LONDON FALL 2011: ONES TO WATCH

As NYFW comes to a close, we are excited to see what the rest of the world will bring us for the Fall 2011 season.  London Fashion Week starts this Friday with five days on their calendar.  Before it gets started, we wanted to highlight a handful of talent showing this season.

Some on the radar and some a bit off of the radar, all designers are relatively new to the catwalk.  In this segment, we highlight smaller brands and designers that we think are super talented and are paving their way into becoming the next fashion favorites. Choices were made based on their last few collections in conjunction with their unique aesthetic and design skill. In addition to our featured designers, we are also looking forward to some of the more established brands we love such as Acne, Jonathan Saunders, Clements Ribeiro, Erdem, Giles, Christopher Kane and of course Burberry.  London always shows us unique and forward thinking fashion and we are very excited for the new season. Stay tuned as we report firsthand from the London runways and present all the ideas of the Fall 2011 season.

Here is a list of our “Ones to Watch” in London for this season:

1. MARY KATRANTZOU

Already one of the brightest prospects for the future of London fashion, Mary Katrantzou presented one of the best collections last Spring and she is surely one to watch for Fall. Ever so imaginative, the designer wowed the show attendees with a full collection of screen printed garments inspired by a Victorian designed room. The result was colorful, impactful, and truly inspiring, Ever since that collection she has been nominated for the BFC emerging designer award (only losing to the equally talented duo at Meadham Kirchhoff) as well as winning the 2010 Swiss Textile award beating out such competition as Jason Wu, Adam Kimmel, and Damir Doma. She was awarded a good sum of monetary support which she has invested in a new studio and her Fall collection.  You can be sure that all eyes are fixed firmly on Ms. Katrantzou’s new collection as the shows commense at London Fashion week.

Mary Katratzou Spring/Summer 2011

Designer Mary Katrantzou

• Showing on Tuesday February 22^nd at 9:45am
• Her show will be livestreaming on the LFW website here.
• Visit the Mary Katrantzou website here.

2.  THOMAS TAIT

As the youngest ever student to be accepted and to complete the Central Saint Martins MA Womenswear course,22-year-old Canadian born Thomas’s career has been watched closely from its inception, gleaning praise and widespread interest from his all-black graduate collection, which was chosen to be shown at London Fashion Week for autumn/winter 2010. After winning such an accolade at this early stage in his career, it seems the interest has only just begun. He also won the coveted Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize where he beat out the before-mentioned Mary Katrantzou and won 25,000 pounds to produce his next collection. The shapes were striking and the presentation was memorable. Judging from his lone collection so far, Tait has an incredibly modern approach to his own take on minimalism. The angles and shapes of his garments inject drama into the collection even though the material is bare minimal and the lines are clean and strict. For his Fall collection, we cannot wait to see how he will continue to build and form his trademark aesthetic.

Thomas Tait Spring/Summer 2011

Designer Thomas Tait

3.  COOPERATIVE DESIGNS

A relative young brand having been around since the 2008/09 season, designers Annalisa Dunn and Dorothee Hagemann produce some amazing knitwear patterns and always churns out fresh color combinations. The creative duo is known for their high profile design collaborations including their Spring 2010 collection for Stefanel,as well as collaborations with Hussein Chalayan and Henri Bendel in 2009.   The Fall season should play straight into their design strengths with the need of creative knitwear. With the market continuing to be saturated, special, well-made knitwear will surely standout, and it will be interesting to see how the brand plays with texture and color for Fall, which both are shaping up to be huge trends. Their brand is currently sold in prestigious stores such as Browns Focus and Asos in London, Dolce and Gabbana’s concept store Spiga 2 in Milan, and Fatal in the US.

Cooperative Designs Spring/Summer 2011

 

Designers Annalisa Dunn and Dorothee Hagemann

 

• Presentation: Sunday Feb. 20^th 3:30pm – 6:30pm
• Visit the Cooperative Designs website here.

4.  PETER PILOTTO

Peter Pilotto Spring/Summer 2011

Designers Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos

• Fall 2011 show: Feb. 21st, 2011 9:00am
• View the show livestreaming on the LFW website here.
• Visit the Peter Pilotto website here.

5.  EMILIO DE LA MORENA

The emerging designer from London with a degree from Central Saint Martins has all the ingredients of a bright future star. Emilio de la Morena possesses strong training in the craft, a vast arsenal of references, and a sense of individual aesthetic, which combined together to create his best collection to date back in the Spring 2011 season. The young Spanish designer continues to present striking silhouettes and tackles innovative fabric combinations (his Spring collection saw him layering leather and soft floaty organza). All the risk seems to pay off as he not only hits on key trends, but expectation level from editors and retailers are at an all-time high, and we’re right there with the rest of the fashion industry. Shop the line at Net a Porter here.

Emilio de la Morena Spring/Summer 2011

Designer Emilio De La Morena

 

• Showing on February 22^nd on 2:45pm.
• Visit the Emilio de la Morena website here.