WHAT A WEEK FOR BRITISH DESIGN!

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Earlier in the week, we noticed two of our London based designers had been making an impact on the red carpets of international celebrity soirées, but little did we know that that was just a precursor to a brilliant week for British designers!
When Mr and Mrs Obama touched down on British soil on Tuesday, they kicked off a celebration of some of the our brightest and best fashion talent. Indeed, from the second Michelle O stepped off Air Force One in this dazzling (next season) Preen number, we knew this was the start of something big. (Have we mentioned how much we love her? Whether shaking her thang in a school hall to get kids dancing, or being the coolest First Lady in the history of time, Michelle Obama officially rocks our world.)

Michelle Obama in Preen AW11, looking sensational.

The original catwalk look Preen AW11

 Next up, SamCam continued to wave the flag for British fashion as she welcomed the Obamas to Number 10 in a beautiful - and borrowed - Peter Pilotto SS11 number (some of you will remember Paula Reed carrying out her royal fashion correspondent duty for the Beeb in this very same style). It's a fabulous dress, managing to be unusual and elegant at the same time.

Samantha Cameron in Peter Pilotto SS11

Peter Pilotto SS11

Of course, it wouldn't be a British fashion parade without the now uber-tanned K-Mid, freshly returned from her royal honeymoon and creating yet another high street mania in the 'Shola' dress from Reiss. No doubt the £175 number has already sold out, it looked great on her, with her waist still waspish post-wedding and the neutral colour set off her tan wonderfully.

K-Mid - Sorry, the Duchess of Cambridge, in the Reiss 'Shola' bandage dress. She's creating her own trend bubble. 

Back at Number 10, SamCam showed that you can accessorise Jonathan Saunders with salad tongs as she served up potato salad at a barbecue for servicemen. The dress was the perfect choice for an almost-summer sunny afternoon.

That's one garden party we would have liked to have been at. Pass the ketchup!

Jonathan Saunders SS11

Finally, it was only a matter of time before one of the First Ladies busted out some McQueen, and Michelle Obama chose the suitably dramatic setting of Oxford University to wear her Sarah Burton-designed outfit. 
















All in all, British designers did us proud this week, and it was fantastic to see their incredible designs being worn by suitably inspiring people.
Images: Daily Mail, Catwalking, Style.com, Getty

ERDEM TELLS ME ALL ABOUT THE MOST EXPENSIVE DRESS HE HAS EVER CREATED

The pouty house model for Erdem in the most expensive (and intricate) dress the designer has ever created.

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

I have known Erdem Moralioglu ever since he came onto the London fashion scene. And I can safely say he is one of the loveliest men alive. He is charming, with a dry humour, a good business head and above all he is a super-talented designer with a laser sharp couturiers eye for detail. His intricately detailed and very beautiful clothes are timeless and modern all at once. So

I'm not at all surprised that his fame is spreading at a pace. Sarah Brown (wife of British PM, Gordon) and Michelle Obama are fans of his clothes; but its not just first ladies who like him. Racy ladies do too. Thandie Newton is a confirmed fan, as am I (and my style is the polar opposite Mrs Brown and Obama); Keira Knightley and Halle Berry are partial too.

I dropped in to see Erdem during Paris at the London Showrooms, the one-stop address for up-and-coming British designers in the city, and he told me he was having his best season ever for sales. He also told me his inspiration for the season were the Modan Gaaru - this is Japanese for Modern Girl - who were the Japanese equivalent of flapper girls.

"They were self sufficent, they smoked, had sex. They took their kimono's and cut them up," he told me. I like the sound of the Modan Gaaru.

In the process of designing the collection Erdem found he had created his most expensive dress ever. "Do you want to see the most expensive dress I have ever created," he teased. "Look here," he said inviting me to eye-ball one of the 3,000 hand-embroidered flowers that make up the multi-coloured floral shift dress. "Each one of those took an hour at least. So that's 3,000 hours before you get to constructing it as a dress." Woah. Wonder who will buy one?

My pictures look good, but I have to say they don't do the detail in the individual flowers justice. Next time I'm at his studio I will do a close-up and update the blog.

Fonally couldn't resist a shot of Erdem with his dress, especailly as we was wearing his signature look of stripey top, jeans and his adorably geeky specs.