Purple tartan antlers impress London Fashion shows

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By Sarah Marsh

LONDON (Reuters) - Purple tartan antlers, silver armour, and spears regaling models’ heads were highlights of the theatrical shows of up-and-coming British designers on Wednesday.

As the venues of London Fashion Week moved away from grand hotels to warehouses, shows took on a more edgy feel.

Tartan was everywhere at the first solo show of Henry Holland’s label, House of Holland, at London Fashion Week. There were tartan minikilts, tartan trenchcoats and laced boots.

Loud applause greeted model-of-the-moment Agyness Deyn when she closed the show wearing a tartan layered wedding dress with transparent veil and antlers atop her cropped, blonde hair.

"The whole idea behind the clothes is that they are fun to dress up in -- it’s a bit of a laugh really," Holland told Reuters backstage.

Androgyny blurred the catwalk as boy models sported delicate velvet slippers, skinny jeans and long mohair cardigans.

Over at Fashion East, which each season showcases the work of three young designers, the highlight was the customized and recycled collection of the eco-label Noki House of Sustainability (NHS).

A flamboyant flamenco dress was worn as a skirt, with the voluminous sleeves padding the hips, contrasting with a punk top picturing a skull. Jeans were stitched onto grey trousers and panels of .....continued below

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FASHION EAST

Fashion East has launched the careers of designers such as Gareth Pugh, whose fantasy show at a warehouse in London’s East End impressed fans on Wednesday evening.

Models wearing silver, armour-like dresses and white face paint strutted down the runway with their plaited hair swinging and their lips dyed blue. Male models with long pony-tails and the same, angular armour followed suit.

"It was very abstract, based around the Wizard of Oz," said Pugh, who is renowned for his ghoulish aesthetic and has designed pieces for U.S. shock rocker Marilyn Manson.

"Dorothy as a very statuesque warrioresque barbarian -- very feminine shapes but doing them in a way that is very aggressive and hard."

London Fashion Week opened on February 10 with a champagne reception and closes on February 15 after nearly 60 designers have shown their autumn-winter collections.

One of the most anticipated shows is Vivienne Westwood’s return to London on Thursday after a nine-year absence to display her Red Label collection.

(Editing by Peter Millership)