23.09.15
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Re-appropriated garments and off-kilter constructions are becoming identifiable trends in the collections showing in London this season.

Danielle Romeril, a recent RCA alumna we feel sure is set to go far, is one such designer. Her Paradise Lost collection drew inspiration from a photographic series of African farmers by Jackie Nickerson and a shot entitled Paradise Lost by Viviane Sassen. Googling designers’ references is part and parcel of fashion week, and checking out this collection of images brings an instant oh yeah, I see it understanding when referring to the garments Romeril presented.

Farmers stand in fields, composed and pensive, dressed in layers of unexpected colour, fabric and textures. Romeril’s collection expressed the green pastures and giant leaves with jacquard embroidery and palm prints hand cut on thermoplastic film mounted on silk organza.

Fluted elbow sleeves and side knotting replicate the volumes seen in the photographs, asymmetrical hems suggest layers tied at the waist, while off-shoulder tabard-style garments in a delicate sheer layered over organdie checks push the sense of utility in the lightest of ways.