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Amanda Fields and Tim Gunn at the Project Runway Season Seven Finale Show
Amanda and Leanne Marshall at Leanne's Fall 2010 Show.
I was lucky enough to go to the Todd Lynn AW2010 show during London Fashion Week. I know it's almost been a week since I actually went, but life sometimes gets in the way of blogging! Anywho, I met up with Audrey from Frassy, and after a few cigarettes and a couple of coffees we headed into the BFC tent at Somerset House.I have been a fan of Todd Lynn's work for the past few seasons, and he's really helped inspire some of the design work I've been doing, so I was really excited to see his new show - and he didn't disappoint.
The blurry pictures above are ones I took on my rubbish camera at the show, but there are more detailed images from the professionals at Elle below.
I am certainly no fashion journalist, so I shall leave the review to the professionals, but the elements I particularly like in this collection are: leather strapping over the shoulders and back, the armoured leather elbows, the dramatic use of fur, leather panelling, the earthy colour palette and the warrior-like hair. It is a collection which ticks all the right boxes for me, and although there s a lot of Gothic inspired fashion around at the moment, I just can't get enough!
I'm a big lover of taxidermy...but incorporating it into clothing, quite literally is just a little bizarre for me. I won't get into the fur debate - I don't want to ruffle any feathers - but having a fully stuffed duck/hare/fox hanging from my waist isn't really my cup of tea. But hey, fashion is open for interpretation, and I am strangely intrigued by Merve Tuna's (animal collection....fishy name?) MA collection, shown at this years London College of Fashion show.
Although the garments on their own are not pushing any sartorial boundaries, the piece above is actually rather beautiful - the pastel colours, soft fabrics and relaxed silhouette with the 'bird in flight' broach adding another level to this elegant ensemble.
I would consider these pieces as art, rather than fashion. Yet another debate that quite frankly, I can't be bothered to get into right now...but these pieces are amazing when taken away from the catwalk and viewed alone. I would happily have these displayed in my home, just not on my person.
Photo : Brian Bedder/Getty Images
Photo: ProjectRunway.com.
Walter Van Beirendonck AW10-11, via Sonny Photos. I'm all for humour in fashion - it's taken waaayyy too seriously these days, but I'd feel a bit stupid walking to Tesco with a rhino horn sticking out of my c***!
Marko Mitanovski showed his SS10 collection as part of Vauxhall Fashion Scout's 'One to Watch' show at London Fashion Week last month. I am no drama queen (honest), but I have fallen in love with Marko's theatrical Tudor references and elaborate styling, which is what I imagine a Gareth Pugh/Jean Paul Gaultier/Alexander McQueen baby might look like!
Monochrome is my colour palette of choice, and right now I have a yearning for a black neck ruff, lace up trousers and layer upon layer of pleated black perfection. Sod-it, I even want to twist my hair up into huge antlers. I wish I could have seen the show, and heard the music...the atmosphere and the reaction of the crowd as these pieces first caught their preying eyes.
This is creativity in it's purest form, and although these pieces are some-what unwearable to your local Tesco, I hope the coverage from London Fashion Week has opened up doors for Mitanovski that will allow him to pursue slightly more commercial options. Who knows, next season you could see me hopping round Somerset House in a corseted, pleat-heavy jacket...
Now Mr. Pugh, THAT is what I call a show. You may, or may not know that I have been an ardent Pugh fan from day one of his career (and strangely enough, I'm today wearing my HoH 'Uhu Gareth Pugh' tee), and for the first few years I could not get enough of this L'Enfant terrible but last season my love was beginning to wien. I absolutely loved his shapes, as always, but nothing about the shows (men's or women's) really struck me as new and exciting territory. This season however, Pugh has blasted all of my doubts out of the water, and shown (I think) his most amazing collection to date.
'If, once upon a time ... a Pugh show was all about the Beast, this time the focus was on Beauty. But she was eerie, a postapocalyptic princess.'
style.comOne of the exciting things for me about fashion weeks, is the anticipation of seeing a designers new collection. The months of hard work all coming together, and allowing us - the feeble public - to access their brains and enter their world, if only for the 10 minute show. It excites me when a designer unveils a new direction, or when you can simply tell that they have put their absolute all into the collection, their heart and soul - as Gareth Pugh has done this season.
His experimentation with textures and fabrics is astounding (see above), and he continues to experiment with and evolve his shapes. Corseted menswear? Trench-biker jackets? Slashed floor-length gowns? Oh Pugh, I DO love you!
OK, so London Fashion Week is over and all (including the gliteratti of bloggers) are recovering from a week fueled only by vitamin water and McDonald's. I only went to one show, and saw the exhibition space, but this year us Londoners have definately shown the world what we can do. The collections have been both highly creative and commercially successful, and I can imagine the buyers are going to start getting their cheque-books out once again.
Richard Sorger is one designer I can see gaining a lot more attention this season, with his collection of heavily beaded dresses. The innovation and attention to detail in the garments is astonishing, and I don't even want to think of the cost. For now, I shall simply stare in awe at the wonder of such embellishment.
My absolute favourite is this bandeau dress below (with a close-up in the first image). As if a sheer layer of chiffon with heavy embroidery on isn't enough, he has put a nude coloured shift dress underneath, whch then has strings of beading hanging from it in a random formation, creating a web effect. It's these subtle details in high-end garments which make my heart skip a beat, and the fact he is not afraid to hide such expensive beading work, allowing it to shine through only on closer inspection. It's the small touches.
Following in the footsteps of Gareth Pugh, Alexander McQueen will stream his SS10 show LIVE on showstudio.com, 20:15 Paris Time on 6 October 2009. Do NOT miss it. 
OH. MY. GOD. How amazing are these creations from Rachel Freire? I was stopped in my tracks as soon as I cast my eyes on them. Everything about them inspires me - the use of hair, the restrictive silver neck piece, the cut-away cropped jacket (I usually HATE cropped jackets), the amazing use of fabrics and texture and the stunning silhouette. Need I go on? I hope to be able to show you more from this collection over the coming weeks...keep your eyes peeled.
This is the single most amazing jacket I have ever seen...and I want one! This beautiful girl was working at On/Off during fashion week and kindly let me take a picture of her. Sadly I didn't take her contact details, but I gave her the blog address (very professionally written on a torn piece of notebook paper) and she promised to check it out. All I know is that she is a designer, actually made the jacket herself, and is studying here in London!! If anyone knows her, please urge her to get in touch, as I'd love to see more of her work, and feature it here on the blog.
By the way - the Paris competition winner has been notified. Thank you ever-so much to everyone that entered. Well done Steve!
I was lucky enough to be invited to the Jasper Garvida SS10 show on Saturday. He was showing as part of On/Off at 180 Somerset House. Although his first few pieces had an innovative use of bottle tops, it was the latter part of the collection which really grabbed my attention. Texture is obviously important with Jasper, showing large ruffled hem dresses, bottle tops sewn onto waistcoats and various colourful macrame garments. He showed exaggerated hip shapes and a couple of dress whose silhouette resembled the famous Hussein Chalayan dress, but I loved his colourful and youthful take on the geometric colour blocking trend which seems to be here to stay. Bravo Jasper, but I have to admit, I did miss the beautiful embroidery of last season. 
