LIVING IN A BOX

There are plenty of Fashion Week moments, trends and moods swirling in my head, all so ready to escape that they‘d come out of my ears if I let them. I’ll compile a rundown of my new favourite things very soon, so stay alert. But even before I ventured into the all consuming style vaccum that is Fashion Week, I had all things box-related on my mind. Obviously, there’s no escaping the new London club phenom, The Box. I almost feel like I'd rather not go and avoid disappointment. Then there’s my new pink Miu Miu shoe box  that although has pride of place in my shoe mountain, it cannot be opened, for inside are sandals, and now is not the time for such daringly open footwear. So all I do is look at the box and count the hour… And then, there’s the boxy tee. Not boxing tees, that sounds like far too energetically sports-luxe for me to partake in. No, I’m talking t-shirts with structure; unfitted, oversized and somewhat rigid. I’ve had this inkling that it’s a shape of the future. And in the same way that we’d never have accepted peg-leg trousers straight away, these silhouettes always start somewhere - even if it’s one (or two) steps removed - and then slowly but surely seep into our fashion pschye. Luxe t-shirts are an integral part of the current season: working as a clever buffer to evening wear as day wear, which has become one of this season‘s most noticeable styling shifts (mostly thanks Raf Simons' high/low vision for Jil Sander). So of course, my ears pricked up whilst at London Fashion Week’s autumn/winter’11 shows when cocktail gown queen, Roksanda Illincic, assembled a molten silver satin bias cut maxi with an oversized tee - realised in what looked like stiff grey tailoring felt. Unexpected, right? Take it back a year and this skirt would’ve surely have been a full gown or paired with an equally silky, dressy blouse. But, wait, I actually remember boxy tees from seasons past. And after a little catwalk investigatory wok (go go gadget arms), I noticed that the box-tee has in fact been a bit of a slow burner on what’s a usually fast-to-ignite runway. This is my favourite type of trend. The ones you don’t jump on straight away, the ones that other people easily overlook, the ones that make you look fresh without anyone really knowing why. And when in the midst of a very different fashion movement in which individual style has become less about mega-snap-em-up-trends and more about a beautiful progression (whether minimalist or maximalist) these are the kind of tricks I’ll be turning out.