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SS11: Top Trends From London Fashion Week

What a great fashion week, London had a right buzz about it this past week and there have been some amazing shows, with Giles returning to LFW, Christopher Kane’s highlighter pen shades of colour, the first standalone solo shows from Louise Gray and Mark Fast, and the great venues from Topshop’s genius choice of Waterloo Station to Erdem going for a garden in a London square, this fashion week has seen it all.

So with LFW over for another season I thought I would round-up some of the key trends I saw hit the catwalk; including pleats, fringing and ruffles, pastel shades, graphic prints, a nod to the 60s and 70s silhouettes with shift dresses, high-waist and wide-leg trousers as well as the continuation of the maxi dress.

SS11 Trends:

#1 Pleats

This is one of the best trends as I love pleats, whether on dresses, skirts or blouses, pleats from boxy, knife and accordion every style seemed to be present in various fabrics including silk, chiffon and leather.

Seen at Henry Holland, Hannah Marshall, Jasper Garvida, Richard Nichol, Daks, Peter Pilotto and Christopher Kane.

My favourite piece has to be this denim play-suit seen at House of Holland, I love a pleated skirt but seeing it on sleeves really excites me for next summer.

#2 Fringing

It seemed like a lot of the designers wanted the movement of fringing this season, whether it was layered, patchwork,  raffia, flowing or looped, fringing added an extra dimension to collections.

Seen at Mark Fast, Ashish, Jasper Garvida, House of Holland, Holly Fulton and Matthew Williamson.

My favourite item had to be anything from the Mark Fast collection and I chose this nude cut-out knitted dress with purple fringing detailing to the hips as it such a striking piece.

#3 Pastel Shades

Pastel shades for spring are nothing new but they certainly made a statement at a lot of shows, with lemon, mint green, pinks and lilac shades working well against the neutral shades sent down the catwalk.

Seen at Jasper Garvida, Hermione de Paula, Osman, Paul Costelloe, Basso & Brooke, Julien MacDonald, Antonio Berardi and Richard Nicoll.

Favourite piece has to be this mint green tiered dress seen at Paul Costelloe – love the shape and colour.

Whether floral or digital graphic – prints seems to make up a lot of collections for spring/summer 2011. We had glorious floral designs at Hermione de Paula and Erdem as expected, but we also saw Henry Holland utilise a banana print, and there were paisley prints at the Vivienne Westwood Red Label show. Of course, the graphic prints always stand-out more with Giles going for eyeballs and plasters and Charlotte Taylor going for retro robots.

Seen at Erdem, House of Holland, Christopher Kane, Twenty8Twelve, Vivienne Westwood, Holly Fulton, Mary Katrantzou, Giles, Charlotte Taylor, Sass & Bide and Caroline Charles.

My favourite was a hard choice as I loved the striking prints seen at Giles but I went for this paisley print seen at Vivienne Westwood.

#5 Leather

Not just reserved for the jacket leather was seen as skirts, trousers, t-shirts, dresses and even bustiers. Last season all we could think about was the aviator jacket from Burberry but for spring/summer, Christopher Bailey has us all wanting a classic biker. But more than that leather was used more creative with perforated detailing, patent and embossed detailing.

Seen at Felder Felder, Burberry, Nicole Farhi, Acne, Marios Schwab and Richard Nicoll.

Favourite piece, well I was going to go for Burberry but I had to go for this cobalt blue slashed ruffle leather jacket from Felder Felder.

#6 Shorts

Pleated, tailored, scalloped or cami-knicker style shorts are going to be big next spring/summer. Some designers went for the daring high-waisted knicker style shorts, whereas others went for short play-suits, but my favourites had to be the pleated and work-like tailored pieces.

Seen at Eudon Choi, Daks, John Rocha, Twenty8Twelve, Betty Jackson and Margaret Howell.

There were many great shorts to choose from, I loved the super shorts at Daks but I went for these high-waisted turn-up shorts from the Betty Jackson show as I felt that they were much more wearable.

#7 Ruffles

Texture is big this season, fringing and pleating already been mentioned but I felt that the ruffles deserved there own mention. It was either feminine and fluid in silks and chiffon or textured in leather, either way, I sure it will be hitting the high streets with a vengeance next season.

Seen at Sass & Bide, PPQ, David Koma, Fashion East’s Felicity Brown and Antonio Berardi.

My favourite item had to be this ruffle peplum dress from PPQ, I love a little black dress but with the added colour it is completely divine.