London Fashion Week kicked off on Saturday, with an array of spring-summer 2004 creations culled straight from Tinseltown's golden era.
Irish designer Paul Costelloe opened the fashion extravaganza with a collection of ultra-feminine pieces based on the 1950s-set Julianne Moore film Far From Heaven. Short jackets, pretty pastels and delicate gloves were among the themes of his collection, which seemed to fit perfectly with many of the designs seen in New York last week.
And ladylike chic was an undeniable thread running through many of the collections, with designers such as Antoni & Alison showing off similar looks.
However, the silver screen wasn't the only source of designer inspiration, as demonstrated by collections from designer Ben De Lisi and Elspeth Gibson, which were rooted in paintings by Pablo Picasso and Sandro Botticelli, respectively.
While Elspeth Gibson's Flower of Venus collection reflected Botticelli's Renaissance art, Ben De Lisi showed bold cubist prints. "I was on my travels and I saw one of his paintings and love the shapes in it," said the New York designer. "So I created prints that mirrored his work."
London Fashion Week, featuring more than 50 designers, including Pringle, Katharine Hamnett and Paul Smith, runs through September 25.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
