Stella McCartney was working in pretty mode for spring. She’s rarely in any other gear of course, but this collection was more decisively romantic than any have been at this label for some time.
‘It was celebrating the softness of a woman,’ she said backstage, ‘and her fragility. Because actually that gives you strength as a woman, too.’
So she turned utilitarian into something lighter, in a delicate colour palette of half-shades (icy blue, pale pink, an oyster off-white McCartney termed ‘crème’) and feminine fabrics such as silk, crepe and chiffon. There were boiler suits, trenches, anoraks and sailorpants with a certain crisp softness, while cotton shirting was cut high at the back and knitwear twisted to reveal a glimpse of skin.
McCartney also hung patches of fabrics in trapeze shapes to creates a sort of patchworked collection of glamourous swatches that made up sundresses and camisoles to close a collection that felt uplifting and eclectic, but still streamlined and sensible.
