After the sophisticated and civilised nature of New York Fashion week, true to form London brought a more ‘anything goes’ kind of attitude to the runway. With a model chopping off her hair on the catwalk of Ashley William’s show and Charlotte Olympia throwing a party in the middle of hers, it’s safe to say there weren’t many quiet moments throughout the week.

After several seasons showing at Paris Fashion Week, MM6 Maison Margiela and Versus Versace showed their collections in London again. All eyes were on the Versus Versace show with teen star Bella Hadid on the runway and sister Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik on the front row.

Reference was also made to industry’s young stars during Henry Holland’s House of Holland show where models took to the runway in t-shirts featuring slogans such as ‘I’m yours for a tenner Kendall Jenner’, ‘Let’s breed Bella Hadid’ and ‘Give us a toss Karlie Kloss.’

House of Holland SS17

Christopher Kane celebrated the brand’s tenth anniversary by referencing signature styles such as lace mini dresses in the collection and sending embellished crocs down the catwalk, yes you heard me right, crocs!

Christopher Kane SS17

Despite all of this, arguably the biggest moment of London Fashion Week had to be the new ‘see it now buy it now’ concept adopted by Burberry, Topshop Unique and Oliver Spencer. This allowed attendees to purchase the collection straight after the show rather than having to wait a further six months as usual. Designers are now adapting to a more consumer-faced market and competing to deliver quickly in this fast-paced industry.

New stars included Paula Knorr from Topshop’s mentoring programme, NEWGEN. Previous success stories from this programme have included designers such as Marios Schwab, Jonathan Saunders and Christopher Kane. Knorr didn’t disappoint with a metallic, art inspired collection. New faces to watch included Londone Myers, previously featured in Yeezy and YSL campaigns.

Paula Knorr SS17, Londone Myers

Trends throughout the week included metallics from designers such as MM6 Maison Margiela, Paula Knorr, Christopher Kane and Marques Almeida. Yellow was also hot on the catwalk, featured in Roksanda, Versus Versace, Preen and Erdem. 
Clockwise from top left: Paula Knorr, Marques Almeida, Versus Versace and Roksanda.

Of course florals were going to be a main trend for the upcoming Spring Summer season, however this year they came back petite and delicate on the catwalks of Emilia Wickstead, Preen and Erdem. Following on from this, romance was a general theme throughout the week with ruffled sleeves at Preen, lace at Christopher Kane and loose, whimsical dresses from Paul Smith and Erdem. 
Clockwise from top left: Emilia Wickstead, Erdem, Christopher Kane and Preen.

Single earrings were one of the most noticeable accessory trends throughout the week with large, statement earrings worn by models during Simone Rocha, JW Anderson and Mary Katrantzou’s shows.

From left: Simone Rocha, JW Anderson and Mary Katrantzou

Hannah Brown

Cover Image: bjournal.co