WHEN we saw Mary Katrantzou's catwalk this morning with carnations growing out of it in blocks of yellow, then fuchsia, then red, we hoped her models might come skipping through them.
In fact they walked around it and as they went swept us with them into a surrealist whirlpool of smashed cadillacs, floral cacophonies, sea bed corals and scallop shells, piled up tin cans and shoals of fish skittering through.
"Man meets machine meets mother earth, an army of petal, metal, print," she told us - watch her chatting about it on VogueTV here. But it wasn't chaotic, it was exquisite - neatly fitted cocktail dresses featuring every possible print in one sweep of fabric left trails of chiffon in their wake.
If mismatched prints are a firm feature of spring/summer 2012 already, then Katrantzou's the undisputed ringleader of them, some of hers exaggerated by seed pearl outlines, encrusted with contrasting patches of jewels or beset with panels of iridescence to enliven them even more.
The prints carried on to bold weave sweatshirts and stretchy knit dresses, cropped bombers with chain mail sleeves and sheer leggings that came under matching dresses. Trouser suits that grew up the body from pink carnations around the ankle up through yellow, red and to blue shoulders, or from blue to red to turquoise and grey, were nothing short of fabulous. But when Mary's signature cocktail dresses appeared with their stiffened, sculpted shapes - jutting out from the hips and draped over one shoulder, we really felt that all the fatigue and fashion stress fall away. This is what it's all about.
Her finale dress, a metallic creation of tin cans and metal flowers, rivets and sequins proved Katrantzou's worth as one of our proudest show women designers - a museum piece worthy of as much praise as the dresses and tops that will lead the wishlists next season.
With thanks to Mercedes Benz.
SEE THE MARY KATRANTZOU SHOW ARCHIVE