Topshop Unique
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| Image via Style.com |
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| Image via Style.com |
Drawing on decidedly feminist eras, this season’s Unique collection was obviously and ode to strong women. Styled by former British Vogue editor Kate Phelan, the collection favored silhouettes popularized during the second world war--wide leg pants, functional jackets, and belted shirt dresses in muted khaki, burgundy, and slate. The slouchy forms were particularly pervasive and were reminiscent of the early Parisian garconnes who favored the ease of wear that men’s garments afforded them over Dior’s New Look. Ending the show with updated-flapper silhouettes was a stellar choice, bringing a sense of glamorous, functional nonchalance to an already strong outing. The garments’ conjure the historical relationship between fashion and women’s liberation. Unique’s intellectual and historically reverent turn is bound to be a retail success and is a sign of bigger and better things for the Topshop brand.
Simone Rocha
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| Image via Style.com |
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| Image via Style.com |
London is, if nothing else, an incubator for great talent and Simone Rocha’s first runway presentation is a stunning example of that. 25 consistently strong, meticulously crafted looks comprised her fall collection. While the silhouettes tended toward updated classics--the boyfriend blazer, peplum tops, and collared shift dresses--the unexpected fabrics elevated the collection’s successes. Tulle overlays, transparent, dream-like lace, and well-worked wools provided a new perspective on casual dressing and solidified Rocha’s place among London’s designers to watch.
John Rocha
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| Image via Style.com |
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| Image via Style.com |
In past seasons it was easy to perceive John Rocha’s work as a sort of McQueen-light alternative. This season, the Hong Kong-born designer (and father of Simone) came into his own, defining his surprisingly elegant, post-goth aesthetic. Models dressed in over sized belted furs read as graceful, brooding avian creatures, while open knits and sheer patchwork construction balanced the show’s serious tone.
Johnathan Saunders
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| Image via Style.com |
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| Image via Style.com |
A phenomenal season for Johnathan Saunders. Optical illusion prints, unexpected color, and slightly skewed takes on classic silhouettes make this collection particularly exciting. The collections outerwear is particularly successful, as it manages to reinvent the classic pea coat in a range of unexpected colors and textiles. I’m very much a fan of the almost-perverse take on the standard British plaid which promises to be a street style staple in the season to come.
