Is Julien Macdonald stuck in a timewarp?

Julien Macdonald, The Hilton Ballroom Park Lane, Sunday 16th 2007

Macdonald’s offering kicked off with an hour long reception to fill up the time between the scheduled start and the eventual start of the show. The venue was his usual choice at the Park Lane Hilton in the chandelier laden ballroom. As ever the audience comprised of a particularly incongruous set of fashion tribes. There was the high fashion pack sporting Louboutins and seemingly ubiquitous black Chanel 2.55 handbags. Joining them were a resplendent group of drag queens including Jodie Harsh sporting magnificent wigs. Then as ever at the McDonald show the Euro-crowd was present, never removing their sunglasses and still clinging to the wet-look hairstyle. Just to confuse things there also appeared to be a strong contingent from McDonald’s high street outing, Star at Debenhams, who all seemed to be wearing pieces…from Debenhams.

The pre-show free drinks flowed and TV crews added to the sense of frisson. House music blaring from the speakers created a feeling of being in a time warp- circa 1993. This was amplified by gaggles of women of a certain age wearing outfits which probably looked good on them when the aforementioned rhythmic beats still sounded good. As for the men, they were perhaps more flamboyant than the women with another show cementing the trend for men in womenswear. With Hermes scarves, heavy jewellery and silk puffball sleeve blouses, these whippet thin gents could be seen as demi-drag. Hilariously I constantly kept catching men making ‘blue steel’ faces to no one in particular as Ben Stiller’s parody rang true.

The sense of excitement and fun was heightened by the largest number of celebrity sightings so far this fashion week. Shirley Bassey and Joan Collins made a formidable duo and the crows whooped with joy as ‘Diamonds are forever’ blasted at the beginning of the show. Tara Reid was spotted at the bar glowing in a way that would make David Dickinson look like an English rose, and the singer Catherine Jenkins was seen wearing a flattering lbd and signing autographs. Girls Aloud members Cheryl Tweedy and Nicola Roberts were immaculately polished and tiny even in their 4 inch heels, both sporting the now almost universal blunt fringe.

So on to the clothes as the mini bottles of prosecco and passion fruit martinis began to soften the mood. This collection epitomised Macdonald’s failings as well his strengths. Perhaps inevitably that feeling of being stuck in a time warp was echoed on the catwalk itself. The mini-mini body- con dresses with Alaia-esque sensuality echoed not only their precursors in the early 90s but the revival spearheaded by Christopher Kane this time last year. Kane’s offering was fresh and innovative melding the Alaia and Versace influences with a truly contemporary aesthetic. The show had its imitators last season and the body con mini dress floundered in the High street due to the fact that the majority of women do not have the body of Cindy Crawford. Shows that moved on for A/W 08 moved away from the trashy chic that the super sexy mini dress exuded.

The art of dressing has returned, and Macdonald has missed the boat. Indeed the homage turned into pastiche as monochromatic dresses with matching cardigans were patent Lagerfeld rip-offs.

On the other hand, the collection was extremely sexy. The long legs, the swinging ponytails and patent peaked caps gave the impression of a seriously feisty femme. Indeed there were many wearable items were dotted in amongst the crotch high dresses. The shirtdresses and short suits were charming and the tunic with accompanying trousers made a nod to the lucrative Muslim market in the Arab states. As ever the sparkly evening numbers do what they say on the tin and provide great red carpet and stage wear.

However, this inability to move and the lazy approach to creativity appeared to be totally inconsequential to the heaving crowds who were far more interested in the theatre of the celeb fest. Perhaps I am already feeling a touch jaded, but the hype and frenzied networking only made the whole thing more hollow as the collection fell short of the mark.