Fashion Weeks

So it looks like it's going to be a sugary, girly, pastel summer next year. At least, that's what seemed to jump out for me from the rundowns of New York and London Fashion Weeks, and from the first few days at Milan (right, at Versace). I'm not really a fan of pastels - they look horrid against my skintone, by and large, and when paired with a feminine style, they can be far too sickly.

However, I was really taken with the Luella show. Here, pastels were broken up with brights, prints and mink/black polka dots. I have to make a particular mention of mink/black polka dots - a couple of years back I had this ridiculously specific vision of a cardigan that featured a mink background and fine black polka dots. I thought that this would be both grownup and cute, and a perfect way to break up a plain black outfit. This cardigan did materialise - in River Island of all places - but the fabric was horribly itchy, alas, and I did not buy. I've been on the lookout since, and really hope it is produced on the back of this Luella show in a nicer fabric!


So I really liked the use of mink/black with pale blue and red. Substitute the blue for pistachio, and it is one of my favourite colour/print combinations, bringing to mind one of my favourite films, Pleasantville, and its sepia tones with hyperreal Technicolour details. Pistachio is one of the few pastel shades I can and do wear (I love it with red, burnt orange and plum) and I noticed that it featured several times on the S/S catwalks. If pastels materialise on the high street, I dearly hope for rich, complex interpretations like pistachio, blush, and mauve rather than the flat shades of light green, light pink and peach (yuck!) that are usually opted for. Well, one can dream...


It's really the one show that stuck out for me, but I also liked hotly-tipped Erdem's collection. Though florals for summer are perhaps going the way of nautical, yawningly ubiquitous, I will always like a prettily executed floral print!