Fashion is a fickle creature; her moods are fleeting and her tastes volatile. Not too difficult to predict, then, that there would be an autumnal backlash against spring’s romance and florals. The fragile flower who floated through spring and summer has been challenged, attacked and all but trampled upon by winter’s army of warrior women.
From the armoured tailoring of Yves Saint Laurent to the sheer sequinned chain mail at Christopher Kane, the AW08 shows played out like a series of battlefields charged by stomping beauties equipped to destroy.
‘Warrior’ references ranged from Japanese Samurai at Nathan Jenden to Spanish matadors at Osman Yousefzada to a space age nod to “Predator” at Gareth Pugh. Influences spanned centuries and continents but shared a statuesque power that is a world away from spring’s soft silhouettes.
Kitting myself out in full fashion armour may not be entirely suitable for everyday grocery shopping and the like, but the structured detailing thats permeated many of the shows will be much easier to sneak into reality. Built-up shoulders, corset style panelling at the waist and body-con tailoring are all exciting, wearable trends - especially if they call an armistice with a bit of romance and meet in the middle of no-mans land.
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