While week one in New York went by in a blur, London Fashion Week seemed to go by even quicker. With a lucent cascade of brightly colored, psychedelically patterned collections, the Brits showed us why their effortlessly cool style has been emulated for decades. Such varied influences as Dowton Abbey, Marlene Dietrich, and ‘80s club culture came together to create a week of fashion that will keep us drooling until Fall, and way beyond. Here were some of my favorites (images courtesy of Vogue):

1910′s-1930′s

Burberry Prorsum

• The Inspiration: Both the upstairs and downstairs of Downton Abbey
• The Runway: Sumptuous tweeds and velvets were reworked in modern ways while proportions were also at play, creating an old-fashioned elegant collection that was anything but outdated.

Holly Fulton

• The Inspiration: The 1928 classic Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
• The Runway: Deco-inspired embellishments and details punctuated long, lean silhouettes. The entire collection was a flirty rendition on classicism, and it was pulled off flawlessly.

Michael van der Ham

• The Inspiration: The deconstruction of the 1930’s Ziegfeld girl
• The Runway: By combining mismatched materials and prints, van der Ham took something familiar and made it unrecognizably new. This collection proved that the recycling that often takes place in fashion has a distinct purpose and an undeniably beautiful end result.

1940’s-1960’s

Marios Schwab

• The Inspiration: The gowns of Old Hollywood icons such as Marlene Dietrich
• The Runway: Well-placed sequins and beading gave an illusion of nudity, but never seediness. Schwab walked the fine line between less and more and ended up with a seductively elegant collection. 

Erdem

• The Inspiration: Formidable art collector and woman-about-town Peggy Guggenheim
• The Runway: The theme of art pervaded the entire collection through its rich tones and imaginative prints. In less talented hands, this backdrop might have been overwhelming, but instead it was perfectly light and airy.

David Koma

• The Inspiration: The minimalist graphics of the Sixties Retro-Futurist movement
• The Runway: Visual details such as eyelet and chain-links cropped up under the surface and in unexpected places. The silhouettes were slim and modern with an edge of mystery peeking out from below.

1970’s-1990’s

Meadham Kirchhoff

• The Inspiration: Glam rock and Disco fashion of the Seventies and Eighties
• The Runway: The bright colors and flamboyant fabrics brought flashbacks of nostalgia for the homemade fashions young girls once designed for themselves. The energetic frenzy of youth was alive and well in this collection, and it was quite a sight to see.

Christopher Kane

• The Inspiration: A 1980’s photography book on New Wave American teenagers
• The Runway: The club-vibe was brought on through the vivid color palette including royal blue, burgundy, and leopard print. However, the discord of these colors and the collection’s various silhouettes only added to its beauty.

Louise Gray

• The Inspiration: Late Eighties/Early Nineties club culture
• The Runway: A foray into the psychotropic world of the underground with a mixture of graffiti patterns, various levels of layering, and deliciously rich fabrics. However, all of this craziness was belied by a very real level of talent and craftsmanship, making it an even more enjoyable show.