London Fashion Week SS13 Round Up

Although to most people the word September instantly brings to mind dark afternoons, umbrellas and hair-ruining winds, to me it can only ever mean one glorious thing - Fashion Week! As last season I got the chance to work backstage at a London catwalk show, I was so sure that this season I'd be able to do the same, swan in and snap up a backstage job just as easily - how wrong I was. But despite not being lucky enough to be a part of the fashion action this time, there is no better way to spend a lazy Sunday morning than by oohing and ahhing over countless runway photos. Although I must say that this time round London didn't wow me quite like it did back in February, however this just meant that the crackers really shone through!

#1

//ASHISH//

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If you are not properly acquainted with Ashish Gupta's work yet, there is only one thing you really need to know - the man loves sequins. For this season he took a spin on what to me is the very tired trend of 'geek chic'. At first I sighed, but then I watched the show and I ate my words. When I thought no more could be done with this trend, Ashish proved me wrong with his signature slogan sweatshirts, denim dungarees of mixed washes styled askew and slouchy one-sleeved evening dresses, all with a heavy dousing of sequins, naturally. And the styling was perfect - mismatching ankle socks, oh-so-uncool reeboks and the return of the scrunchie.

#2

//FELDER FELDER//

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In the past, this twin-designed brand has been full of a youthful rock'n'roll vibe, but this season showed that they can design for the more sophisticated woman too. Sure the leather jacket was still there, but chiffon billowed from underneath it in pastel shades of yellow and pink. And although I wasn't as keen on the sporadic splashings of leopard print, that can always be overlooked when a slouchy butter yellow blazer is thrown on top.

#3

//HOUSE OF HOLLAND//

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Henry Holland has long been a favourite of mine, forever designing for the London girl. At the moment I'm a sucker for the 90's grunge trend and Holland answered my prayers by perfecting it in his SS13 collection. An eclectic mixture of prints: from the typical 90's check and charity shop-esque florals to a rainbow of tie dyed pieces filled the runway, all topped off with a jewel encrusted beanie hat, no less.

#4

//KINDER AGGUGINI//

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Aggugini was actually a designer I had never heard of until that Sunday morning I spent browsing through the shows, but he originally caught my eye for the patterned dungarees. I love a good pair of dungarees. Also in the collection were button down shirts and pinafore dresses that made me very reminiscent of my childhood. Saturating most of the garments were minute detailings of nautical imagery inspired by Hemmingway and trips to Cuba - these too made me reminiscent, but of the time I tried to learn to sail. As a whole I fell in love with the collection, perhaps discounting the evening dresses bearing octopus tentacles though.

Next post will be my review of the stand out collections from New York Fashion Week.

//Keep smiling x//

The V&A: Craig Lawrence and Alexandra Shulman

The V&A is renowned for drawing flocks of people from all over the country to see its outstanding fashion exhibitions and events, so when I saw there was a free catwalk show to attend to and an evening with none other than the British Vogue Editor all in the same day, there was no question about it. Within seconds I was booking my tickets without giving it a second thought.

First up in the afternoon was the catwalk show in the museum’s Raphael Gallery by Craig Lawrence, who was the current subject of the V&A’s Fashion In Motion event. He’s a British knitwear designer who, although maybe being the least well-known designer ever to be chosen for the event, has actually designed six seasons for Gareth Pugh and his ever-growing fanbase includes the likes of Tilda Swinton, Lady Gaga and Bjork.

Lawrence studied at Central Saint Martins where he developed his trademark of using yarns wrapped in metallic foil which appears in nearly every piece he creates. It’s this unconventional use of materials, such as metallic yarns, sweet wrappers and bin bags, that make his collections so distinctive.

On July 20^th it was no different and a textural explosion was sent down the runway in a colour palette of sugary pinks and luxurious golds, balanced out with neutral blacks and beiges. Lawrence had once again created extremely bold and brash shapes in a very feminine way. ‘Fluffy’ and ‘shiny’ are trademark of Lawrence’s work, which was evident when a dress made entirely of sweetie-pink pom-poms sailed past, followed by a gold foil dress that rustled only like a giant Quality Street wrapper could.

In the evening there was the much anticipated talk in the Lecture Theatre with British Vogue Editor in Chief, Alexandra Shulman, where she appeared in conversation with journalist Francine Stock. The talk was created to celebrate Shulman’s 20 year career at the magazine, and also to promote her new novel, ‘Can We Still Be Friends?’ We were focused on a whirlwind history of pivotal Vogue covers from throughout her career at Vogue, before delving into questions about her new book.

She discussed putting an M&S shirt on Amber Valetta on one cover, Kate Moss in the style of David Bowie on another; catastrophe covers (apparently group cover shots sell the worst) and occasionally we stumbled across covers that she couldn’t even remember doing! Ms Shulman has never shied away from a controversial cover and instead embraces the idea, which is why British Vogue has become the daring, occasionally tongue-in-cheek publication it is today.

Her journalistic career started at GQ, so it’s no surprise that Shulman’s priorities lie in business and breaking journalism first, and fashion second. However it becomes quite clear early on that she has the personality cut just right to be at the helm of a leading fashion magazine - her blunt retorts and straight to the point answers are almost a mandatory trait to be an Editor in Chief, yet apart from that she plays to none of the 'Devil Wears Prada’ stereotypes that were expected.

Alexandra Shulman on the left, and Francine Stock on the right, questioning the idea of putting Bono on a cover
-Bad quality as this one was taken on my phone-

Keep smiling x

Prairie Charms

I recently received this bracelet from the lovely people at Prairie Charms after getting involved with their collaborative venture, 'Project Blogger'. I chose the Laura friendship wrap bracelet as I thought it suited my style best, although there were so many other designs which I may be going back for another time.

Apart from the design I chose, every piece of jewellery has a really cute and inspirational saying for a name, such as 'Tomorrow is going to be the best day ever' and 'Peace comes from within', and their range is growing every day, already they are venturing out into brooches.

On top of that, the greatest aspect of Prairie Charms is that 10% of the profit from every purchase goes to Great Ormand Street Hospital's 'Kiss It Better' campaign, which is truly great for a fairly small brand to be making such a big statement like that. Plus it arrived in the most adorable parcel, wrapped in brown printed tissue paper and all tied up in pink bow, what's not to love about this brand?!

Styled with my Monki T-shirt and Topshop jeans, along with a few of my own bracelets and rings, I've worn it a lot over the past few days as it puts quite a pretty and girly spin on my not-so-girly wardrobe, and it makes just as good a statement stacked with other bracelets as it does on its own.

Pop over to Prairie Charms to check out their beautifully unique range and pick up your own brooch or bracelet before they're all gone!

Keep smiling x

3 days in the 'London College of Fashion' life

I don't think I mentioned it on here (I know I certainly tweeted about it a lot) but this week I spent three days doing a short course on Fashion Journalism at the London College of Fashion. It was such an eye-opening experience and one I won't ever forget. We were taught by a freelance journalist so we knew we were getting first-hand experience of what real life behind the glossy covers of magazines is really like, and that the information we were getting bombarded with was sure to be invaluable.

After arriving forty minutes early at the Lime Grove branch of the university, me and 11 other nervous girls were eventually led upstairs to the room where, over the next three days, we would be promised to be turned into fabulous young journalists. We spent the morning getting to know one another and finding out what the course would entail. I was amazed at how far some people had travelled just to be on this course - from as far as Brighton to Ireland, even Italy and Ukraine. Us Londoners were in the minority! We then spent some time getting to grips with some key knowledge of the fashion and journalism industries.

After our lunch break we were already being sent out on a field trip to Westfield White City shopping centre, which is literally a two minute walk from the uni - it's always a bonus to have Europe's second largest shopping mall a stone's throw away from where you study! Our task was to find a trend either within the stores, the street style, the shop fittings - basically anything goes as long as it was fashion-related and a story could be made out of it. It was a struggle for all of us to be walking around Westfield yet not being allowed to shop, but eventually we decided that our story would be based on the Olympic spirit (or lack of it) around the mall.

Our second day saw us present and write up the trend story we had found the day before to our tutor, and may I add, I think she loved our idea! Then for the afternoon another trip, this time to Coppernob design studios, situated just behind Urban Outfitters on Oxford Street. We got to have a snoop around the showroom and design studio before interviewing the design director on subjects like her work process and sustainability. By chance the CEO and owner or Coppernob was in the building whilst we were visiting so we also got to have an extremely intriguing interview with him, a man who can only be described as a 'typical fashion character', in other words, a very eccentric and passionate man indeed!

After all our trips out (which did involve some light shopping, of course!), the third and final day was a lot more educational based. A day spent in the classroom having discussions about everything and anything, from our favourite item of fashion to what makes for an unforgettable style icon. 

I was absolutely nerve-wracked before I started the course, what with knowing about the intimidating yet prestigious reputation LCF hold, however it was all for no reason as the tutor was unbelievably nice, and I met some fabulously interesting girls from all over the place who I sincerely hope to stay friends with as we would never have had the chance to meet each other without this course bringing us together. With the course spanning from writing styles to branding and advertising, fashion icons to interview techniques, I'm certain we have all taken something different away from the course, and I hope an improvement in my writing will be somewhat noticeable!

My next few posts will probably be quite article-based as I will be writing up some of the stories we concocted over the past week, but I hope these will still be of interest to everyone as they will generally be quite short and light-hearted pieces. On another COMING SOON note, I have a review of a Prairie Charms bracelet about to hit your screens soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that within the next few days as it's a real beauty.

Keep smiling x