WORD.

LONDON FASHION WEEK S/S2011 – COOPERATIVE DESIGNS

Beckoning forth a speakeasy spirit, the Cooperative Designs duo turned to The Grouch Club to host an afternoon of Twenties revelry grounded in an imaginary film; Bollywood Babylon. Ascending the stairs to the first floor parlour, closed venetian blinds heralded a haze of decadence and disregard as models - a mix of conventional and 'real', from gray haired to youthful, buxom to slender - saw considerations of shape and size negated in favour of those who embodied and inhabited the collection's essence.

A piano playing; hair styled in set waves and eyes highlighted in lashings of Kohl and straight, slender pencil-drawn brows accompanied prim round neck cardigans cut cropped and tight, knit leggings with loose yarn, patchwork knits falling from the shoulder offering oversized relief. Black and white striped harem pants peering from beneath extended hems continued a dialogue between tight and loose when contrasted against slimline tube dresses, whilst a subdued Art Deco design - in porcelain blue, burgundy and orange and featuring geometric landscapes, palm trees and jagged, angular strikes - re-instilled a Twenties spirit.

Whether rendered in flat fine knits, or fluffy, feathered hand-knits; raffia, beadwork and jewellery in Perspex and wooden graphic shapes - suspended on gold and silver chain or held delicately as updated pince-nez's - complemented the revitalisation of a golden era.

Posted by Luke Raymond