GFW 2010: The Next New Wearables

I'm going to sound awfully boring and a bit… dare I say Style.Com review-like (you know the ones… where they basically slate anything that is slightly unwearable…) and say that actually the collections that have been catching my eye are ones where everything is from catwalk-to-closet.  Gosh… from "catwalk to closet" – magazines sure do love that tag line.  I can't describe it any other way.  This year in particular, I've noticed that amongst the graduates, there are more and more collections that have focused on separates that make up a functional wardrobe.  Break it all down and you can mix and match it to your heart's content, with pieces blending seamlessly into most people's wardrobes.  This all sounds very 'pedestrian' and perhaps, not what a breakout fashion graduate's collection is supposed to conjure up.  Nay, we're supposed to be confronted with FUTURE FRESHNESS.  That said, none of these collections, even with the veneer of wearability, are they lacking in vision.  The ideas from which the clothes have sprung from are not to be sniffed at and whilst I'm still trying to spot my own set of FUTURE FRESHIES (excuse the caps… the FF's need to be emphasised…), I'm also appreciative of these endearing and charming collections that the graduates have put just as much work into as those that have embedded light tubes into the spines of dresses.  Call me old and haggard and perhaps I'm getting jaded at the trappings of over-conceptualisation?

Amelia Chester (Northumbria) showed a collection that had inflections of work wear, 'country' gear (the pretty sort, not the stuff you get grubby in), the 40s as well as a balance between masculinity and feminity that plays out in the sort of clothes that feels like an updated wardrobe for the modern Land Girls. 

I thought Emily McNally (Birmingham) was invoking the Queen with her collection that reminded me of that Queen-themed D&G collection.  Upon further inspection, it turns out eccentrics such as the Bouvier Beales were the primary inspiration for the collection of mixed florals, touches of metallic and plenty of head scarves.  I feel like wavy locks are in order for this collection to properly function…

Oh, Louise Holsgrove (Edinburgh) is presumably Scottish… in goes some tartan, heavy coats and some muted tones.  No way is it as simple as that word reduction.  Yes, Louise has gone for some recognisable elements but in an unfamiliar way as she fuses a print that depicts some sort of an imagined metropolis mixed with comic-book style illustrations that shows up on a paper bag waisted skirt here as well as cosy textures and patterns that all mish mash into outfits I'll be thinking about when trying to create a huuuuuge paper bag waist with my own not so paper-baggy trousers…

I never saw Eve McDonald (UCA Epsom)'s collection in the flesh but I'm thinking she's tapped into the right part of the 50s era that I wouldn't mind having a go at emulating, as opposed to stressing myself out over lack-of-boobage for Prada's own 50s/60s vision.  The mix of rockabilly and teddy girls along with slightly chintz-y fabric choices ensure that no theme is ever too pronounced. Yes, there's a few 'trends' banging about here but perhaps Eve is doing it in an unapologetic way.  The desired effect is achieved anyway – heard a few people banging on about wanting to wear this straight away…

(Most of the portfolio pics are very VERY orange due to the annoyingly peachy lights that Earls Court Exhibition Centre is lit up with… not blaming the camera/my shoddy photography work this time round… that said, most of the portfolio photography was actually done by Sarah Barlow from Arts University College at Bournemouth who was shadowing me for the day!)