LFW: Stella McCartney

The city was alive and buzzing with the excitement during London Fashion Week, and one designer that quite literally stole the show with her autumn/winter 2012 collection presentation was Stella McCartney. The mega A-list guests were left stunned and ecstatic as models danced on tables and stormed the swanky London venue as they showed Stella McCartney’s latest eveningwear collection.

McCartney has not shown at London Fashion Week for sixteen years, but with her collaboration with Adidas which lead to her designing the apparel for Team GB at the Olympics, it seemed high time that she made her presence known, and no one will be forgetting her in a hurry.

The event was billed as a chic Saturday evening soirée in a secularised Mayfair church, where guests were seated at elegantly dressed tables and served exquisite vegan cuisine. Guests were treated to some entertainment in the form of a magician. Yes, a magician, but this was no ordinary magician; the audience – which included the likes of Rihanna, Kate Moss and Anna Wintour, were whooping and hollering as Alexa Chung levitated inches above the point of three swords. Any magician who can move this audience to such rowdiness must be very talented indeed. At this point spirits were high and the atmosphere was buzzing, and the best was yet to come.

Unknowingly to the other guests, each table hosted one model-masquerading as a normal guest – who wore one of Stella’s marble-printed silk eveningwear pieces. As the rest of the audience were still reeling from the magician, the final preparations were being made for the biggest surprise of the night. Right on cue, in sync with the beginning of the Led Zeppelin soundtrack, the models leaped onto the centre of the tables and performed an enchanting ballet whilst the rest of the audience looked on in amazement. The waiters then began to join in, placing chairs strategically around the room so the dancers could leap around and amongst the audience. At this point the atmosphere in the room was electric and some quick-thinking guests whipped out their phones to capture the making of fashion history as it happened.

What this whole, mind-blowing evening of course was really about was the clothes, and they did not disappoint. Nothing happens by accident when you’re Stella McCartney, and this presentation showed that these quite literally are the clothes for dancing on tables. Swirly marble fabrics in bold colours were a strong theme, as well as tuxedos with elements of lace, which is a key look of the season. A whole room of the toughest fashion critics around was left stunned and adoring as the models created an essence of magic on a Saturday night in London Town. “I wanted to do something special to celebrate being back in London,” said McCartney. “I love magic, and that was pretty magic.”

Sophie Maguire