Toga spring/summer 2017 collection catwalk show for LFW

Yasuko Furuta, designer and founder of Toga,  has previously said that she creates for a complex woman who can only live in chaos. This seems appropriate for a designer whose SS17 collection – Flux, Temperance, Release – seems to fall somewhere between Dorothy in Oz and Madonna on her Blonde Ambition tour.

Furuta showcased a series of distressed, unconventional shapes on the last day of London Fashion Week. As with a number of other labels, she has also brought inner structure to the exterior of garments and returned the focus to the back of a piece. A check trouser suit in dark olive is overlaid with an ivory bodice and black bralette/suspender strap combination; a brown corset is worn over a lightly golden satin dress. Dresses appeared inverted: blank canvas front panels were missing backs, fixed instead with buckled belts or tightly bound strips of canvas. The real star of the runway, however, was the footwear. Chunky transparent Perspex heels adorned sophisticated pointed toe caps, which came in a vast spectrum of colours from dark merlot to metallic purple. Set against the distorted versions of traditionally feminine outfits, they complemented one another perfectly. The press release for Flux, Temperance, Release was written as a modernised haiku, the unpunctuated lines reflecting the tug and release of the collection. Furuta was right in what she said: her clothes are not just for the complex woman, but also for the brave one.

Katie Dean
Photos: Krisztian Pinter

For further information about Toga visit here.