In recent years, London’s Fashion Week has taken a backseat to New York, Paris, and Milan, producing trends and styles that weren’t necessarily standouts, if at least classics. London was expected, with hundred-year-old heritage brands, and crisp khaki fabrics reigning supreme, nary a graphic print nor risk in site.
Grey, drab tweeds have given way to candy hued clothes.
And then, something shifted, and just like that, London was back on the peripheral fashion map. Blame it on Christopher Bailey at Burberry for sending rubberized skirts and heart printed shirts down the FW13 runways last February—classic Burberry shapes, but different. People, all of a sudden, took notice. People were hooked. And while the Susie Bubbles and the Alexa Chungs continue to keep London on the style radar, designers are putting their best (Tabitha Simmons clad) foot forward.
Designers are gung-ho on putting London back on the fashion map.
This spring, London sent one after the other model down the runway in looks that are sure to show up on a street style blog near you. From Burberry’s pastel and lace army, to Christopher Kane’s mermaid sheaths, the overall trends of London were very, well, un-London like. Grey, drab tweeds have made way for candy hued, whimsical shapes. The greats like Vivienne Westwood even seemed to shift perspective, sending tailored and structured pieces so coveted by the fashion set out (while still maintaining her very Westwood attitude—that makeup!).
London may have some catching up to do, but they’re not too far behind.
