Royal Symbols at Graduate Fashion Week

So, it seems that royal symbols are still popular with some of the new trend-makers emerging from the London fashion schools. One of the hot, new tickets out of the London College of Fashion who's done status symbols justice is menswear graduate Asger Juel Larsen. His collection has been mentioned everywhere from WGSN to a blog in Thailand, and he's even been nominated for the finals of the Mittelmoda Fashion Award in Milan. Asger explains his collection on his blog, "The focal point of the collection is themes of medieval warfare and more specifically chain mail. Exploring its use down to the method of its manufacture, I have created a modern adaptation of the armour by producing ‘futuristic’ ideas of chain mail, using alternative materials such as leather, PVC and rubber cords." Knights were medieval "gentlemen soldiers" (think King Arthur, the Crusades, and England's Order of the Garter). In addition to their expensive armour, they also sported the banners and colours of the nobility or monarch they supported. Asger's interest in the attire of these "gentlemen soldiers" seems logical considering his Danish origin and their current knightly order, the Order of the Elephant, founded by King Christian I in 1693. The ruling monarch of Denmark heads the order, and it is worn by members of the royal family and foreign heads of state, including Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales. The insigna worn consists of a gold collar of elephants and towers, a badge of a white-enamelled elephant, a silver star on the left side of the chest, and a light-blue sash when the collar is not worn.
But enough of my fashion history ramblings. Asger's modern armour is pretty exciting.

When I ran into Asger at the LCF library and he showed me his research (to which I told him to check out the armour at the Wallace Collection, one of my favourite London museums, and which I will shamelessly plug now), I knew his work would fit in perfectly with Kensington Palace's Status Symbols theme.

The Central Saint Martins BA show also had a touch of royal symbols. And, although, I don't have decent images, there's still one worth mentioning. Ryan Strong's collection featured royal colours of red and purple in dresses that flowed back to form robes. They were really stunning, and I was definitely reminded of the new Order of the Garter robe the RCA students designed in 1961 for the Queen. Now we just need Beatrice or Kate Middleton out on a night in one of Ryan's dresses and we really would have royal symbols in contemporary fashion.

KR