After the extreme hustle and bustle at the Bloomsbury Ballroom last night for the House of Holland show, this morning’s Welsh Designer Collective show seemed relatively quiet. In fact, it was so quiet; I almost forgave My Beautiful City and Blow PR for their horrendous organization.
I went into the Welsh Designer Collective show not knowing what to expect. Where there going to be sheep? Tartans? Perhaps lots of wool? Essentially, I thought of every Welsh stereotype I could muster, and expected it to come marching down the runway.
Instead, the BitchBuzz LFW team was greeted by incredibly well styled models with designs by three incredibly talented, Welsh female designers: Elinor Franklin, Emma Griffiths, and Josie Beckett.
While Emma Griffiths has worked with both McQueen and Boudicca, and Franklin won Welsh Designer of the Year – it was Josie Beckett’s wearable, Tudor-worshiping collection that won both my heart, and my possibly my future paychecks.
With magnificently upswept, beehive like hair by Kenna at Terrie Tanaka and the team from Matthew Curtis using Redkin products, every model looked positively ferocious from head to toe.
One of the first items to hit the catwalk was a white T-shirt dress with an image of Henry VIII, and was soon followed by a white vest top with images of Henry VIII’s wives, paired with a colbalt blue skirt of the same print.
The crown jewels and Henry’s mug also appears on another print used by Beckett on both shiny leggings and a poof-tastic grey skirt.
The Tudor-love is for the most part subtle and easily missed while strutting in front of you on the catwalk, but the black and white tones matched with different shades of both baby and regal blue are both pleasing to the eye, and easy to wear.
Beckett’s pieces may not be overwhelmingly original, but there is something about them that is both approachable and high fashion at the same time.
Take for example this Henry-inspired puff-sleeve monochrome jacket that manages to be both wearable and very costume drama all at once, as it’s paired with a simple black pencil dress.
Josie Beckett’s designs are stocked in both Topshop and ASOS, and – even better- a quick look at her online shop proves that her gorgeous designs are actually affordable by normal human beings. (Check out this fabulous high waist skirt for only £42!)
A huge congratulations to all of the designers in the Welsh Design Collective show. It was refreshing to not only be at a show packed with innovative female talent, but with three collections that were all easy on the eye.
All images © BitchBuzz.com