LFW Highlights: Friday 17th Sept

London Fashion Week has got off to a great start. For me, the highlight of the day has been the Hannah Marshall show. There were rumours flying around that she was going to deviate from her usual style by introducing a shock of colour in to her work for S/S '11. As it turned out this was not true; the collection was based around a colour palette of rich brown/black and nude/grey tones. Many of the pieces had very structured shoulder lines - similar to those shown by Victoria Beckham in New York. The masculine tailoring of the boyfriend blazer has not gone off the fashion radar yet, and Marshall's version with short sleeves is sure to be a hit come Spring. I particularly liked the contrast between opaque and shear fabrics.


































Hannah Marshall S/S '11, images from style.com


Nude tones made another appearance as Maria Grachvogel's collection hit the catwalk, although this time a bright canary yellow was added to really pop against the neutrals. She also contrasted draped pieces with tailoring and created interesting new shapes from using single pieces of fabric.

Caroline Charles's collection was another highlight. The collection had a very strong 1950s vibe - but a lot more whimsical and fun than the currant wave of Mad Men style dresses. The retro styling was finished off to a T, with pointed sunglasses, long gloves and lots of diamonds. The smiling models had a skip in their step as they twirled in their floaty mid-length skirts, feeling, no doubt, like they had been allowed to raid the dressing-up box.

Look out for videos of the shows!