LFW Diary AW12: Yan To

One of my favourite designers, Yan To, has created a striking collection for AW12 entitled ‘Grape’. Made in England and created using small strips of elastic throughout there is less than 1% wastage rendering it both sustainable and ethical – music to my ears!

With elastic/ neoprene being a recurrent fabric in Yan’s designs, these dramatically elegant pieces are created by weaving elastics onto a dress base and sewing them into position.

A process of trial and error, Yan believes that to get beyond an idea you first have to ‘pursue the seemingly pointless’, which is an attitude I love, and I think it is this inquisitive and unwavering desire to experiment that translates seamlessly to his garments. A designer whom I’ve loved since the very beginning, the shape and form of this collection is exciting, dramatic and completely original.

With a base colour palette of black, accents of taupe lift this collection of chic dresses and smart separates transcends the perception of a range of little black dresses, on first glance, offering much more depth and texture.

The star of the collection, a bespoke halter-neck dress – which will be made to fit the wearer – complete with ‘trailing strips of elastic paying homage to the composition of the dress’, took 62 hours to create and rumour has it, costs a lot less to produce than a wedding dress…