Dear Shaded
Viewers and Diane,
The first
autumn rain early this morning seemed to have damped, if only a little, the
usually radiant spirit of the London Fashion Week crowd. Don't get me wrong,
things were in no way muted – we would still wear plumed eyelashes, but maybe
keep our underwear on beneath our kilts too. Layers were carefully added to the
queuing silhouettes outside the shows, and those of us sporting furry styles were
slowed ever so slightly on their tracks. We could perhaps have been partially
annoyed, weren't it for the palmer//harding show a few hours later to remind us
of the utter, inescapable poetry of it all. Inspired by sudden summer downpours,
their spring collection explores the infinite ways wet cloth clings casually to
our bodies, diverting tailored balance and light symmetries into stiffer, magical
sculptures of temperature and chance. Besides their trademark pristine cottons,
the season indulges in voluminous pleated silks, seamless asymmetries and
amplitudes, a lacquered powder blue. Dresses,
trousers, jackets and skirts join for the first time palmer//harding's
impeccable shirts, with waterproof touches and weighted hems, billowing sleeves
cut open all the way up. At last, a delightful collaboration with Demeter
Fragrance Library left the room suffused in the delicate, moist aroma of
upcoming thunderstorms.
Later,
Silvia
