Perfect Peter Pilotto: experimental and wearable

Playing with texture: Peter Pilotto combined fur, tweed, knits and metallic fabrics
Karen Dacre10 April 2012

London Fashion Week may be best known for showcasing clothes that are innovative though not always wearable, but Belgian design duo Peter Pilotto defied this claim today with a collection that is both sellable and experimental.

The brand, designed by Peter Pilotto and his partner Christopher De Vos, imagined fading Seventies interiors as seen on Woody Allen sets and modernist architecture as their inspiration.

Colourful prints, as always with Pilotto, were the collection's mainstay. An off-white putty shade sat next to taupe, deep red and flashes of burnt orange. An oversized interpretation of the iconic paisley Liberty print appeared on body-skimming long-sleeve dresses.

"With this collection we wanted to take the next step," said Pilotto before the show, "and by reinterpreting already well-known prints we were able to find a strong foundation for the collection."

The dress, a favourite with Peter Pilotto's customers, appeared frequently. Some were short and tight while others, cut from flowing silk, featured elegant drapery and drop waists and billowed behind the models as they walked.

Playing with texture, the designers printed grey and midnight blue with tiny squares, adding a three dimensional aspect. Flashes of leather and heavy-duty tweed gave the clothes a tougher edge than Peter Pilotto's past collections.

Presenting more daytime looks than is usual, trousers in a rusty brocade were teamed with what looked like glazed Harris Tweed jackets, detailed with fur. A chunky knit cardigan with metallic leather panelling was teamed with shredded PVC leggings, as were button-front printed blouses.

The front row this morning, on the final day of womenswear shows, was mostly free of the celebrity circus that has been familiar at many of this week's shows. But the many editors and industry insiders who had turned out to see Peter Pilotto's latest unveiling speaks volumes for the brand. It is followed, loved and most importantly, worn by some of fashion's greatest critics — and for a designer, there can surely be no greater accolade.

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