Edeline Lee S/S'14 - The Clothes Maiden Magazine

In fashion, there is no cut-and-dried way of conflating understated design with maximum visceral impact; but, as Edeline Lee’s latest collection shows, a simple air of ambiguity can offer a way in.

In the main, Lee’s spring/summer ’14 collection is founded upon a series of loosely fitted, draped and slightly boxy silhouettes, yet there is barely even the slightest nod to the androgyny commonly connoted with the aforesaid shapes; instead the collection revels in its own overt femininity.

It is this level of paradox, combined with a rich yet restricted colour palette of coral, emerald and cobalt (alongside Lee’s customary monochrome spectrum), that forms the fulcrum of the collection. On top of that, there is a certain manifest delicacy, undercut by “modernist lines”, precise patterning with an “ethnic” edge and the deft, considered touches of a true artist.

The collection is one of those made to be picked apart and analysed as both a plethora of standalone outfits – some gauzy and girly, others muted and mildly ascetic – and a cohesive unit.

Lee (Canadian-born Londoner; Central Saint Martins graduate; erstwhile McQueen apprentice; and modern, multi-tasking, working-mother) melds together experience (she has previously said that “no-one teaches you how to design… but [that] does teach you to be completely creatively independent, so you figure it out”), a predilection for the classic geometry evocative of the Art Deco movement and the subtle subversiveness of 20s womenswear, and memories (the whimsical piano keys motif is inspired by a childhood spent tickling the ivories) to create a collection imbued with remarkable strength and sophistication; a collection made for women who want to make an impact, as well as keep it simple.

Tara Okeke