Matthew Williamson is known as “the king of boho”, so it was entirely appropriate the rock-maestro, Prince, lent his unique support to the court of the young designer when he staged his comeback show at London Fashion Week yesterday. (Wednesday)
Prince’s new girlfriend, the model, Chelsea Rodgers, is a big fan of Williamson’s clothes and it is believed she was behind the singer’s decision to turn the designer’s catwalk into a frock ‘n’ roll fest.
Prince, who had snuck, virtually incognito, into a front row seat, erupted into song as his Australian dancers, The Twinz, gyrated on the catwalk in “Purple Rain” micro-dresses cinched with silver corset-belts, from the new Williamson spring/summer 2008 collection.
The clothes were a perfect demonstration of the eclectic-ethnic style which is Williamson’s signature and which has won him a legion of A-list clients including Sienna Miller, Kate Moss, Gwyneth Paltrow, Keira Knightley, Kate Hudson, Madonna and Demi Moore.
Williamson described his collection as the story of a global fashion-gipsy, who picks up souvenirs to add to her wardrobe as she travels the world.
This meant a fabulous clash of print, colour and embroidery, interweaving Aztec and Mayan symbols, Indonesian batik prints, Indian tie-dye and tribal beading from the Yemen and the Sahara.
Williamson spliced his heavily-beaded tops with khaki chiffon combat-shorts and cropped ‘harem’-trousers. He mixed hologram sequins with wool-fringing and multi-coloured sequins with mustard and brown striped trousers. He restored cheesecloth – that 60’s hippie staple – to the style forefront.
And he underscored the mood of the “New Romantic”, which is pervading this London Fashion Week, with ruffled and flounced dresses, both mini-short and maxi-long, in butterfly and mandala-printed chiffons.
Williamson decamped to New York Fashion Week in 2002 to turn his label into a global brand.
But London was the only place to be as he celebrated the tenth anniversary of founding his fashion company in 1997 soon after he graduated from Central Saint Martins Fashion College.
“It’s great to be home,” Williamson said backstage. “This is where it all began,” he added as he recalled his LFW catwalk debut in which Kate Moss and Jade Jagger were models.
At the British heritage label, Aquascutum, the design duo of Michael Herz and Graeme Fidler, based their collection on an unraveling of the company’s archives, showing curvy trench-coats in silk jacquard, military embroideries executed in old-fashioned hook-and-eye fastenings and jackets and dresses, hand-painted in extravagant paisleys.
GILES
Giles Deacon offered a fabulous glimpse of updated debutante style in his show at a Victorian schoolhouse in London’s East End last night (Wednesday).
Inspired by Dior’s New Look of 1947 and The Golden Age of Couture exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Deacon delivered delicious ball gowns with visible boning and zippered bodices, over huge tulle skirts, panniered at the hips or covered with Latex flowers cut out with pinking shears.
The collection in nude, pastels, black and white or exploded computer graphics, was a romantic nod to the debutante of the 1950s, who would now be more likely to be found in clubs rather than at Court.
