As LFW rolled around this September the weather continued to pour down, placing a slight gloom over Somerset House not to mention ruining pre-planned outfits. However, seeing a few of the Spring/Summer ’14 shows brightened up the days with candy coloured pastels, digital prints and fun sunshine merriment.

Here’s a pick of my favourites;

Orla Kiely brought together a girlish safari explorer concept with 60’s styling complete with berets and knee-high socks. The presentation featured an African plains backdrop transporting you to a retro, stylish (and slightly impractical) campfire scene, garments displayed a whimsical theme with embellishments and animal motifs. A sunset colour palette of hues sweeping from burnt orange to pinks and of course no adventurous explorer would be complete without the utility driven khaki shorts suit.

It also reminded me of Suzy Bishop’s character from the Wes Anderson film ‘Moonrise Kingdom’, the curious 12 year old girl who runs away from home with a boy scout armed only with binoculars, her cat and a battery powered record player. Cute and kitsch.

The first thing that stood out for me at Jean-Pierre Braganza’s was from reading the press release before the show had even started, stating that his inspirations came from his daughter’s school uniform and how everything had to look in place, he says;

‘I’m fascinated by the controlled nonchalance with which my daughter wears her school uniform. Her socks and skirt have to be just so, and her jumper tied around her waist in a way that is completely contrived but gives the air of effortlessness that so many stylish women convey. I wanted to explore how this translates for women, the most attractive women always give the impression that they’ve put very little effort into their outfits.’

With this, JPB released his signature floral prints and tuxedo tailoring onto the catwalk but with an updated de-constructed aesthetic, similar to the ‘I just threw this on look’ when actually it took about a day and 3 virtual moodboards to come up with the perfect simple outfit.

I took an unexpected shine to the drop crotch trouser suits – a tomboy cut in contradicting and ladylike pastel colours. The prints also featured a slightly concealed raven on silk, a symbol of a trickster and also the creator in Native Canadian mythology, a metaphor for the ‘effortless’ women perhaps?

Holly Fulton’s key Art Deco prints return with a 70’s trip in California vibe, carefree with a wave of loose silk shirt dresses in bright coastline colours and glittering embroidery. Kaleidoscopic prints were included to mimic the perplexed combination of free love and formality from the era while styling paved the way for chic lounging. This was probably the largest collection I saw for SS14 with a total of 40 different outfits to take the Fulton girl from busy city to beach side cocktails.

Take a look at my SS14 trend write-ups for LUX FIX here & here.