UNITED KINGDOM: Julien MacDonald closes London Fashion Week with a glamorous Spring/Summer 2007 collection

With a trademark collection of tight, flesh-baring, glittery outfits, Welsh designer Julien MacDonald brought the London Fashion Week to a glamorous end on Friday (September 22). MacDonald's Spring/Summer 2007 show, held at the Hilton Park Lane Grand Ballroom, saw some of Britain's top models show off their best assets in the flashy, tight-fitting creations. The biggest cheers, however, were not aimed at the supermodels, but the two male models who appeared on the catwalk in tiny trunks. MacDonald enjoys a strong celebrity following, and his muses last season included US socialite Paris Hilton, who travelled to London to open the designer's catwalk show in February. His new collection, MacDonald said, was not inspired by modern day starlets, but old Hollywood icons. He summarised the look as "1940s meet Studio 54". "You know, I don't design clothes unless they are sexy, glamorous and enhance the body. I hate baggy clothes, I hate loose things. I think everything should make a woman feel like a woman and look like a woman in the silhouette," the designer explained. MacDonald's colour panel was based on neutral colours, including navy, white and beige but his collection also featured metallic leather and tropical prints. The fabrics were inspired by the Seventies, with liquid jersey, stretch satin tailoring and silk georgette dresses embroidered with Swarovski crystals. In a move that should guarantee added celebrity outings for his creations, MacDonald had hired the services of American celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe in styling his show. Zoe, whose clients include Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan and Mischa Barton, is considered one of the world's biggest fashion forces and the outfits she selects for her clients receive great attention and are copied worldwide. "It just happened. He asked me and he asked me a bunch of times and I said yes and I really wanted to come to London and I thought it would be a really great way to experience the whole thing and I know he is very big here in the UK and it's great to sort of be a part of it. It's sort of like boot camp for London, you know," Zoe told Reuters backstage. MacDonald's show concluded the London Fashion Week and the fashion pack now moves on to Milan, where the Milan Fashion Week kicks off on Sunday (September 24).

ITN Source | September 23, 2006

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