>> A few hours has passed and I've gotten over my moment of unabashed stripping down, aided by a few cold showers and now an early evening breeze. So gone are the thoughts of semi-nudity and we're back to layers. That is... layers of pastel fringe. Yes, I'm still on a pastel rant and no, I'm not turning my attention to darker hues because THESE are the days to be getting those gelato, candy, pastel gel-ink pen colours out (whichever you prefer...) - is it weird that I FEEL physically unburdened when I look down and there's lightness bouncing off whatever I'm wearing.
Kitty Keay, who won the Mulberry Accessories Award at Graduate Fashion Week, like runner-up of the prize Jessica Dance has some animal antics going on in her Marie Antoinette-inspired collection but it's this layered pastel fringe jumpsuit that really stood out. Cascading fringe on trousers, I've seen before but it's the weight and selection of colours of the fringe on the trousers of the suit that really seals the deal for me. Not least because it's the type of fringe that looks like it might actually move properly if you do some energetic twirling about but because the colours have been well-judged so that it's not too sickly - I especially like the touches of black in the gradiated fringes. Kitty Keay's well-documented blog sheds a bit of light into the placement of the fringe... in a plethora of gradiated shades that I never knew even existed...
With regards to the rest of the collection, you say 'Marie Antoinette-inspired', do you expect to see this? The Benjamin Disraeli quote that Kitty has pulled for her portfolio is a bit more revelatory... "The hare-brained chatter of irresponsible frivolity." By all accounts, I suppose there was a lot of the f word in Marie Antoinette's case and that is what Kitty has chosen to focus on in her collection as opposed to poor toile de jouy prints and mantua-dress shapes.
The aspect which attracted Mulberry designer Emma Hill to Kitty's work were her little googly-eyed bears which appear to be jumping and grinning for joy. Perhaps they're in ecstasy over the thought of being beaded and sequinned in pastel colours...
More bear references make it into this take on a fox stole where Kitty took apart a bear she got from the British Heart Foundation (charity shop)...
Finally, they come popping out manic-eyed behind what looks to be either a shark or a dolphin making way for a sort of 'elegant' cartooning that Kitty perfected for her collection...
