Last season Ashley Williams questioned good and bad taste with her “no code of conduct” anti-princesses, and for AW16 her girl gang is just as assertive, modern, sexy and strong. Friend of the designer, London cool girl and our favourite new feminist Adwoa Aboah opened the show with bleached brows and a bold power suit emblazoned with electrifying tazers as Pixie Geldof, Daisy Lowe, Chloe Nørgaard, Lou Teasdale and Brooke Candy watched eagerly from the frow.
Fellow It girl Georgia May Jagger was out next in a black shirt dress studded with silver rings, affirming the AW16 Williams woman as powerful, with a hint of sophistication and a whole lot more sass. She’s either in a business suit but paired with a bondage strap, punky braces and glittering hair slides or an oversized jacket and tailored mini skirt. She’s chic af but don’t mess with her.
And just as we got used to Williams' modern take on the working woman’s wardrobe she mixed things up with neon leather mini dresses in fuschia and lime green paired with strappy heels and glittering chokers that spelled out T-A-Z-E-R.
If her girl gang wasn't cool enough, London designer Claire Barrow also walked in the show, fresh from her own presentation on Sunday. Be it casting Grace Neutral in last season's show or enlisting her squad of our favourite models and creatives (nails by WAH and makeup by Isamaya Ffrench fyi) to walk and work with, Ashley Williams embodies the dynamism and creative energy of the fashion capital.
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But don’t mistake the tailoring and hint of androgoyny in the ‘Hello boils and ghouls’ collection for an exploration of gender boundaries. “This isn’t so much a statement about gender fluidity as about inner confidence,” Ashley explains. “It’s about having the guts and confidence to wear clothes that transform you into who you are.” Rest assured, we want to wear all of these.