Showcasing more of London’s finest young talents, Richard Malone, Caitlin Price and This Is The Uniform were all up at Fashion East for SS16.
Richard Malone
Sylvia Plath’s voice groaned throughout the winding corridors of Malone’s dingily decorated venue at the first of three presentations from Fashion East for LFW. His first show on schedule since his graduation from CSM, saw the designer twist the practical into the statement – with blouses, skirts and dresses in peachy nylons, and simple striped canvas shift dresses drifting into structured waves at the hem. Models were apparently an array of ‘artists to solicitors’, while the collection was inspired by Malone’s growing up in Ireland.
The target of the set up was to explore the permeation of patriarchal structures within working-class family life. Bold aims in an industry which is both so demanding of women, and based heavily upon financial and social elitism. However, it felt like Malone’s show brought questions into the LFW conversation: the space itself felt female-led, while the clothes were practical, wearable, washable visions of unexpected beauty powerfully worn by a much more diverse cast of models than usual. One should question how far a man can truly create a female-led space, as this dynamic is inherently patriarchal… but surely it is better to try.
Caitlin Price
Glam-street-wear was the dish du jour at Caitlin Price. Fascinated with the transformation from day to night when it comes to how women dress, the South London born designer – who worked under Christopher Shannon for three years – showed for the second time at LFW. Baby blue and pink tracksuits in crisp cotton, with a kind of ‘dress shirt’ pleating down the torso, stood next to deep ocean blue gigantic elephant pants, with a clip around skirt which billowed down one leg. Super cute white and blue tennis dresses flipped out at the hip, below super revealing waist cut-outs. Everything was worn with sneakers. This is the kind of collection that actually keeps its promise in actually taking you from day to night.
This Is The Uniform
Jenna Young, the designer at the helm of This is The Uniform, melded teen-girl references, the Wild West and futurism in her debut collection for Fashion East. Blue cotton twill wide leg flares had a sheer stretch knicker attached and pulled up to the waist – these were brilliant; cream chiffon crops were covered in shiny red disks; satin red bandanas hung from the neck and revealing fishing net dresses clung to the body, atop bejewelled nipples – all the while the models played ping pong and munched on Mcdonalds. The garments were super wearable, and perfectly Instagrammable, but the Cola, fries and lollipops dotted around the set felt a little bit tired.
Photographer: Thurstan Redding
Words: Tom Rasmussen
