For his lyrical collection, Kiko Kostadinov took a cue from some seminal female designers.
“The original idea was to look at all the ‘80s womenswear brands [and makers] that are slightly forgotten,” he explained.
These included Krizia, Anne Marie Beretta, Irene Lentz and Sorelle Fontana, whom he described as women who were under the shadow of the likes of Giorgio Armani, Valentino and Versace.
Kostadinov envisaged a group of students discovering a retrospective about them. “And they basically made a collection for themselves,” he said.
People walking the show were meant to be like those students. “They model the collection and were proud of what they made,” continued Kostadinov. “So it was just kind of looking at undiscovered or forgotten [female] pioneers of fashion.”
That gave him a different perspective. Through his own lens, Kostadinov ran with Beretta-like pocketing details and Krizia-like pleating, buckles and prints.
While working on the clothes, the Bulgarian, London-based designer turned outward and inward, as is his fashion, printing his grandmother’s colorful decoupage on knits and accessories.
The garments, made of fabrics such as wool, corduroy and cotton, were creatively constructed, with many in vivid colors.
An orange sleeveless dress, cinched above the knee, had grass green fabric across the shoulders. This came paired with banana yellow-and-black lace-up boots. For another look, roomy fuchsia breeches were worn with a raspberry-hued shirt and a brown-and-beige hooded capelet.
There were belted skirts and reimagined suiting, with striped cotton lapels. This collection had both an elegance and a boldness.
