London Fashion Week entered Day 2 on Saturday, featuring dozens of the latest designs from labels including Julien Macdonald, Emilia Wickstead and Gareth Pugh.
Here are some highlights from the day:
CROWN JEWELS AT JULIEN MACDONALD
Julien Macdonald isn’t one to skimp on glamour, but this season he’s dialled up the glitz even more with inspiration from some of Britain’s most celebrated treasures.
The designer, who sent his army of models down the runway in dozens of slinky, brazenly sexy gowns and evening dresses, said he took inspiration from a trip to the Tower of London and its collection of crown jewels.
“There’s diamonds, rubies, amethyst, gorgeous jewels covered in very rich, saturated colours,” he said after the show.
The barely-there dresses came in emerald green, peacock blue, hot fuchsia and silver — all skin-tight and adorned with lace, sequins and tassels. The outfits were accessorised with long, shiny black gloves, gladiator heels and mules, as well as lips lacquered in a fierce shade of purple.
Show-stopping looks included a silver fishtail gown dripping in sequins and a lipstick red silk jacket, loosely wrapped around a sheer cocktail dress.
That pop of red may be inspired by the theatrical art display of poppies surrounding the Tower of London last year to mark the centenary of the First World War. Like many others, Macdonald was impressed by the hundreds of thousands of handmade red poppies planted in the tower’s moat, each representing a soldier who died.
DISNEY INVADES FASHION WEEK
The most photographed shoe at Saturday’s shows wasn’t a Louboutin or a Jimmy Choo: It was Cinderella’s very own glass slipper.
Disney took over a space at fashion week’s headquarters with an exhibition of the costumes made for its latest movie, starring Cate Blanchett as the wicked stepmother and Helena Bonham Carter as the fairy godmother. For an hour or so fashionistas forgot about looking cool and indulged in a bit of old-fashioned fairytale magic.
Crowds oohed and ahhed over the crystal shoe, which designer Sandy Powell said was based on an “impossibly tiny” shoe with a 5-inch heel from the 1890s that she found in a British museum. Others lined up to sit on a chair to get their foot “measured” for the slipper, though they could only get a digital version of the shoe.
Disney showcased its costumes for Blanchett and the two stepsisters, though the blue ballgown worn by Cinderella — played by Lily James from Downton Abbey — was nowhere to be found.
EMILIA WICKSTEAD DOES RETRO ELEGANCE
Across town, Wickstead’s catwalk was all prim and buttoned-up, its muted pastels, calf-length skirts and gowns with trains evoking a bygone era of elegance and romance.
The designer opened with demure outfits in cream, dusty pastel blue, and the palest shade of pink: Simple dresses with gently fluted sleeves, belted wool coats and pleated tweed skirts. Then came dresses in a bold geometric diamond pattern, though the lavender and mauve tones kept things soft and perfectly feminine.
Her final number, a red evening gown with a high gathered waist and full sweeping skirt, was made for the red carpet.
Wickstead, who began showing at London Fashion Week in 2012, has quickly proven a hit with the city’s well-coiffed, well-heeled fashion set. Her classic, quietly glamorous designs are favoured by the likes of the Duchess of Cambridge, and are gaining popularity in Hollywood too: Diane Kruger chose a silver gown from her spring collection for the Golden Globes.
Wickstead threw in a few pieces with a different feel — a powder blue halter-neck jumpsuit with a plunging neckline and a dress ensemble in stiff, shiny black PVC — but it’s clear she excels at a more understated ladylike look.
