London Fashion Week SS18 Roundup

London Fashion Week is undoubtedly the biggest event in the fashion calendar of the UK. The Fashion Week, which celebrates fashion and style at its best, kicked off the Spring Summer 18 edition on 14th September and concluded on 19th September 2017. The fashion extravaganza featured shows by some of the top international designer labels and was graced by a long list of celebrities. I was there to witness the event and get an insight into the fashion trends for the coming season so that I could share them with my readers.

The London Fashion Week epitomized high-octane creativity from leading brands. From tempting high-street options to affordable street style choices, the range offered at the event was impeccable. The glorious five days here turned up sartorial brilliance for those with a penchant for style. Let’s have a look at the high points of LFW September’17 that deserve the attention of avid fashionistas who want to keep their wardrobe updated with the latest and the best.

Burberry sets the ramp on fire yet again

The brand caught the eye again, with its hallmark Burberry check visible on tanks, mini-skirts, and high-waist trousers topped creatively with pastel coloured plastic coats. Models flaunted the classy check on pleated tulle dresses accessorized tastefully with clog boots and up-sized tote bags. But what really made waves on the ramp was the infamous Burberry cap that made a triumphant comeback to the catwalk this season. Although the brand has always been associated with aristocracy, this season it seems to be driven by style influencers of the more recent times. The techy track pants, hooded anoraks and baseball caps seem to emulate the style fantasies of the working class. Let’s check out the best that Burberry brought to the catwalk this season.

Topshop tops the style game once more

Metallics, crystal accents, vintage feel coats……Topshop seems all set for prepping up wardrobes for the party season ahead. The Topshop Unique show at LFW showcased pieces that were young and sexy but not over the top. Sheer metallic tops were the theme of the collection, with the models going bold with the skin show. Tissue-thin transparent blouses, skinny atomic silver trousers, shrunken mohair vests and brushed red metallic leather minis made perfect picks for nailing that heady London nightlife look. The collection offered voluminous cocoon coats and long leather coats too, but the volume was balanced with sheer blouses and spaghetti strap flowing dresses, making the look more appropriate for the night rather than the day. Little party dresses and sequined showgirl dresses added versatility to the collection. The label showcased its fair share of gleam too, with art-deco chokers and earrings, over-sized pearl details, marabou trims, snake-hipped diamanté buckle-belts, and individual crystals finding the place as trims and accessories.

Edeline Lee strikes a perfect balance between boldness and fragility

Inspired by artist Georgia O’Keeffe, the collection defines the woman with an independent spirit, someone who is strong yet fragile. This season, Edeline Lee comes up with innovative creativity with knotted fabric motifs and 3-D floral embellishments. Smocked shirting pieces with handwritten O’Keeffe quotes were the highlight of the collection. The garments emulated delicate femininity, with wispy voile fabric, delicate smocking and a bit of volume on the sleeves. The well-proportioned pencil dresses and flared skirts in the collection seem to be tailor-made for flaunting womanly curves. And there was Lee’s signature bubble jacquard fabric that was cleverly twisted to introduce exaggerated element onto tops, dresses and trousers. The palette she used was an ode to the Southwestern scenery, with lots of blue, black, blush, adobe, ivory and nude.

Amira Haroon’s collection replicates the American pop culture

Amira Haroon, a Dubai-based designer, presented her stunning collection at the London Fashion Week September 2017 as a part of the DDFC x FAD Dubai Fashion Showcase to take the budding talents from the region at an international level. Inspired by American pop culture, the collection signifies the strong woman of 2018, someone who wears her personality in her outfit and hair, and her efforts and achievements as well. Amira takes her reference from the timeless musician and performer Whitney Houston, who continues to inspire designers and musicians around the world.

FAD India showcases the rich Indian heritage on the ramp

FAD International Academy introduced 8 emerging Indian designers from FAD India at London Fashion Week SS/18. Designers Nidhi Jain, Manali Khude, Simran Oswal, Savio D’Souza, Mehak Somjee, Simran Sachdev, Shraddha Katariya and Shambavi Mudgal were the ones who had the honour of presenting their creations at the prestigious event. Their collections were featured at the House of MEA Catwalk Show at Fashion Scout. Contrasting textures, rich fabrics and vibrant colours were blended together to project the rich Indian heritage through their designs. The variety in fabrics was diverse, with abundant use of luxurious pure silks, velvets, georgettes, and velvet, and that of contemporary leather, jute and yarns as well. The collections innovated traditional embroideries and surface ornamentation techniques such as gold embroidery, metalwork, Aari and Zardozi and inverted diamond smocking, with three-dimensional texturizing. The designers came up with inventive fabric manipulation techniques too, creating unique silhouettes with perma pleating, heat pressing and distressing and draping.

Innovation X: A Portrait of India blends tradition and modernity

This year’s Fashion Scout at LFW was concluded with Innovation X: A Portrait of India, an event that celebrated the established as well as emerging fashion pioneers from India. Spearheaded by ace designer Manish Malhotra, the show presented the likes of Masaba Gupta, Priyanka Khosla, Hardika Patel, Avleen Anand, Kamran Patel, Sakshi Bhalla, Kanika Manchanda and Jasminum. All the eight labels have earned repute for blending Indian heritage and modern techniques to create their garments.

Nothing could get bigger than the big show, as it presented unending options for style enthusiasts. These are just a few of the designers and trends that I wanted to highlight. But alas, all good things have to end and so did the biggest fashion event in London. All the hot and happening trends at London Fashion Week September 2017 have left the fashion enthusiasts excited and waiting eagerly for the event to come back with its next edition.

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Review of Maral Yazarloo, House of MEA “Deja Vu” Collection at Fashion Scout London

It was the unveiling of Maral Yarzoo’s “Deja Vu” Collection at the House of MEA runway and I just couldn’t wait to pen down my thoughts from the moment I arrived at the venue .

Opening of the show:

House-Of-MEA-Maral-Yazarloo

Closing of the show

To give you all a background, House of MEA (House of Middle East & Asia) is an international forum that seeks to explore and expose high couture creations by middle-eastern, Asian and Indian designers. The first season of House of MEA’s productions is being showcased as part of Fashion Scout, London 2015 and what an opening it has been!

With Maral Yazarloo’s “Deja Vu” being one of the first shows, everyone was eager to see what this Iranian-born designer had in store for her audiences. I was especially curious about her collection because she has had an interesting and inspiring journey in the fashion world. She came to India in 2004 to pursue her MBA and decided to stay back for she was mesmerized by the country. Taking inspiration from her Iranian heritage and India’s rich culture, she launched her brand Ma/Ya “Made of Dreams” in Paris, Rome and India as well. And if I was impressed with the designer’s story and personality earlier, witnessing her collection come alive at the Fashion Scout only added to my admiration for her.

Her collection for House of MEA’s runway show was entitled “Deja Vu” which clearly represents her deep enchantment with cultural past and its modern interpretation. She wowed the audience with 20 exquisitely crafted handmade jackets that reflected a lovely symphony of zari-gold thread-work and fine machine-work. She primarily used velvet, raw silk and leather, with a colour palette of rich shades including burnt orange, mustard yellow, carmine maroon, peacock green and turquoise blue. The elaborate headgear, traditional bhutani boots and nude make-up added to the rustic charm her designs attempted to recreate.

Personally too, I liked Maral’s creations a lot, which combined the flavours of ancient Persia, medieval India and contemporary Middle-East. It was an aesthetic fusion of traditional forms and sophisticated modern stylistics, which made me realize that simple yet elegant clothing it truly timeless. I loved the colours used and also the playful experiments with texture and layers.

All in all, the “Deja Vu” fashion walk was very engaging and enjoyable – the perfect start to my adventure at this year’s Fashion Scout, London. Stay tuned for more updates!