Sienna and Savannah Miller ended Sunday at London Fashion Week with their debut Twenty8Twelve collection, which, for once, should get the younger sister in the tabloids for something other than prancing around with married men. That aside, the collection was an acceptable starting point for a relatively new label, with appeal in suprisingly price-friendly leather jackets.
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Earlier in the day, Donatella Versace‘s pet, Christopher Kane, showed a surprisingly dark (and even more surprisingly tartan-infused) collection to the likes of Natalie Massanet from Net-A-Porter. This, from the designer who made his name with up-to-there, second-skin neon frocks? A big shift indeed, but with sales figures like his, it seems to be working.
Aquascutum (featuring Yasmin Le Bon, Stella Tennant and Daisy Lowe on the runway) made a hit with figure-flattering rainwear and taffeta coats, and Jaeger London channelled sci-fi YSL in a uniformly dark collection. At Richard Nicoll, cream and pale pink formed the palette for PVC-infused trenches, and Todd Lynn kept up his rock-chic trouser reputation with versions in skinny leather and velvet.
Three days into fashion week, people are getting strange. Colin McDowell suggested singing a song backstage at Betty Jackson, who was getting rave reviews from Hilary Alexander and Erin O’Connor. The designer told me that despite feeling optimistic about her collection (one of her most gorgeous prints was a brightly coloured tribal moire), she added notes of Tim Burton for interest. Her front row included Jefferson Hack, Lorraine Kelly and Leah Wood, and most of the faces I saw were looking pretty pleased with what they saw.
On to Eley Kishimoto, I found Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune for the first time of the season. Wonder what she thought of the ‘Jet Set Masala’ theme, which saw models come out in 60s-style airline stewardess gear and jumper dresses in every Bollywood colour imaginable?
This, followed by performances from Daisy Lowe, Alice Dellal and Pixie Geldof at PPQ in Burlington Arcade, put me in a good mood for the second-to-last day of shows. Alexa Chung and Nicola Roberts also seemed to enjoy the ‘Proletariat Chic’ looks on the very, very long catwalk. Despite an abundance of pomegranate martinis at the Cafe de Paris after-party, I’ll be sure to keep you posted on celeb sightings and the latest looks for today.
– Jill Hilbrenner
