The Leftovers: London Fashion Week SS12

London has a history of living a few seasons ahead of the other cities. Yet in recent years, I’ve noticed a shift. A falling in line. Or it could be a growing up. Though if one truly thinks about it, those two ideas are inextricably linked.

This season, I felt more carry over from New York than I have in past years.

The designers showing in London have always had a way with prints, so it was no surprise that the florals seen in New York continued to flourish there in a range of manifestations.

At Clements Ribeiro

At Erdem

At Caroline Charles

At Temperley London

At Matthew Williamson

At Christopher Kane

At Kinder Aggugini

And of course prints of other varieties could be found everywhere.

At Maria Grachvogel

At Paul Smith

At David Koma

At Jonathan Saunders

At Basso & Brooke

At Michael van der Ham

At Mary Katrantzou

Outside of the floral prints, there were small glimpses of the other trends that dominated the New York season.

The colorblocking

At Jasper Conran

At Jean-Pierre Braganza

At J.W. Anderson

At Jaeger London

At Margaret Howell

The peplums

At Paul Costelloe

At Peter Jensen

At Osman

At Corrie Nielsen

The shorts

At Daks

At Erdem

But those pieces comprised only a small fraction of the whole story. And the story in London was one of neons. But there were no stepping back from the edge here as there had been in New York. No toning down of the brilliance. Maybe it was in that way that London retained some of the feel of those seasons past. At times, the colors felt too strong, yet you couldn't help but stare in amazement.

At Maria Grachvogel

At Nicole Farhi

At Ann-Sofie Back Atelje

At Matthew Williamson

At Jaeger London

At J.W. Anderson

At Paul Smith

Especially at the brilliant blues.

At Pringle of Scotland

At Burberry Prorsum

At David Koma

At Emilio de la Morena

At Paul Smith

It's a color used as a backdrop so often that you can forget its power.


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