London: Erdem, Jasper Conran, NewGen, Paul Smith Fall 2009
Best thing about LFW: all the different venues. More shows are held outside the great white tents than in them. From the Saatchi Gallery to the Science Museum, a repurposed industrial warehouse to a shabby-genteel flat, every day is a whipstitch through London’s patchwork heart. Yesterday morning was a favourite: Erdem (Montreal-born, London-adored) showcased his FW ‘09 collection in the Embankment Galleries at Somerset House. Down by the Thames and across a cobblestoned courtyard, it couldn’t have been better on a postcard.
While guests queued and violinists cued, I picked out Erdem flowers all the way down the front row, heart fluttering with national pride. That Monsieur Moralioglu has achieved such a flourishing signature and such devotees, is remarkable. His career is young, but as a designer he is already as assured as he is shy in person. (I met him once—through friends, not work—and he told me softly that he doesn’t watch other designers’ collections, hasn’t done so in years, has no idea whether his designs look like Prada Spring 2007 or not. It’s as though he creates in a glass bubble, or rather, a greenhouse, given his love of painterly blooms.)
For Fall 2009, all the romance took a doomed turn. With lips painted Russian red and doll dresses in the same shade of silk, overlaid with black lace, I thought of Anna Karenina. The gardenia was moodier too, with violent violets and sweet-sickly yellows mixed in with the red and black. Shoes looked hand-painted to match. Subdued bustles and rounded shoulders echoed the silhouette du jour, but overall it was trend-free, immaculate and gorgeously executed. Erdem is nothing if not a perfectionist.
Worst thing about LFW: all the different venues, making me feel perpetually in transit, late and lost. A wrong tube stop followed by even more wrong turns led me to arrive at the Jasper Conran show just in time to see a bevy of BAAs (Botox Addicts Anonymous) exiting. What did I miss? A perfect show for women who aspire to age like Madonna: lots of black lingerie-inspired dresses, tea-length (grown-up) and see-through (reluctantly grown-up), cinched with black patent belts for that Gucci look. And the kicker? A leather bodysuit under a cape.
But if hardcore’s your thing, best skip the old design houses and go for LFW’s NewGen. I took a whirl of a tour through the Topshop-sponsored exhibition on the top level of the tent and found loads of black bondage, studded second skins and fringe taken to new lengths of fierce. It’s a new day for Brit Rock. Favourites: moulded dresses, sleek and razor-shouldered, by Hannah Marshall and Felder Felder‘s superimposition of heavy metal embellishment on gossamer-light chiffon.
Louise Goldin, too, showed an all-black collection that tugged on early-90s subculture memories, in keeping with compatriots Gareth Pugh and Marios Schwab. The knit-witted rising star embellished the expected leggings, all-in-ones and Leger-like minis with Swarovski sparkle, stretch-leather panels and luxe furs.
A long day four ended on an upswing, with Paul Smith taking a packed Claridge’s ballroom on a military-inspired jaunt: olive green wool interrupted by wild multistripes; gold tassels giving way to heavier embellishments in the form of necklaces slung over the shoulder like belts; and some cool short-sleeve trenches layered over muggy-toned knits. Like many of London’s heritage designers, Smith is much the same season after season; then again, so is the weather.
Read our interview with Erdem from our March issue.
ALL FALL 2009
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://fashionmagazine.com/style/london-erdem-jasper-conran-newgen-paul-smith-fall-2009/&title=London: Erdem, Jasper Conran, NewGen, Paul Smith Fall 2009&picture=https://fashionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/mar09erdem_lg-326x545.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_3246" align="alignnone" width="359" caption="ERDEM Fall 2009. Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images"][/caption]
Best thing about LFW: all the different venues. More shows are held outside the great white tents than in them. From the Saatchi Gallery to the Science Museum, a repurposed industrial warehouse to a shabby-genteel flat, every day is a whipstitch through London's patchwork heart. Yesterday morning was a favourite: Erdem (Montreal-born, London-adored) showcased his FW ‘09 collection in the Embankment Galleries at Somerset House. Down by the Thames and across a cobblestoned courtyard, it couldn't have been better on a postcard.
While guests queued and violinists cued, I picked out Erdem flowers all the way down the front row, heart fluttering with national pride. That Monsieur Moralioglu has achieved such a flourishing signature and such devotees, is remarkable. His career is young, but as a designer he is already as assured as he is shy in person. (I met him once—through friends, not work—and he told me softly that he doesn't watch other designers’ collections, hasn't done so in years, has no idea whether his designs look like Prada Spring 2007 or not. It's as though he creates in a glass bubble, or rather, a greenhouse, given his love of painterly blooms.)
For Fall 2009, all the romance took a doomed turn. With lips painted Russian red and doll dresses in the same shade of silk, overlaid with black lace, I thought of Anna Karenina. The gardenia was moodier too, with violent violets and sweet-sickly yellows mixed in with the red and black. Shoes looked hand-painted to match. Subdued bustles and rounded shoulders echoed the silhouette du jour, but overall it was trend-free, immaculate and gorgeously executed. Erdem is nothing if not a perfectionist.
Worst thing about LFW: all the different venues, making me feel perpetually in transit, late and lost. A wrong tube stop followed by even more wrong turns led me to arrive at the Jasper Conran show just in time to see a bevy of BAAs (Botox Addicts Anonymous) exiting. What did I miss? A perfect show for women who aspire to age like Madonna: lots of black lingerie-inspired dresses, tea-length (grown-up) and see-through (reluctantly grown-up), cinched with black patent belts for that Gucci look. And the kicker? A leather bodysuit under a cape.
But if hardcore's your thing, best skip the old design houses and go for LFW's NewGen. I took a whirl of a tour through the Topshop-sponsored exhibition on the top level of the tent and found loads of black bondage, studded second skins and fringe taken to new lengths of fierce. It's a new day for Brit Rock. Favourites: moulded dresses, sleek and razor-shouldered, by Hannah Marshall and Felder Felder's superimposition of heavy metal embellishment on gossamer-light chiffon.
Louise Goldin, too, showed an all-black collection that tugged on early-90s subculture memories, in keeping with compatriots Gareth Pugh and Marios Schwab. The knit-witted rising star embellished the expected leggings, all-in-ones and Leger-like minis with Swarovski sparkle, stretch-leather panels and luxe furs.
A long day four ended on an upswing, with Paul Smith taking a packed Claridge's ballroom on a military-inspired jaunt: olive green wool interrupted by wild multistripes; gold tassels giving way to heavier embellishments in the form of necklaces slung over the shoulder like belts; and some cool short-sleeve trenches layered over muggy-toned knits. Like many of London's heritage designers, Smith is much the same season after season; then again, so is the weather.
Read our interview with Erdem from our March issue.
ALL FALL 2009 ){kind=link}