VAMP ON THE VERGE OF A BREAKDOWN
Hailwood AW18 at New Zealand Fashion Week 2017
The character that came to my mind during Hailwood’s full house, high glam NZFW show, was Julianne Moore in Tom Ford’s ‘A Single Man.’ “A vamp on the verge of a breakdown is irresistible,” as The Telegraph put it. Big bouffant hair curling at the shoulders; sometimes almost predatorily sexy, sometimes a slightly crazed baby doll with all the bells and whistles – lame, sparkles, velvet (crushed and plain), faux fur, satin.
And you know what? I’ll literally buy it. Sometimes you can want to curse Hailwood for insisting on showing everything from a jean to a ballgown, but his handwriting gets stronger every season now and darn it if you might not just want the cool geometric knit to wear, back to your slinky high waist pants, AND the super elegant dark pine silk satin frock.
The show opened with a chevron faux fur bomber – one of a number of now-signature Hailwood bombers and military jackets. Equally recognizable as a Hailwood fave was a khaki poncho complete with pompoms.
This was another show where yellow showed strongly (full circle satiny skirt; crushed velvet pant(!)), and the second I had seen today where deep green was prominent. Ever more commercially able, Hailwood also popped in a white based print that pulled the yellow and green together.
There was a fab-looking black tuxedoesque pant – I’ve owned a previous version and they are GOOD). Better throw his black velvet wide leg pant and black sparkly pant into the mix, too. This collection made you want to get straight down to the store and place your order like the irresistible vamp you are.
By Julie Roulston
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