London Fashion Week

Christopher Kane, Spring/Summer '09 (scroll down to read the review)
Christopher Kane
Not wanting to be pinned down, Christopher Kane's fifth collection once again took a dramatic turn from where he left off last season. This time he immersed himself in a jungle theme, with reptile-like silhouettes forming the core of the collection.

Half-circle panels attached vertically provided the garments with both movement and volume, while creating the desired scales effect. The brightly coloured leather pieces were visually pleasing, but it was Kane's chiffon handiwork that showed his true skill, creating 3-D volumes along arms and legs.

The jungle theme continued with dresses featuring a roaring gorilla print on the upper-body panels, rhinoceros horned shoes and a range of orange and yellow cashmere leopard print cardigans and vests. As ever, Kane was at risk of crossing the fine line between tacky and sophisticated, but other than his marabou fur trimmed dresses it seems he didn't stray too far this time.