DUCHESS KATE, WE HAVE AN LFW GUIDE FOR YOU...

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Over the Summer, we heard that Anna Wintour had given London based designers a brief: your muse must be the Duchess of Cambridge. It has already been shown that, like it or not, our new royal sells clothes in unprecedented numbers. If she wears it, a certain kind of everyday-stylish blow-dry obsessed girl/woman will want it.

The Duchess of Cambridge is under considerable pressure to wear British designers so it makes sense for them to play to her clearly demonstrated taste levels. But they can't explicitly write 'This is for you, Duchess Kate' on their show notes now can they?

The Duchess has already dipped her toe in the water of experimenting the current London line-up by choosing Erdem to wear for stepping off the plane as she embarked on her Canadian tour. This initial promise though failed to materialise as she stuck mostly to old faithfuls Issa, Temperley and McQueen for the remainder of her time away (apart from another Erdem dress for morning prayer on Day 3)

Kate, in Erdem, and William arrive in Canada (image from Daily Mail)

So, how did the London crew approach Wintour's call to arms? It is likely that the idea of using Catherine as their woman might grate, she's hardly on the cutting edge of glamour and modernity in those nude heels and fascinators is she? Well, we noticed a number of references to a kind of deranged housewife figure. The next chapter in a book begun by January Jones' Betty Draper. And actually, at the moment, that is how many people see the Duchess because she is overwhelmingly defined in the public eye by her role as wife. We don't know what she thinks or what she's passionate about. So, in my first attempt at replicating the previous Fashion Junior's Big Head feature, I have scoured images from the past few days to see what we might be seeing HRH in next Summer, and she'll have a lot to dress for what with the Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations....

Burberry- Kate and Wills were engaged in Kenya so she might be quite taken with this Kanga print

Clements Ribeiro. Lace is a sure hit with the Duchess

She already likes Erdem, florals and shifts so this is a must-buy

Giles does classic Princess-y shapes

Kate is Issa'a number 1 fan but this would be a change from the slinky wraps she usually chooses from the label

Sara Buys, Harper's Fashion Director and a relation by marriage of Kate's, chose Osman for her outfit to the Royal Wedding so surely on the radar

The most Kate worthy dress from Peter Pilotto's offering

Add heels and a fascinator and ta da, a classic K-Mid wedding outfit from Richard Nicoll

Daytime prettiness from Jonathan Saunders

Perfectly demure for a black tie event, again from Jonathan Saunders.

I don't even need to add a head to this, it has vintage Duchess Kate written ALL over it...

Issa

 And what she won't be wearing....

Meadham Kirchhoff weren't bowing to Wintour's memo, and good for them!

Images from catwalking.com

EVER WONDERED WHAT GOES ON BEHIND THE SCENES AT A FASHION SHOW?

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

A week has passed since London Fashion Week drew to a close, and I'm still dreaming about the things I saw (literally - visual feast doesn't even cover it). There was so much happening at ‘gloss level’ it’s easy to forget the weeks of preparation that go on behind the scenes, and the many tiers of people involved. This season I was privy to that other world…

Sara Blonstein is an events guru who has been masterminding the production side of fashions shows – most notably Fashion East - for years. Beneath the feet of the air kissing masses, in the vaults of Somerset House, her team are grafting away on the less glamorous side of LFW. And for one day only I was allowed a glimpse behind the curtain, to see just what it is they do to make sure journalists like me enjoy the show.

Back in the late 80s Sara was an east-end party girl, scoping out derelict spaces and priming them as venues for her glam club nights. ‘That’s basically what I’m still doing now’, she told me ‘You should have seen the Somerset House Vaults when we found them’.

Down in the underbelly of the BFC’s current home is a drippy passage which snakes its way from one side of the building to the other. In the original deeds it is referred to as ‘The Dead House’ – a legacy still observable, as headstones flank the walls. Drips fall sporadically from the ceiling, and patches of rust stain the white stone walls - yet somehow Lulu Kennedy had enough vision to look past all that and select them as the atmospheric venue for her Fashion East shows. And it works. ‘Last season Posh came, and she sat just there’ Sara chuckles, pointing to a length of hessian obscuring a dark hole full of rubble and wiring.

 There’s not much space in the vaults, certainly not enough for inflated egos. Everyone gets treated the same, and they all get a front row seat. 

 Sara’s team are down in the vaults early setting up all the technical apparatus for the Topman sponsored MAN show. Predictably there are hiccups along the way. The retro LED scroller which will display each designer’s name is malfunctioning, and during one run-through a male model wearing leather pants and towering wedges by Jaiden rVa James wobbles and trips at my feet (tee-hee). The models booked for shows in the BFC tent are running late, which is putting Sara’s show behind, and everyone is swooping around with walkie-talkies and a sense of urgency. I hang back and cross my fingers that it all goes off without a hitch.     

The model who fell. At least he has a gimp mask to hide behind. Hmmmm.

A couple of hours later, one show down (without a blip) and one more to go, Sara is handling VIP guests. James Small is showing his debut collection and there is a considerable amount of celebrity interest (which may or may not have something to do with the fact that he’s Fran Cutler’s boyfriend). Kate Moss and Lily Allen enter through the back and wait whilst the other guests are seated.

 The paparazzi go into frenzy mode when Ms Moss strolls in, and there’s an awkward moment when Fran shouts at the photographer perched behind me - accusing him of being more interested in taking pictures of Kate than of the collection (she’s right of course).

 Kate next to (babydaddy) Jefferson Hack

 My day with Sara and the rest of Blonstein & Associates was a real eye opener. After seeing what goes into the aspects of backstage management, lighting and sound (Sara is very particular about volume, preferring a level akin to that of a Dalston rave) I have a new found appreciation for the fashion show. It's almost like a piece of theatre.

This season the team successfully produced Fashion East, MAN, James Small, Holly Fulton, the digital presentation schedule, the LFW exhibition, menswear installations, Elliott J Frieze, and the Newgen exhibition. Phew! I can’t wait to see what they do in September.

Pics: catwalking.com / Chis Moore, ELLE.co.uk

 

LONDON AW10:MY MEADHAM KIRCHHOFF LOVE THANG

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Been meaning to explain all week why Meadham Kirchhoff was one of my favourite shows. Well, here is why: it was radical, edgy and controversial - the fashion show equivalent of a rough diamond. One doesn't see that very often. There were enough ideas here for three shows, and lots of great trend-setting individual pieces. Why controversial? A lot of editors I know either didn't understand the show, found it too much to take in at once, or not edited and polished enough for the London runway.  To that I say - look beyond the veils!  (Many models were veiled thus obscuring their outfits. Not very helpful.)

Also consider that not everyone talented enough to deserve an on-schedule show at London Fashion Week has the bulging contacts book (or indeed demeanour) to ensure super-glossy stylists and A-list hair and make-up.  

Having said that, my position is a preview was granted so my understanding was assisted and advanced. I knew what to expect and could enjoy the show. Here's the designers to explain:

"It's ethnic, but with origins as far flung as Southern Spain and Southern India," said Edward Meadham. "That means you will have couture level embroideries on our gowns, and some naive tinsel embroideries on our shrunken cashmere knits. We are doing lots of red, lots of fuschia and lots of glitter. We are creating beautiful Oscar gowns, long tea dresses, and 3/4 dressses, there is also an element of animal print and our signature tailoring. On the runway it will all be mashed together with veils. We want to do as many pretty, amazing things as possible. It's a total stream of consciousness."

EDWARD MEADHAM

"Our previous seasons have been more quiet, sad," Ben Kirchhoff explained to me. "This more intimate, less melancholic than our previous shows. Our reaction to the mood of the time is to do total prettiness. We are making things that feel personal to us. We are hand-painting biker jackets - its a move on from when we would daub on our leather jackets as teenagers with Tipppex. We are also expanding what we do with a commercial line of jewellery with Erickson Beamon and we have a few other projects in the pipeline."

BEN KIRCHHOFF

With references as diverse as the Russian costumier Leon Bakst (above), Courtney Love (see here for when Courtney met Meadham Kirchhoff), bedecked Rajasthani women, and naive childhood memories of Christmas, its easy to see why some ideas got lost in translation.  My hope is that sales will ensue and the ideas germinated in this Autumn/Winter range will be expanded into a fully formed collection to satisfy their fans for Spring 2011.

Top of my list for AW10 is the "Hate is Love" biker jacket (top), the long red dress above, and a tinsel embroidered knit. The re-cut paper Christmas cracker hats by milliner Naser are fun too. Maybe they could make a killing selling designer Christmas hats to Harrods for fashiony Christmas crackers or something? That would certainly fund next season. Just a thought boys.... 

Mr. Meadham and Mr. Kirchhoff

On Meadham Kirchhoff's desk...

On their wall...

Their studio....

The wall of the studio...

Catwalk pictures: Chris Moore/Catwalking.com

Studio pictures: Fashion Editor at Large

ASHISH'S AW10 COLLECTION ADDS SOME SPARKLE TO OUR MORNING

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

It's day five of London Fashion week. The weather is rubbish and all the fashionistas are starting to tire of show-hopping and hobbling across cobblestones at Somerset house. So it's little wonder that a fair few skipped Ashish's AW10 show with its 9am start time.

It was fitting then, as bloggers and editors across London repeatedly hit the snooze button, that the first look down the catwalk appeared to be sequinned pyjamas...

Ashish's infatuation with the sequin prevails for another season. And thank goodness - it put a sparkle into an otherwise miserable cold morning.

Rather than naming one inspiration for his AW10 collection, the designer wove a little story for us. Once upon a time there was a land called Ashishistan:

 'A former Soviet republic that is fondly known as 'pearl of the Black Sea' - partly because of its women, but largely for the unexploited oil and gas reserves that are fast making it he central Asian equivalent of Switzerland. Here you'll meet this season's heroine, who recently gave up winters spent huddled round a yak dung fire for lazy days in the Mediterranean sunshine with the Abramovitchs as neighbours'

I really liked the collection. I'm growing a little tired of evening sequins but for AW10 Ashish has shown a way to work a sequin in the day - matt, floor-length, with chunky knits.

Well worth getting out of my warm bed for.

Pic credits: Chris Moore / catwalking.com

PETER PILOTTO...WOW! JUST WOW!

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

The Fashion Editor at Large managed to get me into the Peter Pilotto show, and what a show it was!

- A subtle retro colour palette spliced with flashes of bright orange
- Patchwork panels of leather, fur, tweed and silver foil
- Nude thigh-high shoes made from strands of leather
- The prints for which Pilotto is renowned splashed with silvery mercury

Lots of big editors and writers turned out: Suzy Menkes, Hilary Alexander, Sarah Mower, and Diane Pernet in her signature black veil.

 

 Hilary (in the hat) and Fash Ed at Large (dark hair) congratulating Peter and Christopher backstage after the show

I can't even tell you how beautiful it was. You just have to watch the video to grasp it.

'For Autumn Winter 2010 Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos visually quote the off colour scheme of 70s interiors and faded exteriors or modernist architecture, in a collection that develops their signature exploration of the relationship between the man-made and the natural world'

See what I mean!

Pic credits: Chris Moore / catwalking.com