Showing posts with label Stella McCartney. Show all posts

Friday, December 2, 2011

THE WEEK IN FASHION: 28th NOVEMBER- 2nd DECEMBER

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

This week's news begins with some of our favourite editorial images released in the past few days...
Italian Vogue Editor-in-Chief Franca Sozzani has been shot by Terry Richardson and styled by Katie Grand for the cover on Industrie, the magazine which charts the lives of fashion's insiders.

Editor becomes model

Kate Moss is transformed into Ziggy Stardust for French Vogue's Music issue. Shot by Mert and Marcus.

Image from telegraph.co.uk

Resident Italian Vogue photographer Steven Meisel has captured Karlie Kloss in a series of nude and clothed contrasted images for the publication's January issue. Entitled 'Body by Kloss' , it's making us think twice before delving into the mince pies...

Images from fashiongonerogue.com

Transsexual model Lea T has scored her first major cover this month with Elle Brazil. She is dressed in Givenchy as designed by her good friend Riccardo Tisci.

When you work in the fashion industry, it soon becomes clear how many unspoken heroes there are behind the scenes; beautiful clothes cannot be created by one person alone although it is often easy to slip into that way of thinking when designers are superstars. Francois Lesage was one of those behind the scenes people. His death this week came after a long illness. However, Monsieur Lesage should be remembered for his fine mastery of haute couture embroidery. He leant his expertise to the creation of couture at the most esteemed Parisian houses including Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Chanel and Givenchy. In 2002, Chanel bought Maison Lesage in order to guarantee the survival of its unique contribution. French Cultural Minister Frédéric Mitterand told WWD this week: “He was one of those people who make you aware of the slim border between art and craft. He was also known for his generous spirit and waggish humour.”

RIP Francois Lesage.

Work by Maison Lesage- Yves Saint Laurent 1988

As our friends at Editd so astutely point out, the Versace x H&M collaboration has had huge effects across the world of fashion and had a huge uplift in social media awareness for Versace and Donatella. We have definitely seen how lots of the SS12 high street collections have been 'inspired' by the line, of which there's more to come in January. For their next partnership, H&M have chosen a much more fashion-insider brand, Marni.

Although editors frequently sing the praises of the label designed by Consuelo Castiglioni, it does not have the fame and brand power of Versace. Lots of people were pointing out on Twitter when the news broke on Monday that Marni would probably be confused with Armani by those who didn't know better! The collection which as with Versace majors on print, launches on March 8th. We expect rather a different queue to those Versace ones the other week.

Marni's designer Consuelo Castiglioni and H&M's Margareta van den Bosch
style a model wearing a dress from the collection
(image from vogue.co.uk)

I had a dig at Dame Vivienne Westwood a few weeks ago for what I perceived as her hypocrisy at launching stores in China and then supporting OCCUPY London. So, I was very pleased to hear this week that she has donated £1 million from her business to Cool Earth, a climate change charity which is campaigning to halt deforestation in Borneo, Peru and the Congo Basin. Westwood said 'Governments…are so slow that we can’t wait for them any more. We have to get this thing moving and hope that they’ll join in'.

It's no fun being extinct, says Vivienne Westwood

After winning Red Carpet Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards on Monday, Stella McCartney was happy to hand the limelight to Jennifer Saunders (in full Edina get-up) on Tuesday as she turned on the lights at Stella's Bruton Street store. Ever since the very first images of the forthcoming Ab Fab episodes were released, we've known that Eddie has transferred her Lacroix fixation to much a more now Stella addiction. Later, we learnt that Stella is going to be making a cameo appearance in one of the episodes, the first of which airs on Christmas Day. Oh we feel spoilt! And to whet your appetite for Ab Fab's return, a little teaser clip was released this week... Enjoy!

'Eddy' with Stella and Emma Bunton who both star in
the new episodes (image from dailymail.co.uk)

Next week, Thirty Seven Feet , a new designer shoe hire concept, will be launching with a pop-up shoe emporium at the Old Truman Brewery to raise funds for charities such Small Steps and Muscular Dystrophy. There will be a launch event on Thursday evening which you can get tickets for by visiting the site. There are loads of exciting items up for grabs including pieces previously owned by celebrities and donated by top brands like Mulberry and Lanvin. We here at FEAL encourage you to pop along to make some purchases, all in the name of charity.

SHOPPING ROUND-UP...December is traditionally the time for many things, one of them is FASHION SAMPLE SALES. The FashEd tells me that they are not always great but if you get there early and with sharpened elbows you may get what you want. Here are a few we recommend.

On 8th December, creator of utterly divine shoes, Nicholas Kirkwood, will be holding a sample sale. Prices start at £25 (!) and doors are open from 10am. Be sure to get down to The Music Room, 26 South Molton Lane to get your hands on some beauties.

Nicholas Kirkwood SS12- sadly these won't be at the sample sale but
items of similar fabulousness will be available

Barberini Fashions will be having a sample sale on 9th December (12pm-8pm) and 10th
December (10pm-6pm) at Unit 7, Suna House, 65 Rivington Street. Some of the brands
there include Pam Hogg, Ashley Isham and Magenta 8.

Erdem SS11 (image from catwalking.com)

LFW darling Erdem has a sample sale on December 8th (1pm-8pm) and December 9th (10am-6pm) at The Future Gallery, 5 Great Newport Street, WC2H 7HY. Prices start at £80 and the pieces will be from SS11 and before.

LFW darling no.2 Christopher Kane is getting in on the action too with a sale on 8th December from 1pm to 9pm at Mercer Street Studios, 16 Mercer Street, WC2H 9QE. Bring it on!

To see a full list may we direct you over to Susie Bubble's sample sale calendar.

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

THE BRITISH FASHION AWARDS.... CANDID CAMERA

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)

British Style Award winner Alexa Chung, in Christopher Kane (from Net-a-Porter tumblr)

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

NEW ESTABLISHMENT AWARD - Christopher Kane

BFC OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FASHION - Paul Smith

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Friday, November 25, 2011

THE WEEK IN FASHION: NOVEMBER 21st-25th

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Rihanna in McQ on X-Factor (from fashionforlunch.com)

This has been a wonderful few days for London Fashion Week build-up after two of Britain's
greatest fashion exports, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney, both announced that
they would be holding shows during February's London Fashion Week. The Alexander
McQueen house's younger line, McQ will be showing for the first time ever and has
chosen London for the occasion. McQ's first store will also be opening on Dover
Street next Spring. Meanwhile, Stella McCartney has held her catwalk show in Paris
for years now but she is bringing a special one-off presentation to the capital. Next
February's London event will be an evening affair to celebrate Stella's association
with the 2012 Olympics, for which she is designing kits for Team GB. Not to be
outdone by McQ, Stella also has plans for another store, this time in Brompton Cross.
Until then, we can satisfy our Stella love at Selfridges' 'World of Stella' pop-up in
January. Be sure to check out next week's Grazia for more McQ news from the FashEd.

A stellar 2012 for Stella (image from newsonlineinternational.wordpress.com)

NEWS JUST IN: Just as I thought all the excitement was over for another week in fashion, I've just seen the breaking news on WWD that over $400,000 worth of Louis Vuitton bags have been stolen in an operation by masked thieves last night at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. After last week's Marc Jacobs burglary, the designer is not having much luck at the moment.

Someone's on the run with a hell of a lot of Vuitton (image from coachhandbagclub.com)

A quite odd announcement from the Advertising Standards Authority this week; the images
of 14 year-old Hailee Steinfeld sitting beside a railway line for Miu Miu's SS11 campaign
have been banned. This is because they show a child in a hazardous situation. Obviously,
that's completely understandable grounds for banning an image. However, they have have
been all over the Internet and in magazines for months. This makes me think that the damage
is done by now, so why ban the images just as they are being replaced with those from the
Resort campaign anyway? I cannot help but think that is a clunky bit of bureaucracy
rather than a meaningful decision. Am I wrong?

Look away children

On Wednesday evening, Net-a-Porter founder, Natalie Massenet interviewed Christian Louboutin at the V&A museum. You can see the best bits in the video below. Net-a-Porter were tweeting the event live. One of these tweets informed us that Mr Louboutin's dream woman to make shoes for would be Queen Elizabeth II. Interestingly, that very same day, some quite funny pictures were published of none other than Her Majesty (clad in her usual sensible black courts) shooting a concerned look at the Louboutin-esque footwear of Hayrunnisa Gul, the wife of Turkey's President, as she arrived with her husband at Buckingham Palace as part of their state visit to the UK.

Will Mr Louboutin be hearing from Her Majesty shortly we wonder? (image from dailymail.co.uk)

Rumoured supermodel couple Arizona Muse and Freja Beha Erichsen are the stars
of Chloe's SS12 ad campaign. They were spotted at Chateau Marmont in LA, posing
in dresses from the collection and generally having a fab time. We have hair and tan envy.

Summery fun for Arizona and Freja (Image from fashionologie.com)

And now for something a little more sobering. Most of us probably think of Arcadia as the behemoth of the British High Street; an almost untouchable retail giant. So, when it was announced yesterday that the company's profits had dropped by 38% and that 250 stores would be closing it was a signal that the economic environment is massively challenging right now. We may have been expecting bad news from smaller chains and businesses but Arcadia's decision to close nearly 10% of its stores shows that nobody is immune.

If you need help with your Christmas party attire then may we suggest you pop along to Harrods which is hosting a day of activities in their 'Way In' partywear department (on the 4th floor) on Saturday 3rd December. Fashion Illustrator David Longshaw will be there drawing customers in their new purchases. Henry Holland will also be transformed for one afternoon only into a shopfloor assistant, on hand to advise customers on the best looks. Actually, that all sounds like a bit of a party in itself, non?

Karl Lagerfeld gets the David Longshaw treatment

As Christmas is on its way, we thought we'd let you know about a couple of good causes to get involved in during the Season of Goodwill...

Erin O'Connor with some of the bags which are up for grabs.

For the next week, Save the Children are hosting an online designer bag auction to raise funds for their No Child Born to Die initiative. There are plenty of beauties to choose from including bags previously owned by Sienna Miller and Samantha Cameron. Also in the mix are some beauties from Alexander McQueen, Sophie Hulme and Christopher Kane (his liquid clutch which Erin O'Connor is holding is AMAZING). You can bid until 4th December. If all that doesn't make you visit the site, then perhaps Tilda Swinton can persuade you... She says:

“Bid high! Bid so much higher than you think you will or can! Think of a dicey number and double it. And then double that. No fancy bag can ever carry what your generosity will mean to the children it will help to live. Make this beautiful object truly valuable by investing real money in real life - and carry the evidence with pride. Don't count the cost. Think of it as paying something back for all there is to be grateful for in your days.”

If you're still feeling charitable then Volcom are asking for your donations of denim you no longer want... More details can be found here.

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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

BRITAIN'S FASHIONISTAS ARE WEARING... PYJAMAS

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Ben Whishaw as Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisted

Here at FEAL, we don't usually say too much about menswear. But when John Lewis told us that their sales of 'dapper robes' were up by 91% in the men's department, our ears pricked up.I thought it was only girls who watched Downton Abbey, but John Lewis seem sure that the rise is a result of men wanting to emulate Lord Grantham's stately bedroom attire. Are the men of Great Britain going home and pretending to be turn-of-the century aristocrats? I certainly haven't seen any evidence of them wearing their new robes out and about, have you?

As Lord Grantham gets a bit too close to maid Jane, we get a good peek of his bedroom robe (image from itv/ mirror.co.uk)

Oscar Wilde posing in his smoking jacket (image from thisislondon.com)

I don't think Downton is where it all began though; I've been slightly obsessed with the 1981 series of Brideshead Revisited for years now and I studied Oscar Wilde at university. Recently, I've seen all these used as references for various microtrends such as the pyjama suit and the dandy slipper. Penelope Chilvers has even launched a bespoke service which lets you design your very own Dandy slipper.

It doesn't get more Dandy than Ralph Lauren's purple tasseled slippers

This pyjama/slipper combination feels luxurious and exotic- see the above still from the 2008 film version of Brideshead Revisited which is all about a louche and priviliged life where one really can recline in pyjamas all day long. This is why I think there's more to this than wanting to be like Downton's main man. Although, as we're talking about John Lewis here, perhaps this is more of an older man buying into the Lord of the Manor lifestyle represented by Hugh Bonneville's Lord Grantham. Although he's loveable in his own way, he doesn't have that foppish air of extravagance and wealth which Oscar Wilde and Sebastian Flyte possess.

JW Anderson AW11 - Francesca Burns & Emma Elwick of British Vogue both have this pyjama suit by Jonathan Anderson, and have even been seen wearing them together

Louis Vuitton Resort 2012. You can buy this from November 21st. Top £700 and trousers £550

For us girls, pyjamas are a trend which is going to get hard to avoid. John Lewis say that we're already coming round to it, with sales of the 'luxurious nightwear' up by more than 200%. But it's the crossover to seeing pyjamas as daywear options which is really telling. J.W Anderson has already done some highly lustworthy day time paisley pyjamas for AW11. The Great Gatsby inspired Sofia Coppola and Marc Jacobs' collaboration for Louis Vuitton's Resort 2012. Once the SS12 shows came around, barely a show went by without some evidence of gentleman's silks and easy pyjama suits; Equipment's will be amazing (aforementioned on this blog). The High Street has already been offering mannish silky shirts and, in some cases, matching silky pyjama bottoms and palazzo pants. By next spring this will be a huge fashion thang, so you may as well be ahead of the curve and get into it now. So while all the boys are hiding inside, playing at being Dukes and Lords, it seems inevitable that the ladies will be out and about showing off their take on pyjamas as fashionable daywear.

Alexa Chung has included a pyjama suit in her new and rather good collection for American brand Madewell. Alexa's dandy silk Valentine pyjama is dotted with palm tree silhouettes; a New York Post writer was so enamoured of them,she wore them for a day out in Manhattan and wrote about it.