No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is indeed a bicycle being wheeled down the catwalk at the PPQ on day one of London Fashion Week. Very Dalston isn’t it?
Someone asked me right before the PPQ show which I preferred between the summer and winter fashion weeks. I answered that these days the boundary between the two, in terms of the seasonality of clothes on show, was so blurred that I couldn’t decide. But then I had to eat my words as minutes later PPQ sent out an array of resolutely cold weather-friendly clothing. It started (once the girl wheeling the bike had exited, more on that later) with a host of winter coats in black and grey raggedy mohair, cinched 80′s-style with wide belts. A hood embellished with gold and a slightly Amish head piece (that was way cuter than it should have been in theory) put a focus on the neck up. Next up were cosy, rouched black velvet dresses that had added sex appeal thanks to deep V-necks, cut out backs and off the shoulder detailing. Typically for PPQ there were a few very out-there looks, like the cream, off the shoulder unitard that brought to mind two terrifying words: camel and toe. The black latex high-waisted knickers were equally zany, but the eveningwear was mostly very tasteful – a couple of flowing black and white dresses in particular. And then the bikes were back. For the final walk-through three of the models wheeled out a bike that matched their outfit. A collaboration with lifestyle brand RULE, 100 of the snappily titled Limited Edition PPQ Rule Supreme Style bikes will be available to order in March. It seemed like a slightly gimmicky end to the show but I’m a big bike fan so I don’t care. In fact, if I had £1500 spare (yep, that’s how much they’ll be) I would totally be placing an order.
Check out the rest of Style & Then Some’s LFW coverage here.
