London fashion Week: Manish Arora’s Final Frontier

As a huge crowd packed into the BFC tent, Manish Arora took us on an amazing trip through space with intricately embellished outfits on android models. Latex bodystockings, painted heads, and the most amazing make-up seen so far could not distract from the fantastical clothing on display.

Shapes were simple; boxy shifts and swing jackets gave a nod to the ’60s, yet the outfits were anything but. Arora played with all forms of fabric embellishment showing multi-coloured garments with padded appliqued astronauts, robots, and mechanical circuits, rich metallic embroidery and mirrored sequins, bold, swirling geometric and 80′s style computer-graphic prints, cleverly reinvented three-dimensional weaves that mocked traditional patterns, and even toy cars and mechanical pieces sewn on to the rich silks and velvets.

At some points the collection seemed more film costume than fashion catwalk, yet there was still something eminently wearable about the pieces. The skill that each one of these garments took to produce added a level of luxury and quality to a dramatic and theatrical collection. To me, this visual feast is exactly what the catwalk should be about, and judging from the audience response I am not alone!