‘You can have it any colour you like…’ In the so-called Roaring Twenties, Mr Henry T Ford told the newly enabled car-buying population that ‘you can have it any colour you like, as long as it’s black’. His namesake, Mr Tom Ford, seems rather more versatile. Tom Ford’s catwalk events really are as good you’ve heard. The showmanship, the atmosphere, the FROW, the champagne – and then there’s the clothing. From sparkling floor-length gowns emblazoned with pop art lightning flashes, through witty baseball jackets, to enviable scarlet velvet day dresses styled with fishnets and biker boots, the inspiration is all-encompassing. The invention, and then reinvention, has been startling. Mr Ford’s
Going bananas in pyjamas. The challenge with pyjama-style fashions is that unless they are perfectly executed, they really do look as if you didn’t have time to get changed. Which may be OK if you don’t mind or you want to save time in the mornings, or if the ever-reliable Paul Smith is in charge. His latest offering brought nightwear into the LFW daywear arena with a characteristically witty show. Even former model Coco Rocha was getting into the party spirit as she slipped her slender figure onto the FROW and Instagrammed her way to her ever-widening fan base. The prints were balanced and neat, not quite loud enough to be accused of making their own way down the catwalk but expensively sty
London. Wet and wonderful, and ever stylish. Home to Burberry under the skilled and purposeful guidance of Christopher Bailey. In case you don’t know, forty something Yorkshireman Bailey, son of a joiner and an M&S window dresser, was nurtured in the early stages of his career by Donna Karan and then Gucci under Tom Ford. He joined Burberry in 2001, invited by then CEO Rose Marie Bravo, and has been there ever since, even suggesting her successor Angela Ahrendts in 2006, with Bailey becoming Head of Design in 2009. When Ahrendts announced she and her lust-worthy wardrobe of trench coats would be leaving the glass walled office next door to Bailey’s to a new job at Apple, there was panic on t
Jasper Conran was destined to be creative. BFC Designer of the Year in 1986, his great talent is in still being relevant today. His shows are consistently precise and feminine. The girls look comfortable and youthful, elegant and expensive. There are no cheap tricks, with handfuls of very classical fairy dust in the shape of sequinned skirts and laser cut outs. With the Conran name in the UK comes both a design and a literary heritage, in the form of Habitat guru Sir Terrence, and novelist mum Shirley. The classical lines mean that while the clothes look expensive – beautiful cuts, properly weighted fabrics – they tend not to date. Imagine, you find something you love and it even stands the