Kiki Georgiou reports on the Unique show
over two million people in one hundred countries tuned in to watch, customise their favourite pieces and download the soundtrack (did that mean teenagers all over the world were singing along to Heart of Glass at the same time?). A printed panel dress sold out within the hour... a blog post from Chinese actress Wang Luo Dan reached ninety million followers.
The story with Topshop's Unique this season had as much to do with what went on outside the show as with the show itself. For starters, there was the new location, in Bedford Square Gardens, where we recharged our batteries (if Topshop stopped serving food during London Fashion Week a fashion riot would start - not that hungry fashionistas at a show is anything new mind you, but at least they're not using their shoes as weapons, just yet). Plus, there were a couple of digital innovations that gave this collection another dimension.
That it was live streamed is like saying Anna Dello Russo donned something fabulous and showed up. Duh, of course it was. But over two million people in one hundred countries tuned in to watch, customise their favourite pieces and download the soundtrack (did that mean teenagers all over the world were singing along to Heart of Glass at the same time?). A printed panel dress sold out within the hour, for example. And since we're talking numbers, a blog post from Chinese actress Wang Luo Dan reached ninety million followers. If it all sounds very Burberry, it wasn't. This was Kate Phelan's second season at the helm and, simply put, it had the same so-cool-yet-so-easy feel as her first.
Mainly black and white with flashes of yellow, grey and blue, standouts included an overblown cheque print that looked great as a loose shirt tucked in equally wide trousers or as 'modesty' panels over a sheer white dress, and a silver sequinned skirt teamed with a marl grey sweatshirt, sleeves all pushed up. But if Phelan's fan base did not feel like spending their Sunday afternoon liking and customising their favourite looks on Facebook they'll definitely be liking and purchasing the brilliant white tailored suit and navy long coat with fine sheer stripes. And that's the kind of numbers Sir Phillip Green likes to like!
