Hackney fashion: spring / summer 2012

REtouched: Clothes from Thea Vintage, 65 Chatsworth Road E5 0LH

This year, Valentine’s Day and all its sugary schmaltz, evoked the spring-summer 2012 trend for love-heart shades of pastel and lace. The best of us still know that the Hallmark day of ‘love’ is a con, but indulge if you please in an aesthetic befitting the bundles of roses and powder pink macaroons.

The SS12 shows back in September were sugary sweet with kitsch patterns, ice-cream shades and delicate detail dominating the catwalk.

In Hackney the birds are beginning to chirp again and although spring has not yet sprung, the dream is eeking its way towards reality. We can peak optimistically at Chanel’s iridescent pearl and conch inspired collection, Louis Vuitton’s ice-cream shades of lace, not to mention Dalston’s own Christopher Kane and his pastel brocade (inspired by peeling wallpaper).

Those with a large bank balance, or who relish in window-perusing, can find designers’ collections at Kingsland Road boutique Storm in a Tea Cup (366 Kingsland Road).

Henry Holland coined the phrase ‘pastel punk’ with his SS12 collection. He sent two-tone pastel clad models down the catwalk, whilst retaining some edge with snakeskin details in collars and shoes.

Holland, based in the heart of Shoreditch, rose to recognition in 2006 for his ‘Fashion Groupies’ slogan t-shirts that referenced other emerging designers ‘Get Your Freak on Giles Deacon’. They all wore one another’s tees for their end of show bows, creating a sort of in-joke camaraderie in an infamously tough industry.

Holland’s latest collection evoked that same playfulness, with candy coloured Dalmatian prints and pastel plaid, suggesting inspiration from punk to Disney. The same injection of black against pastel hues could be found in Adam Andrascik’s collection, cutting graphic lines through delicate pale blue polished cotton.

East London-based Mary Katrantzou – winner of Fashion Forward 2012 British Fashion Council sponsorship – produced a host of garments in saturated hues and prints depicting car parts and underwater scenes.

There was a flash of the romantic in the Japanese floral jigsaw-like dresses but clashing prints on two-piece suits, slips and tops with tails, offered a refreshing antidote to the sugariness of other collections. Delve into designer history at Kingsland Road boutique House of Liza (199 Kingsland Road) and unearth your own vintage colour brights by the likes of Versace.

The SS12 shows were a sweet feast for the eyes and now, with spring an almost tangible concept, take inspiration and guiltlessly embrace your inner love-heart.