Why it’s time to prepare for a leopard print comeback
It may not seem like breaking news that a fashion designer bases their new collection on the idea of clothes made to be, well, worn.
Molly Goddard made her name as a creator of giant tulle dresses, the stuff of party girl dreams. And while plenty of women have worn them (most notably Villanelle, the stylish assassin character of hit TV show Killing Eve, as well as Rihanna and Rosamund Pike) they perhaps didn’t leap to mind for anyone considering an everyday look.
At her London Fashion Week show on Saturday afternoon, Goddard presented an ‘ode to fashion’. But not the highfalutin, catwalk spectacle kind. Her references were those any girl who grew up in the UK at almost any point in the past 30 years - or her mum - might recognise - a popper belt bought from Claire’s accessories and shared with her sister, a much loved pair of leopard print jeans from Gap Kids and knitwear from Portobello market. Clothes which evoke memories and linger in your mind long after they've been grown out of, lost or worn beyond repair.
Those leopard jeans inspired several takes on the print. There was a full pink midi, a floor-sweeping classic number and jeans which looked more punkish than Bet Lynch - it might be time to prepare for a leopard revival on the high street.
As fashion grapples with a future where it must balance financial profit and environmental responsibility, Goddard’s message of buying clothes to love and wear instead of being a one-season wonder is a smart one. Perhaps the pinnacle for a designer now is not to create a few months of hype but to see their designs being pulled out again and again over many years.
There were plenty of pieces which could make it into the love-forever wardrobe of Goddard’s fans, from ribbon-trimmed velvet dresses and Fair Isle cardigans to less voluminous versions of those signature tulle skirts and diaphanous ‘90s floral dresses. ‘I want them to be worn and worn out after years and years,’ Goddard said backstage.
Teenage fashion experiments were also on designer Simone Rocha’s mind. In her show at Westminster’s Central Hall, she melded symbols of pretty innocence, such as pearls and bows, with raffia and glittering gold jacquard. But these weren’t just creations for young girls. ‘I want them to be worn by boys and girls, men and women,’ the Irish-born designer said. To prove her point, model and musician Karen Elson and actress Samantha Morton, both in their 40s, were among those who walked in the show.
