Parties at Number 10 Downing Street have become a bit of a London Fashion Week fixture since the prime minister’s spouse, Samantha Cameron, agreed to be an ambassador for the British Fashion Council. Last night’s reception celebrated the end of an exuberant round of shows with a comprehensive cross-section of talent, from Christopher Bailey, Christopher Kane, Erdem Moralioglu, Simone Rocha, Alice Temperley, Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, and Preen’s Thea Bregazzi and Justin Thornton, all the way through to the newest gaggle of young first-timers, Molly Goddard, Sadie Williams, Danielle Romeril, Marta Jakubowski, and Claire Barrow. In a speech that jokingly highlighted the “brunette coalition of leaders” of the British Fashion Council—chairman Natalie Massenet, CEO Caroline Rush, and Cameron—Massenet looked back over a decade of British fashion history, a phenomenon that has seen penniless graduate designers become international sellers. For a photo op—or was it a group hug?—Cameron drew together all those who’ve opened Mayfair stores in the past year or so: Roksanda Ilincic, Nicholas Kirkwood, Kane, and Moralioglu.
Vogue.com’s Chief Critic travels the world, tracking down future fashion talent. When she’s not talking to designers, she can be found most mornings running in Hyde Park with her English toy terriers, Ollie and Archie. ... Read More