Roksanda Ilincic was feeling like a natural woman for spring, with a collection inspired by the environmental artist — and provocateur — Agnes Denes, famous for planting a field of wheat in early 1980s Manhattan as a statement about nature versus industry.
Denes’ work got Ilincic thinking about the wider outdoors, and specifically about the designer’s home city of Belgrade, the surrounding countryside, and the two rivers that meet there, the Sava and the Danube.
At the refurbished 1960s show venue, Space House, guests found a sprig of wheat on their chairs, and gazed at the vast London skyline from the 17th floor.
That backdrop reinforced the big themes of the collection: nature and industry, freedom and structure.
It was nature — and freedom — that won the day.
Although there was a lot of slick, strong tailoring — long, slim jackets and coats with cutout backs, sides and sheer panels — the free-spirited, playful looks were the most captivating.
Models made their way down the runway in long, draped off-the-shoulder dresses and Fitflops covered in electric bright, shaggy faux fur. Others wore dresses adorned with colorful cellophane-like fringe that rustled when they walked.
Other dresses looked as if they were tie-dyed, but they weren’t. Instead, they were covered in abstract images of the Belgrade countryside so beloved of the designer.
The designer also delved into the fields, and farms, for her color palette, too, whipping up big taffeta dresses in shades of melon, mint, aubergine and egg yolk.
Those grand designs were covered in big, knotted bows, and some even came with long dramatic trains — a bold move in this age of quiet luxury, and growing economic austerity.
“I wanted to give a sense of romance — and optimism,” said the designer, who’s looking to the future with new investor, The Brand Group, and making clients smile with those happy, flat-soled shoes made for going the distance.
