Daily Front Row

2010 February 23

Runway Reviews: Ashish, Pringle of Scotland

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Ashish Fall 2010
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(LONDON) Ashish
On a cold London morning, circa 9 a.m., the first look out at Ashish—a set of pale blue and white striped sequined pajamas, set to cheery music—was just the think to wake up the weary front row-ers on the last leg of LFW. This season, designer Ashish Gupta took attendees on a journey to “Ashishistan,” where his heroine (“who recently gave up winters spent huddled around a yak dung fire for lazy days in the Mediterranean sunshine with the Abramovichs as neighbors”) takes on everything from the Kara Kum deserts to Ghengis-Khan-A-Go-Go. Cute, yes, but translation? Sequins are Ashish’s schtick, so the shiny stuff came up in Central Asian-inspired graphic prints. Paired with chunky knit sweaters, beanies and mensweary oxfords, the effect was offbeat and charming rather than excessively shiny. Matte black sequins turned up in shift dresses and long skirts for a dressier, sophisticated turn. The oversize, pieced-together knits, paperbag shorts and trousers, and tweed coats were apt bedfellows. Will customers come to Ashish for a grey felt blazer? Probably not. Luckily, his sequins will do the trick—a trompe l’oeil cable-knit print sequin sweater and patterned sequin shorts and skirts will sell just fine on their own.

Pringle of Scotland
Pringle of Scotland boasted the most motley crew of attendees of London Fashion Week. Along with a slew of major EICs, Janet Jackson, Tilda Swinton, Courtney Love, and Phil Collins progeny-cum-starlet Lily Collins sat front row at the Serpentine Gallery. Luckily, the V IPs in attendance weren’t the most notable things about the presentation. Creative director Clare Wright Keller sent out a modern mix of looks that stayed true to the brand’s background as a knitwear company. An almost mesh-style, uniformly loose knit made up  
tops and dresses with sharply pleated skirts, sweater coats were fastened with buckles for innovative outerwear, and shearling popped up trimming sweater sleeves or lining leather coats. For evening, the  
now-ubiquitous velvet (one worries that by the time we get to Milan and Paris, the trend will have passed) made many appearances; a yellow-green knit dress featuring peekaboo paneling in velvet and the  
aforementioned mesh was a standout.