London Fashion Week SS12: Meadham Kirchhoff

As the exodus to Milan Fashion Week had already started, the last day at London Fashion Week seemed pretty quiet and calm. Those who left prematurely will probably be kicking themselves now, as the Meadham Kirchhoff show will probably go down history books as the funnest, craziest show ever. With Anna Wintour sat in the front row in front of me,(apologies, all of my pictures feature her bob, but there was no other way to snap the catwalk), we were treated to a real spectacle which had everyone in stitches – yes, I swear I even saw a faint whiff of a smile on Anna’s face.

Not exactly known for their minimalist approach to things, this season, the boys from Meadham Kirchhoff went for complete over-the-top-ness. More is more is probably their motto, and it works: the catwalk at the Old Eurostar terminal had been transformed with arches of pastel balloons and the Spice Girls were blasting through the speakers as we were sitting down. Suddenly a dozen or so slutty looking girls came out in shiny pastel dresses, powdering their noses and smearing on more lipstick, neon bras sticking out. Everyone was left slightly confused until they suddenly burst into a dance routine and the “real” models came out.

The second part of the show featured some adorable little ballerinas, doing a little dance and then revealing a tiered cake-like podium behind the gold curtain, where 5 showgirl-esque models awaited their turn to go down the catwalk. It was completely over the top, ridiculous, hilarious, unexpected and just so, so much fun, we all briefly forgot how much our feet hurt and how tired we were.

As for the clothes? I only really saw them when I had a look at the pictures online that night. The boys found inspiration in the circus, showgirls, dancers – with the styling, the hair and makeup, some of it verged on being too costumey, but when you take it apart, there’s some brilliant pieces in there. My guess is that their cartoonesque knitted sweaters and cardigans will become next season’s Fashion Crowd Must Have. They’re fun, a little childlike and not taking “Fashion” too seriously, which pretty much describes the whole Meadham Kirchhoff ethos.

Thanks boys for putting the fun back into fashion – we had almost forgotten…..

P.S. The front row goodiebags were provided by British perfumers Penhaligon’s, who have been “scenting” the Meadham Kirchhoff collections for 5 seasons now. This time, they chose “Artemisia” as their fragrance for SS2012.