Aquascutum: a style retrospective

Lena | February 23, 2009 | 0 Comments

But yesterday’s affair was inextricable from it and could have been identifiable as Aquascutum from miles away. This return to their heritage was evident as you walked up to the Saatchi gallery where two dozen handsome men, their hair slicked back clad in sharp black double breasted coats, stood erect holding closed umbrellas lining either side of the venue’s entrance. The impression was immediately striking in its quintessential English gentlemanliness and scented the air with what was to come.

And what did come, after about an hour’s wait, was a return to the presentation of the lady—to a kind of classic sophistication. The show boasted an impressive array of famous faces on the catwalk, from veterans Stella Tennant, Yasmin LeBon and Jenny Howarth to faces du jour Jourdan Dunn (who exuded pure class in a cream lace sheath, also complete with fox stole and exaggerated 19th century hunting gloves in butter soft chestnut leather) and it girl Daisy Lowe.

While the collection had some great bits—a beaded sheer floral cowl necked top paired with black lace leggings, an exaggerated puff sleeved tomato taffeta creation, and a fantastic long sleeved black, grey and white bulky hedge dress, the strength of it was the opposite of the previous collection, as it lay in the designers’ return to what they and Aquascutum do best: the trench in all its glory.

Stella Tennant opened the show, taking to the catwalk in a tightly cinched khaki military trench, a family of foxes perched across her left shoulder; it was Aquascutum meets late 1980’s Madison Avenue. Then came a slew of ladies who lunch: an oversized wool coat in tobacco belted over a long mustard houndstooth scarf, a white trench with an imposing black mink fur collar, and a slouchy muted teal mack with delicate cream lace trim at the collar and twisting itself into a sort of decorative hood.

There were asymmetrically hemmed oversized and flowing trenches with patches of the brand’s traditional houndstooth, knitted trenches in black and white with a trompe d’oeil effect, trenches in black and white polka dotted plastic and bright magenta and orange florals. There was a trench for every and any kind of lady, a smart move from a brand who’s been around long enough to know that in trouble times it is a) wisest to return to what it is you do best and b) classic ladylike elegance never goes out of style.