Alexander McQueen: How does he do it? That was the question of the amazed audience as they filed out from yet another McQueen spectacular that was as eerily beautiful as the moths that ended it. He just gets better and better as he refines a talent that is clearly one of the most inventive in fashion.
The designer returned to his favorite venue this season, a garbage depot beside the Thames River, where he created a square set surrounded by bleachers. A thrumming noise filled the scene as if a huge turbine were roaring from above. Fashion editors and retailers were discomfited by the fact the set was covered in mirrored glass that reflected their images back to them.
The glass, however, cleared like smoke dissolving to reveal a white-tiled room and, in its center, a cube that looked as if it were made from rusted steel. Kate Moss appeared in a bandage cap and a flesh-colored dress covered in bundles of tulle. She paced the room like a caged animal, staring and bumping against the glass, a two-way mirror.
A stream of bandage-headed inmates followed as the scene took on a Gothic feeling right out of Mervyn Peake's "Gormenghast." McQueen claimed that his show was inspired by Victorian illustrations of madness and a photograph by artist Joel Peter Witkin. But, the designer has always used his themes as a taking-off, rather than sticking, point and this time around his madwomen were covered in feathers, fabric roses, seashells, jigsaw puzzles, pearls and huge brooches made to resemble everything from a hilltop castle to a house of cards.
With someone who was less sure-handed, the scene could have been a disjointed mess. But it was all tied together by the most beautiful clothes seen in London, thus far. There were sharply tailored three-button suits, either with slim or cropped pants; a new waistcoat cut to flare-like wings at the side; bandage dresses with cutout sides; striped or acid-washed denims in pink and blue; low-backed dresses with elastic sports straps; coats, skirts and pants with Japanese flower embroidery; huge feathered puffs; and plain, black dresses and coats so chic they'd look great at any country club ball.
As the inmates exited, the lights dimmed and rose to reveal the cube unfolding. Its glass panels shattered as a swarm of moths fluttered forth. In the cube's center, an obese nude artist's model sat in an animal-horn chair, her face covered with a metal mask that appeared to be connected by an airhose to the noisy turbine above. The dream's mad creator was revealed, and the audience went wild.
This season, British designers seem to be all over the place in their struggles to create an image. But, McQueen proved that he's still the master with a show that was both true to his in-your-face style and surprisingly commercial. These are pieces that will sell and sell, which, as McQueen always says, is the point. And he's still only 31.
Luella: Luella Bartley is London's current It designer, with friends who include Kate Moss, stylist Katie Grand and the hip Notting Hill crowd. Bartley, who launched her line four seasons ago, had a strong showing for fall with her Clash-inspired looks. And she stuck to the Eighties for spring with the Madonna "Borderline"-style, spray-painted leather jackets, skirts and pants; off-the-shoulder leather dresses; tight fluorescent jeans; bright knits with geometric intarsias; fluorescent bathing suits; and an oversized T-shirt screen-printed with "You Want It, You Love It, You Got It."
There were some missteps. (Aren't there always?) The world doesn't really need tailoring from Bartley, and the silver Lurex looked cheap. Still, the hanging-from-the-rafters crowd at her show on a West London business estate proved that this is the moment for Bartley's Eighties looks.
Paul Smith: It wasn't Smith's fault that the London shows were running their typical 90 minutes late or that the heavens opened like a monsoon hours before his show in the fountain courtyard of Somerset House. But, that didn't stop the shivering crowd from blaming him for holding his show at an outdoor venue in England in late September, even if he did try his best by appearing out front and joking with guests like a warmup act. "Meet my German friend Herr Dryer," Smith said, pointing to a man frantically trying to dry out the sopping backdrop.
The irony was that Smith's theme was English girls on an African safari, and, once the show started, the audience's mood was lifted by the designer's zebra-striped dresses and jackets, floral crochet jackets, fringed velvet jeans and jackets, fun candy-striped knits and silk skirts and tops in floral scarf prints. But then, his girls lost their way in a garden of hydrangea-printed looks that became an endless maze. Still, Smith's women's wear grows more and more assured. It should place him in a prime position, if he decides to sell his company after his banker Morgan Stanley completes its review. A decision is expected this winter -- - and the candidates include LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
Julien MacDonald: MacDonald is one of London's fashion showmen, and in the past few months, he's become the British starlet's designer of choice. The show he held Monday night in the ballroom of the Park Lane Hotel was a genuine fashion happening, with front-row celebrities who included Baby Spice, Martine McCutcheon, the boy band Westlife, Brenda Blethyn and Joely Richardson (who made the front pages of the tabloids this summer by wearing a barely there MacDonald). They all wolf-whistled, clapped and cheered as one over-the-top, Swarowski-crystaled, sequined look after another came down the silver runway. It was fun, fantastic and sexy and hidden in all that glitter were some great party (or opening night) looks -- jeans striped with yellow, red and blue sequins; crystal-studded jackets with geometric-print skirts; crystal zigzag dresses in primary colors; and handkerchief-hemmed dresses with gold leaf and geometric prints. There also was a dress studded with real diamonds, thanks to MacDonald's sponsor DeBeers.
"It was absolutely wonderful," said Richardson, who was wearing a pair of MacDonald crystal-covered pants and a tan leather jacket. "I'm absolutely sure some of those dresses would look fantastic under the lights -- but you need a really firm bottom. So after about 20 more years of work, I think I'll be ready."
Nicole Farhi: Farhi returned to the London runways after two seasons of showing in New York with a collection that hit all the right Eighties notes seen everywhere for spring -- bright floral-printed dresses; crocheted tops over pleated skirts or slim pants; graphic printed dresses and tops; slashed leather jackets, and off-the-shoulder tops and dresses. Its assuredness and chic matched the setting -- the Rubens-ceilinged Banqueting Hall in Whitehall. The only problem was that the designer didn't get much of a chance to show her sure-handed touch with color. Most of the collection was in black and white.
Clements Ribeiro: There are designers who set trends and those who have trends thrust upon them. Until now, Suzanne Clements and Inacio Ribeiro have belonged to the former camp, launching the striped cashmere look that has become a fashion staple. But for spring 2001, they mistakenly threw away their signature bohemian style and jumped onto the Eighties bandwagon. The result was a mix of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Grecian Azzedine Alaia and lots of grommetted whatevers and fishnets. There were few striped cashmeres around and certainly none of the romantic, feminine looks that made their name (and got them the job of relaunching Cacharel). Designers certainly need to move on, but a gradual transition is better for any brand than a leap in the dark.
Markus Lupfer: In the past four seasons, Lupfer has become one to watch with leathers and prints perfect for the uptown girl. But in his show on Monday afternoon at a sports club in West London, he headed back to his Germanic roots with an all-over-the-place collection that ranged from hard Sally Bowles suits to basket-weave leathers and flapping-duck photoprint dresses, tops and skirts. There may have been a common thread in there somewhere, but it unraveled on the basketball court.