Kelly Ashworth: A recent graduate from the University of Northhampton, Ashworth jumped on the “green” bandwagon with her all-white collection consisting of repurposed vintage linen. Making something fresh out of old embroidered tea towels and sheets is no easy proposition, but Ashworth succeeds in creating garments that are equal parts old-fashioned and modern. Her lacy pinafores, mutton sleeve blouses, and flouncy skirts worthy of Degas’ little ballerinas are chock-a-block of details like ruching, mutton sleeves, and peter pan collars, but, styled with utter simplicity and worn with soft court shoes, they seem to meld a very English sensibility with Belgian-style minimalism.

Hasan Hejazi: This Muslim designer from Manchester claims to be inspired by Madonna, but it doesn’t really show. One can see some early Tom Ford influences in Hejazi’s colorful feathery coats and black and red color scheme. A play on contrasting volume and texture, with slick PVC teamed with soft feathers and flowing silk, ends up creating a Russian doll effect. This designer has a lot of fashion confidence and is definitely one to watch.
Amy Hostler: Hostler claims to be “inspired by the rag time era,” so the fact that she sent her models down the catwalk in primary-color clown-at-a-nightclub outfits topped with weird red bubbly hats and had them pose like mimes is a bit confusing. The worst thing is, some of the dresses- sans extras- might actually have been deemed wearable were it not for the distractingly ridiculous styling and accessories.
Cooltan Arts: When we saw the models for the show, we were optimistic, because they were definitely “alternative”: ranging from an Amazon with blazing pink hair and womanly curves, to a completely “average” woman (which looks totally weird on a runway of course), to a lovely lady who looked like she might be the designer’s grandmother. The actual collection was a big disappointment and an example of a designer not pushing herself as hard as she could. Boring Kimonos looked like they were bought on Portobello Road, given a few pokes with a needle and thread, belted, and sent down the runway. The pink-haired model’s look was a long turquoise kimono that depended too much on styling to give it any interest, paired with a fuschia fan that matched her hair and obscured the details (if any) of the garment. But if the designer was going for a Manga look, she fell woefully short. Gwen Stefani does it way better. The granny model came out looking like she was wearing a shapeless bathrobe, and when the designer emerged to take her bow, she clutched the best looking accessory in the show: her child.

Shakella ljaz: Her wittily named Court 2 Court collection was one of the most innovatively styled yet wearable at Alternative Fashion Week. Playing on the layering of tailored and sport clothing, the looks included super-sophisticated and elegant monochrome hoodies, pinstripes paired with jersey, and slim-cut grey trousers worn with white shirts layered over a white hoodie, suspenders, and a necktie that were evocative of both depression era chic and urban athletic dandies. Some of the women’s hoods seemed to reference both sports and Ijaz’s Pakistani heritage. The only gripe is that most of the trousers could have been more interesting.
Adil Iqbal: Influenced by the Kalash tribe in Northern Pakistan, who must be pretty snappy dressers, the young designer showed a surprisingly large and cohesive collection. Many of the pieces would be perfect for a autumn or winter cocktail party, so we’re guessing that Iqbal got a good reaction from buyers. Gray, metallics, black, and burgundy ruled the color scheme. Some looks were a bit boring, but many had interesting construction or details to steer them away from the too-classic. The cutaway jackets and coats were particularly successful.
Aaron Ray Dowie: This geometry-lover explained his inspiration rather obtusely, claiming he created clothes that had “foreshortened tailoring with a sinister edge.” All we know is that he showed the best menswear at Alternative Fashion Week. The looks were sharp, directional, cohesive, and showed beautiful attention to detail. Great touches such as origami-like cummerbunds and intricately decorative jacket linings paired well with asymmetrical jacket lapels and geometric neckties.
Imanni da Silva: All we can say is, why? Why? Why? A drag queen on parade float at Carnaval would feel that these clothes are over the top tacky. Even the most desperately attention-seeking extrovert would be hard-pressed to desire any of the neon-colored plumed and bedazzled meringue-like confections on display at this show.

Nicola Cox: “Inspired by the ageing woman”, this collection combines noble sentiment with scary execution. It speaks of a knitting circle gone horribly wrong. Shapeless draped knits held together with long tied scarves in tones of moss, grey, and purple were accessorized with large knitting bags and hideous crochet-covered booties. In our opinion, the designer could have used the time wasted on “embellishing” the booties towards actually working on correctly constructing the garments.

Mia Nisbet: This all gray collection composed of supershort and sheer layered outfits is aimed at a younger woman, and offers nothing transcendent but nothing terribly hideous either. The whole collection could go straight to a TopShop store and nobody would notice. The designer claims she was inspired by recycling, and that her clothes were for “today’s urban pixies.” Which must be why we feel like we’ve seen it before and everything is terribly tiny.
JK Designs: Jane Dennerly and Kay Haskins’ use of recycled materials is admirably environmentally friendly, but when the transformation is so incomplete and yawn-worthy, it leaves us thinking the stuff might have been better off in a landfill. A so-called gender-bending man’s skirt is ridiculous: it combines an attempted recreation of the newspaper print that Galliano did better years ago with a shape that might have been new when Gaultier came up with it. On closer inspection, the skirt looks to be pieced together out of old shirts and pinstriped boxer shorts with words printed on. The guy model is topless, which is the easy way out. The public would at least have wanted to see how one could realistically accessorize this skirt. The next look comprises of a flowered apron over run-of-the-mill jeans and a white T, accessorized with sunglasses. Maybe we have no imagination or vision, but to us this says “housewife at a barbeque” more than “alternative fashion.” Then come a hideous vintage-looking dress which I suspect is not even altered from when they bought it at the flea market, a “night club siren gone wrong” look with a black vest and mohair miniskirt, and an un-shocking “androgynous” girl in jeans and a white vest. It’s a bit boring, and it totally doesn’t go together. These supposedly re-purposed clothes represent a very sophomoric effort, if effort there was.

Jessica Odoi: Influenced by 18th-century court clothes, this menswear designer sent men out on the runway in Purple brocade Ziggy stardust suits, gorgeous vests, elegant white scarves, and a dramatic gold brocade coat. It was all very the Little Prince meets lawn jockey, running of the bulls, and Ridicule, but in the best possible way. The models curtsied at the end of the runway and walked carefully to showcase the eccentric volumes of the garments, which emphasized the hips. It’s what all women have been waiting for with bated breath: finally there is a clothing line that will make men want to whine, “does my ass look fat in this?”

Robert Miller: His collection was called “Pretty Pervy” and that pretty much sums it up. This is definitely one of the designers who read the “alternative” bit to mean “alternative lifestyle.” But compared to Kaori Matsubara, whose latex-intensive collection was too conventionally fetishistic, with an all-latex geisha complete with apparent ass-crack and a ridiculous “gimp” in head-to-toe silver latex and ball-and-chain prop, Miller’s collection was humorous and innovative. The first look is best described as alien PVC bondage-Smurf. There were also a few gas mask wearing insect-like creatures with incredibly inflated hips that would drive anyone with a bee or ladybug fetish wild. There was also a Goth alien and an anemone gone wild that would make Nemo blush. The shapes, volumes, and color choices are absolutely out of this world, and leaves us thinking that if Miller would only expand his range of materials, his work would be even more interesting.
