Photos: Regis Colin
The three creators, Joe Bate, Sid Bryan and Cozette McCreery play with materials to give a new allure to classic pieces. Knitwear is ever-present, taking different aspects, inviting itself even onto latex, or designed as original patterns. A skirt suit is given a new life in tweed and knitted lurex, shift dresses are embellished with knitted decoration, and multiple references to the work of Stephen Sprouse give an “arty” touch to certain pieces. The colours are a reflection of this collection, energetic and stimulating, daring occasionally to mix even the most incongruous.
This season’s SIBLING women’s collection is their take on a young sophisticate: the girl who sneaks backstage to hangout with the band, who studies you intently from under her backcombed fringe, who finds imaginative ways to dress to disguise her age. She’s a girl cool beyond her years, but is it just a front to mask her shyness?
A SIBLING signature motif merino sweater yells, “Call Me” – an homage to Blondie but also the over eager shout out of the SIBLING LC:M boys to these unobtainable, cool girls.
A small town exhibitionist, she makes her presence felt through her mismatched layering, her scarf decorated with beautifully hand beaded Sputnik badges and her dress covered in the handwritten words to Sunday Girl. The buttoned-up style of intricate twinsets and fur trims echoes that of the grand dames of Sloane Street via Gloria TNT. Her watch of choice is not the expensive gift from a much loved relative but a fair isle doodled Baby-G offset by glitter polish nails painted to match her sandals.
Latex adds a sex shop shine to the collection. Add in brushed Mongolian lamb, Lurex and a riot of beads and sequins, and this collection becomes a youthful reimagining of sophisticated lady chic. The color palette is influenced by the work of Francis Bacon and Verner Panton: pink-purples, electric blue, orange and black. The latter seen in latex coats, oversized hand knit bikers, fur trimmed halter necks and fine mesh mini-dresses.
London is a breeding ground for creative brands, unafraid to push certain limits and with a specific sense of elegance.