London based designer PPQ delivered an A/W 2009/10 collection of vibrancy and chaotic colour. Rebelling against the sobriety of winter, the collection boasted an amalgamation of bright tartans, clashing stripes, oversized bows, bohemian hexagonal quilting and a maelstrom of prints. However, last winter, PPQ curtailed their extensive use of colour. In a decidedly more sophisticated collection, an extensively reduced palette of lavish gold and black was chosen. Containing hints of the regal, duo design team Amy Molyneaux and Percy Parker adorned their dresses with gold fringing, taffeta and tasselling. Black velvet capes, high collared shirts and luxe golden shirts emphasised the grandiose quality of the collection.
This year at the prestigious London Fashion Week, PPQ’s A/W 2011/12 collection centralised on this regal influence. Like the previous year, the fashion house used a muted colour palette. Predominately featuring grey, black and pastel tones, the collection focused particularly on high necked or strapless thigh skimming dresses. The regal was once more an ubiquitous influence in the collection. Dresses boasted oversized black velvet cuffs with glimmering cube shaped perspex buttons. In their attempt to reflect the modern Jacobean woman, designers created lace ruffled necks, gold fastenings, exaggerated puffed sleeves, starched larger than life collars and purple and black thigh high boots embellished with intricate lace detail.
PPQ maintained its modernity and dedication to its East-end London fashion elite through its interplay of the contemporary and the decadent. Dresses were slashed and sunglasses worn as models stormed a catwalk booming grimy urban classics. In a Heidi-esque dedication to Germanic tradition, models wore tightly plaited pigtails tied with black ribbons. Emphasising the modernity of the collection, head-wear came in the form of feline cat-eared skullcaps, the perfect night-time sartorial choice for Batman. Black crowns resembling upside down human molars were visually consumed by fashion’s front row, including Paloma Faith, Kimberley Walsh, Jamie Winstone and Corrine Bailey-Rae.
This February, PPQ’s A/W 2011/12 collection did not disappoint. In their most mature collection yet, PPQ combined the regal with the modern, the Germanic with the feline and the embellished with the minimal at their London Fashion Week sartorial spectacle.
