Roksanda Fall 2021 London Fashion Week
Colour Therapy: Roksanda Blocks Out her Mark at LFW with a Visionary Offering for Easy Transitioning from Home to Work with Intelligent Tailoring in her Walking Pieces of Art.
Image and Video Credit: Roksanda
A bolt of tangerine turned up the volume in this sculptural dress with its lily-like sleeves
Roksanda Ilincic opted out of a red carpet showing of her Fall 2021 collection and instead gave us an intimate glimpse into the lives of three generations of legendary screen muses – Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson and Daisy Bevan, amidst spring greens and birdsong. This unorthodox choice doesn’t surprise me as Roksanda is a woman who has always told stories with her inspired colours and sculptural shapes, and having been confined has no doubt intensified the desire for musing. Moreover, she speaks woman to woman, and it’s indeed extraordinary women like the three goddesses above who covet and appreciate her creations.
This dramatic billowing lavender gown with hand painted motifs is one of the standout piecesLooking at the pieces in the Fall collection I was struck by the obvious: here’s a designer who has the unrivalled ability to really, truly understand the psychology and power of colour and shape. More so now than ever we’re gagging for positivity and mood-enhancing optimism in equal measure, and this collection certainly proffered more than its fair share of the feel-good factor.
A vertical injection of shocking pink in this molten copper loungewear ensemble
Easy-to-wear jersey pants with a sporty red stripe down the side together with a sharp accent scarf
The queen of colour blocking predictably wowed again with an uncanny kaleidoscope of shades and combinations – personal favourite woozy combos in the colour palette were the molten copper & shocking pink, mint green & caramel and poppy red & tangerine medleys. Uplifting hues like sky blue, teal, chocolate brown and sunshine yellow added to a spirit of looking ahead in hope, in a collection that was sprinkled with much cosy cheer.
A pillar box red and sky blue dress with voluminous sleeves
To add to the colour feast textiles were hand painted with large brush strokes to resemble the landscapes of the designer’s native Serbia. A kaftan depicting a painterly Matisse-esque figure of a nude in black on white was particularly striking.
A painterly co-ord suit and scarf – for work and play
Simple brush strokes decorate this enveloping kaftan
Roksanda’s trademark sculptural shapes offered us a tempting route out of confinement and back to a work life: voluminous harlequin-esque suits, kaftans and co-ords cozily enveloped their wearers in many of the pieces, but many other pieces were much more tailored and cut closer to the body (like the copper & shocking pink and the mint & caramel trouser suits), perhaps heralding the inevitable return to the workplace.
A suit that’s cut much closer to the body in shocking pink and copper
Her signature ingredients – cocooning coats, billowing sleeves, ruffles, pin-tucks, bulbously elegant gowns, the injection of a sharp, brightly coloured scarf here and there – were all joyously present this time together with the meticulous workmanship and tailoring that she’s equally famous for.
Tucks, hand stitching and dramatic volume in this statuesque shape of a dress
A harlequin suit with two-toned shoes
Slouchy chic in mint green and caramel
Like the three muses in the garden Roksanda is a compelling player on London’s fashion landscape. Mind you, she gives us so much more than beautiful fashion. She offers us art from her giddy palette – wearable, delicious art. Oh, and drama, fantasy and the opportunity to be mythological goddesses too.
