Osman Yousefzada’s Cosmic Mughal

Osman Yousefzada’s autumn/winter 2009 collection is called ‘Cosmic Mughal’, a blend of futurism and central Asian tribal influences, which makes a change from the backwards-looking direction that has characterised a lot of the catwalk shows this week.

This is not to disparage the efforts of other designers but it is good to see a designer having a bit of ambition and sense of adventure. The dresses that first came out were very indicative of the direction that Yousefzada has chosen to take. They almost had a Princess Leia feel to them although I’m afraid to say that no hair buns or light sabres were to be found. The colours were all quite muted with whites, greys and charcoals dominating the jackets and coats.

The show also had the flounciest models at London Fashion Week. Perhaps it was something to do with the bass-heavy music that was booming around the place. Or maybe it was the heat that made them eager to escape from being under the hot lights. But whatever it was, it made for models who seemed to be even more affected by disinterest and ennui than usual.

The eveningwear was less accomplished than the daywear that had gone before. There was less definition and the choice of colour was more erratic. Gold lamé is troublesome at the best of times but the combination of this and turquoise was rather unpleasant.

Yousefzada also showed his debut collection of jewellery. The influences for the necklaces and chains were reptiles and Art Deco, an unlikely duo but one that worked very well and complimented a lot of the dresses and column gowns on display.

One thing that I should admit was that I was very distracted during the show. I normally try and maintain my attention and focus on important things like the details of the clothes, different styles and things like that. But on this occasion, there was something nagging at me that I could not get out of my mind. The irritation was the similarity of one of the models to the England opening batsman Alistair Cook. She looked exactly like him if he had been born a woman. Every time she came down the catwalk, I could not help but think how she should really be in the West Indies getting ready for the fourth test match. In future, I’ll try and stay more focused.