Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
LONDON, United Kingdom — Amongst its flashy, bright sparks, London has its slow-burners — they are mostly women, too — people like Faustine Steinmetz, the weaver Amy Revier and Phoebe English, each plugging away at quiet clothes based on meticulous technique and subversive narratives.
English is one whose monochromatic creations have oft-strayed into wearable art territory, what with her penchant for fraying threads, crystalline structures and mounds of knotted textiles. In the past this has made for garments of profound beauty, with a minutia of fragile details that draw in the wearer and those around them, yet her Spring/Summer 2017 collection exhibited a more utilitarian persuasion.
Though her customary manipulations of cloth shone through in the tied and tugged cotton blouses, the segmented jersey and peeled layers of dry textiles, a new sense of urgency abounded too. Pieces like her snap-stud workwear, opposing striped separates, and slashed lining skirts helped drive the somewhat neo-Edwardian tale of her seven pantomime characters, yet seven silhouettes do not a collection make. Though it’s clear the presentation format is her forte, English would do well to widen her offer next time: as both buyers and press know she’s capable of it.
