Stella McCartney Is The Future Of Fashion Shows

Every season we see a few shows that blow us away with their spectacle (SS12’s Chanel and Louis Vuitton jump to mind) but never has a designer done something quite like this. At a ‘special presentation’ in London Stella McCartney showcased a capsule collection like no collection has ever been showcased before.

I’m not going to try and rewrite the reviews. It’s best to quote an account from vogue.com written by en eye witness:

“All of a sudden, Dutch magician Hans Klok appeared on the stage, from a cardboard box that had been floating in front of the full brass band seconds before, and got us all whooping as he performed various tricks, the culmination of which saw Alexa Chung hypnotised and balanced - apparently out for the count – on the points of three swords pointing out of the stage. Truly.

We thought that was it – when out of nowhere, one of the Stella models leapt up and started screaming, whereupon the waiters dropped their trays and all the models and various other audience plants (some of whom are booked to dance in the Olympics final ceremony later this year), rampaged around the room in a full flash mob which eventually saw Amber, Shalom and Yasmin carried around the room on chairs, Jewish wedding style. Once we realised the world hadn’t gone mad we began to enjoy it, and by the time they all gathered around Stella on the stage in a gorgeous human tableau we realised that London Fashion Week has just been raised to a whole new level.”

From top: Alexa Chung, Amber Valletta with Mario Testino, Rihanna

Models wearing the new collection.

The show!


It’s shows like these that so expertly push the boundaries of what we’re used to in fashion that really make a lasting impact. I believe this is that standard all designers should aspire to: a presentation where genres of art are woven together to amplify the beauty, power and creativity of fashion. I hope we can look forward to much more of this from Stella and all the other designers.

It’s clear that Stella put a huge amount of thought into the show, but the question remains: what about the clothes? I’m so happy to say they did not disappoint. Classic Stella: eccentric prints, delicate lace and (what also seems to be an emerging trend this season) mannish suits.  There is something to say about Stella’s suits: When other designers do it, the trend so easily seems to lose all traces of femininity… but when Stella does it, the feminine factor seems to be amplified.

Take a look at these clothes. Between these pictures and the ones above, I’m  not too sure which appeal to me more.

Collection images: elleuk.com