#SuzyLFW: Topshop Unique – Where is the Wild Child?

Whatever happened to London's wild child - the one who brought street style into fashion? Her clothes were cheap and cheerful, her hair was done in vivid colours, her make-up a painterly work of art.

Well, she has gone, at least from Topshop Unique, the upscale line sold at that mecca for cool clothes at accessible prices.       

On the catwalk, which should be the company's showcase, it seemed fashion was being taken seriously: meaning, there were pleasing clothes at attractive prices - but not much more.

It does come to something when the messy teen-scene look of Hedi Slimane's Saint Laurent gets re-branded for a smart night out in the city. Topshop Unique also reinterpreted the original YSL chubby and colourful fur coats that were so shocking in the 1970s. Back then, the clothes were a reminder of France's wartime years. Today, the Topshop version seemed like a fashion echo chamber.

Then there were the shoes: the Phoebe Philo furry footwear from Céline that has already done the rounds of fast fashion. Unique recreated them with marabou feathers.

But all that said, there were some fine pieces in the Topshop collection, especially light-as-a-breeze calf-length skirts, split open for striding and a convincing interpretation for changing hemlines.

Fresh too was the knitwear - from colours to shapes, once again making a fine new piece to fit into a wardrobe.

This kind of fashion catches the moment and offers wearable, stylish clothing at high street prices. It was just that this show was short on the urgency and fun unusually associated with Topshop - and it was missed.