I’ll be honest, when I watched the Fashion Fringe entries on the catwalk last year, Corrie Nielsen wasn’t my favourite. Her Marie Antoinette-esque designs were too costumey for me, too complicated, too unwearable. I’m a sucker for pieces I can see myself in, so it wasn’t for me. With John Galliano heading up the jury however, I wasn’t all that surprised the American won in the end.

Anyway, fast forward 6 months and Corrie got to claim part of her prize, which was showing on the main schedule. There was a lot of interest as this was the first truly packed tent of the day. Here’s where I hold my hands up and say I was wrong: Corrie Nielsen is a real talent who truly deserved this accolade. What she proved for AW11 was that, yes, she’s a master in dramatic, almost costumelike eveningwear, but she mixed it up with some truly inspiring and original ready-to-wear, the likes our catwalks haven’t seen in quite some time.

Her daywear included simple draped dresses to trousers with a ruche detailing, whilst her eveningwear featured more Elizabethan-inspired pieces, with corsets and ruffles, which ended with two dramatic gowns with trains, one white, one black. The beautiful Georgina Goodman shoes gave the collection a 21st century twist.

A star is born, mark my words.

Catwalk images via www.londonfashionweek.co.uk