London Tack?

Now that London is jockeying with other better-established fashion capitals to fit in its own full London Fashion Week, and with the departure of colorist/wunderkind Jonathan Saunders to New York, many are wondering how British fashion will re-establish itself in this uncertain economy.

Erdem kept things prettier and lighter than last season with some fresh flower prints and tiers of Victorian lace that felt romantically Jane Austen. This is one side of British fashion we love; the romance, the sensibility of a beautiful dress, the reality of the if-not-innovative-at-least-completely-wearable look.

Christopher Kane shows the best aspects of British whimsy and fun with an amalgam of influences this season. For example? Gorillas. Lace trompe l'oeil. Circles and side flaps. Is that rubber? And, of course, shoulders. Kane interprets trends abstractly, making lace designs out of other material, and why not? Hopefully monkeys will be the must-have print for Spring.

And as for those detractors who say that the Brits are out of touch? They're tacky? No idea what you mean, m'lady.