
Anya Hindmarch
Last year saw Anya Hindmarch pull together a collection that celebrated the best of British, branding her clothing and accessories with logos of favourite British brands such as Daz and John Lewis, but this year she has gone all digital. Pixelated patterns on sneakers and emoji covered arm candy paved the way for this digital collection. Pac Man-esque icons were adorned onto loose fitting trench coats, while space invader creatures acted as pockets. Primary colours ruled the roost with a geometric rubiks cube twist and fabrics played with texture, giving us a landscape of fur and tweed for the most part and embellishment that was key for this living arcade game, the only thing missing was Mario himself.
Vivienne Westwood
‘Intellectuals Unite’ was the title for the Dames AW16 show this year and although it is no secret that Vivienne Westwood’s political views hold great weight in not only her personal life but also her professional work, it was hard to decipher this time around where the rallying call to stick it to the man was exactly. In fact, there didn’t seem to be a strong solid theme for Vivienne’s AW16 Collection at all, instead it leaned more towards a greatest hits for Westwood. Slouchy dresses made the usual appearance, as did her signature tartan and androgyny reigned superior with trouser suits and pointed brogues setting the tone for this distinctly masculine show. Make up was theatrical, with pale powdered faces acting as the bases of smeared rouged lips. Charlie Chaplin sprung to mind, as did boy George. Still as long as Westwood refuses to play by the rules her fans will be happy and it proved yet another triumph for the veteran designer, who emerged to loud applause from her adoring fans.
Topshop Unique
“We wouldn’t want anything to be too proper, would we?,” was Geoffrey Finch, Topshop’s creative design consultants explanation for the AW16 show. It seemed that for this year Topshop Unique played with juxtaposition and alter ego characteristics; the goody two shoes girl battles it our with her racier, sexier sister. Darting from cutesy knits, muted tones and hounds tooth tailoring to sheer lace, leopard print and drapery slashed to the navel, it was apparent that the bad gal won the fight in the end.