Of Matthew Williamson’s AW 2012 London Fashion Week Showing and other British greats…
Matthew Williamson is one of those typically British male designers- by that I mean akin to the Paul Smiths and Julien Macdonalds of this world – who sort of quietly tick along being prolific and impressive designers, creating collections that year-on-year achieve an impeccable standard of cohesive and creative vision, standard-bearers for the art of very British tailoring and style… These men are unlike the Stella McCartneys and former Alexander McQueens of this world, who are fortunate to have a meteoric rise to fame, whose collections are either received to great critical acclaim or tank miserably, who are forever in the public eye and on just about every fashion portal you can conceive of…
The Matthew Williamsons and Paul Smiths and Julien Macdonalds of Britain have a presence that is not an assault on the fashion tastebuds but rather like the a delicious, palpable and lingering taste of creamy chocolate in the mouth. Their contributions to the British Fashion Industry when viewed over decades is immeasurable and great, so I suppose it’s not so surprising that the Paul Smiths of this world receive honours like “The Outstanding Achievement Award 2011″ at the British Fashion Awards… Or that the Julien Macdonalds of this world receive OBEs from the Queen in 2006. No it is not so surprisingly at all, in fact, and I believe that Matthew Williamson is someone who will undoubtedly go on to receive just such recognition…
Here then is his Autumn Winter Collection for 2012, presented at London Fashion Week last month – no arguments from me that the silhouettes of the cigar pants and shifts are nothing revelatory or progressive (though they are on trend) – but then I don’t think Matthew would necessarily aspire to be that category of designer… So let’s talk about the colour palette that he’s played with instead which is simply sumptuous to my mind – the gleam of burnished metal tones of bronze and gold and pewter against the brocade style fabrications with fabulous pops of teal, turquoise, cerulean blues, flaming tangerine and deep purple aubergines and then an occasional and irreverent little splash of neon bright is masterful. Or let’s talk about those wonderful tessellated-honeycomb patterned skirts and shifts… Somehow he manages to weave all these seemingly disparate and discordant notes into a beautiful and harmonious collection. A collection that is cohesive, creative, classically feminine yet with deliberately modern quirks. In short a signature showing from Matthew Williamson. I heart it, don’t you?
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