A FEW FAVOURITE THINGS

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

The FashEd and I have been busy skipping about London town, going to some of the myriad of press days which are taking place at the moment to showcase what will be in the shops next Spring. Before I pop out to another, I've got a minute to share with you some of our favourites from what we've seen yesterday and today....

1. BROWNS- BAGS BY SOPHIE ANDERSON

Sophie has lived and travelled a lot in Colombia and that shows in the bright pops of South American weave and traveller vibe of her bags. She stays faithful to the roots she has put down by employing four indigenous Indian tribes from around South America to weave her bags. The sleek finish and neon colour ways make these so much more than something reminiscent of a gap yah souvenir. We love.

2. STARWORKS- LULU & CO/ FASHION EAST

The Starworks Press Day was a complete treat- full of collections by some of the most exciting young designers London has to offer right now. In their midst is Lulu Kennedy's Fashion East, which is one the best ways for talent to get a leg up on the fashion week schedule. Her own label, Lulu & co works in collaboration with the designers which Fashion East supports. Lulu told the FashEd this morning that the line is about to become a whole lot more accessible, with lower prices so more people can get a slice of the action from Lulu's brood. Just the right time then to fall in love with this very elegant palm print dress with the most awesome raffia bow.

Maarten Van de Horst, one of the Fashion East designers

Cartoony fun from the Lulu & co label

Togue in cheek elegant by Lulu and co.

Raffia Bow

3. MATCHES- ANCIENT GREEK SANDALS

As you may know from the FashEd's summertime blogging, she is one of Greece's biggest fans so it's a shock she didn't actually walk out of Matches in a pair of these Ancient Greek Sandals. 

Matches told us: 'The Designer behind AGS, Christina studied shoe design at the prestigious Cordwainers College in London and then moved to Paris where she designed shoes for Iris, Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga. Taking her clue from the classic Greek sandals, which have existed since ancient times she works with respect to that heritage, adding a more personal and playful interpretation, which give the collection a fresh and contemporary appeal'

We have a sneaky feeling you'll be hearing a lot more about Ancient Greek Sandals. I love the fun references to Greek mythology in the wing details.

PARIS FASHION WEEK: ALL ABOUT MCQUEEN

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

The Alexander McQueen show this evening was a spectacle of demi-couture as fine as any Parisian maison could create, though this finery is all pretty much handmade in London, England. Sarah Burton, fresh from the most unpredictably brilliant, fame-making 18 months of her life was in typically low-key form backstage, while onstage her work was breathtaking in its scope of technique and the clothes were extraordinarily beautiful and haunting. This served to remind us that McQueen is dead, but that someone lighter and easier in her skin than Lee, holds the key to unlocking the brands future.

It gave me cause for thought, though, that Burton and the Alexander McQueen business is putting out a message of pure high fashion drama, with not an easy-to-wear piece, or new season fashion message in sight. This collection was all dresses. I'm not complaining, because I know full well that the selling-collection and the McQ line lookbooks will slip into my in-box soon, and that there will be clothes for everyday life in there. But where does this leave normal folk interested in seeing what the McQueen fashion message is to be for Spring Summer 2012? I say enjoy the beauty, there is not enough beauty in the world. See for yourself.  It worked on us. We arrived at the McQueen show tired, we left on a high.

Furthering my attempts at photography with the new zoom lens, I give you the McQueen show, Fashion Editor At Large style.

Sarah sandwiched between Francois Henri Pinault (majority shareholder of Alexander McQueen) with his wife, the actress Salma Hayek. Salma said to her post the show "you have made me very happy"

Two tired but very happy Sarahs: Burton of McQueen, Mower of US Vogue, who is due to recieve her MBE next week.  

 

CHRISTOPHER RAEBURN: JUST ONE REASON TO VISIT NEW GEN IN PARIS

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

During London Fashion Week, we blogged about lots of the brilliant collections by the NEWGEN SS12 contingent. Paris is now upon us and we thought that any of you lucky enough to be in the city over the next few days might like to know that you can drop in to have a look for yourselves at the collections (n.b at a different location to previous years, see bottom of post for details). Michael Van der Ham, J.JS Lee and Craig Lawrence  (amongst others) will be in attendance and you can see what we thought of their offerings by following the links.

Christopher Raeburn SS12 (STYLE.com)

 Christopher Raeburn is a member of the NEWGEN crew and his LFW show was an example of how this group are really shaking things up. I attended his presentation at the Museum of London on the Friday night, and the three stages which he took his audience through made me really excited to be a young journalist embarking on my first fashion week.

Christopher Raeburn SS12 (STYLE.com)

First up was a short film which focussed on the 'Made in England' element of his designs as well as the technicality of the fabrics used in their construction. Raeburn told me that the vast majority of his pieces are still made in-house, with a few others being manufactured in three factories around England. Second, was a museum-like presentation of the collection. The models were set against all colours of the rainbow and there was a kind of eerie beating music which only added to the blurring of the lines between art and fashion.

Christopher Raeburn SS12 (Style.com)

 Finally, a completely fun element; the opportunity to get touchy feely with the clothes. In fact, attendees were positively encouraged to bang the items which were wired up to lights so that your bash literally lit up the room. Take a look at the video below of the fabulous Susie Bubble having a go.


Installation at Christopher Raeburn S/S 12 from Susie Bubble on Vimeo.


Raeburn emphasised to me the desire to create an 'exciting show in an amazing space in a limited time' (the Raeburn team had just six hours to transform the classic museum space into a fashion show venue). In short, this was a completely inspired, super fun way to show a collection. And a perfect example of why the New Gen crew are so exciting and a must-see if you're a journalist or buyer in Paris in the coming days.

You can visit them from Friday at 2pm, here: Le Loft, L'Impasse Guemenee, 3 Cour Berard, 75004, Paris (4eme). They'll be around for a week.

SOMETHING ABOUT VAN GOGH

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

We're sensing a Van Gogh vibe for SS12. At NYFW, Rodarte's show was peppered with Van Gogh sunflower prints. Then, at yesterday's Ashish show, there were floral looks abounding- it looked like a how- many- different- flowers- can- you- put- in- a- show challenge. Sure enough, Van Gogh wasn't hard to find in amongst all those blooms. What is it about Van Gogh?

Ashish SS12 (Londonfashionweek.co.uk)

Rodarte SS12 (style.com)

THE NEW GEN GANG!

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

The NEWGEN Crew throwing some shapes for the SS12 fashion season. Lookin good!

The British Fashion Council last night announced its 17 designers, selected by a panel of judges, (of which I am proud to be one), to receive NEWGEN sponsorship to show their Spring/Summer 2012 collections at London Fashion Week this September. I'm very proud of them all, and to be honest got a bit emotional seeing them all lined up for their victory shot. I'm such a wuss.

THE RECIPIENTS ARE

Catwalk sponsorship: David Koma, Holly Fulton, Louise Gray and Michael van der Ham.
Presentation sponsorship: Christopher Raeburn, Craig Lawrence, Dominic Jones, J.W. Anderson and Nasir Mazhar.
Installation sponsorship: Jordan Askill and SISTER by SIBLING.
Exhibition sponsorship: Felicity Brown, J. JS Lee, James Long, Palmer//Harding, Thomas Tait and Tim Soar Woman.

It was wonderful to see that Natalia Vodianova had taken time out to support her fellow countryman David Koma at the Pimms and pork-pie cocktail party on the terrace at Somerset House last night. Daisy Lowe also came to support Craig Laurence. Looking at David and Natalia together, you can see that apart from their Russian bonds, they have a sweet friendship and doesn't she look utterly fabulous in his clothes?

David & Natalia

At the end of the evening, a few wags decided to play naughty with the designers names, originally displayed in correct order on an old-fashion cricket score board for the night. The anagrams are far too rude to publish here, but it was a lot of fun reading them.

Images courtesy of:

Vogue.com

Britishfashioncouncil.com