THE WEEK IN FASHION 27TH JUNE-1ST JULY

Ladies and gentlemen, here is the weeks' fashion news in brief.

 The US hair craze that is rubbing fishermen up the wrong way.

1. One of the most random stories we have ever come across: Over in the US, a hair accessorizing trend is stripping fisherman supply shops of their fly-fishing stock! A craze for attaching skinny, coloured feathers to your 'do means that hairstylists are buying up hoardes of the 'hackles' to attach to their hair, which is causing a shortage for the fishermen. The men are a tad peeved that fashion fans are interfering with their hobby, although, according to the New York Times, some of them think the look is " kind of sexy, to be honest."

2. Victoria Beckham - whose baby egg timer is due to go off next Tuesday - has given a sneak peak at her new younger, less expensive line, called Victoria by Victoria Beckham (not the most original title, but we'll let her off). Apparently it's inspired by cartoon character Emily the Strange, which is strange in itself because we never had VB down as a graphic novel fan. However the dresses themselves are cute, colourful, and most importantly, cheaper than her usual styles! Look out for the big unveil around Fashion Week.

Victoria by Victoria Beckham: due out Spring 2012. We are calling this one 'pea chic'. LOVE the colour! 

3. Rosie Huntington Whiteley has been on form this week, rocking various stellar dresses at the multitude of Transformers 3 'Dark of the Moon' premieres. Seriously, the girl has been wearing the cream of the fashion crop on a different red carpet every night, and while the reviews indicate that Julia Roberts won't we threatened by Rosie's acting skills any time soon, the girl does look seriously hot.

In Antonio Berardi AW11

In Gucci AW11

In custom Burberry

In Michael Kors.

She's so flawless, it's like having a life size Barbie to look at. Still not sure we'll go to the movie though...

4. There is a minor event going on this afternoon, that involves possibly the biggest superstar of British fashion, her rock n' roll friends, and about 17 marquees by the looks of the paparazzi pictures. Yes indeed, everyone's favourite model/hot mess Kate Moss is finally becoming Mrs Jamie Hince, and has confirmed she will be wearing a Galliano gown. Last night, however, she was a vision in blue at her rehearsal dinner (how very American!). This is Kate at her 70s hippie rock groupie best, and what's ever better, she looks happier than we have ever seen her. Bless!

Kate Moss and her (probably now) husband, Jamie Hince.

5. Lastly, there was possibly only one woman to have a bigger impact than Miss Moss on British fashion, and that was the late Princess Diana, who would have turned 50 today. Weirdly photoshopped magazine covers aside, there has been a flurry of nostalgia for Diana's inimitable style, elegance and grace. And rightly so; she was definitely one of a kind!

IN THIS WEEK'S GRAZIA...

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

...we fantasise about the wardrobe that will be inherited by the fourth Beckham bubba, if it does turn out to be a little girl! Victoria has often spoken about her longing for a baby girl to play dress up with, and we can't even imagine the quantity of amazing labels that child will have in her wardrobe (and how much it is all going to be worth by the time she is old enough to wear it.) There are VB's iconic Spice Girl outfits, the maximum glamour of her WAG phase, not to mention the own-brand gowns, priceless jewels and formidable collection of Birkins. And of course, there are those leather suits!

WILLIAM TEMPEST COLLECTION IS RED CARPET WINNER

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Tempest's AW10 show was wonderfully commercial as always, and was apparently inspired by 'Islamic architecture and the legend of the Queen of Sheeba's journey to Israel'. 

The colour palette he showed was really chic - black with navy blue (why do people still list that combo as a fashion don't?), emerald, mint green and metallics. He also used lots of stone-washed silk, satin, and leather. It was a very red carpet friendly collection as you can see...

Initially there was some speculation that Victoria Beckham would turn up, but in the end we had to make do with Peaches.

CAN VEGETARIAN'S WEAR FUR WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE?

Posted by the Fashion Junior at Large

Just before Christmas, when the first blanket of snow fell across London, I fell in love with a vintage coat. It was knee length, duck egg blue, with four big antique buttons down the front. Beautiful. But the element that made it really special was paradoxically also the thing that stopped me from buying said coat. It had a real fur collar. As the Fashion Editor at Large pointed out in her rather controversial previous post I am a vegetarian, so it goes without saying that I am against wearing fur. No matter how lovely the coat is I simply can’t help but see that fur collar for what it once was.

Other trendy gals about London town hold no such reservations. I’ve seen women of all ages wearing real fur again as if it were the most natural thing in the world (which, if we hark back to the practices of primitive humans, one might argue it is). And with paparazzi shots of Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham draped in fox appearing regularly in the media (see below), it seems the last taboo has broken down and fur is making a brazen return to mainstream fashion.

What happened to the days when fur was a dirty word, and women harboured their grandmother’s antique fur coats at the back of their closets as if they were guilty of some unspeakable crime? How are these women reconciling their morals with their thirst for fur? Well, my theory is, the women wearing it believe they’ve found a fashion loophole – vintage.

A shop assistant from Beyond Retro (home of the fabulous fur collar coat) told me that they had seen a huge resurgence of people buying vintage stoles, coats, bomber jackets and hats this winter. ‘Younger, more fashion conscious women are accessorising with vintage fur. It’s a real trend item at the moment’, she said.

A friend of mine, who purchased a rabbit fur coat uncomfortably close to her purchase of a pet rabbit, is one such woman. ‘I just love the way it feels’ she explained to me, ‘Fur is very tactile and I think people are inexplicably drawn to it’. Fur is undeniably luxuriant, sexy and ultra-soft, and although my friend admits she’s not 100% comfortable wearing it out in public, she generally falls into the Georgina Langford camp of thought.

Well, animal rights protestors are quick to insinuate that the wearing of vintage fur promotes the consumption of new fur, forming a loop rather than a loophole. PETA spokeswomen Sam Glover is keen to disperse the rationale that old fur is fair game; ‘Whether they were killed yesterday or 50 years ago, animals are not ours to wear. It doesn’t make their suffering any more forgivable or the cruelty any less hardhearted’.

On the catwalk I see more designers using fur – Fendi, Gaultier, Macdonald – than not – step forward lone star Stella McCartney.

Back to my dilemma. The fabulous fur collar coat had no labels inside. I have no idea how it was produced, but I assume it wasn’t a pleasant process for the animal. How could it be? And whilst many of us may be making a conscious effort to consume food, coffee and clothing that is ethically produced, how can we be sure that the fur industry is being monitored appropriately?

In the case of new fur items the Origin Assured label supposedly indicates the garment’s country of origin. Only furs produced in countries with strict regulations in favour of animal welfare are allowed to carry the label, thus ensuring atrocities like those made explicit by PETA (whose undercover video footage of fur farms in China shows foxes being skinned alive. F-ing HORENDOUS!) are minimised. Of course none of this can be said for vintage, much of which is produced long before these regulations were introduced, so don't go thinking it's ok!

Andy Lenhart, the chairman of International Fur Trade Federation, who introduced the labelling programme believes it will help the fur debate to mature; ‘For years there has been a misperception of our industry, but the fur industry is a responsible industry. IFTF and its members deplore cruelty to animals and promote strict codes of practice that meet or exceed established and accepted standards for animal welfare’. Hmmm.

Fifty quid is all I would have had to fork out for a duck egg blue coat with antique buttons and a fine mink fur collar. But at what cost to my moral conscience I ask!? Despite loving the coat, I could not put fashion before my morals. I eventually left Beyond Retro empty handed, and walked out onto Cheshire Street, bracing myself against the chill. Across the road running towards me was an urban fox. He had a healthy coat of auburn fur and a handsome fluffy tail (Shhh. Don’t tell Victoria Beckham).
I’m taking it as a sign...

FASHION 1.........................ANIMAL RIGHTS PROTESTERS - NIL

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

Kate Moss

I hate to say it, but the battle betwee the anti-fur camp and the fur-wearing brigade has been won by the fur-wearers. That means Anna Wintour has won. The foxes cowering in a cage somewhere in Norway have lost. The International Fur Trade Federation (IFTF) have triumphed and People for the Ethical treatment of Animals (PETA) have failed.

I came to this conclusion yesterday while reading the Evening Standard letters page when a certain Georgina Langford, the VEGETARIAN events manager for a magazine named Glass, wrote in to say:

"I am both a vegetarian and a vintage fur wearer. Although I do not condone the continued killing of animals for food and fashion, and would never buy a new fur, the pelts for most vintage coats were produced more than 30 years ago. It is surely better to wear these beautiful garments than leave them to moulder in attics, which is akin to throwing away half-eaten steak. Vintage fur coats epitomise winter glamour; fake fur leaves the wearer wanting the real deal. Last year I treated myself to an Arctic fox jacket and during this cold snap it has been worth every penny. To save on heating bills and reduce my carbon footprint, I often wear it indoors."

I have never read such a load of ill-informed, wrong-headedness in my life. How can someone wear fur and be a vegetarian at the same time? I just do not understand it. Stella McCartney needs to have a word with this girl. And because the animal died before she was born, that makes it OK does it? I fear this girl has been bitten by the "fashion dunce" bug, in which a normally bright girl becomes an airhead in the name of being fashionable. Even the caption written by an Evening Standard sub-editor suggesting Ms Langford "epitomise[s] winter glamour" caused my hackles to rise.

Obviously, the reason I am on the subject of fur wearing is due to how this cold snap (another three inches of snow in West London over-night) has revealed the true face of the fur-wearing public in London. It is so much bigger than I EVER imagined. Walking the dog I see old ladies in fur coats. Not rich ladies; locals. In and around town I see young cute fashiony girls in rabbit fur bomber jackets, fox stoles; Arctic fox belted coats, you name it. I can't help thinking the battle is lost.

The British Fur Trade Association estimate that worldwide sales of fur totalled more than $15 billion towards the end of the naughties – marking a decade of continued growth.

It seems the public perception of wearing fur is that it is not just OK to wear fur, it is fashionable to wear fur. Meaning that more and more animals will have to be farmed just for their pelts, with no usable by-products for human consumption.

I know a lot about the fur industry. I have been to a fur farm, and heavily researched the area. This was done in my own attempt to ethically decide for myself whether wearing fur was right or wrong. I then wrote about my quest in the Saturday Telegraph Magazine.

After a great deal of work and thought I came to the conclusion that, as a meat-eater, I would wear the by-products of the animals I do eat. So leather for shoes and bags, feathers for pillows and padded winter coats, wool for sweaters, and sheepskin for boots, hats, gloves.  

That works for me, and I can stand up for my reasons for wearing animals. Georgina Langford's "reasons" for wearing fur are pathetic. The Fashion Junior at Large is also a vegetarian, and would NEVER wear fur. We've just had a long chat about why she DIDN'T/COULDN'T buy a coat with a fur collar at the weekend, and I have asked to to write all about it for us. So look out for that in the next few hours. In the meantime let's ponder those shots of Victoria Beckham and Kate Moss wearing fox.

Victoria Beckham

Photo credits: REX FEATURES

ABOUT LAST NIGHT.....AT THE BRITISH FASHION AWARDS!

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

I promised I would post a picture of me in my Sophia Kokosalaki dress (look 20 AW09), and who better to pose with for it than the fab Ms Kokosalaski herself. Sophia is such an amazing designer, and Caren Downie of ASOS.com, Harriet Quick of Vogue and Bridget Cosgrave of Matches all looked sensational in their Sophia K. Sorry for the grainy quality of the picture, but Sarah Mower took this shot and I think I had the camera on the wrong settings!!! Thanks though Sarah.  It was an eventful evening (see winners list on the fabulous GraziaDaily).

My toe is still throbbing from when Mandi Lennard accidentally stepped back on it wearing spike heeled Lanvin boots while taking the below photo of Victoria Beckham and her friend and protector Natalie Lewis. But the distant throb in my foot - I'm calling it my toe hangover - is as nothing compared to what Karen Elson will be feeling this morning.

The delectable supermodel flown in from Nashville to present Grace Coddington with her Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator actually fell off the stage in the process of walking onto it. A drop of about seven feet. It was such a shocking moment, the noise of 1000 or so people clattering and chattering stilled to silence as we all imaginged the next award would go to an unsuspecting Paramedic. But she picked herself up to a standing ovation and later it was confirmed following a visit to St Thomas's hospital that she has a sprained thumb.

Get well soon Karen. Oh and by the way she was truly the most beautiful woman present last night. Eva H, Claudia S and Kate Mossy were all there but Karen was beyond radiant. After seeing her I want to wear a red dress!

See Mandi's Colette blog here.
Picture credits:
Melanie Rickey & Sophia Kokosalalki: Fashion Editor at Large
Victoria Beckham and Natalie Lewis: Mandi Lennard
Karen Elson: Dave Bennett