London Fashion Week: Two New Great Talents

It's a strong day for the London collections. This morning we saw Duro Olowu. Duro became famous about two years ago for a high-waisted, v-neck dress with kimono sleeves that he did in limited editions made out of a mix of vintage silks and contemporary fabrics. The style quickly became known as "the Duro dress" and was widely knocked off. The next season he designed a sexy shirt dress with ruffled hem that was called the new Duro dress, but wasn't really. Nevertheless, he has continued to do beautiful dresses in fabrics he designs himself and has built up a loyal following of customers (he has a shop on the Portobello Road in London) and retailers including Barneys New York, Libertys in London and Ikram in Chicago. Today I think we saw the new Duro dress. It's slimmer than its predecessor but with the same mix of fabrics and a shape that looks good on pretty much anybody. Fourth from the front, but only time will tell. But all the looks were strong with his trademark mix of bright colors done in inventive shapes. That's a necklace made from key fobs if anyone was wondering. Christopher Kane, the brightest of London's bright young things, lived up to the expectations set last season with a collection that felt -- if you can imagine this -- a bit like Paco Rabanne meets Alberta Ferretti. The only downside to either was that the shows were missed by many of the big buyers. The trip to London has been expensive for a long time (although the British Fashion Council offers to pick up the tab), but now these collections, made in the UK in small quantities, are becoming prohibitively expensive as well. Ikram in Chicago said that for a look as exotic as Duro, price is no issue for her customer. As for the rest of us, let's hope the collections are this strong when the dollar comes back. □