Fashion in Motion: Robert Cary-Williams
September 2001
Fashion in Motion is a series of live catwalk events presented at the V&A. Featuring some of the greatest designers of our time, Fashion in Motion brings catwalk couture to a wider audience by modelling it against the beautiful backdrop of the Museum.
The V&A hosted at its Fashion in Motion event the first showing of Robert Cary-Williams' Spring/Summer 2002 Collection following its debut at London Fashion Week on 17 September 2001.
Robert Cary-Williams trained in fashion design at Central Saint Martin’s School of Art and Design in London. He established his own label in 1998 and was awarded the British New Generation Award the following year.
A leading light in the British Fashion circuit, Cary-Williams’ success lies in his ability to design clothes that are experimental with a severe design edge, yet surprisingly wearable. Often using industrial and unusual materials, he combines them with clever cutting and distressed fabrics to create chic and elegant designs.
For his latest Spring/Summer 2002 collection, the designer has taken historical influences and original materials from the late 19th and early 20th century and combined them with silk, leather and rusty metal to create individual, modern pieces. The historical influence can be further sensed in the line of the clothes which recall images such as the Victorian crinoline skirt, the Edwardian silhouette and the 1920s ‘flapper’ dress.
- Pale pink moulded leather dress with a Victorian petticoat hem. Leather buckle detailing and a hoop inserted above the hemline creates a crinoline-shape.
- Moulded leather patchwork dress with shoulder buckle detailing. Worn with a pale green cotton tailcoat, ruched and gathered at the back with strips of leather and rusty metal plates.
- Short pale pink moulded leather panelled skirt, ruched and gathered with strips of leather. Worn with a top made from the silk of a Second World War parachute, fastening at the neck with a leather buckle.
- 1920s-style pale green dress in parachute silk. The dress is worn with a leather cut-work overdress, decorated with images of birds and flowers, and which fastens with leather buckles.
- Pale pink moulded leather jacket with lace and sequin detailing. Worn with a short muslin skirt, ruched and gathered with strips of leather.
- Pale chinchilla silk chiffon dress. Bias cut with butterfly sleeves, ruched and gathered with strips of leather. Worn over a silk slip.
- Sleeveless dress created from lengths of antique lace and decorated with zips falling from the shoulders and the back.
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