Guardian, UK
Sept 22 2004
Ladylike look kills midriffs and matching knickers
Jess Cartner-Morley, fashion editor
Julien Macdonald is a natural born show-off. “Do you like my watch?”
he demanded of well-wishers backstage as his show at London fashion
week ended last night, brandishing a David Morris timepiece encrusted
with diamonds. “It’s worth £92,000. I wish I didn’t have to give it
back tomorrow.”
Last season, Macdonald said that his show might be his last in
London, as he was thinking of moving to Milan; he is still
threatening to leave, only now the pull is towards New York. “I love
London to bits but my business isn’t growing. The other designers who
moved away are doing much better than I am. I’m not making enough
money,” he said.
This was always going to be a difficult season for Macdonald. New
York and London fashion weeks have been united in the view that bare
midriffs and bling are out, ladylike dressing is in. Macdonald is not
known for the ladylike look. In fact, his dresses are so short that
many come with matching knickers.
As a compromise, he settled on prom dresses, tiered and
ultra-feminine, with ruffles and sweetheart necklines, but their
stiffness deprived the Macdonald catwalk of its usual raw energy.
Much better were the flowing, poppy-print chiffon evening gowns, and
the finale, a 1930s-style shimmy of silver sequins with £2m worth of
diamonds adorning one shoulder.
The 1930s, along with the 1970s, have been this fashion week’s
favourite retro reference points. Betty Jackson described the
inspiration for yesterday’s show as the “decadent days of the 30s
together with the louche international lifestyles of the 70s”. For
evening, there was a showstopping long, pale column with Art Deco
silver beading, or a glamorous bead and feather-trimmed kaftan.
Earlier in the day, it was the turn of five emerging designers to
stage mini-shows. Unfortunately, most did little to challenge the
stereotype that young London designers’ collections are ugly,
unwearable, and badly presented.
There was a ray of hope, however, in Gardem, the collection by Garen
Demerdijan, a Lebanese Armenian designer who was born in Beirut in
1975 but is now based in Paris. Although yesterday was his first
catwalk show, he has run a small business since 2001, and has been
stocked in the directional London boutique Browns Focus for six
seasons.
Yesterday’s collection had a sophistication of outlook and quality of
execution that set it apart from other young hopefuls. The gently
spiralling seams, restrained colour palette and effective use of
texture – a dress of creamy crumpled silk with smocking at the torso,
a pleated white skirt with a shimmering silver bolero – was
reminiscent of Hussein Chalayan’s London days.