Pastel My Little Pony rockers took to the runway this season at Haider Ackermann. The palette was aggressively sweet, and the mood was one of delicacy, fragility and rawness. Quite a new departure for the designer, he was certainly having fun with colour. The sound of dry ice kept pumping out another genie from the bottle, as models appeared from within a veil of pale green smoke. They were wearing raw hemmed white cropped jackets and overcoats, embellished with silver and gold metallic. Plissé chiffon tulle was wrapped around the girls’ necks, and their heads covered with a kind of candyfloss cat's cradle effect, where threads of lilac and pink bound their heads with feathers.
Crushed velvet was a key fabric here. It tumbled in pink swagging from the shoulders, whilst a brilliant cream oversized velvet coat evoked the New Romantic movement. A 'le smoking' style white tuxedo suit looked stunning, and was paired with crisp waistcoat, trouser and silk tasseled scarf. Lurid chartreuse invaded neutral tones, but disarmed us like a Pussy Riot overthrow. Hot purple boots were encrusted with snakeskin tips, and were teamed with A-typical Ackermann high-waisted peg style pants. White emulsion painted on the back of black denim jackets was anarchic and punk joyous, whilst black tulle over satin ruffled skirts saw us Desperately Seeking Susan.
The music stayed jittery and low lit throughout before returning to the sounds of Maria Callas singing Casta Diva, from Vincenzo Bellini's Norma. Whilst the music played, the curtains were opened, and The Eiffel Tower came into full panoramic view. As daylight flooded in through the windows, the girls exited en masse upon a bed of more dry ice. Whether it was like waking from a dream, or entering one, it didn't really matter.
