PHOEBE ENGLISH

 

FETISH: SEQUINS, ELASTIC, STRING, SILK, LATEX, COTTON, WOOL AND LEATHER.

 

WHY THEY WANT THIS: Catering for every textile fanatic, delve into the latex-laden world of Phoebe English for her tenth season of disheveled surfaces and a plethora of contrasting textures.  Velvet skirts and tops tied with ribbon, deep plum latex paired with a crisp white shirt with ribbed sleeves beneath, and hand woven skirts accompanied by tights with shredded sequin headpieces. If that doesn’t hit the spot, I don’t know what does.

 

Another selling point? Each look is styled immaculately with thanks to this season’s

collaborations with John Smedley, a heritage English knitwear company and Spanish shoe company Hereu. English was inspired by Smedley’s work for her shrunken knits in felted merino wool and Hereu supplied handcrafted pebble leather shoes with spat covers.

 

WHAT IT DOES TO THEM: Layer upon layer of lustrous materials, soft, smooth and rough to the touch; what doesn’t this collection do to you? In deep plum, midnight blue, bright white and black, each garment has been handpicked and stitched down to its last drape and ruffle. English isn’t working to create something so detailed you don’t know where to look. No, the designer has strategically utilized impressive technical details with a simple colour palette to create the perfect balance between elegant and creative.

 

WHAT’S THE CLIMAX?: It’s happened a million times over, but the formula clearly works. Accompanied by technical glitches and television static, we sit in a clinical waiting room for 2 hours watching the models go one by one to be closely examined. With English’s experience with intricate textiles, the looks intensify and so does the fashion show experience.