STEVE O Smith is throwing us a party. Or so we read on our rose adorned newsletters, which are placed upon our seats before the brands SS20 London Fashion Week showcase begins. Soft lighting and opaque voile curtains envelop the exhibit room at the Sanderson Hotel creating a sense of intimate warmth. The overhead speakers play Frank Ocean’s Blonde album set the tone for the evening: melancholic moodiness.
Tracing the dissolution of a glamorous garden party, Smith begins his SS20 collection display with a pristine, sharply tailored pantsuit in eggshell white. But as looks evolve, models begin to sport grungier evening wear, completed with loose fits, exotic feathering and eye-catching asymmetrical seams. Beauty adapts in a similar way, moving from clean simplicity to darker make up aesthetics.
The SS20 collection showcase proved to be as much a spectacle of fashion as it was artistic performance when model-artist, Daniela Lalita, graced the catwalk with the closing look. Wearing a deep blue tulle and silk red ballgown, Lalita was styled in such a way to evoke the anarchy of the end of an evening. She accentuated this by appearing to be slightly mad, moving mindlessly through the runway and interacting with several audience members. A brilliant move to highlight the themes of the contemporary designer’s clothing.
Smith took the audience down the Garden Path and celebrated it in its entirety. And the sincerest ode to this theme was the delicate rose motif itself, which was subtly interlaced throughout the show. Of particular note were the rose shaped handbags in a dark indigo and classic red shades. Both of which are perfect examples of how Steve O Smith is an expert in creating contemporary designs fit for both the runway and to jazz up everyday apparel.
by Maria Noyen