OVERVIEW OF LONDON SS17

Another inspirational Fashion Week has come to the end, but I have to admit I am extremely excited for Paris Fashion Week which may be because I just so happen to be there during Fashion Week. I hear that if there are seats free in particularly shows they scout the best dressed people outside and invite them in ... I may just spend my entire time outside stalking the shows. Fingers crossed for me guys. 

Anyway onto London Fashion Week and what an incredible week it was. In comparison to NYFW there were definitely trends that carried on through, I would actually say that I spotted all of the trends I mentioned in my last post during LFW. But personally, London Fashion Week has to be one of the most electric and flamboyant weeks as far as the Fashion weeks go, as the collections just seem to be more out there. Therefore, there were definitely more trends that took the catwalk, so let me talk you through them:

Gingham 
Gingham is already becoming a popular print for Autumn/Winter on the high street and it seems that LFW has decided to continue this trend into SS17. When it comes to prints I can get very bored easily, therefore I try not to buy too many things with a print on because I will wear it once and then decide it's not for me. However, I have been eyeing up a few gingham pieces for A/W therefore I am glad to hear I can carry on wearing them for Spring/Summer. There were many ways in which Gingham was incorporated into the collections during LFW, a favourite of mine was House of Holland's head-to-toe gingham look including gingham boots which I NEED (It seems I have a thing with gingham shoes because I have also been lusting over J. Crews gingham sandals for the past couple of months). But how many people can pull off a head-to-toe gingham look or want to? Not to worry, designers such as Emilia Wickstead and Molly Goddard were more subtle with their gingham adding only one or two garments within an outfit, so if you need inspiration check out their collections. 



Pouf Sleeves 
So for New York Fashion Week I mentioned ruffles were taking over the catwalk and by any means this didn't change for LFW. However, the ruffles took place all over the body but there was one thing that particularly draw your attention to the shoulders within LFW and that was the repetitive pouf/tudor sleeves. I personally love this trend because I am all about statement tops and one of favourite has to Ashley Williams grey pouf sleeve top, I love how she has kept the rest of the outfit simple with jeans and black shoes to really let the sleeves do the talking. To hit two trends in one David Koma displayed a beautifully embroidered dress with just one pouf sleeve, as well as off the shoulder tops. Whether it's with ruffles or pouf sleeves, it's going to be all about exaggerating the arms and shoulders in SS17. 



Sheer Material 
Everything sheer, whether it was tulle, mesh, organza ... ranging from revealing to wrapped up. Sheer fabrics are very much in for SS17 which I'm sure we will all be happy about as they're light and breezy which will be ideal if we have another summer like the one just gone. Simone Rocha kept it elegant with crisp white fabric, layering tulle in areas to keep some modesty. Whereas Christopher Kane displayed a very revealing collection with mesh bras and bodysuits. However, it doesn't all have to be revealing. I particularly like when sheer material is layered over an outfit to add another dimension to the outfit but also to reveal what's underneath ... Check out J. JS Lee's collection for more inspiration on layering sheer material. 



Details and Embroidery 
During London Fashion Week I found that the garments were much more detailed than the collections featured at NYFW. I may have spotted it more during LFW because of how dramatic some of the designers collections are, but I definitely noticed a lot more embroidery and more detailing throughout. There were two details in particularly that I noticed constantly which were zips and belt buckles. Versus Versace used both of these detailing to give off an extra rock chick vibe, incorporating the belt buckle into the footwear and creating an extremely punk look with dark colour tones and cut outs. Julien Macdonald displayed head-to-toe embroidered dresses full of gold, glitter and studs, featuring zips running across the chest and hips. But if you want that laid-back look follow J.W. Anderson and keep your belt buckles open and hanging loose to create an effortless 'I don't care' look.



Ruching 

Now I'm not sure if this trend is going to appeal to me personally because all I can think about is the god awful ruched clothes I used to wear when I was younger (looking back it makes me cringe). But ruching was definitely used by many designers throughout London Fashion Week and I have to say those Molly Goddard ruched trousers (see below) are looking pretty damn cool. I know this trend is not going to be to everybody's taste especially when you see head-to-toe ruching down the catwalk but there are pieces which are very subtly ruched and not completely shocking. My favourite has to be Eudon Choi's designs, the ever so slight ruching in the centre of his dresses gives the dress some texture without overpowering them. To mix things up, many collections presented ruching on just one side of the garment which we saw from the likes of Preen by Thorton Pregazzi and Mother of Pearl. I love Mother of Pearls 80's mini skirts with the print and ruching on one side, however I'm not completely sold by Preen by Thorton Pregazzi's polo ruching. Not a trend I'm completely head-over-heels for I have too admit. 



A few other details I spotted on the catwalk were the socks and sandals trend by Markus Lupfer, Mary Katranzou and Ryan Lo, which I'm not sure has completely taken over the nation yet but once again I am a massive fan of, particularly the fish net socks (especially great if you don't like your feet). 
Metallic also made an appearance by many including Mulberry, Versus Versace and Julien Macdonald ... I particularly liked Julien Macdonald's metallic fringing.
And lastly all I'm going to say is STRIPES, but really do they ever go out of fashion? 

My Favourite Collection:
This is so hard for me because I love how playful LFW is so all of the collections are a favourite purely because of how creative they are. However, there are three collections which stood out for me. Firstly was Julien Macdonald, the all in one jumpsuits are absolutely breathtaking, it's like they have been painted onto the bodies and the detailing is incredible. A particular favourite of mine is the all-in-one white lace jumpsuit. Secondly, is David Koma which was chosen as my favourite collection for last season. Once again David Koma has kept the collection elegant but with an edge, I loved the embroidered sheer panels and loop and button detail, as well as streaks of neon included amongst the monochrome pieces. Finally is Marques' Almeida which I have always been a massive fan of and they certainly didn't disappoint this season. There are so many items that I need from that collection, including their striped pointed ankle boots, striped off the shoulder shirt, lace trimmed printed hot pants and their bulky chained chokers. Therefore, I would have to say Marques' Almeida is my favourite collection of the three because their garments can be styled in so many different ways and I love how they create the outfits to look so effortless but put together at the same.


Once again I hope you enjoyed reading this post because I love writing them. I would love to hear what your favourite collections were and why so leave a comment below. Next up Milan ... 

Chelsea x 

All photos used are copyright @ Vogue.co.uk