Zimmerman’s West World: the label’s delicate take on strong women

Nicky Zimmermann had a specific girl in mind, going specific places for autumn/ winter ’18/’19. “Our muse is a youthfully adventurous Victorian era woman. She lives in oppressive surroundings, but finds freedom and a chance for mischief in her horse and her riding”. Giddy up then, out onto the frontier with a feeling of repression and release, themes that are defining our world views at the moment.

But with so much outrage, anger and shock (and rightly so), at the behaviour toward women being outed of late, there’s a tendency to foreground aggression and, as valid as this is, Zimmerman shone a more personal light on the space we as women can go to when things get rough: our own space on our own terms, or "quiet independence" as Zimmermann worded it.

Visually this took form in patchwork antique florals, literal but not overdone leg-of-mutton sleeves that tapered elegantly at the wrist and long-sleeved lace bedecked tea dresses. While pretty, it never felt silly, anchored in burlap browns, wheat, plums and dusty blues, the colour of the sky before the sun tips past the horizon.

The shapes - gaucho pants, jodhpurs and riding capes - gave it an Annie Oakley lilt, wisely laying off obvious motifs which meant the pieces had real world application. Tartan, loose knit mohair and shearling brought it into proper winter territory, a time of year not usually the sunny Zimmermann’s stock-in-trade but executed very well here. A pale moss day-dress was a highlight, a clean contrast amongst rich details, with knotted ties at the wrist and neck.

The detailing though added that extra impactful punch, tempering the flou. Leather saddle pouches slung at hip height had the feeling of holsters, as did overlapping, oversized belt-corset hybrids that felt luxurious, though the pieces could have stood alone without them. Cowboy and slouched boots brought a welcome kick of 80s attitude.

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