Alice Temperley is, by her own admission, a woman obsessed with suits. Considering her celebrated brand of feminine romanticism, this may have previously come as a surprise, but for SS15 her love affair with tailoring was clearly evident. The new season marks a change in direction for London’s evening gown designer-du-jour, as she declares her affections for a sharper aesthetic.
SS15 is the designer’s debut collection since merging her mainline with her diffusion, Alice by Temperley. The result was a youthful, more versatile take on the Temperley aesthetic, with a sense of contemporary cool underlying every piece.
Highlights included impeccably-cut matching jackets and trousers in graphic checks, and neat waistcoats juxtaposed with billowing culottes. However – for the hardcore Temperley fans – the label’s signature style of flouncy femininity still made an appearance, in the guise of fantastically flirty day dresses, all delicately detailed in typical house style.
Temperley tells us that Japanese shunga paintings inspired the patterns and prints, although the results were not nearly as naughty as their erotically-charged inspirations would suggest. They did, however, bring an intricate elegance to the collection.
Finishing each outfit was a pair of the brand’s first ever trainers – a marker for the brand merger which really brought home the reinvention of the Temperley woman – still full of elegant femininity and spirited youth- but now, she can run for the bus.
by Roberta Lister
Images courtesy of Style.com