Natasha Zinko SS14 Fashion Scout – London Fashion Week LFW

Review by Marianthe Smart

Note: The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of RetoxMagazine.com

Natasha Zinko SS14 presentation

Flora, femininity, and even some champagne

London Fashion Week. Natasha Zinko. A spring-summer 2014 collection presentation. Magic! I must say, while waiting outside in an alley-way for the show to begin, I was rather too excited to see what Zinko had to offer. But for a while I had to make do with shoulder pads, John Lennon sunnies (when it wasn’t sunny), umpteen flowy skirt + combat boots turned heels combos, and even a dismembered doll or two glued onto gloves. Zinko’s collection, however, never felt forced, and exuded an almost ethereal quality. And yes, I know I just used 'never felt forced' and 'ethereal' in the same sentence, and you may find my compliments all a little obsequious, I mean, Zinko had bustle-esque skirts for goodness sake. But I’m telling the truth, promise! The thing is, these flourishes didn’t impose on the designs, they weren’t there to make you go 'Oh my!'. Instead you looked at the dress and thought, 'Oh yes, that works', even if the last time you saw anything like a bustle was on Kiera Knightly in The Duchess. Yet, you still lower your gold rimmed glass of complimentary champagne long enough to exclaim an 'Oh my!' or two anyway, I did.

Perhaps aiding in the 'ease' of what would otherwise be eccentricities was Zinko’s use of colour and subtle pattern. While pastels prevailed, black and white, even navy blue were also used, with only small accents of new colours in the lines or lace of a piece – the eye just flowed with the colour and stripes. The thick stripes of the 'bustles' and petal like pencil skirts also did no harm creating wonderful shape and structure to these pieces. Perhaps the only inconsistency, if one could call it that, was Zinko’s huge variety of textures. There was flowing silk, lace, waffle patterned embossed cloth, roughly textured almost shaggy material. In short, there was a lot. Thankfully, however, Zinko refrained from using every texture in every piece, ensuring that they were never confused, and in each ensemble, whatever material, one could clearly see the distinct style of the collection. Frankly, I enjoyed the variety.

Yet what I loved the most was how unapologetically feminine Zinko’s collection was, and this coming from a girl who only wears a dress when the moon is blue (or someone’s getting married), and usually the dress is black. The models’ hair was simple, natural and tousled, no dyed anything. Bright fuchsia lips and accented eyes. Feminine doesn’t mean pink blush and party dresses, Zinko’s presentation proved that so eloquently. From thick weave, highly textured cloth to flowing balloon sleeves of silk, Zinko’s designs complimented the female shape so well – the lines, the accents of lace, and the jaunty little fez-cum-stewardess hats made me honestly want to put on one of those outfits there and then. The flora and period influences (a facet of most of Zinko’s work it seems) make her spring-summer 2014 collection something unique, something special, and something very different from the generally edgy and (if the alley-way is anything to go by) attention seeking fashion we see so often today. All I know is, when I grow up I want to wear a Zinko dress.

Previous collection from Natasha Zinko

See also Natasha Zinko SS14 review by Sarah Marie.