There's Something About Mary

My latest fashion article on The Cardiffian:

It’s that time of year again. More sparkly than Valentine’s Day, scarier than Halloween and camper than Christmas. It’s London Fashion Week.

The highlight of the week had to be Mary Katrantzou, winner of the Emerging Talent Awards at last year’s British Fashion Awards.

Featuring her trademark illusory digital prints, inspired by trompe l’oeil, on structured lampshade-shaped dresses embroidered with typewriter keys, spoons, pencils and phone dials, Katrantzou’s collection was innovative as it was fun.

Known for her daring use of shape and structure, Athens-born Katrantzou created an entertaining and inventive collection for Autumn/Winter 2012-13.

Before the show, she said her inspirations for the collection were, “still life, crayon box and Victoriana,” and she encapsulated each of these elements with humour and craftsmanship.

Katrantzou’s work was as brilliantly entertaining as ever, but the knowledge and skill with which she creates her collections should not be overlooked: Victorian-style bustled dresses, strict corsetry and undulating neck ruffles all bear the marks of haute couture artistry.

The whole collection was redolent of a Victoriana psychedelic dreamscape, full of unexpected twists and bursts of colour on traditionally restrictive staid shapes and structures. 

The star of the show was undoubtedly the “pencil pencil skirt”. The skirt was part of a neon-bright yellow and magenta embroidered dress, with a  beautiful square neckline and a skirt made of real HB pencils. The pencils fanned out along the skirt and were created with Lesage, a French couture embroidery specialist.

The collaboration was the first time Lesage has ever worked with a London Fashion Week designer, which shows the respect Katrantzou already commands in the fashion world.

One of Katrantzou’s most memorable prints was of a bathtub, with the foam bubbles made in relief from encrusted pearls and patterned over an Elizabethan-inspired, high-necked silk top. Another features teaspoons as a repeat print on a peplum skirt, while an old-fashioned rotary telephone dial print was scattered all over a stiff silk cape.

Peplums, chiffon capes and quirky prints were juxtaposed with the couture cuts and the contrast created a beautiful dynamic. It was as if the two balanced each other out. The formidable couture cut and the quirky, bordering on silly, prints combined to create an accessible and covetable collection.

Katrantzou cited crayon box as one of her inspirations, and that was how she chose to present the show. She divided the collection into seven distinct colour spheres and sent models down the catwalk in each colour group. The thought and aesthetics which went into not just the collection but the display itself was extraordinary.

After the show , Katrantzou said: "I chose the items per colour, it was important to me to associate colours with one everyday, mundane item."

The Katrantzou brand has quickly become a cult hit. Her collaboration with Topshop sold out online within days and the floral goody bags at her show were gone in seconds. Her collections from her first in 2008 to her most recent are going from strength to strength, and it seems we can only expect more from the doyenne of print.