Mary Katrantzou S/S 09

Walking into the BFC London Rocks showroom, full of familiar faces and designs was reassuring, but the majority of the designers who were exhibiting in this British showroom in Paris, had put on a show on/off schedule in London already so there was no need to revisit their designs again. There were notable exceptions though such as Mary Katrantzou who was fortunate enough to go straight to production with her S/S 09 collection following her MA collection at Central Saint Martins,  which has already got her a lot of attention. It was instantly recognisable as Katrantzou's work as she continued the use of enlarged and oversized jewellery prints on dresses and also produced oversized weighty jewellery that work as ensembles with the dresses. Why ruin a good thing was the thinking behind the collection. Of course, tweaks had to be made. The fabrics are much lighter and instead of the double bonded jersey from her MA collection which was highly labour intensive, Katrantzou has also used denim in parts of the dresses. The colours are still just as bright but are taken up a notch in the prints to give them more of a pop art vibe. The jewellery is made out of metal instead of wood but are still just as oversized and chunky. It's a seamless continuity that has gotten Katrantzou a lot of attention even if they are not familiar with her MA collection and already buyers are taking notice. Except key stockists from next season and perhaps come next London Fashion Week, Katrantzou will make a bigger shout about her work.