Sexy, see-through and a sanctuary

SEE-THROUGH plastic and short skirts were on display at Burberry last Saturday as the quintessentially British brand gave itself a youthful injection, while Jonathan Anderson offered women a countryside-inspired “sanctuary”.
Under the new stewardship |of Marco Gobbetti – formerly chief executive of French luxury brand Celine – the Burberry Autumn/Winter 2018 collection proved it was possible to expertly combine heritage with a dash of boldness and a hint of fantasy. 
The usual audience of celebrities and VIPs – from Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell to Liam Gallagher’s son, Lennon – squeezed into the 18th-century Old Sessions House to watch plastic-clad models strut down the catwalk in an array of colours and shapes. 
The plastic, always see-through, came in a variety of colours, from antique yellow to pink and turquoise. 
One look comprised a soft-touch plastic anorak worn against the bare skin under a laid-back soft camel leather jacket and accessorised with gold sandals. 

Another saw the same supple plastic anorak layered over a heavy-wool tartan skirt.
Flowy bohemian dresses were dwarfed under clashing tartan trench coats in another one.
Bailey used English lace to craft long, sensual skirts, yet also tapped into streetwear with baseball caps – although there was no mistaking Burberry’s emblematic tartan.
Meanwhile, British fashion designer Anderson offered an antidote to what he described as growing “hysteria” with his new collection, giving women a “sanctuary”.
The 33-year-old designer’s creations had a zen-like quality emphasising comfort, though not without elegance and even a bit of impertinence.
Anderson’s shows are among the most closely followed at London Fashion Weeks and the queue outside the door was like a who’s who of British fashion.
“The main idea was to kind of ground everything,” said Anderson, who is also artistic director for the Spanish accessories brand Loewe, owned by LVMH.
He said the designs were intended to show a “stillness” so that “no matter how hysterical things become everything will always have a ground level”.
The collection was “like a sanctuary where it’s calm before the storm,” he said.
“I think we get very hysterical. I think media make us hysterical and I think sometimes you have to go back to basics.”
The designs had a countryside feel to them, with plenty of comfortable dresses going below the knee and practical shoes that looked like walking boots.
The palette also had an earth-like quality with sky blue, pistachio green, dark red and leather colours.
Anderson is a fan of paradoxes: the collection was both modern and classical, wise and bold, mixing vintage corset-like designs with sleeveless t-shirts.
Anderson, the son of former Ireland rugby international Willie Anderson, is also presenting a collection created for the Japanese brand Uniqlo, which launches today in Bangkok.
“I’m obsessed by them. I wear their clothes on a daily basis,” he said.
“So when they approached me it was like it was a no-brainer.”
True to its roots, Versus Versace brought the glamour to London Fashion Week on Sunday, a daring appetiser ahead of the keenly anticipated return of Armani to the British capital. 
Versus, the Italian brand’s laid-back line, transformed the city’s Central Saint Martins college, a hub of British design talent, into a temporary nightclub for its 2018 spring/summer collection, with bass-heavy electro music booming from a giant wall of speakers.
The collection celebrated the mini and the transparent, the provocative and the daring, with short dresses in mesh worn over the top of black bikinis and low-waist shorts with printed chain designs. 
The label remained faithful to its cherished black, which it embellished with lime green earrings, handbags and belts with geometric and mottled prints of American classic cars.
“Versus is about individuality, bravery and pleasure. This is for everyone who dares to express themselves in everything they do,” said chief designer Donatella Versace.
On a more demure note, Versus presented a range of comfortable trousers, jackets and dresses in grey tartans, enlivened by flashes of bright colours.
The show was also the occasion to present the Gianni Versace scholarship for students of Central Saint Martins. 
“It is with great pleasure that we are funding a yearly scholarship at the College as a tribute to my brother Gianni, and in his memory we wanted to nurture the creators of tomorrow,” Versace said.
“Central Saint Martins educates and trains some of the best talents in the world of fashion and many of their alumni have come to work with me over years.”
And then it was time for the main course.
Industry icon Giorgio Armani had not displayed in London for 11 years, an eternity in the world of fashion, ending his hiatus to celebrate the label's renovated flagship London store in the upscale Mayfair neighbourhood. 

The spring-summer 2018 show at Tobacco Dock, a former tobacco warehouse, was marked by light and playful creations including a lightweight windbreaker with printed crab design, small, round-collared dresses, pastel-coloured ensembles and flowing pants.
The label described the “frEAdom” collection as embodying “freedom as lightness of being and eclecticism of appearance”.
The Italian fashion giant, more accustomed to the Milan catwalks, has around 3,000 points of sale worldwide, which the group is trying to consolidate. 
Armani, 83, said he had chosen London “for its “dynamism, energy and cosmopolitanism”.