Release, said Kit Willow backstage after her show, when she was asked how it felt to return to London after several seasons in New York, coming back to show in London feels like coming home.
Coming home for the Australian designer also meant a return to the labels origins: recent years have seen her tailoring become increasingly elaborate, whereas this collection was positively light-as-air. Willow the wisp, she described it as she hugged her daughter backstage, and indeed it was.
Sticking to a beach-front palette of sandy nudes, sky blues and sunrise orange, we saw a floaty, wafty procession of kaftan cuts and just-so cropped wide-leg trousers, transparent tees and goddess dresses. But far from floating off into the ether, these pieces were cleverly anchored by the strong warrior-woman lingerie beneath. Willows tailoring expertise came into play here with rigid waspies and hard-edged corsetry beneath the gossamer.
Gossamer is the only word that can be used to describe the fabric that made up the garments towards the end of the show: shimmery and otherworldly, Willow told us backstage that it is the finest-woven fabric that can be found. You can purify water through it, she said, they normally use it only for really expensive teabags.
Make that tea for two then.
