Fashion East shows the new names to know

Of the trio on the line-up only one was returning for a repeat performance: James Long, Marqueis’Almeida and Maarten Van der Horst both made there LFW debut having been spotted by the eagle eye of Lulu Kennedy at this year’s Central Saint Martins MA show.

Portuguese duo Marques’Almeida, fresh out of Central Saint Martins, continued the grungy denim theme of their graduate show but updated it for spring. Pale denim capes were layered over heavily slashed jeans, all with frayed and distressed edges, a denim tunic was layered over a white shirt dress made from cotton so lightweight it was sheer, and there were some slashed, oversized, ribbed sweaters thrown in for good measure.

James Long, the only one of the three to have shown under the Fashion East umbrella last season, has clearly benefited from the extra experience – his collection was a more refined, polished affair. Centring heavily on a dark snakeskin print, he offered up uber-skinny trousers teamed with snake-fronted shrunken lurex sweaters. Sheer black blouses and baby doll dresses came with collars and plackets heavily encrusted with colourful stones, and there was an incredible and surely weighty mini dresses covered with the same jewels. The metallic lurex sweaters were the most covetable pieces – well he is known for his knits after all – but it was a strong collection overall.

Maarten Van Der Horst is another one just graduated from CSM. He used the Hawaiian print and vintage petticoat theme that drove his MA show, but he’d cleverly developed it into a more wearable and commercial interpretation. The bold, strongly coloured printed cottons were turned into neatly tailored shirts and shorts, chic and mannish sleeveless jackets and form-fitting dresses, and there were only hints of coloured tulle around the busts. There were also grey and cream printed pieces piped with neon and, judging by the apricot, parma violet and mi