Three reasons that London is better than New York

JAX

There are always a lot of comparisons between the four main fashion weeks, with everything from which had the most celebrities in attendance, to which had the best clothes, to which was most creative, etc., etc., being discussed.  This being the fourth day of London Fashion Week, it's a safe time to start these conversations about London and New York.  A lot of people seemed to be disappointed in New York's somewhat boring showing, where the most interesting thing that can be talked about was the prevalence of white in the collections.  London is definitely winning me over with their more daring streak, though some people seem to be making excuses for this apparent difference between the cities.  It's been argued that New York is aiming to dress the every day working girl, and strives to be more consumer-friendly and therefore more commercial.  London, on the other hand, gets to express their more creative side and be more conceptual because they're designing for the partying, club going girl.  But that isn't really fair, is it?  Are the markets of New York and London so vastly different that they would justify this gap?  I can't say that I know for certain, as I have never traveled to either city, nor am I a market analyst, but I have to guess that such is not the case.  At any rate, London just seems to be producing more interesting collections, while, as Suzy Menkes of the New York Times puts it, "[New York] did not seem to have any urgent statement to make--just a bunch of nice clothes to wear."  And now, my three top reasons that  London has clearly pulled ahead of the States, fashion-wise:

3.  Basso & Brooke

Tim Blanks of Style.com had a relatively harsh review of Bruno Basso and Chris Brooke's latest show, but I myself quite liked it.  Known for their hyperactive digitized prints, the pair decided to tone down their spring collection, where the patterns were based off of old manuscripts and maps.  Blanks found it confusing that in a time where technological prints seem to be having their moment, the duo seemingly backed away from theirs.  However, I found the spliced in pieces (such as the second from the left) to be the most interesting.  Placed atop of clean, prim dresses and blouses, Basso & Brooke managed to play with their usual standbys without completely departing their signature aesthetic.

2.  Unique by Topshop

"Ethereal" seems to be a term that is commonly tossed around as a description of clothes lately, but Unique's spring collection is one that truly embodies the word.  A little glam rock, a little flower child, these voluminous looks are what every musical festival-going girl should want to be wearing.  The pieces look as though they're printed with images of flowers mixed with the heavens, and harken back to vintage Stevie Nicks.  If I make it to Lolla next year, you better believe that I will be investing in some of these clothes.

1.  Mary Katrantzou

By and far my favorite collection that I've seen thus far in all of fashion month, Mary Katrantzou's clothes were like a cross between Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga.  And in my book, that can never turn out bad.  I'm going to save my complete review of this collection for a separate post because it really deserves its own, but here it is, your number one reason that London thus far prevails over New York:  none of them Yankees were producing shit this good.