Initial reaction:
‘Young sophisticates’ – that’s how Sibling’s show notes described their AW15 muse, but these supercool school girls showed the boys what they’re missing with their ripped up tweed, razored hair and cardigans with a punk edge. Basically, they were ballsy as hell, charging down the runway to Blondie’s “Call Me” with black mohawks and Cruella De Vil-style frizz with a lick of neon hair mascara.
Teenage dreaming:
Latex was polished, Mongolian furs exploded from the hips and 80s neon pinks and sherbet oranges were modernised with slim silhouettes and cobwebbed knits. The infamous tweed two-piece suit was given a new edge with lurex, trailing skinny scarves and chunky Baby-G watches. One third of the design team, Cozette McCreery said: “We were taking from the men’s show where the guys were quite school-y and sort of cocky, and these are the girls that they have huge, huge crushes on, but will probably never really get to.” Just how cool were the designers themselves in their teenage heyday? “I think Joe was super cool,” laughed McCreery. “Sid and I were just a couple of nerds, really. That’s what I love about this collection, I get the feeling like, yeah, that was me at 18 or 19 – or how I wanted to be. I probably didn’t look as glamorous as that! It’s that idea of feeling grown up and confident, even if on the inside you’re feeling a bit geeky and nerdy.”
In the details:
Badges and brooches were pinned throughout, but what’s typically just a knick knack picked up from the market, at Sibling was embellished with diamanté, detailed with florals and finished off with heavy chains and beading. “You go to Camden and there’ll be some old dear selling nasty clip-on earrings that you just have to have,” says McCreery. “We didn’t want it to be too 80s so it was like, let’s take the beading idea and push it that little bit further.”
The soundtrack to Sibling AW15:
 backstage at Sibling AW15)
