EDWARD CRUTCHLEY SUMMER 2020 RUNWAY

Dressy! Edward Crutchley’s latest co-ed collection explores nostalgia without being nostalgic. He recalls a stuffy Britain aghast at Ikea’s 1996 ‘Chuck out your chintz’ TV commercial and celebrates the suburban style of Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. SS20 mourns the decline of the British floral and its familiar role in the 9 to 5 uniform of the aspirational middle-class. Arcadian print suggests a perversity rooted in power dressing and play. Sloppy oversized shoulders, drape front skirts, double-front coats and two-button blazers bring to mind the ball-busting Marlene in Caryl Churchill’s 1982 play Top Girls. Trousers are high at the waist and have rounded hips – they are cropped to reveal a foot firmly placed in a smart patent loafer or sharp printed silk stiletto by Christian Louboutin. Signature Hawaiian shirts have a plunging neckline. Dresses are wrapped and draped with vast, off the shoulder Leg O’ Mutton sleeves. The textile has a formal flimsiness. A light, calendar-pressed wool flannel that Crutchley produced for his Woolmark Prize winning collection is used for suiting. The dynamism of viscose and silk satin are weighed down with twee pattern. Taffeta, flannel, mohair canvas and metallic printed lurex hold their form. Soft pastels move into deeper shades. Neutral beige becomes vivid black. Hand-painted illustrations of Carolina Parrots by the American ornithologist John James Audubon are reworked in a frisky homage. A mid-18th