ALICE PALMER | SPRING / SUMMER 2011

After being awarded Best Womenswear Designer in 2008 during New York Fashion Week and receiving a nomination for ‘Fashion Designer of the Year’ at the Scottish Style Awards, it’s safe to say Alice Palmer has placed herself firmly on the fashion radar.

Following a textiles degree and a masters at The Royal College of Art in 2005, Palmer later showcased her Fossil Warriors collection during the Fashion Fringe event in Covent Garden. Palmer was one three chosen finalists, being awarded space and sponsorship to create a capsule collection and receiving the mentoring of John Galliano. This led to the presentation of her collection at London Fashion Week.

Although a runner up at Fashion Fringe, Alice Palmer has been noted as one to watch due to her innovative knitwear creations. She has transformed an often plain wardrobe essential into something fashionable and fun.

For her Spring / Summer 2011 collection, Alice Palmer was inspired by a trip to the National History Museum, where she drew inspiration from the dinosaur bone structures. Palmer combined her signature three-dimensional structures and combined them with pleats and two-tone colours to create a predatory look.

All the pieces in Alice Palmer’s collection question your perception, playing tricks on the eye. The corseted knitwear manipulated into mermaid-like shapes really stood out on the catwalk and emphasise Palmer’s attention to detail. The vertebrae design instantly draws your attention and particularly notable is that the ready-to-wear dresses are made for real women, using flattering shapes and colours. She shows innovation and originality in her knitwear, which has clearly been created to be worn not just looked at.

- Lauren Bell