Words: Katlin Siil

Day one of London Fashion Week was a colourful mixture of what London has to offer as a fashion capital. We saw sleek minimalism (Zoe Jordan), construction-deconstruction (Jean Pierre Braganza), ironic kitsch (PPQ) and rock’n’roll structuralism (Sass and Bide). If at times it felt as if the designers hadn’t fully developed their ideas and the general quality was slightly sub par, the first day of the 5-day fashion extravaganza was nonetheless full on energy and creativity.

In the morning, Zoe Jordan gave us her take on Autumn/Winter 2013 with a typically architectural show inspired by Catholic churches in Rome and post-modernist masters. Crisper and cleaner than usual, Jordan stuck to a limited colour pallet and carried the catwalk of sharp tailoring and soft silks to its strong finale.

Design duo Fyodor Golan proved worthy winners of the Fashion Fringe 2011 award with their Belle De Jour inspired collection full of constructed theatric gowns reminiscent of the golden age of French cinema.

Lunchtime fun was provided by KTZ. If the twitter and Instagram campaign started by Mugler’s Nicola Formichetti was anything to go by, we were in for a big one. Never a disappointment, the masters of playful punk once again put together a soup of influences from street art to poker cards to the traditional costume of Hasidic Jews.

Jean Pierre Braganza remained in his comfort zone of reconstructed tailoring mixed with geometric prints, and why not? – it is something he has mastered over the past few seasons. Though darker and more lost (in a good way) in his sci-fi world than usual, Braganza once again demonstrated just how well he manipulates pattern and fabric, how limitless his fantasy world is and how well he controls it.

PPQ – the go-to brand for young Cool Britannia – steered clear of the usual black-grey-white with their lusciously colourful ode to Mad Men. However, it was an early 90s take on the trend – slicker, sleeker, shorter and more revealing. Complete with pompous hairdos decorated with velvet bows (or flying saucer hats), it was as if Betty Draper had designed the collection herself. With the help of Princess Diana.

You can trust the collection to be a stellar one, if the hordes of fashion insiders and celebrities alike (Olivia Palermo and Mary Charteris among others) take it as their duty to head to the hidden back streets in the badly lit St James’s in search of it.  Impossible to find without Google Maps or a competent driver, St John’s church played the part of a magnificent backdrop to Sass  & Bide Autumn/Winter 2013 collection. A cult label with a strong rock’n’roll DNA did not disappoint those that made the trek. It was a riveting showcase of figure hugging structured tailoring, sleek shifts, metallic knits (maxi dresses!) and silky white gowns with heavily beaded metallic corsetry. Edited to perfection in a simple colour pallet of black, white and yellow, Sass & Bide were the fitting finale to Day 1 of London Fashion Week.