Memory A trip down LANE
Paul Costelloe has been showing at London Fashion Week for 40 years and his latest collection is a tribute to nostalgia and classic design with a modern spin
LONDON Fashion Week celebrates its 40th birthday this year, with Irish designer Paul Costelloe’s show opening proceedings at 9am yesterday. The Dubliner showed at the first LFW back in 1984 and is a stalwart of the British Fashion Council, which stages the event.
Unfortunately, he was unable to attend the anniversary show due to a virus, but the collection spoke for itself.
While Costelloe’s show for spring/summer 2024 was a bucolic idyll of stripes, florals and pastels, this autumn/ winter collection had an edgier, urban aesthetic as it was inspired by his time in New York in his early 20s. Titled ‘Once Upon A Time’, Costelloe set the scene in the show notes.
‘We open the door on the Lower East Side and take in the bustling streets of the city of lights; buzzing, eccentric, intricate and exciting,’ he wrote.
The show opened with a suite of winter white looks encompassing mini, midi and maxi lengths with collars and hemlines embellished with 3D roses. While a cinched tightly with a leather belt, might have been impractical for grubby city streets but oozed exclusive luxury.
The next story featured traditional plaid but executed in contemporary separates like a short pinafore layered over Costelloe’s New York streetscape print, smart trousers paired with a black blazer and print blouse and a crisp powershoulder dress, again with a belted waist. Costelloe described his streetscape print as ‘a personal moment of nostalgia’ as it was inspired by the streets he lived on in Manhattan back in the 1960s and 70s, which he recalled as ‘a glorious moment’.
Throughout the show, coats were one of the strongest elements: they varied from long, lean and tailored, to short, flared A-line styles, to swaddling wrap-around versions, to cocoon shapes with double-face hoods. Leather trim was used on coat collars, cuffs and belts to add a contemporary edge. Costelloe
offered outerwear to suit all tastes, and while they may be investment buys, their classic styling and fabrics would endure forever. The designer also referenced his Irish heritage with clever use of contemporary Aran knits and Irish tweeds, sometimes used in youthful items like mini shorts paired with maxi coats or in unconventional pairings like a classic tweed jacket with leather jodhpurs. A standout look was a slouchy Aran sweater matched with a leather mini skirt with oversized patch pockets: a perfect juxtaposition of old and new. A salt and pepper tweed waistcoat with a co-ordinating maxi skirt and giant bag was very covetable, while a masculine threepiece check suit of oversized blazer, waistcoat and baggy trousers was Annie Hall with an Irish spin. Throughout, Costelloe showed an assured use of fabrics, textures and proportions
CLASSIC DESIGN STILL HAS ITS PLACE IN HIGH FASHION
that spoke to his assured eye developed over his long career. The final story was a suite of ultra-feminine print dresses that were romantic and dramatic. Some were in a blurred floral design of soft olive, others in graphic black and white print while the most striking featured an expressive combination of ochre, black and ivory. Silhouettes again varied from full skirted with voluminous sleeves, to fitted and dropwaisted to short bubble-skirted or Aline shapes. The final two looks were opulent red print velvet gowns, one with a dramatic decollétage and large voluminous sleeves, the other a fitted style with a drop-waisted gathered skirt. It was old school glamour executed with great panache. In his show notes Costelloe said: ‘This collection expresses my view that classic design still has its place in high fashion.’ On the evidence of this show, we couldn’t agree more.