SS06 - 'PEARLS AND FLOWERS'

"As if they had stepped out from the dusty pages of a Victorian garden almanac, Michelle Lowe-Holder’s girlish silhouettes and floral prints have developed from last season. Her SS06 collection explores the ethereality of a summer evening with vintage-inspired gauze tulle and chiffon teamed with dreamy lame linings creatin¬¬g a highly unusual fabric combinations.

Gauze becomes an integral fabric to Michelle’s vision these seasons as she explores its airiness and transparency. The starkness of her black line flower illustrations are etched on the underside of gauze tops, creating romantic apparitions that peer through the fabric. They appear like a memory, summoning sultry afternoons in the heavy, exotic air of the botanical hothouse. This distinct sense of summer antiquity is accented by the vintage silk edging applied to both dresses and tops.

The tactility of cool, smooth resin pebbles can be found adorning neck and waistlines, another successful continuation of last season, faux rock crystals add fluidity and pay robust compliments to the diaphanous fabrics Michelle uses. Bunching and smocking techniques make a feature of neck and armholes, imbuing the garments with lyrical movement.

Michelle’s experimentations with fabric combining have yielded new concepts for a skirt. By softening the metallic hues of lame ghostly veil of foil-pleated gauze in cream and dusky pink. She has created an iridescent summer skirt that is already creating ripples of interest. Its simplicity is perhaps its winning grace. The two fabrics have a way of harmonising the light together that will attract just the right amount of attention. Understated in its delicacy yet an enduring beautiful piece."
by Andrew Gow

• Stylist: Jane Howard
• Photographer: Thomas Zanon Larcher
• Hair: James Row @ Holy Cow
• Makeup: Maria Comparetto @ Emma Davies
• Prints designed by Michelle Lowe-Holder