Kinder Aggugini Spring Summer 2013 Review

Are dungarees the new peplum? Probably not (unless of course Lanvin do one in raw silk and smattered with jewels) but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them in a number of London shows. Kinder Aggugini’s version opened his nautical themed show with a playful print of birds, swordfish,stars, hearts and a ships wheel. There were brief dresses with deep side pockets, trim shorts paired with shirts that had contrasting plackets and perforated inserts. A secondary print continued the seaside trip with mermaids, turtles, clams, jellyfish, and octopus. Some of the looks toward the end were a little too America’s Cup yacht team however this is really trivial when you see the jackets. Aggugini’s tailoring is fucking good and his choice of fabric looked spot on. 

House of Holland Spring Summer 2013 Review

Above: Delicious

Below: Lauren Bacall is not impressed

Henry Holland’s spring 2013 collection had some very pedestrian looking clothes with little to no design. Not only were the prints ugly it’s like they gave him an excuse to design simple clothes. Even though most of the collection was shit there were a few really strong looks. The best was a sheer cropped blouse with a peter pan collar that had a matching skirt. It was both revealing and covered up at the same time (if that’s possible) making for a sexy, modern look. I don’t know why he didn’t investigate this idea more instead of making rubbish pants, shorts and dungarees. Overall it looked like he ran out of steam and his attempts at humour fell flat. What I initially thought was ‘Bitch’ printed on a t-shirt was actually ‘Bitchin’ but the ‘in’ was obscured by the models’ hair. I loved the 90's but I don't think this was a strong. If I remember correctly, grunge in the 90's was moody not boring. 

Dion Lee Spring Summer 2013 Review

Australian based designer Dion Lee’s star is slowly on the rise. From the get-go he’s drawn attention from editors for his remarkably cut, beautifully constructed and most importantly, original clothes-a feat for an Australian designer. I say it’s a feat because unfortunately I see a lot of Australian fashion ripped directly from the European runways and then these designers have the gall to pass it off as their own. I think these lazy aussie designers are quite grateful that they’re a season behind in the southern hemisphere as it gives them a lot of time to go on international buying trips and directly copy best selling items from reputable houses. Just to wrap this segue up the thing that probably gets to me the most is that many Australian designers have been doing this for so long that they actually believe that this is what fashion is and how it should be done. They’re nothing more than Zara with a higher price tag. But not all Australian designers are thieves  and Dion Lee along with designers such as Romance Was Born or shoe designer Phong Chi Lai are leading the way.

For spring Lee picked up on the transparency trend and started things out with some sharp dresses and pants with sheer inserts in white. This was contrasted with shots of bright orange and there was a beautifully minimal leather biker jacket.  Lee is a fabric geek and had shiny soundwave looking lines printed on dresses however this is where things got too tricky and he lost his way. Editorially some of these pieces will blow you away and will definitely appear in print but the looping and twisting became so intense that on some pieces it looked tortured. It was the restrained pieces that looked modern and easy to wear that will have legs and I think he shouldn’t be so afraid of control and simplicity. Many young designers in London this season are really being quite blunt with their collections that it’s like an air horn being blasted in your face. I think it’s takes true confidence to do away with bells and whistles and find a balance between artistic flourish and commercial viability. Dion Lee has shown us that he can meld the two effortlessly but I think he will be more successful when he learns to edit. 

You Killed It. You're Killing Me

I've decided to take one look from a collection that is flawless and the other look is balls. First up is Eudon Choi. Choi is a Korean designer based in London. He trained in menswear in Korea and has designed for Twenty8Twelve and All Saints. This is his sixth collection.

Below: Flawless android goddess serving Meredith Vickers runway realness. Killing it.

Above: Wat?