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9 new season essentials you need from London Fashion Week AW19

1. The swaddle

Ports 1961

Have we reached peak puffer? Certainly, overstuffed outerwear in its most traditonal guise is on the decline on the catwalk. But it would seem our desire for outerwear with surplus security is not on the way out. Instead, coats designed to envelop the wearer in a snug-’n’-super-chic swaddle were all the rage, as demonstrated beautifully by Natasa Cagalj’s baby blue blanket coat for Ports 1961.

2. Big knit + big belt

J W Anderson

JW Anderson AW19 show ( JW Anderson)
JW Anderson AW19 show ( JW Anderson)

There was no shortage of trophy takeaways at J W Anderson. Note the taffeta polka-dot cape bubble gown or the immaculate balloon-sleeved mac. But while these may have garnered the most shares on social media, it was the more subtle styling moments which lent the show its genius. After all, who wouldn’t want a pair of Anderson’s perfectly-cut black trousers in their life? Though if you only have space in your wardrobe for one addition, make it an extra-wide belt and wear it with every supersized jumper you own. On second thoughts, make room for this delicious paisley knit too.

3. The new twin set

Erdem

Erdem AW19 show (Erdem)
Erdem AW19 show (Erdem)

A sense of primness has defined this round of shows, with everyone from Victoria Beckham to Alexa Chung looking to repackage strait-laced propriety for the 2019 consumer. For Erdem, who took the activism which imbued the life of Roman Princess Orietta Doria-Pamphilj following a trip to London in the Sixties as a starting point, this meant decadent fabrics, pearls and stately silhouettes with a rebellious undertone. Put-together but never twee, the two-piece and sweater suit is the new protest look — no slogan T-shirts required.

4. Balloon prints

Christopher Kane

Christopher Kane AW19 show (SplashNews.com)
Christopher Kane AW19 show (SplashNews.com)

“I’m fascinated by human behaviour and the idea that a person could be attracted to an ordinary thing,” said Christopher Kane following his show yesterday. Certainly there is much on offer for fetishists, with rubber and liquid the starting point for a show that was the Scot’s strongest in seasons. Among the takeaways set to filter down to the high street — where Kane’s work is regularly reinterpreted — is a balloon motif which found a home on blouson shapes and cupcake cocktail gowns.

5 Argyle knits

Victoria Beckham

Victoria Beckham AW19 show (Victoria Beckham)
Victoria Beckham AW19 show (Victoria Beckham)

For a showcase in which Victoria Beckham set out to offer an A to Z of wardrobe options, the Argyle sweater emerged as a new season essential. Perfectly in keeping with an aesthetic Beckham described as “prim but not proper”, the cashmere additions should be worn with an ungovernable sensibility. For Mrs B, this meant leopard boots and a perfectly cut Prince of Wales pencil skirt. “She’s quite naughty, this girl,” said the designer, “they’re clothes for a lady who’s not always ladylike.”

6. The lace slip

Preen

Preen AW19 show (Preen)
Preen AW19 show (Preen)

Those to have recently discovered the joys of a simple silk slip may be saddened to hear that things have moved on a step — albeit a small one — as Preen proposed the lace skirt as your next-season style saviour. It came criss-crossed with ruffles and teamed with fishnets, clogs and power-blouses. But it will look just as good with a faithful slouchy sweater.

7. Unmellow yellow

Emilia Wickstead

Emelia Wickstead AW19 show (Rex Features)
Emelia Wickstead AW19 show (Rex Features)

Yellow. The colour of sunshine, fluffy chicks and all things happy. Or, in the case of Wickstead, bad-ass power suits fit for the daughter of a Mafia mob boss. Inspired by the Godfather trilogy — specifically Sofia Coppola’s character Mary Corleone — Wickstead took her aptitude for duchess-ready demi-couture and applied it to an altogether more deadly muse. Along with a series of ladylike dresses designed to be outwardly ostentatious, the result included saffron tailoring which, paired with an espresso leather trench, was as an offer that will prove hard to refuse.

8. The intimacy issue

Simone Rocha

Simone Rocha AW19 show (Simone Rocha)
Simone Rocha AW19 show (Simone Rocha)

...and the award for best model casting goes to Simone Rocha. Enlisting more than one surprise addition — from Lily Cole’s catwalk comeback to Chloe Sevigny’s LFW debut — this was a show that was as much about the clothes as it was the woman who wears them. In Rocha’s words, it was “intimacy, privacy, security, femininity”. This empowered approach to the female form saw underwear fused with outerwear. Moulded bra-cup shapes further added to the suggestion that womanhood is something to be put proudly on display. EM

9. Ombre

Mary Katrantzou

Mary Katrantzou AW19 show (SplashNews.com)
Mary Katrantzou AW19 show (SplashNews.com)

Katrantzou isn’t a designer known for thinking small. Indeed, her latest collection cited the Big Bang as it’s starting point. Her women, “balls of energy”, burst onto the catwalk in an explosion of ruffles, rippling with feathers and strewn in a constellations of crystals. All very otherworldly. As for what will actually land in your wardrobe, look to the ombré evening wear. She sought to “evoke dawn and dusk”. Translation — perfect after-dark attire.