This year's London Fashion Week collections comprised of various themes which managed to transport us to interesting places; in our case the Press team were carried to the fjords of Norway and the barren spaces of Lapland. Thankfully there was no snow !
Eugene Lin’s S/S14 collection's theme was all about the Valkyries which is based on Norse mythology. The legend has it that a Scandinavian swan captures a Valkyrie whilst bathing in a river and once imprisoned she can extract a wish from her captive.
Lin's collection was comprised of soft tailoring and feminine feathers. Coats featured draped necklines and wings. Trousers and pencil skirts were mainly cut slim but with loose pleats for texture and free movement.
The feather prints and hand-crafted three-dimensional textured screen-prints were quintessentially minimal and many types of digital printing techniques were used. lt was particularly refreshing to see leather and worsted wools and crepes. Some of the simpler and plain coloured fabrics were treated with a variety of unique coatings. The palette included whites and optic ivories, a splash of tangelo, some orange-reds, matte pumpkin, jet black onyx and metallic golds. A very rich palette indeed.
Eugene Lin is a trained pattern cutter from Central St Martins College in London, he studied fashion design Womenswear before working with Vivienne Westwood and Roksanda Ilincic. We want to see more of his collections and I think we should treat ourselves to a trip to the fjords of Bergen and Trondheim in Norway. Our very own swan lake.
Monica P Cummings, Ba Hons., MA