LFW DAY 2: CHALRES ANASTASE A/W 2011

The muse of Parisian designer and illustrator Charles Anastase is a bit like the naive protagonist of a magic fairytale. This muse has been following Anastase collection after collection, but, as the seasons passed, the girl grew up, turning into a sensual and somehow naughtier woman. The collection opened with Anastase’s main passion, coats: the designer included tailored and A-line coats in muted beige, tweed or in red ponyskin with some ironic details such as buttons with little smiley faces.

Yet what started as a cute and innocent collection with woolen salmon suits, Peter Pan collars on velvet shirts and velvet dresses with embroidered flowers, progressed with mohair dresses and miniskirts with appliquéd metal plates, silky baby dolls and revealing sheer chiffon tops, making you finally realise that maybe the black horse that decorated two of Anastase’s ruby red dresses didn’t represent a childish carousel horse but a grown up woman’s dream of running away with a knight on a mysterious dark horse.

by Anna Battista

See London Fashion Week coverage of Charles Anastase here.