Christopher Kane has come a long way since his first ruffled body-stocking dress in 2007. He has grown up and so have his clothes, with S/S15 being his most sophisticated collection to date. Unexpectedly though, the polished panel dresses and pleats revisited the designer’s very first Central Saint Martins graduate collection of provocative cord, rope and bondage. Knots found their way into silk-satin embroidery and two-piece suits, criss-crossing on tulle dresses and flashing on belt buckles. His graduate ruffles were there too, cascading out of side splits or in ruff-like neck pieces. Challenging geometric cuts shaped the collection and demonstrated Kane’s sharp knack for detail, which he referred to as “Controlled Explosions.”
"Kane's reflective collection was very much about growing up and reworking archival ideas"
S/S15 was dedicated to another Central Saint Martin’s memory, the legacy of his professor, Louise Wilson, who was a close friend and mentor. The reflective collection was very much about growing up and reworking archival ideas. Elsewhere, buttery leather trousers were seen in bordeaux and purple, Kane’s school colours as a young boy in Glasgow. Kane often references his school years within his collections, most particularly the class bad girls. While she may have grown up, that bad girl wink was still present, cropping up in a transparent organza panel, a leather sleeve or stand-out biker jacket.
