Riffing on the note of luxe sportswear that is so in play pretty much everywhere right now, Christopher Raeburn presented a confident collection in London tonight.
He has every reason to be confident, of course, because the hallmarks of the look - sheer, lightweight materials; functional and durable outerwear; bomber jackets and parachute silk turned tailoring - are precisely what he has spent so long making his signatures and this is where his strength lies.
And he does them so well. Gauzy anoraks floated behind models like slipstreams, some of a matte embossed design, others were starched and papery, hatched with Japanese Komatsu printing. Bomber jackets came with sheer panelling and printed map detailing, colourful and cool. Their recognisable geographies became almost poetry for having been swirled and abstracted into less familiar imagery.
But beyond the pieces Raeburn has made his calling card there were separates too: a silk T-shirt dress banded with black was simple but entirely sophisticated - likewise a pair of sheeny embossed poplin shorts and matching shirt. Then washed out tropical prints became accents that 'did' florals at just the right amplitude.
Raeburn's clothes are the nirvana of function and fashion, lyrically light but down-to-earth in their pragmatism too. In fact, his anoraks make you almost wistful for the last time you were caught out in the rain.
