London Fashion Week autumn–winter 2012–13: day 2 catwalk

Issa Even we’re enjoying watching London Fashion Week’s autumn–winter 2012–13 collections on our live streaming player. But for those who want the usual day-by-day summaries, below are videos from Daks, Sister by Sibling, Clements Ribeiro, Jasper Conran, Simone Rocha, J. J. S. Lee, Aquascutum, House of Holland, John Rocha, Christopher Raeburn, Kinder Aggugini, Todd Lynn, Antipodium, Eudon Choi, and Issa.
Sheila McKain-Waid showed her second collection for Daks, and has gone from beauty pageants to royalty. With HM the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and its own golden jubilee of holding a royal warrant, McKain-Waid has emphasized Daks’s Britishness, while keeping its trade-mark restraint. Tweeds and checks were the order of the day.
Susanne Clements and Inacio Ribeiro say they were inspired by a variety of sources, and that their autumn–winter 2012–13 collection was a mash-up of their favourite inﬂuences. We liked the strong, colourful prints but, again, it was the Clements Ribeiro panelled sweaters that we would regard as one of autumn’s must-haves.
We liked Jasper Conran’s autumn–winter 2012–13 collection, giving us a neatly edited collection of staple items, notably ﬁtted dresses and coats. The colour palette was equally restrained, with nudes, blacks, browns and greys—and instead of a contrasting colour jumping out to catch attention, Conran used shiny silvers to give his collection a lift.
Simone Rocha seems to take an inspiration and instinctively make it fashionable—could it be in the genes, being the daughter of John Rocha, who sat in the front row? Papua New Guinea tribes and 1930s Dublin were her inspirations, but they were subtly interpreted through detailing. Works for us.
J. J. S. Lee also kept her colours limited—black, white and grey—employing masculine tailoring, excellent ﬁnishing and clever layering. Again, subtlety works when you know how to manipulate proportion, and Lee does.
Aquascutum’s Joanna Sykes used a masculine style for her autumn–winter collection, too: adding to the androgyny was just enough sexiness with her trench coats and skirts. Sharp angles and cut contributed to Aquascutum’s power-dressing æsthetic for autumn.
While we are ﬁne with subtle colours, Henry Holland’s use of far brighter shades helped with day two’s variety. Jumpsuits, trouser-suits and leggings in red, pink, fuchsia and blue, and the return of houndstooth patterns, meant a very sassy collection, perfect for Holland’s celebrity fans who were in the front row: Alexa Chung, Leigh Lezark, Nick Grimshaw, Pixie Geldof, and Poppy Delevingne.
John Rocha followed his daughter on day two, inspired by Hong Kong’s Happy Valley racecourse and Sean Scully’s canvases. The experience of the older Rocha showed: the play on textures and layers, and a masterful use of taffeta, lace and silk georgette.
Kinder Aggugini said his collection was centred around the idea of ‘Dolly Parton mashed up with Jay-Z’, using a menswear base and cowboy prints and making them feminine. We couldn’t quite make out the Jay-Z part, at least not in the designs, but the music played on the catwalk fulﬁlled that promise.
Temperley London’s Renaissance collection for autumn–winter took the richness of the period’s art and translated them into a range of dresses and evening gowns, with embroidery, tulle and lace.
Issa was particularly enjoyable last night. Think 1960s and 1970s, Asiatic Russia, paisley, bold prints, ﬂoral motifs, Chinese embroidery, kaftans and silk gowns, as Daniella Helayel took us on a trans-Siberian journey for autumn–winter 2012–13. It’s impossible to avoid mentioning the Duchess of Cambridge—Issa is one of her favourites—but this time, it’s a little less royal, unless you’re looking at the evening gowns. Helayel has pushed the envelope, and we’re thankful—the last thing we wanted to see her do was stagnate and fail to move on from the royal connection.