London Fashion Week is over for Autumn Winter ‘17. While all eyes may now be on Milan, we’re taking a closer look at the references threaded through the collections of some of our favourite designers.
Whether inspired by the political climate, a cult film or current exhibition, it’s no secret that designers, like all good artists, draw creativity from the world around them.
This season we saw cartoon superheroines, iconic photographers, Shakespeare and horror films served up in various forms throughout the collections, and in more wearable ways than you might think.
Click through to discover the references from this season’s London Fashion Week, from the well-known to the niche.
Alice in Wonderland at Molly Goddard
The acid hues and rainbow brights of Molly Goddard’s SS17 collection were toned down this season; in their place we were served neutrals, embroidery and more elevated shapes.
The designer’s girls may have grown up but there was still some madness at play. Models were seated at a candlelit banquet adorned with bowls of fruit and bouquets of flowers. Set designed by Sarah Edwards, we were reminded of the surreality of Alice in Wonderland – namely, the Mad Hatter’s tea party.
Photo: Disney Pictures/REX/Shutterstock
Not dissimilar to the tones of Tim Burton’s reimagining of the story, Goddard’s '90s spin on the aesthetic – see the black-lined eyes and smudged pouts of the models – felt dishevelled in a this-is-what-happens-when-you-fall-through-the-looking-glass way.
Lewis Carroll’s book, published in 1865, is an archetype of the literary nonsense genre, with reality and fantasy colliding, logic escaping both its characters and the reader.
While Goddard’s pieces would look at home on women of all ages, we couldn’t help but see Alice herself in those frothy, puffed-up ruffles.
Photo: Niklas Halle'n/Getty Images
Stephen King's Misery at Ashley Williams
Strutting to the sounds of Kate Bush’s 1985 song "Under the Ivy", models donned slacks, tassels, and cowboy hats over hoodies in a collection that felt resolutely Southern. Sat on rusty chairs and surrounded by flowers in shopping trolleys arranged by set designer Tony Hornecker, Hawaiian prints, cuddling couples, and the abundance of foliage suggested a lighthearted mood.
There were, however, hints of anxiety throughout the collection. Ashley’s signature Swarovski-embellished hair slides bore the juxtaposing words ‘PARANOIA’ and ‘PARADISE’, while dark-grey eyeshadow and ‘SAVE THE PLANET’ tank tops reiterated this feeling of unease.
Fitting, then, that one of Ashley’s references was Stephen King’s novel, Misery. Starring Kathy Bates in the film adaptation as menacing super-fan Annie Wilkes, it tells the tale of author Paul Sheldon who has just finished his latest crime novel, Fast Cars. After a car accident leaves him with shattered legs, Annie takes him home to recover – only to demand his novel be rewritten to her taste, her threats becoming wilder and wilder.
Ashley’s AW17 collection featured hoodies, printed with barking dogs, that shouted ‘MISERY’, and the classic plaid shirt that Paul wears throughout the film was seen in midi skirts and flared trousers.
While Ashley’s collections always have a bleakness, her playful aesthetic keeps it tongue-in-cheek.
Photo: Estrop/Getty Images
Romeo and Juliet at Clio Peppiatt
Clio Peppiatt ’s girls are always two things: girls we want to hang out with, and girls we want to dress like. Her ability to mirror a real 20-something girl and produce the kind of garms they would actually wear IRL is arguably unparalleled. This season, she reflected the contemporary love lives of real girls, too.
The collection, Love Rat, was Romeo and Juliet -inspired: “We’re looking at how social technology has changed the dating scene and what that means for our modern day girl,” she told LOVE magazine. “She’s modern day Juliet, going to the club to meet her Tinder match, thinking ‘is it going to be Romeo, or just another Love Rat?'”
Photo: 20th Century/REX/Shutterstock
There may not have been suicide pacts, meddling families, or mentions of fair Verona but the slogan was marked on T-shirts while tiny dancing rats were seen on sweaters and skirt hemlines. Romance was threaded throughout, in the model’s red eyeshadow and Juliet’s sheer slips embellished with stars. As always, Clio’s cast of girls were diverse, and her AW17 offering was both colourful and fun, reaffirming her as one of LFW’s freshest young talents.
Photo: Courtesy of Clio Peppiatt
The Night Porter at Gareth Pugh
Gareth Pugh’s AW17 show was set in a world “on the precipice of anarchy”. While the eerie chanting of “money makes the world go round” and “build the wall” echoed around the room, models were seen in Nazi-esque leather trenches, army hats and PVC sleeves. Sculptural jackets, braces and tailored trousers furthered the dystopian aesthetic, while futuristic models wore black contact lenses and metallic-grey lips.
Pugh’s reference to the still-controversial 1974 Italian psychological sadomasochistic Nazi film The Night Porter starring Charlotte Rampling brought into question the notion of power play – who is on top? The answer is Pugh’s women, all very much in control, with dominatrix Reba Maybury, Erin O’Connor and a bevy of other activists making up the cast of models.
Photo: Via Youtube
While it’s often thought that fashion is an alternate universe, an aspirational fantasy, there’s no doubt that Pugh’s vision is not of a distant future but a post-truth present, where rights are violated and facts are being pulled from under our feet. With fear and dominance at the forefront of the collection, this season Gareth Pugh certainly captured the grim reality of today’s politics.
Photo: Estrop/Getty Images
Malick Sidibé at Marques’Almeida
The frayed edges of denim and staggered lengths of hemlines of Marques’Almeida’s arsenal took a backseat this season. Instead, we saw monochrome '80s-shouldered jackets, colour-pop cowboy boots, checkerboard shirts, and red and white pinstriped trousers.
Photo: Malick Sidibé: The Eye of Modern Mali Courtesy of Somerset House
Can we see some Beetlejuice in there? Nope. The London design duo, who won the prestigious LVMH prize in 2015, were inspired by Malian photographer Malick Sidibé. Celebrated for capturing in black and white the youth culture of his native Bamako, you can often spot striped backdrops, checkerboard floors and polka-dot dresses in his images. The photographer passed away last year, and a major exhibition of his solo work is currently being held at Somerset House.
Malick Sidibé: The Eye of Modern Mali is at Somerset House until Sunday 26th February .
Photo: Victor Virgile/Getty Images
PowerPuff Girls at Fyodor Golan
It seemed only natural that a design duo known for their bright tones and fabric experimentation would collaborate with a trio of colourful cartoon heroines. This season Fyodor Golan teamed up with The Powerpuff Girls, bringing nostalgia and girl power to the forefront of their AW17 collection. The TV show returned last year, and has previously collaborated with pop culture designer Jeremy Scott.
The 15-piece collection was worn by models with hair colours ranging from bubblegum pink to pastel orange and eyes covered in a mask-like smudge of power-pop brights – perfect for their very own superhero women.
Alongside their signature tailoring, draping and ruching, rainbow and animal-print fabrics and cartoon faces appeared on pieces that read ‘POWER, POWER, POWER’ and ‘Don’t Call Me Princess’. The Powerpuff Girls’ motto is ‘Super Cute, Super Fierce’, while Fyodor Golan make clothes for ‘a seductive, fragile and fearless’ woman. We think Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup would approve.
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