London Fashion Week

With London Fashion Week in full swing, a trip to the capital was definitely in order this past weekend. At Oxford Circus the windows at Liberty’s certainly didn’t disappoint, with single mannequins in each window, layered up for Autumn/Winter. Set against a neutral backdrop, the clothes did all the talking and really made an impact. At various other retailers across the city the London theme was played on more literally with the Tower Bridge, London Eye, Buckingham Palace and Red Buses used as visual merchandising props.  

 

 
  
At Harrods one large window was devoted to Fashion Week with all mannequins who were suggestive of models styled in black, while down the road at Harvey Nichols, colour was far more evident, with a younger, more playful theme emerging. The use of chains, metal, bricks, glass and knives in the main windows gave a more ‘punk’ style attitude, while the accessories were cleverly given focus through the use of black and white birds, suggestive of magpies.

 

 

 

 

At Topshop a ‘digital garden’ had been created to allow customers a chance to experience the Topshop showspace, with all the Topshop shows and backstage events being streamed live. Pretty benches, a grass floor and birds nesting boxes, made it a unique and memorable in-store experience.

Over at the ‘Cake and Bake’ show at Earls Court, one competition really grabbed my attention. The ‘Cake Catwalk’ as it was titled, in celebration of LFW, asked competitors to enter cakes themed ‘London Fashion Through the Decades’ across one of three categories including Professional, Non-Professional and Junior. There were many superb entries, but my favourite was by Ramla Kham (Professional) who describes her design as depicting “a pile of pearls, fashion magazines and shoeboxes...picture frames featuring prominent British designers from each decade and ... Philip Treacy hat and a Vivienne Westwood shoe”. The design was of such a high standard in terms of creativity and execution and fit the brief perfectly, deservingly being crowned the winner.

Another of my favourites was by Sue Kim (Professional) whose design received a Certificate of Merit. She says she was “inspired by a dress (featured) in the movie ‘Emma’, based on the book by Jane Austen”. The cake was simple yet extremely effective utilising creams and whites in various textures to convey an elegant design.

LFW continues until tomorrow at Somerset House, while the Cake and Bake show ran from Friday, right across the weekend.