Backstage with palmer//harding at London Fashion Week AW14
From the sounds of highlighter squeaking against a page to the subtle aroma of paper wafting through the show space, it’s suffice to say that palmer//harding fully embraced their inspiration of the humble sheet of paper for their AW14 collection. Showing at the CSM show space, the models sauntered through stacks of A4, and with large sheets looming from the ceiling. When caught up with Levi at London Collections: Men last month he gave us a teaser on what to expect; “This season we found inspiration in the simplicity of paper, its’ linear forms and flat planes has lead the direction of our AW 14 womenswear collection. We paralleled these traits with the work of Richard Serra which has also helped to inform aesthetic choices in design.” Suffice to say we were instantly intrigued and the collection certainly did not disappoint.
The collection had a clean white palette, with inflects of highlighter yellow, burnt red, soft beige and black, perfectly fresh as an AW14 collection. As with every season, the humble shirt was reimagined with their innovative eye, seen rendered in neoprene and as a jacket for AW14. The duo also forayed further into well cut trousers and skirts as well as outwear, introducing jackets in soft suede & coats to the mix.
The intricacy of the detailing was exquisite, almost as through the shirts were made of little paper snowflakes with a laser like cut. When we caught up with the boys post show they explained how the shredding effect was rendered by hand, adding all the more depth to the detail. On closer inspection the design was littered with symbiotic references including little paper clip motifs, in the form of a simple jacket clasp or stitching from which volumes of draping spilled out. Fabrics were artfully manipulated so the textures moved through strips of textile to convey the effect of shredding through to an almost pulp like inflect, creating a beautiful, tactile surface.
The white shirt of course was beautifully cut, featuring sharp layers at the shoulders and paired with a metallic, shredded skirt or with a freeing flow of draping floating down the back. Even what appeared on first inspection to be a humble jersey t-shirt featured their signature spiral pleating at the back, adding depth to the simplest of pieces. Whilst the aesthetic was more conceptual that previous seasons there are a host of very easily worn pieces, making this the perfect collection to add a little intrigue to your work wear.
Watch the exclusive behind the scenes video with palmer//harding at LFW 2014:
