Post Volcanic Ash

>> This year of freelancing (=procrastinating) has resulted in my aborbing up every news story that crops up about travel misery in this country, of which there's been plenty.   From snow to volcanic ash and back to snow again (that hasn't let up causing it seems, everyone to become a temporary travel alert reporter on Twitter), I love getting my nose stuck into closed motorways, the number of AA call outs, airport runways being closed and listening to people's 'Travel Misery' stories.  It's not entirely without personal attachment though seeing as I was caught up in the volcanic ash mess whilst on a trip to New York which meant I ended up staying out for a week longer than I thought I would as well as considering at one point whether travelling back to the UK by boat was a viable option (my whole cross-Atlantic liner fantasy was totally stumped...).  I can't profess to that week being a 'miserable' experience but since then it has instilled in me a nervous habit of reading up every travel news story, checking TFL excessively and double-checking flights beforehand.

Still from that ash spew attack, I never thought that a designer would be so affected as to design a collection around it but here you go, Arnsdorf's pre-fall collection entitled 'Tremors' was inspired by the eruption of 'Eyjafjallajokul'.  For such a lot of chaos that ensued after eruption, Jade Sarita Arnott, the Australian designer (now based in New York) behind the label has turned out a pretty serene looking collection, serene in its execution of cashmere coats, wool tailoring and silk chiffon dresses with the only quaking movement evident in the colour combinations which involves a tenuous balancing act.  How else to explain why bright red, electric blue, orange, lilac, brick and cool shades of grey, nude and a very light lime all come together into one collection- Arnott puts it down to the natural phenomenon of the eruption throwing up the colours which are derived from the volcano itself.      

The ash episode is hopefully well and truly behind us but Arnott's collection is a positive reminder and if it really was a period of pure stress attack for you, just think of all the pretty colours in the easy fluid shapes and forget about the origins of those hues altogether. 

P.S. I fully expect a UK-can't-cope-with-snow inspired collection from a designer sometime next year...