While Wickstead is heavily associated with the regality that comes with having your designs worn and beloved by the Duchess of Cambridge, this season she gave showgoers and devoted followers something different, even playful.
The designer introduced denim for the first time, pairing raw and high waisted straight leg styles with her signature puffed sleeve, iterations of which were seen throughout in everything from cotton to silk, with lace rounding them out for fall.
Patterns, from punched up florals to a muted ikat, were colorblocked and spliced on tops and paired with trousers. Many were worn with mocknecks while others came down the runway with complementary wool overcoats.
Never one for the overtly sexy, Wickstead preferred to tease instead with sheer pleated panels over loosely cuffed leggings and hotpants peaking out from under collared and lightly quilted fabric.
Victorian necklines were given new life with a smattering of sequins or a curved crop while lace, a favorite this season, seemed to float off the shoulders and away from the skin. Inspired by a 20th century photographer who dressed her subjects in Russian theatrical costume, Wickstead speckled dotted lace with Swarovski pearls and primary-colored crystals.
“She layered a lot of different layers and transparency and it was very costume-y, so I wanted to create a modern take on that,” Wickstead told Huffington Post UK. While some looks, including a standout worn by Sophie Jones that paired Wickstead’s black, white, and embroidered lace with her denim debut, dipped into the contemporary, none left Wickstead’s signature elegance behind. Rather her clothes left many between the whimsical and the wearable and very few left wanting for anything else.
Photos: vogue.com