In a beautiful room at One Whitehall it was time for Roksanda Ilincic to show us what she was really made of for her A/W '09 collection. The elegant backdrop of the library room was perfect to show off the dramatic shapes of her new collection inspired by Victorian dolls and sumptuous fabrics created especially for her, including a crocodile embossed jacquard.
ROKSANDA EXPLAINS:
‘It started with old, interesting porcelain dolls. They have quite exaggerated body shapes; the construction was interesting. I thought, "I know I can make the dresses like this." So it became a corseted body with lots of darts, the rest quite voluptuous. And you know I love sleeves, so all the volume went into the sleeves! I also wanted to achieve elements of lace and ruffles. You get to know the couture fabrics – I am pretty much obsessed with them. I always make sure there are silks and satins that are more affordable in the collection, but also some special pieces. But when you are a woman and wearing something structured, you want it to be light, you want to be able to move. So despite the structure in the dresses, my obsession from the beginning has been to make them extra light.' And trust us, they are!
WHAT WE LOVED:
The turquoise and beige dress.
Peak-shoulder black jaquard coat.
Gold brocade trousers with doll-shoulder crop jacket.
The lace inserts on dresses.
The one-shoulder croc jacquard dress.
PLUS check out the ‘effortless strong eyes’ the beauty team created here.
Melanie Rickey
