Right on the Markey

Louise Markey is a young Australian designer with great credentials. Having moved to London in 2003 after completing a BA in fashion in Sydney, she moved speedily to Burberry to become their women's shirt designer, and last year began an MA in fashion at London's Central St Martins. Then, without pausing for breath, she established her own label, LF Markey.

Making her fashion week debut at the Central Saint Martins a/w '08 show during the latest London Fashion Week in February, Markey garnered rave reviews for her final MA collection, as well as for launching her first range under her own label. Though the collection embodies tailoring and structure as much as it does tone and hue, the clothes themselves are a riot of color that reads like a series of contemporary classics reinterpreted for our post-millennial aesthetic. Imagine a brand that's the bastard child of Cassette Playa and Coco Chanel, and you're in the ballpark.

Architectural tent skirts in electric blue and cerise complete with super-long braces sit alongside sleek opaque leggings in powder turquoise and creamy lemon. As Markey comments, "What I am doing is looking at historical silhouettes and reinterpreting them into architectural, geometrical shapes with a vibrant color palette." But that's not all she's focused on. Her designs are also eco-conscious, and all of the garments are resplendent in natural cottons, silks and wools.

—Alex Butt