When times get tough, designers get creative and flamboyant escapism is often the order of the day. But the autumn collections were more about high-church asceticism. Arcane, medieval shapes and styles were going on a pilgrimage to the end of the catwalk and back.
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In one corner of the exhibition, Waist Down: Skirts by Miuccia Prada – shown in Rem Koolhaas’s radical new “Transformer” building in Seoul – there is a row of skirts swinging from side to side as if dancing. Across the cocoon-like space, others are variously whirling, fluttering or billowing like Marilyn Monroe’s famous white dress. Of course they are moving mechanically, but the illusion that they have a life of their own seems appropriate for designs with such a strong identity. Since Miuccia Prada became the creative director of Prada, the skirt has been the canvas for some of her most imaginative designs and this exhibition shows a diverse collection from 1988 to the current season. It’s also fitting that an exhibition which celebrates movement, change and experimentation should be shown in a structure which can be reconfigured into a new shape. Unveiled last month, the space-age, tetrahedron-shaped Transformer, made from an elastic membrane stretched over a steel frame and situated near the traditional Gyeonghui Palace in Seoul, will change shape to host film and art exhibitions after Waist Down.
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“There is a trend in beauty to make the wrongs right,” says MAC’s UK Director of Make-Up Artistry, Terry Barber. However, he’s not referring to some sort of mystical cosmetic karma, but the cyclical rehabilitation of now-taboo trends, in this instance, winged eyeshadow. Not to be confused with flicked-out, Fifties liner à la Amy Winehouse, this is a streak of shadow more reminiscent of Krystle Carrington in “Dynasty”, and it’s currently enjoying a comeback.
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Marks & Spencer will launch a casualwear sub-brand called Indigo aimed at the over-45 womenswear market this autumn.
Marks & Spencer saw profits tumble from £1 billion to £604.4 million for the 52 weeks ended March 28, prompting a reshuffle of its management team which has resulted in the departure of director Carl Leaver.
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