Julien Macdonald SS/15.

Julien Macdonald’s Ready-to-Wear SS/15 collection was a slow burner.

Awash with geometric Great Gatsby style prints and knee-length bodycons, the opening pieces were nothing too show stopping. The audience were more preoccupied spying Abbey Clancy and Tanya Burr in the FROW than the designs they had come to see. Macdonalds usual audience don’t seem the type prepared to spend a mint on such boring run of the mill pieces and if he knows his demographic at all, who is he designing for?

The drab opening left the press curious, Macdonald’s usual style was pushing out high glamour from start to finish, all embellished trumpet dresses with a blinding amount of glitter. So far the collection was boring and deflatingly highstreet, nothing to call home about.

When half the collection had been shown the show started to pick up as a sweetheart off the shoulder cut empire line dress stormed the runway in a flurry of tulle and metallic lace. A somewhat jellyfish silhouette reminiscent of scuba diving, a very subtle nod to summer.

Fashion photographer Dan Cowley said the pieces were “Remarkably crafted” and while this is true, Macdonald has upcycled many elements of his collection from AW/14, same hair, same makeup, and same materials. Most of the gowns were chiffon and lace with diamond encrusted detail and had a subtle Aquamarine theme. An idea that has proved popular so far for the coming season and is very in character for Macdonald compared to previous seasons.

The flourishing finale fresh out of the studio was a floor length lace wedding dress with a short train. The detailing was nestled and layered around the lower region of the dress and thinned out towards the top to give a faux nude look. The traditional essence of the piece was skewed as the model-bride had ditched the veil and instead had pieces of lace instilled in her hair. As his first wedding dress on the catwalk it was impressive. Simple and elegant but not what he is known for, could this be symbolic of change at the atelier of Macdonald?