Home Fashion New KTZ collection is a tribute to TARTAN.

New KTZ collection is a tribute to TARTAN.

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Photography by Dan Stern. KTZ 2012 A/W collection
Photography by Dan Stern. KTZ 2012 A/W collection

It was a tip of the tartan hat to Vivienne Westwood at KTZ’s London Fashion week show debuting their new A/W 2012 collection. From tartan hats to tartan trousers, tartan kilts to even tartan-printed platform wedges, models were literally tartan-clad from head to toe.

KTZ is renowned for their high-energy runway shows, and this one was no exception. The intensity built up gradually, both musically and visually, until at the height of its crescendo a finely embellished red tartan cropped jacket and matching pencil skirt came down the runway accompanied by several audible “oohs” and “aahs”. Another standout piece was a knee-length, long-sleeved black dress adorned with enormous red and gold sacré-coeurs, slightly altering the tone of the entire collection by placing it somewhere at the intersection of early Westwood and Comme des Garçons.

But tartan was not all that KTZ had in store. There were also a number of beautiful baroque prints, which were clearly paying homage to the Gianni era of Versace in the early 90’s. This is part of a larger trend involving a revival of baroque prints, which have featured recently in collections from Givenchy, Jonathan Saunders, and most obviously Versace for H&M.

In a dramatic shift partway through the show, however, the tartan was dropped almost completely in favor of bold black and white prints featuring large occult and religious symbols. Headscarves topped with hats provided a highly stylized hood-like effect, producing an overall look that would not seem out of place in front of an East London nightclub.

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