PAISLEY, FLORALS...WHAT WE DID TODAY....

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

It's all go here at FEAL towers but fear not, we haven't forgotten you dear readers. It may be short and sweet but we wanted to share some rather awesome prints we saw today at Jonathan Saunders and Stella McCartney. Suddenly all the work we're doing on the trends for SS12 seems to have come to life and we can actually imagine wearing them- or dream of it,  more realistically, in the case of Saunders and Stella.

At Jonathan Saunders

The indescribably divine Jonathan Saunders, with models

At Stella...

I thought I could never love a nude shoe...

FROM EDITD: THE BUZZ TO KNOW FROM SS12

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Over the past month, we have been completely bombarded by images, tweets, reviews and blog posts from the SS12 shows. We've had a ball, but sometimes you need to pin down what's really important- what do people LOVE? What will we be wearing next season? Which brands are doing the right stuff to get themselves loved? And, most crucially, should I be channelling Little Mermaid or Mr Potato Head next season?

Theyskens' trousers for the city mermaid

We've blogged about our geeky appreciation of Editd before, but their SS12 report has really helped to focus our minds and given us an insight into the reality of next summer's fashion rather than just what has stuck with us because we, personally, love it or hate it. Really you MUST read it. I've extracted a few things which jumped out at me as fascinating/ baffling or any other adjective of great strength.

1. Yves Klein Blue

We noticed the blue, of course. I have also become a bit obsessed with Richard Nicoll's 'Laura Palmer' blue but I am also a big fan of Yves Klein blue which Editd have underlined as the key way blue was done. I'm so glad there are more imaginative names we can apply than dark blue. This hue was featured in 36 shows across all four fashion weeks, a key indicator that you'll be seeing more.

Yves Klein- Blue Monchrome, 1961. Image from moma.org

Diane Von Furstenburg SS12

Stella McCartney SS12

2. Florals

This print hit has been brewing for some time but the fact that it was seen in an astonishing  107 collections means we'll be flooded in flowers of all shapes, sizes and mainfestations next year. In my opinion it was London designers who pushed the boundaries here, taking quite a standard feature of a Summer collection and giving beautiful, innovative and surprising new leases of life.

Christopher Kane's sticker flowers

Erdem- flowers fit for a country garden

Mary Katrantzou- digi floral

3.Where is real online fashion buzz generated? Celine vs Chanel

Although fashion insiders might bang on about Alexander Wang and Celine being must-have labels, it seems the real excitement is still generated by the big players like Prada and Chanel who were by far the most popular in terms of the content they generated online over the past year. I suppose with their big budgets and massive product ranges (perfumes make a brand infinitely more accessible) this is not that surprising but you do wonder if there'll ever be a time when the balance could shift. 

Celine SS12

4. Getting Your Five A Day

After the success of the Prada banana for SS11, Dolce and Gabbana have got in on the food themed act by using vegetable prints in their collection. EditD say this is one of the key looks from the shows and so could become an overriding image of SS12.  As we've previously reported, a deep sea mythical world popped up across several key shows including Alexander McQueen and Chanel so actually next Summer might be more about mermaids than wearing your 5 a day. 

Dolce and Gabbana SS12

5. Retro Versus Feminine 

Flounces and ribbons made McQueen the epitome of femininity

Gucci's 20s references

Lastly, some of the stats are a bit confusing. Take 'retro' - this is stated as the top style as calculated by the sentiment and buzz it created - i.e there were lots of 60s and 20s inspired clothes. Fair enough. But then we're told that 80% of responses to retro styles were negative. Whereas 75% of reactions to feminine clothes were positive. What does it all mean? Only time will tell.
All images from catwalking.com
EditD.com

WANT TO BE THE FIRST TO WEAR SS12?

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Nope, I'm sorry but Carine Roitfeld, Lisa Marie Fernandez and Anna Wintour (and more I'm sure) have beaten you to it. I know, I know, we thought fast fashion happened in Primark and Zara, not at Burberry and Givenchy. But think again because some of fashion's best connected are already wearing pieces which are probably warm off the models' backs. Are we jealous? Noooooo.

Lisa Marie Fernandez shows off her SS12 Pilotto in Paris (Image from graziadaily.co.uk)

One of my favourite shows of this season was Peter Pilotto and I thought I was safe in the knowledge that I had nine months to find a way to acquire a little piece of it. Swimwear designer Lisa Marie Fernandez had a head start on us all, earning her chance to premiere the prom dress by collaborating on the scuba ensembles which were standouts in the collection.

Peter Pilotto SS12

Anna Wintour arrived at the Louis Vuitton show on Wednesday morning in an African print trench coat from the Burberry SS12 show which she had taken a front row seat a mere two weeks earlier.

Wintour arriving at Vuitton (image from zimbio.com)

On the catwalk... Burberry SS12

But prize for the most astonishingly speedy turnaround goes to Carine Roitfeld who wore a variation on a number of looks from the Givenchy show the day after it took place.

Carine makes it real-life worthy with a silky blouse and shortened tails (Image from telegraph.co.uk)

On the catwalk...Givenchy SS12

THE HAT YOU NEED

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

One of the many highlights of my trip to Paris last week was discovering Bernstock Speirs and their super cute hats. The FashEd is already a big fan and I'm not surprised as their Bunny hat seems to me like a Summer version of the much admired Marie Mercie hat which she is so in love with. We're noticing a playful, childish mood come through for next Summer so we're tipping this as the accessory you never knew you needed. And the perfect model is Thelma Speirs herself who began the business in 1982 with partner Paul Bernstock and has been having a great time doing it ever since! Drop by their store on Brick Lane on buy online.

Trust us when we say yellow is the colour to go for...

The Bunny hat is £45 and come in all sorts of colours

 If you're partial to something a little more classic, then Bernstock Speirs also have the most darling boater hats for next Summer. Just add a prom skirt for flirty, feminine, Mary Poppins-y charm.

Boater at Emporio Armani

John Galliano SS12

Catwalk images- catwalking.com. All other pictures Fashion Junior at Large

PARIS FASHION WEEK: GUIPURE, THE SEQUEL

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Last week, we brought you news of guipure, the chunky lace which seemed to be making a noteworthy number of catwalk appearences. Well now we are sure that there is some sort of secret guipure society which has infiltrated the minds of some of the world's key designers because its presence has become almost ubiquitous during the Paris shows. So I thought I'd compile you an update of the different ways guipure and the like have taken on starring roles over the past few days of fashion month.

Patchworked, delicate panels by Peter Copping at Nina Ricci

In spearmint as a bodice overlay at Chanel

Pier Paolo  Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri went lace mad at Valentino

This is so chunky it borders on laser cut rather than straightforward lace. Valentino

Giambattista Valli went for blown up 60s floral patterns

At Louis Vuitton, a similar overblown flower on pretty, pretty parisienne dresses

More Vuitton

Louis Vuitton again. Marc Jacobs made his lace so chunky, it almost wasn't lace anymore.

Miuccia Prada continued what she began at Prada in the Miu Miu show. This time it was a little prettier. No bomber jacket to toughen up

Lace on lace on this Miu Miu skirt

 All images from catwalking.com. Miu Miu images from Vogue.fr

SS12: UNDER THE SEA

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

JW Waterhouse's The Mermaid. This season's collections are moving the image on

As one might expect from Spring/Summer collections, we have seen a myriad of references to all things seaside related during this fashion season; Mulberry took us on a seventies day out at the British beach, Daks (amongst others) was all fifties riviera, Craig Lawrence used sand as his starting point and Jonathan Saunders was all about Miami. But in Milan and Paris, some of the key collections have left the familiarity of the waterside and plunged to the mythical depths of the ocean to draw inspiration from sea creatures, shells and mermaids. 

Givenchy SS12

At Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci served up a streetwise version of mermaid-ness. There was the irridescence of a pearl scattered seabed and a scaled effect which echoed a translucent ocean dweller but the addition of a blazer and flash of leg meant these did not descend into being unwearable back on dry land.

Givenchy SS12

At Versace, Donatella referenced her brother's signature baroque prints and presented a sexed up modern mermaid,who looks like she might be off to the Marine Bar to sit on a shell and scout out the sea horse talent.

Versace SS12

Versace SS12

Versace SS12

At Alexander McQueen, it was all about drawing comparison to the textures of coral and pearl for Sarah Burton. Padded hips and fishtails, not unfamiliar features of a McQueen collection, leant themselves to the creation of  a mermaid silhoutte. The lace caps, called fetishistic by some, emphasise the other worldly, sea bed effect.

Alexander McQueen SS12

Alexander McQueen SS12

Alexander McQueen SS12- This looks like it's slicked in sea water

Finally, at Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld drew on one of the house's most important symbols, the pearl, and paid homage to its oceanic origins not only in the clothes but also on the pure white, ocean floor set. The pièce de résistance was Florence Welch, singing from inside a giant clam shell, 2012's incarnation of the Mermaid fantasy. 

Chanel SS12

Chanel's ocean floor set at the Grand Palais

Florence serenades the audience from her shell stage as the models encircle the set, spines encrusted with pearls.

All images, aside from The Mermaid (from JWWaterhouse.com), from Catwalking.com