First of the designers was Lu Flux. Her very ethical ideas have helped her to create a collection that had a very ‘country hill-billy' feel to it.  Whilst some of the Knitwear pieces were very cute and wearable – I actually envisioned myself in a log cabin in the Swiss Alps donning a pair of the knitted leggings, however, a couple of the pieces had a Childs play theme…I'm just not sure dungarees with a big bear face on the bib is really going to find a place in my wardrobe.  The shoes worn with the clothes were perfection and whilst they were made from patchwork, they somehow managed to add glamour to a collection that couldn't be less glamorous if it tried as the designer uses very traditional techniques such as patchwork, pleating and knitting to create one off ethical pieces aimed at the modern eco-punk. Which at this present time is great for the environment and current climate…blah, blah, blah however it can suck a little bit of the fun out of designing when you are forcing yourself to use something old to make something new resulting in a very tertiary colour pallete of browns, olive, and blues.  Despite all of that it was still quite a fun collection styled well with over sized wicker hampers as bags and fabulous knitted pointy hats with pom poms – very cute!   

Next up was might-T by Kumiko Watari. This collection had the most amazing prints, having studied printed Textile design I always get a little over excited when I see that someone's been at it hard-core with a silk screen.  Kumiko also uses traditional dying techniques along with hand drawn prints creating stories within the pieces. The printed leggings were gorgeous and extremely wearable and the matching bags were a real treat on the eyes! Large, round, traditional, zipped bags with matching prints really brought the whole outfit together. The colour palette, again very traditional, washed out blue and red prints on pale ivory – think ‘china tea set'.  There appeared to be a hot air balloon themed throughout the collection which I thought was very cute.  However on a whole I did struggle to see this collection as an Autumn  Winter one unless the separates were intended to be worn as thermals…

Following the might-T collection was Studio_805.  This in-your-face Menswear designer certainly caused a reaction on the catwalk. His Red and White garments inspired with gaffer tape were extremely bold pieces to say the very least. His use of jersey along with soft perforated leather was very well put together. Exaggerated lines and shapes formed uber-cool jumpsuits that looked quite 90's raver-esque.  The collection incorporated printed butcher check, stripes and a big bold usage of red and white yet it still somehow managed to have a camouflage theme – very clever! It was a fun collection that was also styled very well – the models each had a small piece of card placed on their mouths…I will admit I'm just not cool enough to have worked out what this was supposed to represent…..but it sure did look good!

 

Then last of all but certainly not least, was the designer I'd been waiting to see; Alice Palmer, a very talented knitwear specialist.  I was aware of her work having seen her SS09 collection at the Nolcha catwalk show during New York fashion week.  It was then Alice had completely changed my views of knitwear, so I was very excited to see what Alice had envisioned we should be wearing for AW09. I was not disappointed and by the looks of things neither was anyone else!  Mr. Crystal head was quite literally beaming with delight at the figure hugging and super-elegantly draping pieces that graced the catwalk. The luxury yarns such as cashmere and silk create pieces that are unbelievably tactile and very wearable.  The mix of capes clasped together with what looked like knitted jewellery and long elegant dresses with Alice's signature shape and design really were commendable.  The colour palette was very feminine and classic. Ivory, pale gold and grey tones blended perfectly together. The shoes, I feel could have been slightly more thought about as they gave a blunt edge to what I considered to be ‘dreamy' pieces.