Known for her outstanding oversized structural jewellery and her pop-coloured graphic dresses, Greek-born designer Mary Katrantzou is fast making a name for herself. After opening the Central Saint Martin’s graduate Autumn/Winter 08 show with an amazing collection combining her two passions with a collection that featured trompe l'oeil digital prints of oversized jewellery on bonded jersey dresses, Katrantzou received Topshop's prestigious New Generation sponsorship, which she used to showcase her Spring/Summer 09 collection. With plaudits from the likes of Sarah Mower and Penny Martin, she cemented her status as an enduring force by developing her bold constructivist prints and slicing them with golden zippers that were as sharp and graphic as her popped shoulder lines. This collection deservedly won her Best Graduate at the London Fashion Awards.
Today, the jewellery prints have been replaced by a fascination for perfume bottles, which, in bright jewel tones of cerulean, caramel, amethyst purple, aquamarine, and amber, inspired Katrantzou’s collection – both in print and in shape, with the first model (Jourdan Dunn, no less) stepping out with her head held high in a collar and neck brace construction, wearing a structured tunic accentuated by the curvaceous shape of the printed scent bottle. As one of the most spectacular and undoubtedly brave collections of the Autumn/Winter 09 season, Katrantzou's simplified perfume bottles packed clean, colourful, graphic punch and polish. The colours are bright, the graphics are mesmerizing, but nothing goes overboard, resulting in a collection that is all at once ladylike while remaining completely directional. Teamed with beehive hairstyles and sassy eyeliner, her Autumn/Winter 09 collection gives a sense of 60s nostalgia, but one that is cleverly balanced out by her signature bold and graphic lines which also give the collection a slightly deco and pop-art vibe. Not forgetting her other impressive talent as a jewellery designer, Katrantzou's Autumn/Winter collection also features striking industrial giant necklaces constructed from gold tubing, chains and mirrors. Katrantzou wowed the fashion flock with her final look; a futuristic floor-length black suede gown hung with a battalion of heavy brass neck-gear.
The freshness and wearability of Katrantzou's colour-popping offerings have won plenty of takers and high-profile stockists including Browns Focus in London and Colette in Paris. Where Katrantzou goes next with her hyperrealist aesthetic will be interesting to watch.
www.marykatrantzou.com / Images: Mary Katrantzou 
