Ceremony Couture
14-08-2012
Karen Elson was chosen to model the dress of Burberry, a British fashion house that has established in 1856, one hundred and fifty-six years ago. The dress had a lighter sheen of sparkling gold, and featured a sexy thigh high slit up the front of the dress, allowing the long legs of the flaming haired Elson to show whilst she strutted down the catwalk. Wide pleats were a detail in this figure flattering dress and a waistband only added more femininity to the silhouette. The top of the dress looks almost corseted with its fitted shape, bralet cups and a small spaghetti straps.
Christopher Kane decided on a trouser suit ensemble to showcase at the Closing Ceremony, modeled by Stella Tennant, the suit had gold, silver and bronze chain-mail, representing all the medals won throughout the games. The suit was loose fitting, and enhanced the long body of Tennant. The suit jacket was buttoned up just below the breast, exposing the chest of the model but adding some femininity to the ensemble. The trousers were loosely cut, allowing movement when the model walks and showing off the materials used on this one of a kind trouser suit.
A beautiful paring was made with Jourdan Dunn and David Gandy; they began their walk across the Union Jack together, Dunn standing out from the group of models in a mostly white dress with a gold metallic panel down the front of the dress by Jonathan Saunders, the dress was another simple shaped dress with an almost t-shirt like feel to the top half, the bottom however was very fitted all the way down, with a slit in the back allowing the model to walk, this dress also featured a train, in soft fabric that floated after the model beautifully, the dress cut off just above the models ankle, allowing the shoes to become a feature of the outfit, solid gold metallic, with a very chunky high heel and pointed front. To finish off the outfit Jourdan Dunn gracefully managed her way to center stage with a very large headdress designed by Stephen Jones, creating huge catwalk impact and catching the eye of everybody watching, the headdress was a half circular shape of 21 feathers, spanning outwards and upwards almost like a sunrise.
Looking equally stunning next to her was the male model David Gandy, shimmering in his Paul Smith tailored suit, It was crisp and smart, and although shimmering the colour gold was quite dark, allowing him to look more masculine and be the leading male of the group. His sharp suit was styled with a matching tie, white shirt and black shoes.
In the most simple garment of the night Georgia May Jagger wore Victoria Beckham, a short playful dress with flared skirt suited to the young age of Jagger. The dress is wide high neck with short cap sleeves, its fitted in the bodice, to the waist where the flared skirt begins, flattering the waist as the majority of Beckhams designs do. The fabric has a strong two-tone effect, looking very dark in one light but then a strong vibrant gold in others. The dress has been teamed with black stiletto heels with gold chain details fitting well with the colour scheme.
Lily Donaldson has the biggest dress by far, created by Vivienne Westwood; a beautiful princess like gown, its straps are off the shoulders and the pattern on the dress has been created using sequins, a popular and strong choice among designers for this closing ceremony, the bodice seems structured, corset like and at the waist the bodice goes into a point at the front, from the waist the full skirts suddenly juts out, big and beautiful and falls elegantly to the ground.
In Erdem was Lily Cole, a gold brocade detailed dress, with a white under dress and sheer panels, the dress is an interesting shape with its multiple layers. The neckline of the white dress underneath is a curved shape above the chest and curved from the underarm to the neck, it goes in at the waist and the falls to mid-length, over the top of this is the lacey sheer brocade, its golden leaf pattern is all over and repeated and this goes across the neck and down the arms to the elbow. The dress falls down gracefully to Coles all gold shoes, which are incredibly high; her feet are poised almost like a ballerina on her toes.
To have the Best of British fashion showcased at the Closing Ceremony was a great way to show the world what Britain contributes to fashion, having a fierce group of models on the Union Jack was exciting and striking, people all over the world know these women and of course Gandy. This small section of the ceremony shows that Fashion from Britain is something we can be and perhaps show all the people watching what a talent fashion design can be.
Written by Emily McSharry
