'She's always here, for me,' Christopher Kane said backstage today after presenting a collection that he dedicated to the late Louise Wilson, his course tutor at Central Saint Martins.
The homage came in the form of a revisited trope from his student days that had never seen the light of day, a motif of windings cords and ropes that snaked around the body as appliqué on sheer tulle dresses and high-necked tops, and informed cut-out necklines on sheath dresses made from oyster and burgundy silk so fine it shimmered like liquid metal as models walked.
At times picked out in paillettes, elsewhere woven into chic collarless knit dresses and jackets, the sinuousness became in Kane's hands at once sensual and restrained. 'It's bondage, but in a sophisticated way, ' he explained. 'I love working with ingredients to create a point of view that stands out. And the burgundy was the colour of my school blazer.'
While there wasn't anything as literal as that in this ode to his student career, there was plenty of sharp tailoring and outerwear - fitted and cropped jackets spouted tulle as a peplum, to mirror the protrusions that decorated and structured dresses too. And a burgundy leather jacket had zip-off sleeves, turning it easily into one of next season's must-have gilet shapes.
To add to the bags he launched last season, Kane also showed footwear - nice and high because Wilson liked the idea of 'prancing horses', the designer said.
'It's retro but not, ' Kane said of his Spring/Summer 2015 collection. 'I started so much as a student that it's good to come back to.' And for the Kane customer, it's this wunderkind's ideas that count, whatever their vintage.
