Bold Looks From 10 New Designers At London Fashion Week

Her Majesty The Queen made a surprise first ever visit to this month’s London Fashion Week to present the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design to emerging fashion designer Richard Quinn. This new prize will be awarded annually to a talented new British fashion designer of womenswear, menswear, or accessories who also demonstrates value to the community and/or strong sustainable policies. Richard Quinn’s colorful English floral prints on puffer and biker jackets were standouts while a floral trenchcoat was sure to have appealed to Queen Elizabeth II.

Rising star Sadie Williams is a London-born designer who is quickly developing a reputation for creating innovative, textile-driven fashion. Strong prints, often with the addition of her signature use of metallic featured in her sporty new collection. Sadie was listed in Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list for the Arts in 2016, alongside fellow Brits, Simone Rocha and Grace Wales Bonner. Following a hugely commercially successful capsule for Other Stories, Sadie launched her own label, which is now available internationally at stores including Machine-A, Boon the Shop in Seoul and Beams in Japan. This year Sadie will also be working on an art piece for The Royal Academy/Christies Auction House.

After debuting at London fashion week two years ago in a group show with Fashion East, Amie Victoria Robertson presented her first solo show at London Fashion Week this month at a Christopher Wren designed church in London. In a nod to her Scottish roots, Amie’s pieces included Prince of Wales check and a series of traditional plaids, including the designer’s family Tartan. This collection has a 1980s feel with pairings of clashing fabrics, metallic lamé panels, plaid, satin, sequins and silk organza. And I loved the designer’s hand-stitched Swarovski crystal floral embellishments adorning many of the garments. Before launching her own label, Amie worked for Marc Jacobs in Paris and New York developing embroideries and prints.

Tory Burch’s Fashion Week show was inspired by Jackie O’s sister Lee

Two very different kinds of royal women came to mind during Tory Burch’s flowy, feminine and delightfully retro New York Fashion Week show on Friday morning.

The models of Tory Burch on Friday.

The first was Lee Radziwill, the socialite sister of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whose “effortless style” helped inspire Burch’s fall/winter 2018 collection, according to the show notes.

And the second was Duchess Kate, who has made Burch’s effortlessly feminine designs a staple of her wardrobe, and whose brightly-colored floral formalwear during the royals’ recent Norway trip shared much in common with the designs on the runway Friday.

Burch is the latest designer to cite Radziwill, now 84, as a muse, a woman who palled around with Yves Saint Laurent and Marc Jacobs and inspired Michael Kors’ February 2016 Fashion Week show.

“It was a light reference to Lee Radziwill,” Burch told Vogue about her collection. “I know her very well. I like her character and her wit and her resilience. Obviously I like her style but I didn’t want to reference it too literally.”

Set amid rows of pink carnations in imitation grass, highlights of Friday’s show included the sumptuous fabrics and caftan-esque silhouettes, accessorized by patterned silk scarves and booties with just enough lift to escape the kitten-heel category.