The sight of gingham invokes so many thoughts for me: a summertime picnic complete with check lined, wicker picnic baskets filled to the brim with bottles of Pimms and punnets of fruit, Daisy Duke impersonating cowgirls wearing plaid blouses with denim hot pants, and most importantly the one piece printed uniform dresses worn by the girls in Neighbours which evoked such envy in my teenage heart while I froze half to death in Scotland under layers of grey knitted cardigans and knee length black skirts. How I longed to be able to go to school in a short gingham shirt dress and make eyes at Billy Kennedy. But while I no longer hold Neighbours in such high esteem, gingham still has a place in my heart so imagine my utter delight at Christopher Kane’s S/S2010 collection. Bold check prints combined with twin thigh high splits are the signature details in this collection which takes the pretty milkmaid look and gives it a darker, sexier edge.

Christopher Kane juxtaposes various elements for his S/S2010 show, and veers away from anything too cutesy ensuring the fabric and the look of his collection doesn’t become too twee. The large check print is both eye-catching as well as a startlingly simple classic. It manages to be almost-too-pretty but tough in equal measures, channelling dusty road trips and long grass. The loose cut of the skirts tone down the side splits making it possible to show inches and inches of thigh without crossing the line of decency.

The sleeveless, slash-neck style featured in one of the dresses in his collection a direct contrast to another piece which displays a whimsically scooped neck and sheer wrist length sleeves but both jump out as easily the most wearable and most covetable pieces within the collection which will no doubt filter, or perhaps ‘burst’ is more realistic, into the high street at any moment.