Richard Nicoll, Sibling, Preen and Topshop in a Sentence

But not one sentence — four! Because that’s what we do best: minimize the impressively copious months of preparation and brain power to but one measly — albeit complex and creatively punctuated — sentence. On tap today is the first half of one short London Fashion Week featuring:

Richard Nicoll — who got the elevated sportswear memo, took it very seriously and coupled it with a fairly generous nod to transparent sleeves and skirts, tees and dresses, who also saw some opportunity in the gingham department and splashed the picnic paraphernalia across one such cut out jumpsuit and a couple additional sets; you should also know there were some excellent ankle length coats which appeared in a muted pastel color palette that encompassed the collection across the purple to grey spectrum, including nude and blue because, hey, Nicoll is hospitable.

Meanwhile, Sibling brought the fun to London Fashfun Week, moonlighting as the girl you hope never to get stuck behind at a show (cue the giant head bows), building cakes out of knits and calling them skirts, disregarding the length of a shoulder de facto to recreate one that might fit Shaquille O’Neal and posing three questions that likely demand one answer: how important are shirts, how important are bottoms and should you wear either?

Black, white and olympic all over — that’s the sense that Preen by Thornton Bregazzi provoked, anyway, with its selection of bodycon minis, one particular cable knit sweater that doesn’t just say, but screams, “Yo, Leandra!” and a tasteful selection of beads that create layers of fringe, leading one to wonder if this is precisely the intersection where sportswear and that which is endemically “tribal” meet.

And as for Topshop — I think an Instagram caption posted by, uh, me earlier today said it best when it insinuated that early on in the collection, the high street brand wanted you to think that it was taking you through one more sportswear motion with its tennis skirts and wind-breaker style jackets, knit sweaters and bathing suit bottoms but then surprised with a graduating progression, displaying off the shoulder tops with ruffle trim at belly-button length, in some instances paired with matching skirts, and streamlined peacoats and then the bravado: sheer dresses, both black and white, embellished as if to say: I’m heeeeeere!