In a season that's already tackled more holiday dressing than Kelly Brook gives us in a whole year, Matthew Williamson was very much playing on home turf. Who could be more right for the job than any self-respecting rich beach vacationer's natural first choice for her yacht holiday wardrobe? So fanfared by a choir of black-clad school girls, who sang live, Williamson made the only move he could have made, really, and looked to his own archives. More specifically, it was his 1997 debut Electric Angels that set the foundation for Spring/Summer 2014's tailored jackets and slightly slouchy trousers, and dragonfly prints on floaty, floaty silk georgette gowns.
It was a very light and sun-drenched affair with the odd undertone of something a little sexier, for instance in a softcore harness-type bra top. Self-reference doesn't have to be a bad thing, but when it breeds predictability perhaps some new moodboarding wouldn't be a bad idea. For the heavily bejewelled oligarch wives, who strolled to their modern Rolls-Royces post-show, these things naturally don't make a difference. They loved it, and that's why Williamson laughs last and straight to the bank. But for the rest of us, who are well aware of the degree of glamour he is very much able to produce, the show wasn't as rich in oomph as it deserved to be in a season like this. This is Williamson's territory everyone else is treading on, mind you.
