The distinctive, Victorian lead-framed, high arched windows of the oldest glasshouse at the Royal Botanics in Edinburgh
inspired Holly Fulton this season. Her Mum works at the Botanic Gardens and, of course, she is originally from Edinburgh
so this incredible glasshouse is quite a sentimental place for Holly.
When you think of the Botanic Gardens you think of glass panelled windows, the heat, the colourful flowers and plants
and sometimes if you're lucky some butterflies.
All of these things were evident in the new collection. Holly restricted her palette this year, using multiple tones
of one colour by layering shapes which very much resembled the mullions of the windows of the Edinburgh Glasshouse.
The heat was apparent in her designs with plunging backs on the dresses, making you think of a hot summer day.
The main colours in this collection were teal blue and fuchsia pink, the colours you would expect tropical flowers
and plants to be.
Butterflies were out on show too, not only printed on the fabric, but Holly created an amazing neckline which was made by
linking lots of cut out butterflies together. Kind of like a paper chain you would make at school to hang on your classroom
wall. It was beautiful.
All the emphasis of pink and butterflies makes the collection sound very feminine but it had a very appropriate masculine twist.
The tailoring of the jackets and trousers were straight lined and slightly square, like that of a man's suit jacket.
The clutches were also quite large and angular, slightly like a man's briefcase. I think the balance between masculine and
feminine was perfect.
There were glimmers of metallic and silver sparkles throughout the show but the best was saved for last. An armour like crop
top layered over a teal and black dress was the last outfit on the runway and it was an appropriate end to an incredible show.
After the show I got the chance to interview Holly. I had arrived back from Stockholm the night before the show and thought
some of Holly's pieces resembled clean cut, angular Swedish style. I asked her if any particular city or country had inspired her
new collection and I was pleasantly surprised by her answer. She said that her main inspiration was in fact Edinburgh and the
Botanics. It is nice to know somewhere so close to home has inspired such an exciting collection.
