Molly Goddard’s frou-frou, childlike party dresses have been gaining buzz over the past few seasons, so there was a certain sense of anticipation among the packed crowd ahead of her debut runway show at London’s Old Spitalfields Market on Saturday night.
Goddard didn’t disappoint: She pumped up her baby-doll aesthetic, working tulle in rave-worthy, fluorescent shades. One tiered, petticoat dress came in searing green, while another oversize one was done in a garish pink.
Some dresses were inset with chest panels in a Neoprene-like, technical fabric. The designer said in her show notes that she was inspired by those who use their clothes to escape “the mundanities of their working lives,” and dressed her models for an “outdoor all-nighter.”
She also drew on photographer Nick Waplington’s images of the New York club scene, printing snapshots of clubbers on T-shirts.
It all had an out-there, sweetly anarchic air, cementing Goddard’s status as a name to watch.