London’s schedule for fall is quieter than it has been. This conjured a certain mood for Mark Fast, who’s been a permanent fixture since graduating from the Central Saint Martins MA nearly two decades ago. “I feel like this season gives me a feeling of nostalgia, like when I first started,” he said at a preview. “I don’t know why, something is in the air.” It prompted this reporter to do a deep dive back into his archives—fall 2009, to be specific—to see if this mood was reflected in the collection as well as his disposition.
“It’s the body-con dress,” Fast said today of what resonates best with his customers—a statement that also rang true in his fledgling years. Save for a handful of varied explorations in tailoring, acid-wash denim, satin and some sheer pieces with briefs beneath that were cut daringly high, his focus was on tight-fitting dresses—often in upper-thigh-grazing lengths. This is mainly because they are the most suitable silhouette to display his signature knitting techniques, crafted by hand and on the machine, which for fall arrived as a series in the final section, in royal purple, mustard, fuschia, black and chartreuse.
Beyond body-cons, which this season had chain details running through the weave, there were lace-up separates structured like corsets. “It’s almost like a vampire taking costumes and treasures from her lifetime and wearing them now,” said Fast. Some were trimmed with pin-tucked ruffles (which echoed the flouncy hemlines of spring 2010). “We’re doing a celebration of the women that I’ve worked with for so long; fine tuning the craft of what I do with them,” Fast explained. The collection made it clear he was speaking to his devotees.
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