Throwing the toys out of the pram.

I can’t say for sure that Seán McGirr took inspiration from vintage Playmobil for one of the closing looks in the FW2024 McQueen show but I was spirited back to the 80s with visions of a toy castle that my friend owned and a blue soldier* who lived there.

I realize I’m probably not the consumer McGirr has in mind but I’m guessing HRH Catherine of Wales won’t be drumming on the door for the anti-social faux fur (mohair?) tubular extended high-neck sleeve-less corset top (Look 23/24). We’ll see if Royal endorsement means anything to a brand like McQueen, or to Kering who owns it.

This feels like Celine after Phoebe Philo left. Maybe McQueen himself would’ve liked this sort of a re-boot. Maybe not.

*Note: I didn’t own said castle or figure. And am obviously still hanging on to that.

Women for women

There's change in the air. Against the odds women are finding their voices. The current President (I won't write his name here) tells us it's a frightening time for young men while an alleged sexual preditor/Frat-boy is very likely to sworn in to hold one of the most powerful legal seats in the US for the rest of his life (and he's young).

And how does all this shake down to what we wear? I looked at the latest Celine collection designed by Hedi Slimane and it was very Hedi Slimane - in that it was designed for anorexic 17 year olds. It was definitely andrgynous which is officially "A Thing" but it took me back to the mid-2000s when he did it the first time around at Dior. You may remember that until last season Pheobe Philo was the designer at Celine where she lead it to become known as the "thinking woman's" brand.

This made me think about where women older than 30 might now look for their clothes and it appeared on the screen, the opening dress from Givenchy - not a label I have really given much attention to as in recent seasons as, while it was fabulous, slightly macabre and ornate under the helm of Riccardo Tisci it has never been one of those brands that I related to.

But this collection by Clare Waight Keller, was inspired by a Swiss writer called Annemarie Schwarzenbach who lived about 100 years ago and who prefered to dress in mens clothes, and it was killer.

Waight Keller clearly thought about the woman who wore those clothes and about the women who will wear these clothes and no doubt considered her own life in that process. The result was a sharply tailored and highly feminine collection which showed strength through its simplicity. It was an assured collection for the woman who is unapologetically in contol of her life and proud of it.

The Collaboration Is Dead, Long Live The Collaboration!

It sometimes feels like the world of collaborations has been done (Jimmy Choo Ugg Boots anyone?). But then along comes a partnership that is so right, it's right and the collaboration lives to fight another day. Of course I'm talking about Richard Quinn for Liberty of London.

His fearless use of florals goes boldly where this wonderfully eccentric department store has never been before and it just works. Saturated colours, check; acid brights, check; floral prints, check; faceless model trapped in a box, check... Everyone wins! It's a little bit subversive but in a friendly accessible way. All so very British.

Of course that's not to say that an all in one spandex morph suit is going to work for everybody but one tote fits all.