LFW DAY 2: CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS MA A/W 2011

The Central Saint Martins catwalk shows always provide thought-provoking ideas, yet this season students seemed to be stuck in one single frame of mind, mainly focusing on oversized silhouettes and tunic dresses for both men and women. Volume may have been the key to most of the collections, but it would have been good to see more young designers going for a modern and tailored approach. Among the most original collections there were Jenny Postle’s collage-like “Rag Doll” collection with Harlequin-like dresses and suits made of scraps of fabric and Shaun Samson’s menswear tunics that mixed in the same design cable knits with plaids and tartans to great effect.

The coveted L’Oréal Professionnel Creative Award was shared between Phoebe English and Viktor Smedinge. The former went for an Amazon-like approach with dresses made of hair with a lean silhouette cinched at the waist; the latter proved instead definitely more interesting with elegant line dresses in which the fabric was rolled up to give a sort of parchment-like effect.

By Anna Battista