Merit Awards: James Kelly catwalk show report for LFW A/W 2015

After he was awarded the Fashion Scout Merit Award for A/W 2015, chosen from over 250 emerging designers, we couldn’t wait to see what his new collection would bring, and we were not disappointed!

With his previous collection exploring texture, in the form of alpaca mohair and ostrich feathers, and colours pewter, midnight blue and deep khaki we could clearly see a flow of ideas that merged perfectly into the new collection. Similar colour palettes and hints of mohair, but the pieces were even more distorted and deconstructed, in the most beautiful way.

Trench coats were oversized and draped loosely from models’ shoulders, whilst sporty bomber jackets were styled back to front with exposing zips worn half undone and revealing bare skin in an eccentric yet sultry manner. The idea behind the collection follows a story of a girl following a lost love, wandering the streets alone: romantic, fresh, and somber – the show perfectly depicted this fairytale. With an interesting array of texture and a collection of distorted and deconstructed pieces, James Kelly brought us an ambiguous idyllic visionary of womenswear.

Hilary Alexander OBE said: “I was totally blown away by James Kelly’s collection at the Royal College of Art Gala earlier this year. Marvelous marriage of function, fashion and form”, and after seeing his newest collection we could not agree more. We’re eagerly anticipating what will come next from this young designer.

Amy Bailey
Photos: Rosie Yang