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Although Topshop’s fluorescent white show-space/space-station cast all of its earlier shows in a futuristic glare, Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff somehow transformed the Bedford Square tent into a garden of decadent delights from 18th-century France. Inside, painted screens showed songbirds fluttering through floral trees, while a pastoral soundtrack of chirps and tweets floated through the perfume-soaked air. As a Disney procession of cartoon Marie Antoinette’s ambled leisurely out – wearing puff-sleeves, petticoats and over-the-knee boots, all wrapped up in ribbons, Rococo prints and sparkling crystal embellishments – they wore the glazed-over expressions of bored teenagers or the idle rich. Wandering on and off the catwalk, stopping to pluck a rose or pick a candy cupcake, they appeared as characters in one of Antoine Watteau’s fetes galantes, as ostentatious, gorgeous aristocrats entertaining themselves in the years of excess leading up to the French Revolution. Clearly, the Made In Chelsea set have a lot to learn! This season Meadham Kirchhoff moved away from disco, away from grunge, and into the lap of luxury - a truly beautiful show.
Text: Dean Kissick
Photography: Masha Mel
See all of our SS13 womenswear coverage here.
