Molly Goddard admits backstage at her spring/summer 2020 catwalk show that she is “tiring” of the Villannelle discussions – and then quickly eats her words. “I’m slightly tiring of it – no I’m not, I’m not – I’m really excited about it, I’m not tiring of it – I just don’t know what else to say about it”.
It’s fair enough, really. Ever since Killing Eve’s fabulously-clad villain, played by Jodie Comer, graced the small screen in May 2018 in a sugar pink trapeze dress designed by Goddard, the brand has felt inseparable from the BBC3 drama.
Last season the designer embraced the assassin’s influence full throttle, showing 100 yards of magenta in a gown that has since been Instagrammed ad infinitum. This season, it was clear that Goddard was seeking to rid herself of her Killing Eve shackles.
Presented in the chlorine-scented Seymour Leisure Centre in well-heeled Marlybone, the Molly Goddard SS/20 collection maintained the brand’s maximalist vision in a select few pieces, but also opted for slimmed-down silhouettes, cinched-in waistlines and wrapping, tying and ruching that brought fabric close to the body. Here, tulle played a more decorative role: wrapped around hips like college sweatshirts and loosely layered over contrasting slips.
The colour palette was fresh – of lime greens, whites, pinks and reds – with some dark florals thrown in (obligatory for spring) and shots of electric blue. Light and airy crop tops in crisp cotton revealed the designer’s expertise in manipulating fabric to create volume without structural support.
This season, the giant tulle frock arrived cut to the calf in anchor butter yellow, the same shade was used for a circular-structured bell skirts that hailed back to those Barbie cakes you’d see at children’s birthday parties in the Nineties. Models wore greased back hair and black lipstick to offset the girlishness and inject that cool-girl punk attitude.
Denim, too, made an appearance this season. Heavy indigo shades were manipulated like thick silk, cut to flounce in skirts and puff out and blouson in sleeves. A jacket with corset-style peplum and blazer lapels harked back to last season’s epaulettes with loosely bunched sleeves. “One thing I love is that we made toiles for everything that wasn’t tulle and I always love calico more than anything else,” the designer told The Independent. “Denim is a very similar structure to calico – in volume and in that it cuts well frayed and shows construction and cross stitching.” The remarkable amount of craftsmanship involved in these designs cannot be underestimated.
Never one to swallow femininity whole, Goddard had her models carry silver-studded leather handbags – a new addition to her oeuvre – and wear cobalt bright blue and pillar-box red flat boots. Cable-knit jumpers with cut-out shoulders tied with ribbons, also provided shoppers with a more accessible way into the brand.
“A lot of this was looking back at some of the things I had done in the last five years that I liked most and redoing them and doing them more and more and bigger and better”. No harm in sticking with what you do best.
