Clean cuts at Conran, House of Holland goes rodeo at London shows

By Marie-Louise Gumuchian LONDON (Reuters) - British designer Jasper Conran reworked classic masculine looks for his latest womenswear collection while the House of Holland label presented rodeo-inspired outfits at London Fashion Week on Saturday. At Conran's fashion show, held at the luxury Claridge's hotel, models strutted down the catwalk in a range of outerwear including parka, mackintosh, bomber, quilted, biker and sheepskin jackets as well as duffle, pea and suede coats. The 57-year-old designer presented V-neck, T-shirt, print, fringed sequin, banded and tunic dresses in materials ranging from mohair to cotton and organza. Slim trousers slit at the bottom came in mohair and wool, while straight skirts to the knee were in leather, hair-on-calf or layered organza. They were worn with banded vests or boxy tops. "What I have been working with is what I would call familiar, the things that (are) menswear classic," the designer told Reuters backstage. "I've been working with that and re-proportioning and rethinking and reworking and re-fabricating those, so it's the familiar but it's unfamiliar." Conran used a colour palette of chocolate, berry, navy, greens, cream, black and white with dabs of scarlet, orange, pink and royal blue bursting through the collection. "It's ... exciting juxtapositions of colour. So - classic colours, berry colours, browns and greens, and then vibrant colour," he said. For accessories, footwear was flat, with knee-length boots and loafers in mainly dark colours. At House of Holland, bold prints and motifs adorned denim, jumpers and silk rodeo-inspired designs for a colourful collection for women's wardrobes next autumn. Designer Henry Holland presented cowboy-shirt-like dresses with fringes, flared trousers and plenty of colourful cowboy boots, also decorated with motifs such as stars and flames. The 33-year-old paired oversized velvet puffer jackets over slinky embroidered evening dresses and showcased a new red, white and blue take on his brand's signature tartan, accessorising the looks with shiny cowboy hats. At the show, held at the Tate Modern art gallery, the brand also unveiled a 15-piece "Woody Woodpecker" capsule collection of colourful jackets, tops, dresses and denim, influenced by the cartoon character. London Fashion Week, during which designers are showcasing their autumn/winter 2017 womenswear creations, runs until Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Jane Witherspoon; Editing by Kevin Liffey)