LFW SS17: Preen by Thornton Bregazzi bewitches with a touch of magic

On a day when London Fashion Week went froth sublime to the occasionally ridiculous, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi was thankful leading the charge for the former.

Apparently, the influences for the soon-to-get-married Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi included witches, the 1970s, astrology (‘hex appeal’, they called it) and a huge list of more urban themes like Goths and Skinheads. But what really counted was what it all turned into on the catwalk and that was pure magic.

You could rattle off a list of the seasonal trends that the label tapped into: the white dress, the ultra-frill, star prints (actually pentagrams in this case), asymmetry, monotone, lemon, pale blue and silver, crop tops, flatforms and much more. But it all added up to a much bigger whole than the sum of its parts would suggest.

Not that there weren’t individual pieces that deserve to be called out. The brand moved the popular slashed-knee jean on by offering it in pure white and trimming the slash in an orgy of Pompadour-like lace-trim ruffles. Anything that frees us from the tyranny of the slashed jean as it currently stands is good news in my book.

As that suggests, for a label that’s known for its cocktail/evening focus, these jeans were surprisingly daywear-ready, as was a Fred Perry-style top complete with ruching or frilled sleeves and pentagram ‘logo’, a black short-sleeved tailored jacket with ruffle detail, a stark white cotton dress (again with frilled sleeves and this time a flower-decorated pentagram), and a white denim jacket with the collection’s signature lacy ruffles.

But after-dark dressing was the true focus as the duo sent out ruffled, asymmetric chiffon skirts and dresses decorated with pentagrams or irregular zebra stripes, white sequin trimmed pieces that are a gift for the bridal market, a series of dresses in ‘traditional’ checks that are anything but traditional with their intense yellow and oranges plus their row after row of tiny frills, their ruched silver sequin pieces, dresses velvet flowers on a chiffon base…

I could go on, but it might be best if you just watch the show. See if you’re as bowled over as I was.