London Fashion Week is most certainly a marathon and not a sprint. It's difficult to explain this to anyone outside the industry, when all they see is a flurry of glamour and parties. I'm lucky being only l'il me and not some massive magazine, so I have just a few invites each season and I generally relish each and everyone.
Thankfully each season another PR firm hears or reads my work and the number of tickets increases. But I am still along way from the 50 or so shows that many people need to go to. Even still come Tuesday evening I'm knackered and likely to have a temper shorter than your average British summer. In some ways I feel sorry for the designers showing at the tail end of the week, when most people just want to go home and the prospect of spending the weekend hiding in deepest darkest Wales, drinking wine and watching rugby brings about near feverish excitement. It's this into this fatigue that Jasper Garvida sent his latest collection.
Depsite very clear references being made on the invitation to Soviet-esque revolutionary chic I wasn't absolutely certain what to expect. Spring/summer despite containing several high points, notably a black dress with deep patch pockets embellished in thick gold bar sequins, would have been hugely helped by some heavy editing. As a designer it's often very difficult to do this alone, your collection is your baby, it's a very tangible part of you and hacking away at it can be painful.
I wondered if this season would need the same harsh hand. I was wrong. What was presented was the clear and concise vision of the designer. Jasper's strength across seasons has been his embellishment and this was no different. From oversized golden zipper pulls, to fine fern like embroidery on the officer coats and dresses put before us it all worked like a cohesive unit. To all intensive purposes keeping the colour palette simple, olive, navy and black dominated with gold trimmings allowed Garvida to work expressively within a rather tight framework. Sometimes even the most creative of us need boundaries to work within and this may be true here. The restraint in many pieces meant that the more flamboyant, a black shift dress with epaulettes of draped golden sequins, stood out in a complimentary way. The abstract prints when used worked well with the structured silhouette.
All in all this was a cohesive collection that showcased the growth of the designer since last season. So long as next winter is colder than the one just gone this coat centred collection should sell well.
