kicked off Sunday on the heels of New York Fashion Week with smart shapes, sassy styles, hot hues, and pretty prints. Here are a few looks to love:
Paul Costelloe marked his 15th year at London Fashion Week this year [LFW]. Costelloe, who is designing the uniforms for the British women’s cricket team, created a feminine collection with flirty silhouettes that included a cap sleeve dress with a banded hem and bubble silhouette; a checker-patterned, shawl-collared dress with a bubble hem; and a feather trimmed A-line dress with a bell-shaped skirt. Costelloe focused on curvy shapes fashioned from luxurious shimmery, sheer, and printed fabrics.
Charles Anastase, a young designer who studied Political Science at the Lycee Charlemagne in Paris, was an illustrator before launching a fashion design career. You could say his artistry came natural considering his father was an architect. Celebs such as Keira Knightley and Chloe Sevigny have an affinity for the avant garde designer’s creations, and it’s not hard to see why. [LFW]
He featured looks in sheer black like we saw on the Monique Lhuillier runway. Here they had full wide hem skirts that resembled chiffon aprons. What I loved about this look was his two versions — the first look being a schoolgirl with a crested blazer, collared crisp white shirt, and silky ascot, the other more on the side of schoolgirl gone bad, with a black leather jacket, biker shorts, and opaque tights. Gossip Girls Serena and Blair would adore these looks.
Then Anastase took on another look altogether, the Cockney-inspired look that we saw on the Marc Jacobs’ runway. The leather crop jacket and trench coat give this look a modern twist.
Ossie Clark creative director Avsh Alom Gur describes his designs as “effortless, fun, and feminine” [LFW], and I agree. Clark introduced frivolity to his collection of silky frocks with hues that resembled the palette of salt-water taffy and print patterns that likened a paint by numbers grid. He kept the silhouettes slim, straight and tubular with details like cowl necks, bloused bodices, and ties at the waist.
(Photo credits: londonfashionweek.co.uk)
Chicly Yours,
The Chic Spy
