As London Fashion Week's second on schedule show Corrie set the bar high. As I said in the preview it is one thing to see the collection in the final stages of production in a studio, it is something completely different to see it in it's entirety as collection on the runway. My breath wasn't taken away, it was stolen.
As traditional bagpipes were interwoven with more haunting melodies the girls took to the runway.
Opening with a bias cute tartan jacket, with a black tulle sash, the women were strong and fierce without being over bearing. Keeping the tartan in either bold red or high contrast monochromes, Corrie has kept it away from the dreaded school uniform element. But it is her tailoring skills, that really allow this collection to soar. I've overheard comparisons to Westwood and McQueen, and to be fair these are not undeserved. Whether it's adding an apparently simple three dimensional box element to the front hem of a pleat, or Elizabethan peplums, the collection sailed close to the line of costume without falling off the edge.
Trying to find individual pieces in the collection that stood was a challenge, each piece seemed to launch the next onto another level of elegance, charm or skill. Whether a layered kilt of tartan, tulle and lace, or laser cut pleats, creating multi dimensional feel to an other wise simple (for Corrie) kilted dress each piece stood out individually. Interspersed amongst the couture-esque craftsmanship were more commercial pieces that should be more easily produced for bulk orders. Creating commerciality without selling out your ideals can be very difficult for designers like Corrie and her too she has succeed.
Save for a strong red lip, and tattooed lace tartan across the brow the models face were clean, leaving the clothes and exquisite laser cut paper and pheasant feather headpieces to do the talking. (The pheasant feathers had been sent over by Corrie's family and arrived the day I visited the studio, American pheasants having longer tail feathers than their European cousins.)
Finding my favourite pieces out of such a unified and strong collection was a challenge, but mine would easily be the floor length high collared black coat, I instantly felt it was very Scottish Widows in a good way. Restrained elegance. The other was deep red tartan dress with a black tulle overlay. Gathered at the collar and flowing round the body into a bustle and train, the beauty of the tulle being when single layered it's nearly invisible but when pleated rouched and manipulated by Corrie's team new and unforseen shapes appear.
When the vast cape of the finale appeared the whole audience knew Fashion Week had started on a massive high. Let's hope it continues and I'm already looking forward Corrie's next collection.
Shoes: by United Nude
Photo Credit: Christopher Dadey
