February 16, 2020 |
A quick trip on the Central line and you’re there – in Molly Goddard’s heaven of West London. The designer grew up there, being obsessed with her family’s weekend tradition of going to Portobello and Kensington markets. As a kid, she used to dress up to encounter all the diverse personalities that found their way there, whether buying or selling second-hand wonders. A few miles away from her Notting Hill haven, at the Central Hall in Westminster, it was Goddard’s AW20 show that celebrated the same nostalgic spirit. In a set-up of dinner tables, we were welcomed with bottles of white wine and servings of bread & butter, as she seduced us even before showing her best collection yet.
Comeback girl Lindsey Wixson opened the show in a new iteration of the classic Molly Goddard ruffle frock in electric blue, layered over a multi-coloured mohair knit. Footed into a pair of creepers with a bow-embellished on her head, Wixson looked every part the Portobello princess. What followed was a demonstration of Goddard’s power in treating everyday as a party. The joy of dressing came across in real-life interpretations of her exuberant dresses, layered under and over knits, raggedy T-shirts and trousers in awkward lengths. She was also greatly inspired by how “strange” her parents dressed back in the day. And yes, that’s both mum and dad, as Goddard sent her first take on menswear down the catwalk. The base of it was a slightly cropped single-breasted suit which came in a few variations of looks, sometimes broken down and worn with the women’s prim coats and Fairisle cardis. “Whoever wore it wore it,” said Goddard backstage through a grin, admitting just how nervous she was about this show. Perhaps because it was her more personal collection yet (a photo of Goddard as a toddler with her dad at Portobello market came instead of show notes), Goddard felt the pressure of delivering. And boy did she…
Photographs by Ben Broomfield.
