Hail Mary

 

Last season, Mary Katrantzou wowed the audience of her London Fashion Week show with her intricate prints and strong silhouettes.  While other designers concentrated on a minimal look with little print and colour, Katrantzou was a true patron of London Fashion Week's individuality and creativeness.  Critics of LFW argue that the collections are not as wearable, or more importantly, saleable than it's New York, Milan and Paris counterparts.  Katrantzou takes unwearable and unsaleable clothes to it's limit, using extradionary and at times garish print on lampshade skirts and structured tops.  Yet, somehow, it works. 

This season she softened those strong lampshade skirts into more wearable shapes, teamed midi-length dresses with eye-popping colour, high necked tops (a big trend this season) with surrealist and dada prints.  Last season Katrantzou offered us the view from her window, this season she concentrated on the antiques and collectibles in her room, porcelain tea pots, ethnic tapestries and Chinese bowls.  Styled together it was a myriad of print that pushed its limit, showing an excess with jarring images and shapes in one look.

Yet deconstructed Katrantzou's work is not just one for the collectors, editorials and the Anna Dello Russo's of this world.  Printed cardigans, skirts, trousers and shoes are bold enough to be teamed with plainer clothes for the more apprehensive customer, while a beautiful long-sleeved knee length dress in soft purple flower prints will appeal to the Erdem lover. 

But the highlight of the collection were the short dresses in playful shapes with skirts that jutted out from the hip and tight bodices.  Adorned with a myriad of print they were Katrantzou's show pieces, the ones the critics will be talking about for the next year.  Last season I did not think anything could be as exciting as what she produced, yet Katrantzou has simultaneously made her work more wearable and more thrilling in a single collection.  I cannot wait to see what she does next.

(style.com)