SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — They came, they saw, and now they’ve jetted off to Milan for another round of catwalk shows.
Fashion insiders got a taste of spring style trends at London Fashion Week. Here’s a round-up of some of the hottest looks, from girly ballerina skirts to sporty sandals:
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FLAT IS FAB
Comfort is no longer the enemy of style.
London designers have collectively rebelled against the high heel. Sensible flat shoes — be they sneakers, sandals, rubber boots or brogues — were everywhere on the London catwalks.
Burberry Prorsum favored lace-up sneakers and flat, Birkenstock-like sandals in colorful leather. Christopher Raeburn models sported similar sandals with Velcro straps.
Christopher Kane, who led the trend for plastic slippers — or “pool sliders” — this summer, updated them in black and burgundy leather. And Temperley, the queen of ladylike glamour, launched her own sneaker line.
Even front-row VIPs were sporting Nikes and flats — although Vogue’s Anna Wintour is unlikely to succumb to the trend any time soon.
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SPORTY CHIC
The rise of the sneaker is just part of fashion’s ongoing obsession with sportswear — even if none of those clothes are meant for the gym.
The past year has seen neoprene and scuba-inspired designer clothes fly off the shelves, and dressed-down chic is still going strong for spring.
Preen took inspiration from cricket, while at Topshop Unique supermodel Cara Delevingne looked sassy in a frilly-hemmed tennis dress. The latter brand also featured cycling jerseys, shorts and bowling bags.
Hunter Original, the rubber Wellington boot maker, filled its runway with Boy Scout-style shirts and shorts, rain jackets and hooded parkas, many in fun colors like lavender and yellow.
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TULLE AND TIERS
Not the sporty type? Feel free to unleash your inner princess.
Few dresses are more romantic than those at Burberry, which came in tiers of soft tulle and often sported a ribbon tied around the waist with a big bow.
Bows — fun, giant ones, worn on top of the head like Minnie Mouse — were the highlight at Sibling. Elsewhere, tiered or pleated skirts, frilly hems and ruffles were everywhere on the runway.
Too Barbie? Just pick something edgier — a leather jacket, a chunky heel — to tone it down.
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RETURN OF THE DENIM JACKET
According to Burberry, the humble jeans jacket is the cover-up of choice come next spring.
While the luxury brand’s famous trench coats highlighted its grand finale, Burberry opened its show with a dark-wash, slim-cut denim jacket with a white sheepskin trim.
The brand also showed many other cropped jackets in a myriad of colors and details, worn over delicate cocktail dresses.
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INVASION OF THE NERDS
Tech fashion is not quite a trend yet but it created more buzz than ever before at London Fashion Week, which this year partnered with Google.
Several editors were seen sporting Google Glass, the Internet-connected eyewear. Even Net-a-Porter, the luxury online fashion retailer, was selling the glasses — a designer version with the Diane von Furstenberg brand at a hefty 1,250 pounds ($2,042) each.
Will the notoriously picky fashion crowd embrace tech accessories? Ah, we’ll have to wait and see.
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