Ozwald Boateng. Saville Row. London Fashion Week.
Ozwald Boateng. Saville Row. London Fashion Week.
Krystof Strozyna at LFW
This year marks the 11th AW show by Krystof Strozyna. Rightfully putting Polish design talent on the map, his style of simple but feminine lines is minimalist and clean. This collection was however a little different.
For AW’12 Krystof Strozyna has broken away from soft shapes and opted for structured pieces. Square necklines, pointed shoulders and panelled pieces reign supreme in his collection. Each piece either had a little something extra or something taken away. Extensions of his pieces are formed through extra side panels on dresses imitating the front of a jacket or high-collared long capes. Strozyna added zips to create cheeky side slits and took away parts of the dress to form block cut out section. Thigh high slits in long skirts and dresses added a vampish quality to the selection while small silver panels and diamante cuffs gave the collection a techno-space quality. The colour spectrum swayed little away from the monochromatic scale but with occasional pop brights of cobalt blue, orange and pink. Strozyna adds interest by juxtaposing fabrics against each other with sheer chiffons shirts and skinny leather trousers.
Photography: Alan Parker
Antoni & Alison at LFW
London Fashion Week’s opening show this year was the fantastically creative Antoni (Burakowski) and Alison (Roberts). The duo met whilst studying at Central Saint Martins which explains a lot of their artistic style of designing. Rather than designing a collection of clothes, Antoni and Alison focus more on the artwork that comes before production. They will collage anything and everything including bin bags, paper bags, felt, sequins and broken glass, and then use a flattened scanned image of their creation to print on silk for “flat dresses”. The pair who find their inspiration in tearooms, explain: “we are interested in portraying a raw idea in its simplest form.”
The A/W’12 collection is comprised of above-the-knee T shirt dresses, long sleeved maxis and sleeveless shifts; each with a unique print inspired by the haphazard concoction of their collages. Surprisingly some of the more effective 2D images came from bin bags, which gave the material a matte PVC look, as well as the chaotic smashed glass. Juxtaposing textures was key on many dresses, where extra –large sequins were seen with scrunched up paper bags and block coloured panels with sketchy graphic drawings or loose watercolour designs. Some dresses gave the illusion of feminine silhouettes through the clever placing of printed ruched material and belt imagery. Antoni and Alison’s work really is like art in the sense that there is much more to it than originally meets the eye. They use clothing as a canvas for their creations apposed to other deigners who use material to form their vision. There’s something a little backward to their approach to fashion design which would other wise be perfectly natural in the art world; either way I love them.
My favourite has to be the floor length dress which appears to be a sparkling gold sequinned skirt with a cropped tux jacket, shirt and bow tie, fantastic.
Topman Design at LFW
Well Topman Design did us proud at LFW, the boys were dapper yet casual without being the slightest but slouchy. Double breasted blazers made a come back whilst trousers were that bit too short and sat neatly on the ankle in dusty colours between blue and grey. Shoes were leather loafers, in brown or patent cream and shirts were replaced by marl t-shirts. For a more dressed down look pattern came to play with large print 70s paisley, collaged prints and striped knitwear. Shorts were exactly that, short; and teamed with chunky knits and shirts. I even spied a shirt and shorts combination in aubergine colours that looked suspiciously like a playsuit. Luxury was added with silky pyjama style trousers and shirts with Grandad-esque prints of diamonds. A little quirky, a little retro but very stylish, bravo Topman Design.
Meadham and Kirchhoff - LFW
I am so very jealous of anyone who got into this show because I was desperate to get tickets but didn’t! These guys are my favourite designers of past seasons. I found one of their glitter and sequinned covered dresses in Topshop last year and just knew only good things could come from them. They are highly individual, creative and reminiscent of McQueen’s eccentric ott style. Naturally the SS’12 show for LFW would be amazing; and by all accounts it was.
Think candy floss, nursery rhymes, pantomimes and Louis XIV inspired hairstyles and you’d be half way there. The old Eurostar terminal at Waterloo, adorned with pink and pale blue balloons, saw dolly girls in silk slips scuttle onto the catwalk powder puffing themselves before breaking into the can-can as models appeared down the catwalk.
The collection consisted of girlie pinafores, pompom dresses of ostrich feathers, rhinestone knickers, cardigans and apron dresses with teddy bear faces. Shoes were gold and glittery platforms with feathers and coloured tights or white stockings. To balance out the sweetness there were also perfectly tailored leather jackets and exaggerated hips - but all done in a colour spectrum of a sweet shop.
CLEO B: “It’s like that”
I am a bit of a shoe whore so when I came across CLEO B exhibiting at London Fashion Week, a magpie affect took over and I was drawn in by the “Sucker M.C.s” heels. Who could resist these gems? Never have I before seen a heel made from a gold cassette tape. Designer Cleo B’s inspiration began with a tear out from a magazine of a pink cassette tape against a yellow background which brought back memories of the eighties and started ideas for the “it’s like that” collection. the collection pays tribute to the decade of hip-hop, boom boxes and electric colours with an attitude that’s fierce, far-out and daring.
Reminiscing about creating mix tapes and recording songs on tapes from radio shows was the nostalgia that inspired the custom-made cassette heels, whose glistening gold finish and bold shape embody everything cool about the era. This led Cleo B to transform classic feminine silhouettes with added funky adornments.
Michelle Lowe-Holder Jewellery
A brand which really caught my eye at LFW was Michelle Lowe-Holder’s jewellery and accessories. The highly individual, complexly folded pieces were dramatic and eye catching and really could make an outfit.
“Victorian flowers and cream crocodiles” is the trend for SS’12 from Michelle Lowe-Holder. The accessory collection celebrates beauty found in nature and draws inspiration from an abstract combination of tiny flowers, cream crocodiles, snakeskin and wings translated into cuffs, collars and necklaces. Each piece truly is unique as vintage end of line floral ribbons and leather cut offs are used alongside a new sustainably produced paper-like fabric “kefi” from Italy.
One off woven floral ribbons create new “basket” cuff structures as well as new collection style “Ribbon link” necklaces and cuffs which are hand woven with metal links to create a rich and modern way of recycling vintage ribbons.
Nichole de Carle London - Launch Party
LFW started on Thursday night for me with the launch party of Nicole de Carle’s contour range. On a small street off London’s uber-cool Carnaby Street is the little boutique “The Lingerie Collective” which housed de Carle’s pop up shop for the night. The small store was filled with designs inspired by iconic architecture, evident in the bold curves and graceful arches of her pieces, each of the finest silk and in a colour palette of almond, champagne, ivory, nougat, chocolate and black.
The lingerie is hand made in Chelsea and has been used in photo shoots for various magazines including Vogue, Grazia and Glamour. Nichole de Carle also tailored a bespoke bodysuit for Nicole Scherzinger which was similar to the piece used in the titles for channel 4’s show “Dirty, sexy things”, modelled by the designer’s sister Charlotte who too was at the launch party wearing a piece from the collection.
(Nichole de Carle and sister Charlotte de Carle)
The brand is also available with a small diamond charm on items, being the first lingerie line to offer such pieces. The diamonds of 0.1 carat are set in silver charm embossed with the de Carle crest.
Prices from £40
Collection available at www.nicholedecarle.com, www.netaporter.com and various stores including Selfridges&Co.
