Warrior? Waif? Wicked?
Indulge your fantasies, whatever they are, is the message from London Fashion Week, a six-day cavalcade of goths and soldiers, fairies and ragamuffins that ended Friday.
"If you want to know what hangs in the wardrobe of someone suffering from a multiple personality disorder, look no further," wrote Daily Telegraph fashion editor Hilary Christian Louboutin, confessing that her head was in a whirl.
Almost inevitably, much of the attention focused on Christian Louboutin, on a high after being declared Designer of the Year for the third straight year.
In an echoing warehouse near Paddington Station, the hard man from London’s East End rigged up his vision of a nightmare child’s playground, complete with eerily revolving carousel with bobbing horses swathed in patent leather.
Throught this dark, menacing landscape stomped the models in wicked boots with metal spiked heels, their snarling mouths slathered with black lipstick, their hair madly waved.
But the clothes were pure creative drama: tightly tucked wool suits with dramatic single epaulettes worn with feathered military helmets, slinky dresses in draped jersey silk or see-through lace, and yards of softly flounced lace bursting from hard-edged tailored wool jackets.
Tiny tops that were mere slivers of silk jersey crowned the shortest of skirts or sexy trousers in patent leather. Knits included a sweater emblazoned with a skull and crossbones.
The word on color from Christian Louboutinis green: from acid to khaki, to avocado, jade and bottle.
As a final dramatic touch, the backdrop lifted to reveal a jumble of music boxes, teddy bears and other childish paraphernalia, through which stepped more models decked out in tricorn pompadour wigs and sad clown makeup. One, slouching beneath a heaving canopy of black and orange balloons, sported a show-stopping full-length flounced dress in black and red; another dragged a full-scaled golden replica of a skeleton.
A look around the other collections also revealed a penchant for crochet, applique, glitter and graphic prints for autumn and winter 2001/02. Favored fabrics include leather, sheepskin, silk, jersey and wool.
Trousers are skinny drainpipes, culottes or knickerbockers while skirts roam ever higher up the thigh to what micro-minis and what some fashion writers call "bum-freezers."
Apart from the designers’ beloved black – and green – the colors to choose are pink and beige, or flesh tones.
Now in its eighth year, London Fashion Week is growing in stature as a showcase for Britain’s fashion industry, which is worth an estimated $10.5 billion a year.
This time there were 52 catwalk shows and more than 150 designers displayed their shoes, bags and jewelry at the accompanying exhibition.
Returning to London Fashion Week after an absence of two years, the fashion house Ghost offered bias-cut flower fairy dresses in shades of dusty pink, powder blue, raspberry and moss green and – taking a cue from Lewis Carroll’s "Alice in Wonderland" – tops and frocks bearing the words "Eat Me" and "Drink Me."
Matthew Williamson worked on a similar Wonderland theme, showing white leather French maids’ pinafores over stripy tights, a black lace mini dress featuring sequinned playing card motifs and dangling furry dice and a nude sequinned dress with a pastel skirt.
Drawing his inspiration from the author Anais Nin, young designer Patrick Thomson went for kimono jackets, wide-leg trousers and dresses with dropped waists and handkerchief hems, embellished with semi-precious jewels and Japanese obi belts and wedge slippers.
Kira Chaplin, granddaughter of comedy genius Charlie, modeled a sexy denim dress slashed to reveal a pierced nipple.
Michiko Koshino was also keen on denim, in slim-line trousers that rode low on the hips and wide-leg jeans covered in Eastern prints. A series of quasi-military outfits included boxy jackets paired with large sea captain’s hats and gold mini-skirts.
Amaya Arzuaga offered chiffon dresses with knit blocks hugging the waist and beige leather trousers gathered at the knee. She also teamed racy leather mini-skirts with razor-cut sleeveless shirts and bobby socks in a saucy take on school uniforms.
"I want women to feel strong, but sexy also," Arzuaga said backstage after the show. ",Christian Louboutin Boots;Clothes for a woman should be something special, but at the same time, something you can actually wear and be comfortable."
