A modern take on British looks at London Fashion Week



You can mean one of two things talking about the London "look". One is the sort of cutting-edge fashion seen on the catwalks of Danielle Scutt, Louise Gray, Henry Holland and Charles Anastaste on day two of London Fashion Week.

Scutt's take on contemporary eveningwear included short dresses in ruched panne velvet and complicated latticework satin shirts and skirts. Charles Anastaste scaled up a classic English staple - the double-breasted children's coat with Peter Pan collar - and made it desirable for the most fashionable of young women. Henry Holland referenced "granny chic" and had front-row fans including Peaches Geldof and Alexa Chung, oohing and aaahing at cardigans made from crochet-squares and budgie prints.

This is exactly what draws foreign buyers and the press, seeking the extraordinary, to the British capital.

Louise Gray's riotous tartan and polka-dot textiles and Jonathan Saunders's techy textured knits accessorised with state-of-the-art Christian Louboutin wedges also did not disappoint.

The other side of London fashion involves the quirky nod to nostalgic heritage found in the collections of Daks, Jaeger, Aquascutum and Burberry.

The Japanese-owned, British bastion Daks (originally a combination of "dad" and "slacks"), who showed for the third season in London on Saturday morning, have perfected a modern take on Britishness - whatever Britishness means these days.

Who cares? The uniform of the green and pleasant land seen through the eyes of Daks' Milanese designer, Filippo Scuffi, and styled by the former Italian Vogue fashion editor, Cathy Kasterine (who helped nail Prada's "Miu Miu" style), is an outright winner.

Kasterine's obsession with all things 1960s and 1970s (her particular passions include gritty iconic movies such as Cathy Come Home) coupled with Scuffi's Italian love of Euro-luxe fabrics reinterprets countryside staples, from tattersall checks and quilted gilets to hairy tweed caped coats, sensible pleated skirts and dog-walking wellies.

Injected with sharp tailoring and worn by a bevy of beautiful young debutante-like models - who looked like they had been whisked from walking the labrador in rainy Hyde Park to the catwalk of London Fashion Week HQ, Somerset House - the effect was dynamite.

Highlights included handmade blue-faced Leicester wool jackets, hooded ponchos and caped duffel coats, worn over calf-length skirts with square-toed patent court shoes.

Another London signature is glamorous eveningwear. Issa, the label designed by the Brazilian-born Daniella Helayel, who created Kate Middleton's now famous engagement dress, showed a collection of figure-hugging, tailored day and eveningwear the future princess might approve of.

Later on, Jonathan Saunders's show, in a steel-and-glass building in the squeaky new Paddington Basin, was cast by the model Svengali Russell Marsh, who also collaborates with Prada and Celine. Involvement from Marsh guarantees all the London shows he is involved with (Jaeger, Acne, Richard Nicoll, Christopher Kane and Aquascutum) automatically get fast-tracked to global status, and Saunders looks set to achieve this too.

To see more of London Fashion Week click here

The Breadwinner

Director: Nora Twomey

Starring: Saara Chaudry,  Soma Chhaya,  Laara Sadiq 

Three stars

Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Rating: 2/5
 
Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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If you go

The flights

Fly direct to London from the UAE with Etihad, Emirates, British Airways or Virgin Atlantic from about Dh2,500 return including taxes. 

The hotel

Rooms at the convenient and art-conscious Andaz London Liverpool Street cost from £167 (Dh800) per night including taxes.

The tour

The Shoreditch Street Art Tour costs from £15 (Dh73) per person for approximately three hours. 


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