Mother of Pearl fuk@lfw s/s 07

Even though Mother of Pearl is in its fifth season, this is the first time Maia Norman and Sue Foulston's label has shown at London Fashion Week. A vibrancy preceded the debut, with the gentle promise of well-known artists (Maia is Damien Hirst's partner) and the like coming but gratefully nowt but the clothes stole this show.

Cowboys, native Americans, tribes and holidays all in one. This is a label that delivers clothes you can wear whether on your holidays or working. There's a sense that Mother of Pearl doesn't want to devour you, it wants to work with you.

Sue has a solid background in fashion - she moved from her native Oldham down south to study at Middlesex and graduated in 1975, she spent 14 years working with Jasper Conran and now teaches at Central Saint Martins. Maia was an LA child and has designed jewellery, album covers and art directed music videos.

There is a variety of prints - some look like the designers had repeated tribal markings and very English multicoloured shiny roses printed on white. Stripes in soft summer shades feature throughout. White, soft pinks, bright yellow and light greens dominate the colour palette. White sailor pants coupled with bikini tops, cropped above the-knee shorts, shift tops, shirt/jackets and 50s-style sundresses all screamed 'summer holiday, time to play' from the catwalk. There's a genuine fresh feel to this collection, and just about everything shown is wearable and workable with a customer's existing clothes.

Watch the video interview with Maia and Sue here.

Words: Marian Buckley
Photos: David Jones