London Fashion Week: Kilian Kerner

Concrete, 20 September, 2013 (co-written with Madz Abassi)

http://www.concrete-online.co.uk/kilian-kerner/

On Friday 13 September, Concrete Fashion attended Kilian Kerner’s S/S14 Red Carpet Collection showcase at the Waldorf Hilton, London. It was the German designer’s first ever UK assembly and suffice it to say, Kilian did not disappoint. Initial expectations of the usual runway extravaganza were at large, however these were soon dismissed when doors were opened and the “oos!” and “aahs!” began.

Photo: Madz Abbasi

Six live models posed in groups with mannequins around the room, all of whom were clothed in Kerner’s stunning pieces, as Greg Foat played light jazz on a grand piano. The layout of Kerner’s showcase was such that viewers were able to walk around and admire his collection close-up and from all angles.

One of the central colours of the collection was gold; a risky colour for Spring/Summer. However, the Oscar worthy gowns used white accents to lighten the tone of the dresses. One of the boldest golden creations was the scalloped crop top, which almost looked solid to the touch, paired with an over the top, ballerina-esque full length skirt. Modernising the idea of the dress, the crop top added the 90s twist we’re so used to seeing on the high street. A knee length gold shift dress was also a focal point of the collection, again modernising a classic, this time the 60s shift.

Kerner continued the 90s grunge trend via an amalgamation of statement jewellery – all silver and gold – in which the models were decked. This included chokers intertwined with thick and delicate chains as well as large pearls and jewels; wrist cuffs with multi-coloured, flower-shaped jewels and crystal ear cuffs. A jaw-dropping piece in the collection was a backwards silver necklace. The necklace adorned with both round and tear-drop pearls and numerous white crystals, all of which surrounded a single blue crystal.

Seemingly, Kerner loves a throwback and there were touches of the 80s too. Not a shoulder pad in sight, but raised and heavily structured shoulders featured on several of the dresses, taking them from overly girly to tailored and strong.

The collection itself, being made up of showy red carpet dresses cleverly avoided looking too pretty-pretty through the use of heavy, solid fabrics and this structured tailoring.
Hair and makeup was kept minimalistic so as not to distract from the collection itself. Models had a deep side parting with their hair tucked behind their ears and pulled back into a sleek pony-tail at the nape of the neck. Their cheekbones were lightly dusted with bronzer and they wore a thin coat of mascara and brown eyeliner.

The whole collection played with what our idea of ‘pretty’ and ‘elegance’ really is. From the ballerina skirt, to the structure lines of the fitted shift dresses, Kerner’s creativity and imagination knows no bounds.

A review of Fashmas, AKA London Fashion Week

Kettle Mag: 17th September, 2013

http://www.kettlemag.co.uk/article/review-fashmas-aka-london-fashion-week

London Fashion Week begun with rain. In typical British fashion those treating Somerset House as their personal runway had to huddle beneath the entrance and pray a stray blogger would notice their now somewhat hidden outfit. Bright pink ‘emergency ponchos’ were handed out in free goody bags but no self-respecting man, woman or child would touch such a thing during the most important five days on the fashion calendar.

Fashmas: Chaotic, inspiring and a little terrifying

That’s exactly what London Fashion Week is. ‘Fashmas’ (fashion Christmas) as it is dubbed on twitter, is a chaotic, inspiring and a little terrifying for the Fashion Week virgins among us. From the moment one steps on the tube heading to Covent Garden, it’s not exactly difficult to tell who’s on their way to (for five days, anyway) the fashion capital of the world.

From fabulous hats to this season’s must have: multi-coloured tartan, sharing a tube carriage is like falling head first into a magazine.

Situated outside Somerset House are multitudes of stalls and crowds of people handing out goody bags, flyers and free magazines. Grab as much stuff as possible is my advice – you never know what free crap you might just find. Keep your beady eyes out for models and celebs too. Tinted Mercedes Benz roll into Somerset House every five minutes, and if you’re lucky you might just spy Anna Wintour’s icy glare peeping out at you.

Tickets are notoriously difficult

Tickets are notoriously difficult to come by. Unless you’re press, for a tiny university paper, then they are almost impossible. Luckily, with a few blags, a rather exaggerated description of readers and a fairly unknown designer, I found myself face to face with some of the most beautiful, and expensive, dresses I’d ever seen.

The Kilian Kerner show was housed in the Waldorf Hilton hotel, a stone’s throw from Somerset House. The collection was presented as more of a showcase than a runway, which was a little disappointing as there were no celebs to be seen. However, a girl sporting the most incredible bright pink tartan skirt suit, something straight from Clueless, was certainly eye-catching. Apart from the most fabulous of distractions, the pieces Kerner showed were breath taking. All his pieces were red carpet, Oscar worthy ball gowns.

Kerner and the throwback designs

A fan of the throwback, Kerner drew inspiration from the 60’s with an almost solid-gold looking shift dress, from the 80’s with structured shoulders and from the 90’s with (another) gold crop-top. Yet it was clear his vision was to modernise these dated trends. The gold fabric was used a multitude of times throughout the collection, it look almost stiff and gave a severe-ness to otherwise ballerina-esque gowns. The structured shoulders were matched with peplums and fishtail skirts, occasionally it was over-kill with this structured detail, but the gold, black and white simple colours kept the pieces toned down.

The overall collection was pretty awe-inspiring, but it was the way Kerner chose to display his pieces that was the most interesting. The collection was broken into seven separate mini collections of about five dresses. For each section was a model wearing the most eye-catching of the designs, yet they were modelling alongside mannequins.

Taking brave risks

The audience walked among the models, able to get within millimetres of the clothes and the models themselves. The affect was almost voyeuristic at times as we took photos and watched the models posed.

For a London Fashion Week debut, Kerner took brave risks with his choice of presentation, and his incredible designs. The only way is up for this designer.