Grazia got the big reveal this week on the full Mary Katrantzou for Topshop collection and now the images will most likely spread wildfire in a similar fashion to the bowl dress that was somewhat leaked back in October. The incredulous reaction isn't of course over the fact that Mary Katrantzou has done a collaboration for Topshop but that it is so full and rich and in someways ever closer to her mainline collection. I got to roadtest the collection a couple weeks ago but due to a technical glitch with my SD card, the only pics that I have are of the stand out bowl dress. That's somewhat fitting seeing as it is the piece that got me incredibly excited initially, and the bulk of the pics I did here were about getting that extreme shape and saturated colour and print out into the "real world" of N7 in Holloway and dressing it down so that it seems that the bowl skirt with gold fish swimming around on it, feels like the most natural thing in the world. Which it was. Nobody batted an eyelid, other than at the fact that I was bare legged on a freezing day. It was a perfect pitch of exhuberance that is exactly the sort of outfit you'd want to retaliate against the grey and the mundane. The £350 price tag is either scarily good or just scary depending on your point of view. I'm going with scarily good given that Mary Katrantzou's mainline dresses do run into five figures. What's better was that this well-shot, well-worn sample had all the neat finishing, print placement and construction, that I'd expect from Topshop's higher-rung collabs (in line with what David Koma did for toppers).
The technical glitch might have resulted in a post entirely focused on this bowl dress but looking at the other pieces - the printed satin trousers, the slubby tees, the buttoned up chiffon shirts and leggings - they're all no-brainer print-on-print pieces. It's the sort of stuff where you'd want to buy two or more pieces so that they're naturally go together in a sea of florals that are very distinctly Katrantzou, despite their casual shapes.
Apologies if I've subliminally or not-so subliminally sent out the message that everyone needs a satin bowl shaped dress adorned with flora and fish in their lives. Look into my eyes, look into my eyes... get yourself bowled up come February 17th when the collection drops.
(Worn with vintage gem-encrusted jacket, Mother of Pearl navy leather parka, Monki floral parka and Prada pink jumper, J.W. Anderson bearded shoes throughout)
