Leather and vinyl seem to rule London's runways this week, which I find irksome on multiple levels. My main problem is that I don't find either of those materials aesthetically pleasing, especially when they're cut and draped to look feminine. They are not feminine materials and dressing them up as such is ugly, not edgy.
I will concede that some girls pull off the leather skirt/t-shirt look quite well, and some can even achieve success with the increasingly ubiquitous leather
shorts. Which brings me to my second gripe about London this week. The leather dresses and skirts that are being shown are old news! Designers seem to be piggy-backing on a trend rather than blazing their own trails. Fashion bloggers and retail outfits like Forever 21 and H & M have done us a great service by democratizing fashion, but perhaps at too great a cost. Fashion outsiders have become front-row insiders, pushing runway shows to gear towards commercial viability rather than towards innovation.
That's why one of my favorite shows this week has been Amanda Wakeley. The flawless cut of every garment she presented makes the collection impossible to replicate with cheap knockoffs. She even showed some femininely draped leather that came across as beautiful and timeless rather than ugly and trendy. When asked about her inspiration for this collection, she had this to say for London's fashion week website:
Capturing the visual impact of the works of J.W Waterhouse and the use of richly coloured and seductive canvases….a palette of charcoals to pebbles, contrasted with rich pansy, ruby, kimono, powder, nude and midnight. Luxurious layers, weights and textures of grey marl play with silhouette and proportion….contrasting structured looser shapes with draped layers and contoured, seamed structure.
Yup, that about sums it up. Well done.
