FETISH: COTTON, BLACK STITCHING ON WHITE COTTON, SCREENPRINTING, PAINT, JACQUARD KNITS AND EMBROIDERY

 

WHY THEY WANT THIS: Travel through the ages and get a glimpse of Claire Barrow’s Autumn/Winter 2016 collection throughout a plethora of time periods. Or go to the British Fashion Council’s show space last Sunday.

 

Barrow is witty. She’s made that blatantly clear with her tongue-in-cheek humor that backed her presentation on Sunday; a desire for the past and nostalgia in the 21st century, the most digitally charged and advanced century to date. Perhaps Barrow is attempting to see a little clairvoyance in her collection. After all, we’re all living in the wrong decade, aren’t we?

 

WHAT IT DOES TO THEM: A young designer needs a partner in crime, and we are seeing a trend in collaborative projects amongst the younger crowd. This season, Barrow partnered up with knitwear company John Smedley to create masterpieces of embroidered knits in the form of jumpers, legwarmers, arm warmers, scarves and gloves. What doesn’t a little heat do for you? I know what I want to warm up with this winter.

 

WHAT’S THE CLIMAX?: Forget the filmography by 13 year-old Duke Brooks that accompanied the collection, Barrow’s clothes aren’t ones to be reckoned with. Painting, screen-printing, drawing and draping, is there anything this designer can’t pull of?

 

Models of all shapes and sizes took to the presentation floor on Sunday and each with their own specific look Barrow managed to transform the space into the art fanatics dream complete with film, illustration, photography and painting.