ON MARY KATRANTZOU: THE MONOCHROMATIC LANDSCAPE

Fashion weeks have come to an end and although every collection was a ravishing presentation of pure genius and remarkable artistry, I was most thrilled and overwhelmed with the beautiful photographic landscape prints and captivating arrangement of watercolor-like patterns in the Mary Katrantzou Ready-To-Wear Autumn/Winter 2013-14 collection during London Fashion Week.

Mary Katrantzou launched her eponymous label in 2009 after graduating from the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design with an MA in fashion textiles. The young label has quickly caught the eye of many fashion critics and in 2011, Katrantzou was named the Emerging Talent Ready-To-Wear at the prestigious British Fashion Awards.

There is something about the way the young designer challenge and innovate digital prints and architecture shapes in each and every of her collections that I can't take my eyes off. I was only truly captivated by her limitless talent and straight-up genius from the MK Autumn/Winter 2012-13 collections and since then she has transformed my rooting concept of minimalistic and fantastical patterns on strong poised, architecture shaped fabrications.

Katrantzou's A/W 2013-14 collection took a turn away from the vivid colors of previous collections to a rainbow of monochromatic velvety black, soft grey, crispy white with a touch of muted purple or blue. The collection challenges the idea of plain silhouettes and created a hazy dreamlike landscape patterns on a giant range of garments, inspired by the black and white photography of the twentieth century photographer Edward Steichen, Clarence White and Alfred Stieglitz.

@VogueParis: "This isn't nature. But a man's view of nature, captured, refracted, and ultimately distorted by the camera lens"

I can't say enough how absolutely inspiring and breathtaking this collection is to someone who has always been obsessing with fantastical patterns and prints like me. And I'm sure it wasn't just me, solely based on the Mary Katrantzou hash tag, the twitter responses to her F/W 2013-14 collection was incredible.

"More Mary Katrantzou amazingness!"

"Didn't you just love Mary Katrantzou F/W 2013"

"Didn't think I could love her anymore, but then I saw this collection"

"I'd like to win the lottery so I can buy every piece"

Anyways, Dezeen Magazine has actually made its comment on every trend Katrantzou laid out in her collection. Here are my favourite fews:

Foggy streets and landscapes printed onto satin and silk are inspired by the black-and-white photography of Edward Steichen, Clarence White and Alfred Stieglitz.

More abstract prints look like leafless trees set against a dreary winter sky.

Pattern, rather than print, is the focus of this collection. It's pattern conveyed through the intricacy of intarsia knits, embroideries, jacquards and brocades, custom knit, woven and engineered to re-render a landscape across her clothes.

Print, of course, is still present - it is Katrantzou's leitmotif. For this collection, however, it is one part of a harmonious, multi-textured palette of effects, giving depth and vigour to the rigour of her designs.

The silhouette is linear - attenuated, elongated, elegant. For day, the silhouette is stark, architectural and austere, a symphony of angular lines focussed on the diagonal.

For night, those same shapes are reinterpreted as ghosts of their firmer selves in flowing organza, prints overlaid to create a hazy, misty optical illusion. The diagonal line becomes a spiral, a winding road meandering around the landscape of the woman's body.

Subtle swathes of colour seep into some outfits and blend together like watercolour paintings.

Latticed bridge trusses and hazy streetscapes adorn the garments

The angular shapes of the trusses are embossed onto leather and woven into lace to create repeating patterns.

Fabric is extended up from the bodice, flared out from the shoulders or exaggerated across the bust to create hard, architectural shapes.

In contrast, softer capes and dresses are draped in spirals around the body forming asymmetric layers of chiffon and silk.

Some outfits carry the same print throughout

whereas others mix simple tops with printed trousers or skirts.

"In Mary Katrantzou's hands, even nature becomes a fabrication - a moment in time immortalised in cloth. This season, each garment is a world in its own right"