Preen by Thornton Bregazzi. Spring 2021 RTW - London
As digital London Fashion Week begins, under a changed landscape of what was once was known as the runway show. The adjustments that most fashion designers have had to make, after the first half of the year being in mostly lockdowns, have been substantial. Working with their own stockpiles, all the while supply chains have slowed down dramatically, it has been the smaller independent designers who have felt the pressure. Which has been evident in reducing collections and stripping back the more elaborate of planned outfits, to a bare minimum. The catchcry of slow fashion, that began in the last few years as a hashtag prevalence, now fading into an echo of activism in light of significant rationing of fabrics and materials. All under the COVID-19 guise. Nature, without any reasoning, has forced this play upon the industry.
So far seen with Spring 2021 fashion weeks, all being a digital affair, the larger and more established fashion houses have gone for broke, ramping up collections for 2021 in hope of China coming back on line, but the arrays on offer have been less dramatic, at times offering a rather forlorn and uninspiring collections. It has been the independents that are shining through, as you would expect, dealing with, as mentioned what they have on hand, piecing together their latest styles into limited ranges. An admirable feat indeed.
Thea Bregazzi and Justin Thornton's latest collection for their label Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, is a farcry from their dramatic runway Fall show in Venice of this year, which I reviewed, as a prelude to the global pandemic, of its themed couture and fine tailoring. With their Spring 2021 styles clearly indicative of a shortfall in materials, yet, the cuts and fits are second to none, showing their masterful eye to detail, which has always impressed me.
There is, as noted with other designers showing for latest Ready-to-Wear collections, an avant-garde slant, I should elaborate that the styles aren't strikingly risqué, but rather telling of the fragmented times that we are currently living through. Cohesive and structured templates have been broken apart, aligning the real struggle for society generally, will be trying to piece something new together. No one knows what that will be, this patchwork of uncertainty that is emerging in a COVID-19 world has been represented in Brehazzi's and Thornton's Spring lookbook.
Quilted pattens and simplicity are the theme, as is the drapey and asymmetrical fits, shot only with friends and their daughters modeling, the collection is, despite its intention of reflecting what materials were on hand, it feels subdued and slightly melancholy which in all said and done is understandable.
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