LFW: Day 1: Style Speak

London Fashion Wee kicked off with the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, declaring London as a leading Fashion Capital totalling 21 billion per annum and revealing schemes to take fashion & creativity into the next Olympic year. Fine style speak from London’s Lord Mayor just don’t ask him what label he is wearing; he’ll claim not to know! Alongside Boris was the chairman of the British Fashion Council, Harold Tillman, plus British Fashion Council Ambassadors Laura Bailey and Erin O’Connor.

Boris & Co

Champagne and speeches done and dusted and it was off with the shows; as always Paul Costello opened with a Parisian sleek meets 60’s chic feel in an array of pale pastels and graphic monotones. All easy-to-wear, uncomplicated pieces that will no doubt keep Paul’s core customer base happy.

Bora Aksu S-S 2012

Bora Aksu remained true to his design ethos with a multitude of handcrafted techniques. For this season, however, he was in a romantic mood in the form of frills, tucks, ribbons and lace. Sheer and lingerie look pieces add a touch of seduction to the proceedings while the pale colour palette and styling hinted at the Edwardian photograph that inspired the collection.

Jean-Pierre Braganza

My personal show highlight of the day came courtesy of Jean-Pierre Braganza with his interplay of soft draped sections combined with sharp tailoring and graphic prints. It was indeed, his striking prints, somewhat reminiscent of Kandinsky, that won me over, his silhouettes too were sophisticated and yet experimental. I left the show wanting more than half the collection and I know I wasn’t the only one!

PPQ

The day rounded off with PPQ. Cheeky, ironic, quirky, yes, PPQ are one and all of those things, their label, now celebrating a decade in the business, has a cult following of fans leaving others to wonder what all the fuss is about. This season Dallas cowgirl meets girlie glamour, the latter bordered on the saccharine but worn in the right way could look cool. Also present was a smattering of bling; gold buttons, gold buckles, gold embroidery, and of course gold PPQ logo’s tumbling down a pair of dark rock chick jeans. All wearable pieces that are unmistakably PPQ.

 

By JoJo