LONDON WOMEN COLLECTIONS AUTUMN/WINTER 2017.18

The collections presented at the latest London Fashion Week came out of a clash of chaos and cosmos. There was no clear division, but there were two schools of thought around each proposal, giving rise (in the same way) to the and the sides to femininity. On the one hand, there is a pleasure in with the creative force of the demiurge, on the other, the need to circle around determined fixed points. but made it through (that were both a showy detail and useful haversacks) or else applying or printing flowers. These were unusual uniforms, even in standard issue green, because they featured to make everything softer or to add peace to a customarily bellicose format. Another designer seduced by military wear is David Koma, who explored his roots by showcasing a reworked Georgian ‘Chokha’ war dress. The inspiration was obvious, but any ‘explosive’ charge in the traditional costume was cleared away by the addition of and , by the use of leather and , by and embellishing cartridge belts and military epaulettes. The androgynous figure at Gareth Pugh was more unsettling, clearly referencing the dark atmospheres of ‘The Night Porter’. Not only did the iconic feature but also mannish and coats with provocative reminiscent of Nazi uniforms. The British designer uses fashion to warn us of the danger of occurrences and recurrences in history, roughly a century on, and he did so here by making everything blacker than black, emphasised by and . Chalayan offered quite another kind of rigour, in line with his idea of almost , though still in rather dark colours such as black, brown, blue and grey. The designer of Cypriot descent looked to the past as well, focusing on in the Balkan period in his own way, with that touch of that, beneath apparent simplicity, conceals a skilful use of fabrics treated as . His thinking can be followed in the cuts, the with seams, and the . Everything is new in his hands: the , the , the suits and the jackets with rounded shoulders. Another designer that used the wardrobe like a box of Lego without following the instructions is J.W.Anderson, who proposed innovative forms unbound by convention. Pockets came at chest height, of a leather jacket were used but doubled the sleeves, a trench was fastened at the throat, with a and a , the sheepskin became an . There was a bit of everything in his collection, a layering of both materials and colours: this was fashion that did not seek to please at all costs but that had the courage to . Uncaring of tradition, especially its own, Burberry continued to question itself by altering its own icons. Nothing is sacred or untouchable, especially the brand’s signature trench, which was given , sleeves with thick stitching and asymmetry. There was no certainty in the proportions, because knits could have one short and one long sleeve, were and cropped at will, not to mention the jacket that, worn , had only a faint memory of its original self. There was a midway between those wanting to break the rules at all costs and those wishing to establish or re-establish where had taken the upper hand. The London shows had this to say: balance lies in swinging between two instincts that are more than natural; they are innate.