London Fashion Week is just about over for another season- it's Menswear day tomorrow. The FashEd and I are back at our desks, drinking our first decent cup of tea for days AND chatting about what we need to tell you about AW12. We've got lots up our sleeves, but one of my personal fashion week obsessions has been The Red Dress.
I'm not going to say anything stupid like 'the LRD is the new LBD' but I definitely feel like a red dress might be an important part of our wardrobe next Autumn. These are my stand out red dresses from LFW AW12... from the brightest scarlett through to the most sumptuous dark blood.
Overblown peonies at Jonathan Saunders
Sheer with leather trim at Christopher Kane
Typewriters, flowers... and more at Mary Katrantzou
One of the most interesting trends to emerge so far is the one for designers giving a high fashion spin to the humble Puffa or padded jacket. So far I am torn between choosing from these four.
I’m going to confuse you horrendously now because instead of telling you about fashion weeks and what you might be wearing in six or eight months time, I’m going to talk about SS12 a.k.a what to wear and buy right now. September and February are both months which require seasonal gymnastics in the minds of fashion lovers because we're obsessed with what's coming out of the fashion weeks- see yesterday's and Monday's posts- but we're also feeling that now is the time to shop for the months ahead which means rewinding to the stuff we were getting excited about back in September. Silver is what I want to buy right now.
Silver ruffles at Sarah Burton's Alexander McQueen SS12
There’s rarely a time when metallics are distinctly unfashionable, after all they’re fun, good for evening party dresses and go with pretty much anything. But for Spring/ Summer, if you want to be in fashion then sheeny silver is the metallic to go for. In my book, silver is the nonchalant and much cooler younger sibling to revved up. full watt glam gold.
The sheen element which lots of designers gave silver for SS12 is very important. It taps into two of the season’s broader trends; Modern Sportswear and Under the Sea. The subtlety which comes from a sheen is much more in keeping with these moods. Chanel's drawstring maxi silver skirt is the ultimate case in point. The fabric and cut is techy and futuristic, while the floor skimming length conjures the modern girl's version of a mermaid's tail, especially when styled with a translucent, gilled vest.
Chanel SS12
Olivier Theyskens did a similar thing at Theory. For those of us who are not good with full on dressed down, and therefore a bit worried about embracing sportiness in our wardrobes, Theory is a good place to go because the silver in this slouchy tee takes it up a notch or two in the dressed up stakes. The silver looks amazing next to denim too.
Theyskens Theory SS12
At Givenchy, the slithers of silver flounce trims bring to mind the lights bouncing off the fins of deep sea fish.
Givenchy SS12
Andy Warhol's Silver Clouds, 1966
Giles SS12
There were hints of silver at countless SS12 shows, but the most dedicated to the cause was Giles Deacon. His set resembled walking into a roll of tin foil (in a good way!). It was apparently inspired by Andy Warhol's room of Silver Clouds. Giles used numerous silver and swan inspirations in a collection which was really quite opulent. Having said that, this dress is super simple- the shape nods to sportiness. But the more-than-sheen-silver makes it properly beautiful.
At Christopher Kane, the use of silver was more sparing but it illuminated a collection which was about 'the girls you hated at school'. The metallics transported the initial inspirations of bullies and peeling council house wallpaper into a infinitely more angelic and heavenly realm. That's the power of silver.
Christopher Kane SS12
So, what to buy in silver? To my great regret, I will be limiting my personal silver purchases to accessories. This is due to a traumatic childhood experience in which a silver dress I wore to be a star in a nativity production was confiscated because it 'drained' me. Even though I now have access to blusher, I still can't face the memories. For those of you still able to wear silver, I've mixed in a couple of brilliant silver basics.
Acne's pistol boots have become pretty ubiquitous and much copied. They are the boot to buy if you need a one item route to looking on trend. So, we were pretty thrilled to see that MyTheresa has a limited edition run of 50 silver pairs since yesterday. They're not sold out just yet, but hurry.
I bought a pair of wedges similar to these in Topshop's sale. I think they're great for taking the super sweet edge off a lot of what we'll be wearing this season.
When I first started out in this career in 1996 Topshop wasn't the fashion hero it is today. Designers moaned about how high street stores like Topshop copied their ideas without paying for them. And they were right to moan. High street stores did copy, often brazenly. For designers, the high street was the Big Bad Wolf come to gobble them up.
Back in 1998 two visionary women working at Topshop decided to see if they could reverse the dynamic. Jane Shepherdson, then Brand Director of the store (now CEO of Whistles) and Sarah Mower MBE, esteemed American Vogue fashion critic and nowAmbassador for Emerging Talent for the BFC was then Fashion Director of Arcadia Group. They had the bright idea to invite designers to collaborate with the store, giving them the opportunity to reach new consumers and make money to help grow their businesses. Topshop also part sponsored their catwalk shows.
"Young designers had zero tolerance of the high street and it was my mission to make sure that [if they collaborated with Topshop] they wouldn't be raped [by the experience]. Over my dead body," Sarah Mower, told me this morning. "Among the first designers we worked with were Hussein Chalayan and Clements Ribeiro. We had a dream that London would become the world number one centre for emerging talent. Today when I look at the number of people that have come though NewGen, like Christopher Kane, Erdem and Jonathan Saunders, I feel we have achieved that."
In 2002, seeing further mileage (and now doubt enjoying its rehabilitated image as the saviour of young designers, rather than the usurper) Topshop began its headline sponsorship of the NEWGEN program. Today it not only sponsors NewGen, but also Fashion East and it has created the Topshop Show Space at London Fashion Week, which offers a free venue and production for the hottest young British designers. This brings us neatly to the photos you see here, the store's way of celebrating their 10 years of supporting NewGen.
On February 17th on the first day of London Fashion Week, Topshop owner Philip Green is scheduled to do a presentation that will outline his plans for his next ten years of fashion industry support. Also on the 17th these T-shirts launch in-store and online at topshop.com. In the meantime enjoy 10 of the 20 £30 T-shirts shot by Scott Trindle on a selection of new models (all profits go to homeless charity Centrepoint) and decide which one/s you want to get your hands on. I love the Erdem, Chris Kane and Mary Katrantzou tees... What about you? You can catch the other 10 T's in this weekend's edition of The Times.
Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large I've gathered up some of the pictures which guests were tweeting and tumbling as a bit of change from the night's official pictures.
There also are a few videos from the night's proceedings. If you weren't there then this is surely this is the next best thing?!
Abbey Clancy with Kristen McMenamy(from LOVE magazine's twitter)
Model of the Year, Stella Tennant, with Kristen (from LOVE magazine twitter)
Amber Le Bon in Peter Pilotto *jelz* (from net-a-porter tumblr)
Caroline Sieber's shoes- pretty sure they're Charlotte Olympia (from Net-a-Porter's twitter)
Christopher Kane, winner of the New Establishment Award (and soon to be Uncle to sister and business partner Tammy's new baby) from Net-a-Porter's tumblr
Chris Kane accepts his New Establishment Award....
Daphne Guinness in Gareth Pugh (from Grazia's twitter feed)
David Gandy chats in the Net-a-Porter lounge (from net-a-porter tumblr)
Kate Moss with Sam Gainsbury, to whom she presented the Isabella Blow Fashion Creator award
Kate on stage (from Laura Craik's twitter)
Fashion blondies, Poppy Delevigne and British Fashion Cultural Ambassador, Laura Bailey (from Laura's twitter)
The 'Loser' table- I can definitely see Paula Reed from Grazia, Jonathan Saunders and Kristen McMenamy. Losers indeed! (from LOVE magazine's twitter)
AW, Mary Katrantzou (Emerging Talent winner, yay!) with Alexander Fury from showstudio.com (@fashedatlarge)
Watch Mary winning...
Sarah Burton backstage after winning Designer of the Year (Grazia's twitter)
Sarah accepts her award as Sam Cam looks on (from @fashedatlarge)
Watch Sarah collecting her award...
Stella looks on as her mate Kate poses (Grazia's twitter)
Stella and Kate (BritFashAwards twitter)
Watch Stella getting her award...
You can watch all the event highlights here:
And the winners were:
DESIGNER OF THE YEAR - Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen
DESIGNER BRAND - Victoria Beckham
RED CARPET AWARD - Stella McCartney
ACCESSORY DESIGNER - Charlotte Olympia
MODEL - Stella Tennant
BRITISH STYLE AWARD - Alexa Chung
MENSWEAR DESIGNER - Kim Jones
EMERGING TALENT AWARD - ACCESSORIES - Tabitha Simmons
EMERGING TALENT AWARD - MENSWEAR - Christopher Raeburn
ISABELLA BLOW AWARD FOR FASHION CREATOR - Sam Gainsbury
Last night New Yorker Lana Del Rey (real name Lizzy Grant) popped up on Later with Jools Holland on BBC2. Eagle-eyed readers will note that we recently blogged about her song Video Games being the tune of London Fashion Week.
The final verse of Video Games
It's you, it's you, it's all for you Everything I do Tell you all the time Heaven is a place on earth wit' you Tell me all the things you wanna do do I heard that you like the bad girls Honey, is that true?
To say 26-year-old Lana was mesmerising, and the song Video Games even more haunting sung live would be not doing this TV moment justice. She was utterly UTTERLY captivating, and Lana looks like the naughty jazz-singer sister of Natalie Portman. She is better in moving image, though.
From nme.com
From Hipsterrunoff.com I think this person looks like Pixie Lott...can it really be Lana?
However, it seems my reaction to Lana/Lizzy is exactly what her management team are hoping for from journalists and bloggers. Her backstory suggests she is an "internet phenomenon" who "made her videos at home, and they just, like, took off all on their own." Well, dur me. According to this article on Hipsterrunoff.com, she is as manufactured as Rhythmix (X Factor UK girl band), but designed to look un-manufactured. Apparently she was being marketed in the same vein as a Pixie Lott type character, until her lack of success forced a rethink - hence here she is as an indie cool chick who doesn't give a F***.
Why do music companies bother with all the smoke and mirrors? Fashion businesses often update their packaging and brand image to no detriment and without backlash, in fact it is seen as a positive forward-thinking move. Lana as she is now is a brilliant package and all power to her. BUT if any of her management team are reading this, please note I would very much like to see her better dressed. As one person on Twitter pointed out this morning, she looked like Slutty Nurse on Jools. Christopher Kane's Spring/Summer 2012 collction would be perfect for her. After all Video Games serenaded this very collection on the runway, and really, his kooky sexiness would suit her to a tee.
Christopher Kane SS12 - Lana, this is perfect for you. And we'll let you keep your Ragga Girl nails
