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The Row’s Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have been experimenting with show strategies for the past few seasons, both in Paris and New York, most recently swapping familiar open-spaced presentations for more intimate affairs, including at their Greenwich Street HQ. This season, however, was certainly the most intimate of all, the sisters inviting show-goers to The Carlyle for a ladylike breakfast, followed by the unveiling of the Spring/Summer 2018 line-up.
Tables were set with artfully-arranged Lily of the Valley posies, perhaps to give a clue to their fresh approach to the season ahead. And so, long coats came belted over wide skirts and trousers in timid shades of camel, oatmeal and ivory, a given for the minimal-loving twins. But then came the dresses – fluid and floor-length silhouettes that draped effortlessly in sugar-coated shades of rose, raspberry pink and dusty lilac, an unexpected move, the sisters themselves admitting that colour had been done before but never had it been a predominant factor within their collections. Expect to see even the most ardent minimalists coloured happy come spring.
New York has been a constant source of inspiration for Carolina Herrera, and previous show spaces at Bryant Park, The Plaza and The Pierre have made stunning backdrops to her ever-elegant collections; but to be the first fashion designer to host a runway show at the MoMA was a coup for Ms Herrera and a real moment on the Spring/Summer 2018 schedule.
Set amid the tree-lined courtyard of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, the collection was a celebration of colour, with a snappy palette of iris, electric yellow, coral and imperial red breathing a fresh lease of life into spring. Waist-cinching tea dresses and flowing skirts were plentiful, gracing the runway with a ladylike demureness, followed by a typically Herrera-style handling of denim, which brought easy glamour to the workaday fabric.
House of Herrera signatures, polka dots and stripes were revitalised courtesy of fresh colour combinations and unexpected embellishment, but it was the gown finale that really struck a chord with onlookers: wafted, light-as-air dresses in chiffon and tulle, re-imagined with smatterings of delicate beadwork, confetti and vivid hand-drawn prints that came alive in movement defined the spirit of the collection.
Founding her namesake label in 1972 and one of the key faces of the Studio 54 scene, few people know more about the '70s than Diane von Furstenberg. Who better than she, then, to approve Jonathan Saunders’ contemporary take on the decade for Spring/Summer 2018? His third season as Chief Creative Officer of DVF, but his first runway show, a blue and orange glass-panelled show space indicated the spectrum of loud, flamboyant, juxtaposing colours that were to come.
While Saunders shared that von Furstenberg’s stories had cast a profound influence on the collection, so too had Andy Warhol’s factory girl and main muse, Jane Forth, whose modelling career, coincidentally, von Furstenberg launched. Nostalgic references shone through a parade of eveningwear, with fringed seams adding an extra dose of freedom to dresses and tops, alongside handkerchief hems (fast becoming a Saunders signature), flares (of course) and layered folkloric jewellery that exuded nomadic charisma. All-out Seventies, yes, but brought into modern light, with graphic prints and exotic colours bringing something fresh and exciting to the table. Indeed, Ms Furstenberg looked more than happy with the results, watching on from the crowd.
"To quote Pablo Picasso, 'every child is an artist.' This collection discovers the artistry in childhood anew," said Mary Katrantzou of her fun-filled Spring/Summer 2018 theme. Entitled 'The 'Youth' Of A Year', Katrantzou went beyond the realms of even an infant’s imagination in creating a crowd-pleasingly colourful line-up that evoked never-ending nostalgia and brought smiles to the faces of the entire front row.
Childhood art forms and objects were reinterpreted into runway-ready pieces, Katrantzou explaining that a rainy afternoon had led to her experimenting couture-like techniques with LEGO and Hama bead prints. Fringed hems that trailed from dresses and skirts, meanwhile, were actually strings of friendship bracelets, and Paint-By-Number flowers imploded in the form of bold, oversized prints.
The designer didn’t stop here though. Push past the confinement of the indoors and the outdoors came to play with scale interpreted through the eyes of a child; proportions were blown up via puffball sleeves and drawstring balloon skirts in nylon tent fabrics that conjured up memories of kite-flying and many a family camping trip. All at once, it felt very mundane to be a grown-up.
Set within the courtyard of a historical school, Kenzo’s gender-merged Spring/Summer 2018 collection, entitled 'The Red String of Fate', was a far cry from its studious surroundings; this season, Creative Directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon swapped the serious topics of previous seasons – politics, climate change – in favour of having a little more fun. Split into two acts, 'Building The Bamboo Houses' and 'Love Letter to Sayoko', each was dedicated to a specific muse, model Sayoko Yamaguchi and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto respectively, with an interlude of aerial dancers that cascaded against the building walls and separated the two.
An entirely Asian line-up of Korean, Japanese and Chinese models not only called upon founder and designer Kenzo Takada’s roots, but also helped to reflect the collection’s influential muses in the show, all the while embracing cultural diversity. Unveiled after the first act of buttoned up men’s suiting, an assertive womenswear collection merged nostalgic and vintage influences with the promise of the future – think deconstructed patchwork dresses, optical prints and frilled shorts under oversized tailoring. The fun, however, was in the layering, with bandeau tops and sheer slips in satin and organza making an extra-playful update to sports jerseys. Needless to say, school was most certainly out for summer.
Roland Mouret’s understanding of the female form and how to maximise a silhouette has always been intrinsic to his eponymous label, but after 20 years of presenting the more structured style for which he’s renowned the French designer adopted a laissez faire attitude for Spring/Summer 2018 to brave and bold effect.
With Daisy Lowe – the designer’s ultimate hourglass patron, wearing a lilac off-the-shoulder design – sat among British Vogue’s Edward Enninful and style maven Olivia Palermo on the front row, the Brutalist environs of the National Theatre Foyer seemed to suggest deconstruction was on the cards. Standing out against the industrial grey backdrop, however, floral and patchwork prints adorned flowing asymmetric dresses and skirts, while textured knits and fringing channelled a more bohemian vibe. Structured elements – a corset, a pencil skirt – remained, but only to balance more nonchalant styling.
The designer explained in his show notes that his vision had been to destroy the idea of perfection and understand what it feels like to be a woman in today’s unbalanced world. Needless to say, then, that sense of sartorial armour for which Mouret designs have always been called on still remains.
Tom Ford has been redefining modern glamour since the '90s, and while more recently the designer has dabbled with exclusive presentations, shifted cities and even banned social media for the unveiling of his see-now, buy-now debut last year, for Spring/Summer 2018 it was back to all-out, show-stopping business via an explosive runway show that gave New York Fashion Week the kick-start it needed in a season that’s seen key brands swap the city for Paris.
With the likes of Chaka Khan, Kim Kardashian, Julianne Moore and Cindy Crawford, to name a few, sat front row, the collection saw Ford revisit the '90s with TF signatures – think on-point tailoring, figure-skimming dresses and low-slung trousers – updated in millennial pink, in a series of looks inspired by the designer’s travels between London and LA.
Set to the soundtrack of David Bowie’s Fame, while daytime looks were defined by fearless sportswear in the form of chic bomber jackets and dressed-up yoga pants, it was the provocative T-shirt-turned-party dresses and sheer, ruched gowns that were the real ice-breakers for night time, as seen on runway favourites Gigi, Kendall and Joan – no doubt the red carpet will be calling.
Stacey Bendet is a connoisseur of rock 'n' roll-spirited style, so the fact that the historic Chelsea Hotel once home to notorious New York musicians and artists - should feed her imagination for the Spring/Summer 2018 Alice + Olivia collection felt like a good fit, the designer re-creating the hotel via a modern-day installation for the presentation.
Each room, displaying work through the eyes of eight empowering female artists - Tallulah and Scout Willis (daughters of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore), Lucy Sparrow, Blair Z, Jemima Kirke of Girls, Lola Schanbel, Francesca DiMattio and Angela Hicks - Bendet's task at hand was to let the clothing tell the story, all the while expressing the artists' individuality.
Arty, romantic florals were inspired by DiMattio's collages, colours by Willis' drawings and illustrations by Hicks as displayed in the bathroom. The kitchen, meanwhile, saw Scout Willis perform live, decked out in sequins, of which Alice + Olivia fans will be wearing plenty come spring.
Images c/o harrods.com