Lisa Armstrong’s London Fashion Week diary: Earlobes, grey hair and socks have become the focal points
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Day three and there’s yet another British dame in attendance. Anna Wintour has touched down in the UK and is in the house, which to be honest, is starting to feel like a rarefied version of the Big Brother.
Many of the same familiar faces and an overwhelming degree of personal contact – as PRs attempt to squeeze more people onto a bench than will ever work – foment an atmosphere where there’s not much else to do during the inevitable delays between shows other than covertly scrutinise what people are wearing. No wonder Dame Anna cultivated a uniform years ago; an immaculate bob, a sheath dress and some sunnies remove a lot of the jeopardy from fashion-month dressing.
Details become excruciatingly important when you’re on the front row. Colourful socks, I note, are becoming quite the focal point. Chioma Nnadi, British Vogue’s new head of editorial content, plays a particularly strong sock and shoe game. Today she’s doing metallics.
Speaking of details, on Friday a Pinterest crew asked if they could photograph my… earlobes. If I say so myself, my ear curation was banging, but today it’s all wrong. Meant to switch them round in the car but got distracted by emails.
Luckily it’s dark at Emilia Wickstead’s 10am show. There’s an underground-venue vibe, which alters the whole tone of her show. New-Zealand-born Wickstead makes beautiful, elegant modern clothes (the Princess of Wales looks sensational in Wickstead). Last season, when she showed at the Royal Academy, her models daintily navigated an18th-century stone staircase in pastels and kitten heels. Today, the clothes are as polished as ever: long chiffon and sequined column dresses in lime or burgundy, pencil skirts and wrap jackets in pink or yellow. Styling them with flat fringed loafers gives them a really appealing low-key look. Something to try at home on all those dressy clothes you no longer wear because you can’t face heels?
JW Anderson’s show is always a hot ticket with the fashion crowd. A brilliantly interesting designer, his clothes are often provocatively odd, yet oddly graceful on the right person (the actress Greta Lee has worn him a lot on red carpets recently). There aren’t many celebrities out today – they’re probably all getting ready for the Baftas. A number of international brands have teams in London to host Bafta parties and dress celebrities – Brunello Cucinelli on Friday, Chanel on Saturday. That’s good for London’s profile, but the timing makes it even harder for small British brands to cut through.
Proportions at JW are oversized but shapely, in wonderful heritage tweeds and wools. I’m struck by the grey, curly wigs on some of the models. Eat your heart out Hilda Ogden. Could this be a potential hair-iform going forward?
Nothing weird about JW’s highly desirable bags. They’ve helped turn Loewe, the big LVMH-owned house he also runs, into a €1-billion-plus-a-year business. But here, from his London based label, you can get an equally distinctive bag for a lot less.
Tomorrow is the last day of London Fashion Week: look out for Burberry ending the season with a bang
