Hey there, sailor!

Sailor-inspired collections have been done to death. For SS17, however, Sadie Williams has done away with the conventional blue stripes and little white hats, instead basing her collection on much subtler references to life at sea. Blues, reds and whites dominated the collection, making for a primary coloured feast for the eyes. The simplicity of shades was also reflected in the silhouette – A-line skirts, baggy yet tailored trousers, loose-fitting hoodies and peak-a-boo dresses exposing the midriff. Colourful fishnets also announced their comeback at Williams’ SS17 show, naturally. It was all comfortable and familiar clothes with an extra oomph courtesy of the embellishments and prints. The sailors got an upgrade and it looks bloody good.

Message in a bottle

While shapes were kept simple, the fabric was anything but. A skirt was made out of a patchwork of maritime signal flags used as communication tools between ships. Apart from having a very useful role on the waters, these flags make for a really fun and unexpected reference. While only those fluent in maritime symbology, or those with incredible patience, will be able to actually read the message Williams has left on the skirts, dresses and down the side of sleeves, we can only assume the clothes are saying “wear us, we promise you’ll have lots of fun!” (Though a sparkly bib bore a flag which stands for “I require medical assistance.” Make of that what you will.) A better known form of contact between ships also made an appearance. Swarovski crystals sparkled on a deep blue dress, spelling out messages in morse code. Let’s ditch the foreign language classes and teach-yourself books and learn the lingo of the seas instead, it’s going to be all the rage.

Tie it up

Boat knots, which appeared everywhere from fun adornments on t-shirts and the Dr Martens footwear, to headbands and belts bound the collection together (excuse the pun). Who knew that a bunch of colourful ropes gathered together would make for such a statement necklace or utilitarian earrings dangling from the models’ ears? Wind-swept hair, no doubt full of sea salt, was tied into plaits with pieces of rope snaking through and fastened with still more knots, waiting to be taken off and used should an emergency such as a shortage of cord come about. Knotting was also used less obviously in twisted boustiers, a cute little detail which blurred the line between a dress and a bikini top. Williams’ girls are ready for anything the unpredictable seas throw at them.