Piers Atkinson “Hot Voodoo” SS12 Collection

On Monday, Piers Atkinson presented his Spring/Summer 2012 “Hot Voodoo” collection at The Sanderson Hotel with a cocktail reception and hat parade featuring swimming costumes by Zandra Rhodes and shoes by Charlotte Olympia and special guest Paloma Faith.
Piers Atkinson’s Spring / Summer ‘12 collection is a show-stopping affair; taking its bearer under the spotlight, to centre stage. Inspired by Hollywood dreams of the Deep South, by Marlene Dietrich’s gorilla-suit striptease in ‘Blonde Venus’, and by glorious Technicolor, Atkinson has created a collection to evoke the magic of the moment as the house-lights dim and the curtain rises on our glamorous Prima Donna. Her stage is set and she is bedecked in the craftsmanship of the costumiers, the make-up artists, the hair stylists, the milliners!! She is adored!
 
The lights and action banish the outside world and fantasy becomes, momentarily at least, reality. We can worship our Cleopatra, our Cinderella, our Scarlett O’Hara.
 
This season’s pieces come in a tropical palette of Deep Fuchsia, Parrot Red, Macaw Blue and Jungle Green mixed with neutral Ivory and Honey. Twenty-inch macaw tail feathers balance atop straw berets, clouds of ostrich float over pillboxes and crystallised exotic beetles pose proudly on hairbands and combs. High-Priestess of Print, Zandra Rhodes, has pulled a classic textile from her archive and collaborated with Atkinson. The Banana Leaf print makes an appearance as a turban, a snood, a simple bow.
 
Styles range from last season’s fedora, now in Fuchsia Pink straw, to Atkinson’s signature beret shapes from micro to maxi. Straw Boaters and Turbans make their debut, while the floral straws make a glittery come-back. This collection, retaining Atkinson’s signature sense of humour, is as ripe for an outing at Royal Ascot as much as the society wedding, a night at the opera or for simple, dressed-to-kill style.