London Fall '09 Fashion Week Highlights

New York Fashion Week may kick of the annual shows every season, but it's not normally until the London shows that we truly get excited for what's in store next season. After all, London is famous for creating & nurturing young, often avant-garde designers who normally set the pace for fashion's ever changing moods. A hot-bed of talent, London's young designers can be credited with initially bringing trends such as sci-fi, cowboy, neu rave, digital prints, body-con and the early 90's to the forefront of fashion. If New York is all business and Paris is all frou, one could call London a dynamic message-board of energized trends bubbling with copious amounts of creativity. Like New York, London also happened to take on Fall's strong use of fur, yet as you could expect, it was giddier, younger and much more youthful. This time around fur was juxtaposed by modern abstracted digital prints, boudoir inspired body-con and vibrant amounts of 80's punk streetwear. A strong sense of individuality met with an astounding quality in execution are what continue to make London so mesmerizing.

Jaeger London(also pictured above)- Style.com's Tim Blanks may have been correct when he called Jeager's Fall 2009 show "a little too contrived" for his tastes, yet after many New York designers tried to create what we consider pragmatic boardroom chic, Jaeger's on-trend showing was to us, sportswear at it's best. It was a bit mod, a bit urban, incredibly polished, wearable and perfect for everyday life, especially considering the line's price-points. What was probably most memorable were the girlie fur stripes and bows which reminded us of the Parisian merriness of Sonia Rykiel.

Armand Basi One- Markus Lupfer of Armand Basi has been on our spotlight for quite a few season's now because frankly, he makes some darn cool clothes! This collection brilliantly referenced the early 80's, seeming to specifically reference the dark, moody and almost punky poetic designs of Paris's early 80's Japanese invasion, yet it was never too literal. Channeling that aggressive mood happened to pay off since the clothing stands on it's own this season with it's minimal, urban take, as a gaggle of other designers are referencing the tired neon Culture Club moment of the 80's.

Christopher Kane- In just a few short season's Christopher Kane has managed to become, in our books, London's most important designer today. What we like about him, and what this collection so brilliantly points out is that Kane, unlike many of his peers, is capable of creating gorgeous, rich, modern and even luxe clothing that's decidedly grown-up, that can be as minimal as this collection was, yet still be so powerful and stimulating. He may have started his line with a strong infatuation for the early 90's, but it was refreshing to see him move on to the quieter part of the decade where minimalism was de riguer.

Erdem-In a few short years Erderm Moralioglu has garnered a cult following among the international dress-set for his beautifully crafted confections that stand on their own. Unlike many of his peers in the dress game who tend to over-do it with too much saccarhine sweetness and Vegas showgirl preoccupations, Erdem is strong yet optimistically youthful, vibrant and somehow never pretentious . Erdem's fall showing was brilliantly moody, dark, reserved and completely void of frilly romance, something that takes a visionary eye since it was a collection primarily focused on florals, whether classic, digitalized or watercolor, and dreamy babydoll dressing.