Looking at photos sent in by our photographer stationed at London Fashion Week ^[2], I couldn’t help but say to myself, “Hey, I’ve seen these before. And not a very long time ago.” I felt a strong sense of déjà vu as I pored over high-resolution images of English fashion brand PPQ’s Spring/Summer 2011 collection.

Now, I’m not saying somebody copied somebody else, but those pieces vividly reminded me of a past collection by a great designer. Let’s take a few of PPQ’s dresses for example. What comes to mind when you take a look at these?

Admire the shoes if you must (as I did), but at first glance, these dresses brought me back to 6 October 2009, the day the late Alexander McQueen showed his Spring 2010 RTW line (I tell you, that did not remotely resemble anything ready to wear on the street), dubbed Plato’s Atlantis, in Paris. How could anyone forget that glorious day?

That was when they started playing Lady Gaga songs at fashion shows (which apparently we still do out here in Dubai). And more importantly, that was the day Lee McQueen pushed the boundaries of blending entomology and fashion.

Do you see what I see? They’re definitely not spitting images of McQueen’s SS2010 creations, and certainly not drawn on the same colour palette, but these are what I get reminded of whenever I look at PPQ’s is-it-some-kind-of-psychedelic-dung-beetle-or-a-cheetah-at-a-gay-pride-parade printed fabric.

What do we make of this déjà vu experience? Perhaps it’s a good thing. These Spring frocks from PPQ, if anything, are tamed reinterpretations of McQueen’s garish shapes, patterns and colours. They eliminate the phobia-inducing creepiness we associate with weird multicoloured insects whilst remaining in keeping with the whole point of it all – the shock value that we love about fashion. That means they’re less likely to make you and others feel queasy and uncomfortable as you walk in them on the street.

And that ultimately translates to a favourable answer to that million-dollar question everybody asks at the end of each runway show: Is the collection wearable? I think so.

PPQ photographs by Duilio Marconi ^[3] // Alexander McQueen SS2010 images courtesy of Style.com