A model wearing a piece by Irish designer Richard Malone, who opened London Fashion Week Spring Summer 2018 on Friday. Photograph: Chris Yates
Some of the hottest names at London Fashion Week which opened today showing spring summer 2018 and now in its 66th season, are Irish.
Richard Malone, the young independent London-based designer from Wexford, made his debut on the official catwalk on Friday morning, kicking off the event with a collection whose colours were the “supermarket shades” of blue, green and yellow, his inspiration images of 1930s and 1940s showgirls and discarded rubbish.
His familiar stripes and patterns were cut asymmetrically on dresses and trousers and accessorised with striped cutout sock boots and gloves. Malone, who is committed to sustainability, works with a community in India who handweave fabrics and work with natural dyes. Among his models was Lorna Foran from Celbridge whose pre Raphaelite looks and russet hair have made her a star internationally.
Also showing on Friday morning was Joanne Hynes, who staged her “see now buy now” collection for Dunnes Stores for buyers and press in One Horse Guards Avenue, a beautiful 19th century listed building, before returning to Dublin for its launch in the Grafton Street store today.
The elaborate, decorative floral-print dresses and military-style embellishment on coats made a bold statement for a designer whose signature jewelled collars, beanies and, for the first a pair of velvet shoes, were also included in the collection.
On Saturday, all eyes will be on Irish superstar Simone Rocha, who will show her spring/summer collection in the historic 16th century Middle Temple Hall in London, a bastion of the legal establishment, while the avant garde designer from Northern Ireland, J W Anderson, returns to Yeomanry House, a military drill hall in Bloomsbury, his usual location for the twice-yearly womenswear collections.
[“Source-timesofindia”]
