Irish stage invasion as fashion week starts

London Fashion Week kicked off yesterday at Somerset House with Dublin-born designer Zoe Jordan opening the autumn/winter ’13 season preview.

The Irish headcount was evident with TV presenters Laura Whitmore and Amanda Byram sitting front row. Inspired by a love of architecture, Jordan’s fifth collection Foundations paid homage to the postmodernist and modernist masters with punctuated nods to baroque cathedrals, both in shape and print.

Clean lines and ovoid shapes made for a sharp outerwear offering; while bicolour-blocked tunics and slim leg trousers curried favour to a ’60s aesthetic. Jordan’s boy-meets-girl signature found telling expression in dissonant pairings: Floor-sweeping skirts and slub knits, corsets with tuxedo trousers, and mannish blazers layered over structured mini dresses.