london fashion week: danielle scutt
(images via style)
after a return to the london catwalk from a three-season absence with some glamourous 1980's-inspired looks for a/w 2011, danielle scutt went quite the opposite way for the s/s 2012 season, this time bringing out a hip hop-y, streetwear-infused range that spoke of all her youthful devotion in the mid-1990's to tupac and tlc (remember 'left-eye'? models sported her black strips).
and, grazia adds, lead stylist luke hersheson "used copious amounts of L'Oreal Professional Pli and Gloss Control all over the school girl French braid until it became 'council-estate-gang tough'. Teamed with the ghetto fabulous black eye stripe, it was a statement look." it was rather funny to think that most of these models weren't yet born when lisa lopez was rockin' that style, but all the more unique did it make it. i wouldn't be surprised if we saw a resurgence, but as to the clothes...
"This was a really personal collection and about me. I looked at how would I feel now about wearing these clothes that influenced me as a teenager – it’s me showing my generation," ms. scutt told vogue, which added that skinheads (that's a thorny subject matter for high-end clothing), youth culture, masculine-meets-feminine, and the notion of boys' clubs played into the mix as well.
"So this season it was Thug Life and suspenders and tartan that were on the designer's mind," wrote style. "She veered between being very literal with her references and being refreshingly unbeholden to them. On the one hand, there was a T-shirt that actually said "Thug Life," and a few fantastic, fresh-looking pairs of dark, low-slung jeans. On the other, Scutt took her rude-boy cues and made cropped, crisp white blouses with sculpted sleeves and tartan ruffles, and she closed the show with a fitted, ruffled dress that appeared to be made out of old RIP Tupac tees."
"Elsewhere," they continued, "Scutt roamed further afield, sending out several excellent looks in glitter-polished voile that she draped into dresses and skirts, and a few more challenging pieces that incorporated densely pleated silver lamé. Generally speaking, she was pretty thorough as she explored this collection's key ideas, but here and there one got the sense that she might have done more. To wit, there were the other denim initiatives, such as acid-washing and borderline-tacky ruffled denim, that could have been better extrapolated. You got the sense that Scutt was just at the beginning of her thought process with those pieces when this collection came due; maybe she'll continue to work out those ideas in her next one. Providing, of course, that she hasn't moved on to other preoccupations by then."
the latter was a fair critique, and it was funny to see the site catwalk queen pick up on a similar idea, writing that "the collection also contained androgynous shaped tie-dye denim jeans, teamed with a red tartan waist band and loose graphic tee. This more than casual feel continued for a few looks of the collection, then we saw elements creep onto other looks including a tartan dress and ruffle detail on jersey dresses. For me, while there were elements of the collection I liked, this really was a show with a split personality that attempted to merge two very different aesthetics which perhaps in hindsight didn't totally work."
at times the collection rather reminded me of luella bartley's now-shuttered label, which seemed to thrive mainly on coming up with odd ideas and juxtaposing them for maximum effect. sometimes it turned out utterly cool, at others simply like she was trying too hard. that oft felt the case with ms. scutt's range, which apparently reveled in ideas about 'so-ugly-it's-chic', but one can't help but feel that's a bit of a letdown after her triumphant return to the runway. yes, we all like that wink at times, but maybe more of the wearable items and less of the 'thug life'-notions. we can get those t-shirts at music shops and street fairs, after all.
but there were some great styling ideas that ms. scutt ought be commended on, such as the sweet, almost schoolgirl-esque skirts and jumpers paired with a sexy top or pot leaf t-shirt. and the braces worn with pretty blouses (as above), or the menswear shirts with flirty skirts seemed to retain that sense of youth and experimentation the designer was looking for. but it almost felt like a dress-up session rather than an honest attempt to capture the feeling, instead. yes, we know teenagers can get away with anything (and thus, so can the models). but most runway customers aren't that. best to learn that now, if one doesn't want abercrombie and vicky's secret pink as major label competitors. after all, fall never had that worry.
(watch the catwalk video here)