Danielle Romeril autumn/winter 2016 collection presentation for LFW

Set to the instrumental sound of the Stranglers’ Golden Brown, designer Danielle Romeril showcased her latest presentation at the Chelsea College of Arts.  The courtyard of the college was adorned with flowing ribbons of maroon, cold blue and black, guiding her expectant fashion crowd towards the “cook house”, and her static presentation for autumn/winter 2016 collection.  It was lovely to see the designer herself speaking about the clothes to press and buyers alike, and the space was strewn with maypole ribbons to crawl under and around.

Eclectically collecting and borrowing from incredibly diverse influences – Romeril cites her inspirations for the collection as a 16^th century portrait of King Philip II of Spain’s consort Isabel de Valois, 1980s nightclub Studio Paradiso and early 90s football scarves. This appropriation and reappropriation was underpinned by a strong element of the hand-crafted, with beautiful serpent and octopus embroidery adorning black technical nets and leather sleeves.

Dublin-born Danielle Romeril, a graduate of the Royal College of Art, showed that perhaps in order to reach the new we must take apart the existing.  Raw embroidery threads dangled from charcoal brushed silk shirts, frayed and attached to black reconstructed dresses.  Straps too were suspended with off-the-shoulder shirting, trousers and coats spliced, unzipped and opened at the knees and elbows pushing down the silhouette to the floor in ultra wide-hemmed workwear green turn-up trousers.

Tunics over trousers, and deconstructed shirts had echoes of 90s Yohji Yamamoto but given a refreshingly cool new take by Romeril. Black lace Dr Martens with preppy school socks completed the looks, with black painted graphic lines on the models faces.  Zips and drawstrings were used throughout the frame, draw in and undo an ice blue leather skirt, maroon cocoon bomber coat and waist-skimming poplin white shirts, with oversized sleeves and cuffs.

Danielle Romeril showed precision, expertly orchestrating together these multifarious surfaces, influences and layers to the body with ease.  This collection paired technological fabrics underpinned with historicism in shaping and structure, in order to produce a collection of expertly restructured and assuredly modern outfits, and securing Romeril’s position as one of the new generation of designers stemming from the cool London scene.

Victoria Geaney
Photos: Krish Nagari