Ashish's collection came down the catwalk to the soundtrack of The Orb's "Little Fluffy Clouds" with models floating along under ginormous cumulus afros. Each one had been tinted to the exact shade of the block colour look, so that the finale came together as one complete spectrum of girls. The disco inspired collection had slips of sequin dresses straight out of Studio 54, ready for the accumulating AW16 1970's trend.
Ashish is the latest designer to have a retrospective as part of the V&A Museum's "Fashion In Motion" series of free fashion shows. Its been a decade of the designer's sequin collections coming down the catwalks at London Fashion Week, so a fitting time to dig thru the archives of his workshop in India. The sparkly looks started with silver screen Hollywood sirens in floor-length gowns, gradually shifting to two-piece sportswear separates and even neon hi-vis vests. All set against the glinting gold gilt Raphael Gallery, the metallics shimmered and reflected the spotlights with model and muse Larry B's snake hips sashaying the way.
See the current exhibition "The Fabric Of India" at the museum now.
Splatters of sequin spectrums like a confetti canon explosion - Ashish SS16 was my favourite season so far with a loose approach to the bead work like abstract brush strokes on the fabric. The street-cast skater girls opened the show by speeding down the runway and Larry sashayed down the length sprinkling the front row with fists full of glitter. Ruffled pop socks and bucket hats were also embellished with shiny flecks to accessorize the sheer baby doll dresses and denim bow, bell bottoms. Shout-out to Anna Trevelyan on another stellar styled show full of colour, fun and uplifting energy (seen here with her pink hair).
