Well Shod, Well Imformed

BACKWARD GOING FORWARD

It’s a quiet day in Milan, Just Cavalli was off (now on again), Emporio Armani never throws up anything of interest, Camilla isn’t collaborating with Missoni and Moschino Cheap and Chic is at 8pm. Minor distractions aside (being two days of exhaustive self indulgence) I’ve got a spare second to back track and cover off the last two days of London Fashion Week.

Summing up Giles’ A/W 09/10 collection, a message board user with the handle Miss Dalloway said, “This is one neurotic collection”. Deacon, who seems to have an ongoing problem with proportion, divided most fashion critics (and more importantly fashion fans) with his A/W 09/10 collection. Some fans pleaded that we look past the ‘theatrics’ of haggard models, busted up hair and Halloween make up and judge the collection on separates, while others like Miss Dalloway, spared the designer no mercy.

Collaborating again with the Red (soled) Baron, Christian Louboutin, Deacon’s fetishist inspired thigh high boots in suede, pony skin ankle boots and man style brogues hit on all the right trends. Deacon presented a broad spectrum of traditional winter colours including mushroom, pink, green, gold and bronze (metallic). 

OSSIE CLARK

At Ossie Clark, Avsh Alom Gur managed to successfully adapt current footwear trends while upholding the brand’s heritage. Platforms were concealed while heels were slightly shaped. Gur used suede and metallic leather but the real showstoppers were the python skin T-bars.

HOUSE OF HOLLAND

Imelda's with Kayne on this one "No comment!"

JOSH GOOT & RICHARD NICOLL

Focusing on the futuristic appeal of minimalism, Josh Goot’s collection was tight and razor sharp. There was a certain modish appeal to the Antipodean’s two toned over-the-ankle boots while his nubuck pumps had a certain Jil Sander reference.

Australian expat Nicoll’s opted out of the platform trend for almond toe ankle boots and pumps. The London based designer used a subtle palette of winter white, nude and a grayish silver patent leather.

At this stage of their careers I imagine that for both Goot and Nicoll, shoes are not their primary focus. Both designers continue to impress Imelda with the seamless transference of ideas from clothing into accessories and beg that someone step up and help them expand into the lucrative market.

CLEAR CUT

Imelda says T.G.I Friday (or Saturday in some parts of the world) and it mean’s it’s high time we get down to the business of spring/summer 09 footwear trends.

Side note for Imeldette’s who are new to the Order - every Friday Imelda takes a look at one key (or micro) trend that will impact what you’ll be wearing next spring/summer and I dish up (or dumb down) a post, high on pictures and low on text – it’s known as a ‘win win’.

My despotic eye first spotted PVC / Perspex in London, and of course the more I looked, the more I saw. Oft (unfairly) associated with strippers and more recently, Erin Brockovich, Perspex has been bogged down by bad PR.

With the likes of McQueen, Lagerfeld, Giles, Westwood and McCartney all tripping on the light fantastic plastic, PVC/Perspex undergoes a bad girl gone good makeover this spring/summer.  Used everywhere from trims to straps, right through to heels and even sole treatments (Celine), it looks like we’ll all be getting our Nomi Malone on next Summer…just remember if anyone asks you ‘bought ‘em at Ver-sayce’.

COCKNEY TRANSLATION

Phew. Yesterday was an exciting day for the Despotic Queen. Two scoops over the power players ‘style.com’ and ‘vogue.uk’ - but the troublesome international time difference meant that unless you’re an Aussie or reside on the US West Coast it probably wasn’t a ‘scoop’, so you’ll need to trust Mummy Imelda on this one. Now that Vogue UK has lifted it’s game and has started uploading collections after they’ve happened (not 12 hours later) it’s back to shoe talk.

Luella SS09 – coming to a polyvore soon. What stood out at Luella was her strawberry shortcake colour palette and the (sickly) sweet heart shaped vamps. I have a feeling in my despotic waters that Luella’s heart shape silhouette won’t get lost when all the cool kids come out to play over the next two weeks. In fact so on the money was her new vamp, expect Topshop to drop ‘their version’ within 3/4 months (average turn around time).

Originally I thought Christopher Kane’s clunky-cleated soled platforms were clunky brick wedges until I found the blk & wht profile shot on DD. UK Vogue’s Dolly Jones (oh! Such a heaven name, don’t cha think) reported that Kane’s shoes, mules and shoe-boots “featured rhinoceros horns all the way up to the ankle”. Naturally I refused to believe such lies until I got my sticky mits on extreme close-ups. Sure enough, ‘rhinoceros horns’! At this point the kindest thing I could say is, “let’s talk about the jagged edged strappy sandals”. Had Kane not had a brilliant eye for proportions the two styles I’ve featured could have been a dog’s breakfast (whatever that means).

I’m supremely aware of how time pressed we all are and under normal circumstances I wouldn’t feature the strappy Louboutins used by Giles Deacon. But Giles was the show of the week and those perspex trimmed sandals are rather delish…just don’t go telling anyone.

The exploration of ‘Deep Space’ continued in London as Louise Goldin picked up where Rodarte / Kirkwood et al left off at NYFW and bravely presented her futuristic vision for next summer. I say ‘bravely’ because the British wunderkind presented ONE SHOE or rather one shoe-bootie. But it only took one shoe-bootie to snare my full attention. Goldin showcased a white, pointed-toe, concealed platform with a Perspex overlay. Brilliantly simple, commercial and totally covetous. The future, as the cliché goes, is bright…stark white bright!

PERSONALLY, I PREFER FROGGER!

London Fashion Week is the gift that keeps on giving...with all these 'scoops' dropping into my lap, I'm suspending all talk of shoes. Over to you ladies (and gentleman) your thoughts on Packman motifs at Giles, please.