We loved the great BIG, GIGANTIC headwear that came out of Paris fashion week. Galliano, Yohji Yamamto and Vivenne Westwood were among the designers that featured oversized headwear in their playful collections for next season. At least bad hair days won’t be so terrifying come autumn!
Fashion. Some love to hate it, we love to love it. Last season Marc Jacobs was the villain we loved to hate, this season…well lets just say that Galliano has taken over where Jacobs left off. Dior’s collection for Autumn/Winter 08 has been condemned by the critics. In one collection he’s swiftly fallen from grace. But you know what? In what’s been a bland fashion season, at least he’s given us something to talk about.
It could possibly have been the fact that Valentines day occured during London fashion week….who knows? But its safe to say that the majority of collections at fell into two camps:
The most common question asked while waiting for shows to start has got to be, “So…which has been your favourite show so far?” Now that all the chaos is over and I’ve had a chance to reflect on the week that was London Fashion Week, I must admit I have two favourites – Aganovich and Deryck Walker (although it could well have been three as word is that Avsh Lom Gur’s collection was amazing!). Others that came close - Peter Jensen, Jaeger London, Felder Felder and Armand Basi.
The show began with the Ashish we’ve come to know and love - sequins and colour! This wasn’t a collection for the career woman that works long hours, instead it was made for the lady “taking time out….from a life which didnt deliver the glamour she’d once anticipated”.
I didn’t actually pick up on that… instead I felt it was more Parisian city girl chic - glam shift dresses came in sequinned houndstooth, or with big cut out holes. 50’s style skirts were created using fun prints. Party dresses and jackets were embellished with great big sequinned letters. Keeping in tradition with past collections there was a noticable sporty influence.
I loved the crazy eye wear, in particular a pair of shades with the Eiffel tower perched on the frame and the headwear was extravangantly fabulous! Stand out piece? An oversized coat with juicy cherries sewn on.
It seems as though Christopher Kane can do no wrong, his AW08 collection has received rave reviews from some of the harshest critics…see here and here. Check out Suzy Menkes interviewing, our favourite Scot in the video above!
As the lights dimmed in a smoky East End venue, the Rodnik boys picked up their instruments and began to play. Girls decked out in flirtatious party dresses of shiny black, hot pink and quirky prints rocked out like groupies, capturing the mischievous energy that designers Rich and Paul generated on stage.
Despite emerging from distinctly non-fashion backgrounds, the boys’ continued their popular collaboration between music and fashion, shunning an over intellectual approach in favour of a simple, flattering silhouette which captured their spirit of “rock brand chic”.
After a couple of days of running from show to show and spotting similarities in each collection, you tend to think you have a fair idea of what to expect from the rest of the week however the collection at Armand Basi today totally threw me off. While many other designers so far have opted to cinch waists with skinny or big belts, designer Markus Lupfer went with volume and lots of it!
The collection was rich in colour and featured cropped jackets, smock dresses with large swirly prints, close fitting print jumpers, billowy full bodied skirts and oversized parachute type dresses that resembled pieces from past seasons of Oscar de La Renta, only 10 sizes larger.
After being away from LFW for two seasons in a row, Emma Cook made a comeback that was much anticipated. Champagne and canapés were served prior to the show courtesy of Topshop and everyone was feeling bubbly and excited to see what Emma had cooked up (no pun intended).
Just as it was all about to kick off a photographer screamed “Get your bag off the catwalk”, everyone turned, only to discover the culprit was an embarrassed Philip Green (Topshop boss)…cringe!
If it wasn’t for the outerwear and the use of heavier fabrics one would have thought the AW08 collection from Eley Kishimoto was for Spring/Summer. It was colourful delight! The collection was titled “Bonnie Bunny” and was intended to “twist the quintessential class of British country living into a showy comical cartoon world”, I guess that explained the combination of tweed shorts with white tights.
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