Can I be a grungey Chanel princess too?

Have you seen the Chanel Pre S/S 2015 collection?

Gah, love. Seriously, just love.

There's something about the pre collections, (perhaps, as they are not the main collections and the skeleton of the year, there is less of an urgency to make them more commercial, instantly wantable and sellable) something more exciting and experimental. Something essential. Life-giving. Renewing. I often prefer them to the main collections. They just get me giddier - the references and styling are often more intense and committed.

And I love me commitment. Even if something doesn't quite work, I value someone going for it and giving it a good old fashioned try.

But this wasn't a case of trying and failing somewhat - this was a home run. The mixture of East meets West in the grungey early garments and later heavily patterned, colourful pieces imbues the influences of the Dubai setting without being overly twee while the styling mixed with the elegant clothes speak to a bit of a princess but very much a contemporary one. The collection screams Lagerfeld's vision of a modern Chanel girl but lets the clothes call out to loyal, long-time followers as well. It's clever. At times, the more practical fabrics almost hint at an utilitarian purpose in striding across those sandy dunes - though I doubt they'll ever see this role.

Although I would totes rock a Chanel tiara on the daily.

Ashish A/W 2014-15: My inner-child is squeeing.

LIGHT-UP, FREAKING RUNNERS.

I've genuinely been saying I want a pair for a while now but for some reason, by and large, they don't make them for adults. But now Ashish is bringing them to Topshop in an up-coming collab and yesterday they debuted them in their A/W 2014-15 show. I'm not mad on how they look but dammit, I haven't had light-up feet since I was a child!

Childlike and exuberant are, in fact, the best words to describe the showing. It was all sequins, pastels, princessy skirts and crowns. And I loved it. Some pieces were less than wearable but, overall, pieces could be integrated into many a wardrobe to add fun and flavour. The palette, nods to the nineties and touches of sportswear are nothing new, we've been seeing them season after season, and yet the collection seems fresh and endearing. This is largely down to the execution and styling. There's a lot going on but never really too much - the ruffle dress and ruffle two-piece denim suit are more out there than I could personally handle but they are moments of absolute extremes in a collection of well-handled maximalism that avoids becoming clownish.

PS Yay for the statement ending. "Love Will Win" is kinda the ultimate statement tee for our generation, right?

(Images from vogue.co.uk)

I give the collection 4.5/5 Colettes.