edgeless bolivian: Yacht rock! PPQ brings first day of London Fashion week to a roaring climax with 'sophisticadelic' collection of nautical stripes, techno-paisley and electric hues

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Yacht rock! PPQ brings first day of London Fashion week to a roaring climax with 'sophisticadelic' collection of nautical stripes, techno-paisley and electric hues

By Deborah Arthurs

PUBLISHED: 16:36 EST, 14 September 2012 | UPDATED: 06:43 EST, 15 September 2012

I wish I could say it was me who coined the phrase 'yacht rock' to describe PPQ's triumphant, buzzy, colourful show tonight.

And so would the label's designers - Amy Molyneaux and Percy Parker? - who say this year that they are 'very into making up words.'

But it was neither of us. That honour must go to Shingai Shoniwa, the feisty, elegant, stylish singer of Noisettes fame, who used the term to describe the heady blend of smart nautical stripes and psychedelic prints, the floaty chiffon in electric green and scarlet, and the bright paisley flashes that ran through tonight's show.

Nautical chic: Riviera stripes ran like a seam through the collection

Electric dreams: Vivid green made a splash at the show - and was the colour the FROW couldn't stop talking about when the lights went down

The two can add it to their newly minted phrase, sophis-cadelic' - their own term for this fashion hybrid they've created for Spring/Summer 13 - and their other current favourite, 'floordrobe' - to describe the all-too-familiar situation when all your clothes are actually residing on the floor (guilty as charged).

The duo say that their inspiration came from their desire simply to create a great holiday wardrobe - 'something you can wear on holiday.... and to the bar, basically,' Amy says.?

'You can't be in a boned corset dress 24/7.'

This intention translates as plenty of floaty chiffon in bold electric tones (fellow FROW-goer Jodie Harsh loved the limey-olive green flowing dress); black dresses with acres of featherlight fabric, and that omnipresent seam of yacht rocky nautical stripe injected with vivid printed trim.

Yacht rock: Stripes with vivid paisley;? RIGHT: Sophisticated scarlet with jewels by PPQ for Tresor Paris

Grown up: Floaty chiffon created the backbone of the collection

I loved a beautiful black gathered-sleeve dress with plunging V neckline and diaphanous skirt, and a figure-hugging off-the-shoulder dress that would be as well dressed up with jewels and heels as worn with rubber flip flops and a battered straw hat.

Shoes were platforms with a flash of colour, make up saw slashes of vibrant colour pick out the tones of the dresses.

This was Amy and Percy's 11th year at LFW - and things, says Percy, are looking good. 'The recession hit for a couple of years, but things have picked up,' he says. 'Of course, things level out, but it's not bad.'

Sophis-cadelic: A bold PPQ logo was injected with a vivid techno paisley design

The collection, accomplished and yet more grown up than last summer's pastel offerings (which we all thought was oh-so-sophisticated for this good-time brand) showed in a packed-to-the-rafters Goldsmiths' Hall in St Paul's, with the requisite pack of baying fashionistas left waiting outside after the doors closed.

What's next for these two? Easy: 'World domination. This is all part of the plan,' says Amy.

Always a hot ticket, always an exciting vibe - and from two such unaffected, likeable people, who manage to be simultaneously utterly fashionable yet not at all 'fashion'.

Amy and Percy have pulled it off again.

Accessorise: Millinery was by House of Flora for PPQ, sunglasses by Linda Farrow