BITCH PLEASE

Need these.

Meadham Kirchoff Nail Wraps, £8, Topshop.

ASHISH

London Fashion Week for me has always been a little more playful, more colourful and edgy than minimal New York, luxury Milan or feminine Paris but this weeks a/w collections seemed to have grown up. An air of sophistication at Topshop Unique replaced the themes of the past several season, whilst House of Holland's edgy East London girl seems to smartened up, Holland himself even states “She’s getting a bit older this season, it’s all really beautifully made and there are some really classic pieces – I’ve always made clothes for the girls I spend time with and as we grow up and live life, she always needs something to wear.” As much as I loved these new directions I missed the excitement, luckily for me Ashish didn't fail to disappoint and stayed true to his identity with sports inspired pieces and sequin overload. The collection, entitled Bollywouldn't, is another amazing contrast of luxe and lounge and I can't but hear MIA's new tune Bad Girls in my head each time I look over the runway photos.

P.S, I LOVE YOU.

Fashion Week is here once again, but I must say nothing really excited me during NY's offerings, that is apart from Proenza Schouler. PS are a brand who's collections I always adore, season upon season, here a few images which sum up the brilliant show. Stand out details for me include the fawn skin bags, chunky leather boots and amazing intricate quilting.

(All images from Vogue.com)

SIMON PREEN

Now for something a little bit different, and a post I have been so excited for over the past few weeks. Simon Preen is a London College of Fashion graduate who’s name and collection are deservedly taking off right now. With Jessie J rocking Simon’s look at the MOBO’s, MTV’s Video Music Award AND on last night’s X Factor, Simon has also created her latest tour outfits. On top of this the young London based designer has also been hyped by Disorder magazine and created a collaborative collection for Urban Outfitters.

After falling in love with Simon’s fearless futurist East London warrior looks I decided to get in touch, so here we have it, hannabytes first ever interview with the man himself alongside the stunning new images for his latest collection.

Firstly massive credit to you for the MOBO’s exposure, how does it feel to see Jessie J in your garments? 

It’s really great, that particular outfit was something I was asked to design for Jessie especially for her performance on the night. Jessie has been wearing my stuff regularly over the last 6 months, she apparently loves what I do and I have just finished making all the costumes for her UK Tour. It’s fantastic to build a kind of a professional/style relationship with a young, current artist of her calibre; and especially one whose image fits perfectly with my brand. 

  

If you could have anybody as the face of your brand who would you choose and why? 

Im finding it really hard to choose – I would have to make this campaign a story with more that one character – really 90’s – strong women. Sandra Bernhard and Polly Harvey, I’ve never thought about this until now but they could totally be sisters. Polly Harvey is the ultimate woman, if you have never watched any Sandra Bernhard solo stuff you should see ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ it’s one of the cleverest comedy performances I’ve seen. Rose McGowan and maybe Winona Ryder too just for the iconic roles they have played in some of my favourite movies. Those 4 all together would be a dream of a campaign to me. It would be good to get Janet Street Porter in there somehow – she is another icon of mine – i’m sure she wouldn’t want to have anything to do with it but it would be good to ask, even if just for her to tell me to fuck off. 

How about a sale space, what would a Simon Preen store look like and if it could be anywhere in the world where would it be? 

I would definitely like a flagship store in London, maybe in Soho, that would give me an excuse to leave East London once in a while and I like a wander into Soho of a weekday. It would be an illuminated black box with a strict music policy. 

 Who were your biggest influences when you first started realising fashion was something you wanted to be a part of, are they still important to you now? 

I’m influenced by whatever is going on around me and I always have been since I first took an interest in fashion – I rely on instinct but obviously there is a dark pull towards what I like in style – music is always more of an influence to what I do than what the rest of what is going on in fashion ever is. 

As a student, like many of my followers, what tips could you share about taking the most out of university? 

Well, I may not be the best example as I was a terrible student; I never went to class and when I did I just sat outside smoking and drinking coffee all day, the lecturer would just pass by every hour or so and be like “you still here!” – they never really got on at us about it. Although I didn’t really know my lecturers very well I bumped into one recently (he remembered me, to my surprise) and he said they always knew I’d do something interesting, which is nice to know. I passed my degree, not with the best honours but I don’t think that matters and nobody has ever asked me about it since I graduated. Everyone does the university thing in their own way, don’t fret about it, that’s the only advice I could give. 

  

How did you go about making the transition from student to independent designer, did internships help you to get to where you are today? 

I did a few internships and most were not that helpful but then I went to work for Pam Hogg which proved to be an invaluable experience. Pam had just returned to fashion after a ten year hiatus and it was the run up to her first show in London Fashion Week since the break, it was a pretty small operation and that meant that I got to know her really well as a person and see every angle of the business at a scale that I could understand. It was that experience as a whole, which ultimately gave me that confidence that I could do it myself, and that was when I decided to start working on my own label for real. 

Following your collection for Urban Outfitters are there any other brand you’d like to collaborate with, whether fashion or otherwise? 

I don’t know about other brands in fashion or otherwise, I never really look at any brand and think of it in those kind of terms. I would like to work on more music videos and movies – more film and photographic projects.

  

Outside of the online world of blogs and webpages, what excites your sartorial senses and inspires your creativity?

As I mentioned before music is a huge inspiration to me, I co-run a club night in east London called Reeperbahn, it’s a cold wave/synth party, the crowd it attracts are quite inspiring style-wise, very new wave, minimal, goth. It’s hard to say where exactly my inspirations come from sometimes because I don’t make mood boards, and I can’t ever focus my ideas in my head, I just try and read as much as I can (currently reading Janet Street Porters ‘Life’s Too Fucking Short’ – it’ great) and take in as much culture as time will allow and things just come together – I don’t even decide on the name or the theme of the collection is until its finished – maybe that’s because of the gaps in my education through not going to class. 

And finally, what can we hope to see from you in the near future? 

I have promised a menswear collection, which I am working on but the release has had to be put back because of issues with time and the fact that I am still a really small operation. I am planning from here on to produce smaller collections, more often, I’m not sure that I like the way fashion works, and I feel some big changes are due. Look at London Fashion Week, I don’t really know much about the fashion industry as such but it seems like it’s totally screwed, but maybe that’s actually a good thing, I like to think so. 

A great interview, so a huge thanks to Simon and I really hope you enjoyed the blog post. I think we can expect to see a lot more  from this great young British talent. You can check out more and hit up some of the amazing new pieces check the links below. Personally i’m saving up for the purple mesh skirted dress, perfect for the Warehouse Project in a few weeks.

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PARIS FASHION WEEK

I can only apologise for the lateness of this post, I have to say that although mostly beautiful, the Paris shows didn't inspire me as much as those in London, New York and Italy. Playing host to some of the most established names in the fashion industry including Chanel, Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton of course the shows are still worth note so here are a few snippets of the shows which stood out to me.

Balenciaga

Balenciaga always seems to strike up a strikingly beautiful collaboration of futurism alongside luxury elegance, and for me that is what makes their collections so appealing, and also intriguing. Although obscure in shape, each item seams balanced in it's ensemble, the same can be said of the use of multiple fabrics. This collection is extremely polished eccentricity, and again nods to both art and painterly prints as well as sports inspiration.

 Balmain
Although sometimes slated, Balmain is a fashion house who's collections I am always keen to check out. This offering is unmistakably characteristic of the brand with it's studded details, low slung bottoms and crafted shoulders but I adore the softness which the 1990's style faded denim brings to the collection.

 Hermes
Reminiscent of Jil Sander's show, Hermes began with a virginal parade of the cleanest white before an Arabian theme was intensified through deep henna and cobolt blue shades. I  feel a sense of freespirited travel through the collection, the Hermes girl of both A/W2011 and S/S2012 looks as through she should be exploring in the most luxurious way.

Louis Vuitton
And finally to Louis Vuitton, featuring a second catwalk appearance from Kate Moss, although this time the leather clad dominatrix theme was totally inverted to a pearly fairytale. And here the parallels begin, more sugary pastel shades and similarly to Marc Jacob's own show all of the models appeared together riding a dream like carousel, I can't help but allude to Chanel when looking at the collection, particularly when it comes to the short and elegant jackets. Jacob's still managed to add a certain edginess to what Alexandra Shulman described as a 'fashion wedding cake' but all in all I found the affair rather sickly.






So that concludes Spring Summer 2012's shows, admittedly I perhaps should have concluded them a little sooner. A flick through Drapers earlier revealed a few of the prominent trends we may see translate to the streets for next year, but personally i'm already living in fear of a pastel takeover.

MILAN FASHION WEEK

And to Milan, the Italian leg of the Fashion Weeks and the week which I know the least about.

My third installement see some of Kreayshawn’s greats (and if you don’t know who she is you’d better click ‘ERE), the flawless Raf Simons at Jil Sander and the pairing of an orange Italian with one of the UK's fashion greats.

Dolce&Gabana

An unusual theme was taking hold at Milan Fashion Week, following on from Moschino’s offerings the previous evening (to check out the collection click ‘ERE), Dolce and Gabanana’s show commenced with a vivid red onion print. Yes that’s right, Red Onion. The theme of market stalls, and Italian flavours continued with bulbous tomatoes, purple cabbages and chilli prints, topped of with the Italian staple, Pasta, which was used to create necklaces. Of course Domenico and Stefano make it utterly delectable, with smatterings of lace, crocket, straw and acetate. The shapes where truly womanly but flirtatious, think Mad Men meets Katy Perry. Of course the show ended with a decadence of sparkle, a truely great show which also marks the end of Dolce and Gabana’s D&G line.

Gucci

He show notes stated inspiration from ‘Louise Brookes and Nancy Cunard in the images of Man Ray. The opulence of the era of hedonism.’, True roaring 1920’s glamour was certainly the key look on the mind of Frida Giannini for Spring Summer 2012, in great timing for the long awaited arrival of Baz Luhrmann’s remake of The Great Gatesby. 2012 may just be the year were the 1920’s make a big comeback. On to the collection, it’s sharp, seriously sharp. Great tailored pieces trimmed with gold and emerald green alongside ultra feminine flippy dropped waistline dresses. Again the catwalk saw delicate sheers and metallic opulence with truly beautiful beading and fringed art deco inspired dresses closing the show.

Jil Sander

One of my favourite collections of last season and Raf Simon has done it again for me this time. Another artsy offering, the show saw Bauhaus style gravelled blocks of colour on the floor, whist knitted tops featured Picasso faces. As far as pattern goes, more gingham and tartan was seen alongside paisley (which later appears at Stella McCartney). The fabrics show another take on transparency, with open weaved over dressed, fine linen and light catching gauze all featured. Gorgeous cuts and tailoring enveloped true Raf Simon’s style while the tiny bejewelled brooches seemed a little out of character.

No 21 (by Alessandro Dell’Acqua)

Just wearable excellence, pairing shards of silver with a casual blue shirt and beautiful azure blue beading with knitwear makes it all the more appealing to me. Similarly a white cotton tee layered under a stunning silver gown seems so fresh and adds a sense of youth. The loose cut of each piece is beautiful too, whilst I adore the smart offering of a beaded collar peeking from a pyjama style trouser two piece. A great statement comes in the form of the principle print of the collection, a naked woman shrouded by palm leaves, Alessandro Dell’Acque nails understated sex appeal and this print sums that up.

Prada

I took me a while to realise but I utterly adore Prada, once you look under the super sleek Italian surface to the more playful elements Prada has undeniable charm. This season, in place of the banana’s of last, see’s Cars as the theme. The Scalectrix vibe was completed with cartoon flames and leather appliqués while bra tops and dresses featured drag car prints. Of course Miuccia makes the unexpected motif wearable by pairing it with floral crochets and 3D textured, super feminine while pleated skirts and female form adoring shapes. There’s a certain Miami Beach muscle car feel about the whole collection which I love. 

Versus

A pairing of Christopher Kane and Donatella Versace, hosted in a basketball court, cue zipper details, sporty sheen fabrics and cheerleader inspiration. Pastels and piping added to the look, whilst daring cut outs made end the tailored piece evoke performance wear vibes. I adore the gathered details of the sheer dresses, their volume in totally reined in by the precision body conscious  seams which reveal the shoulder or highlight the waist and bust. Can’t help but feel that Britney Spears vibe again, last seen at Marc Jacobs.

Summarising the trends at MFW it's key to mention, Food, 1920's, Artists...this time Picasso, More Sporty Vibes, Miami Beach and ...Cars.

LONDON FASHION WEEK

To London, the fashion week which I cannot help but love because of course it is the host of the British designers which we as a nation can be proud of. This year I felt an extra connection to the British Fashion Council proceedings as I attended for the first time on Saturday and Sunday, I managed to land an internship with Vodafone as they were filming and photographing for up coming promotions in association with Jaeger. The atmosphere at Somerset House was truly electric, perhaps due to half of the blogosphere milling around with cameras and carefully crafted outfits, Susie Bubble scuttled past me numerous times while Facehunter ordered commands at an assistant whilst snapping shots of a chosen few . True, wow moment came when I spotted Hilary Alexander, Zandra Rhodes and Anna Della Russo (who became stranded by her own YSL wedges mid way down the cobbled slope which led to the BFC Showspace) but the ultimate F-ROWer spot was Alexandra Shulman, editor of UK Vogue.

Unfortunately I didn’t manage to catch any shows from inside the Show Space, by the time I noted the queue of pass-less hopefuls edging inside to fill the last remaining spaces it was time for me to meet the team I would be working alongside for Vodafone.

To the shows;

Ashish

Ostensibly a designer who sticks to using one textile again and again should become boring, quickly, right?! It’s just not the case with Ashish and his use of sequins, each collection is truely new and fresh and I think this is my favourite from him thus far. Firstly, the styling the show, namely the boots filled with poseys was so innovative and worked fantastically alongside the bolder sequin formed floral offerings. Again a look to Van Gough (as seen at Rodarte), sunflowers along with poppies formed the main reference within the collection, the addition of zoo prints, brick wall blocks and denim add a fresh and summery vibe to the collection. 

 Burberry Prorsum

I must admit, I have to double check the season of the collection when viewed Burberry Prorsum’s looks for the first time, it seemed very, well coaty?! But realistically as I sat there shivering in September, Burberry’s collection is a true representation of what British women need to wear during Spring and Summer, a lightweight parker or printed bomber makes a far chicer statement that the summer dress, tights and cardigan ensemble adopted by many over the ‘summer’ months. Not one of my favourite Burberry collections but certainly notable in terms of the statement they have made. 

Danielle Scutt

Perhaps due to her collection with Topshop on a bold and attention grabbing jewellery line I expect a truly theatrical and un-wearable yet fun collection for Danielle Scutt, yet when viewing her collection I was pleasantly surprised. The collection featured a modest colour palette of black, white, denim blue and the occasional pop of warmed citrus shades. I adore the long braced skirts, in block fabric and beading, they’re a great relaxed option for summer daytime dressing. The collection merges street style with polished pieces effortlessly and I will certainly be keeping a closer eye on Danielle Scutt and hoping for a extension of her collaboration with Topshop into clothing.

Felder Felder

I fell in love with the German sisters after seeing their last collection and was far too over excited as I waited for the show report to load for Spring/Summer. I adore the metallic pale blue but am not as sure about the seemingly mismatched apricot shade. Amazing power pieces though, as expected from Felder Felder with great body harnessing details and strong necklines in contrast to a more feminine use of sheer opacities and pattern. True backstage girl groupie style and I love it.

 Giles

I had to share this collection. It’s totally Giles and feel I only need to type two words to cum up the mood of the show; Black Swan. The shades are my favourite shape of the season so far too, some really great start out pieces despite the theatricality of the show.

House Of Holland

Of HOH, I want to adore sleek and minimal designers but I cannot help but fall for the charm of Henry Holland season after season. This collection is so up my street, the pastel washes snake print, denim, fishnet, sheer, collars...ankle socks. A great collection which manages to make pastel seem feasible to me, when up until now it had churned my stomach. Holland drew inspiration from punks while maintaining the true East London girl vibe he champions so well, expect to see the likes of Jaime Winston and Pixie Geldoff rocking the Princess Sex Pistol look next Spring.

Mulberry

A great youthful vibe at Mulberry for next season, lemon yellows and sporty separates seem perfect for Spring. A highlights for me is the gold jogging suit, it seems so young and lounge worthy yet wouldn’t be out of place in the luxury bowels of Westfield, shopping centres may just have to rethink their policy on hoodies. Whilst the hair, by Sam McKnight, is said to inspired by the Blackpool seaside windswept look, streaked with candy floss, I immediately saw the influence of Amy Winehouse. A fitting tribute in a collection with screams London girl escapism.

Topshop Unique

If I thought I was excited for Felder Felder, Topshop Unique superseded my excitement tenfold. Again I totally fell in love with, and again the collection played homage to  a fallen star, Elizabeth Taylor, as Cleopatra. I bet you wouldn’t believe me if I said I had a feeling about an air of ancient Egypt in the fashion ether but my sheer hieroglyphic pattern shirt says otherwise (I’ll pop up a photo soon). Great coloured metallics again and a strong sportswear vibe, the collection screams youth and 1990’s street influence. The graphic elements of the collection are a personal high point, with the aforementioned Elizabeth Taylor adornment alongside the Evil Eye, Scarab Beetles and graffiti-esque hieroglyphics.  Perhaps a more brash offering from Topshop Unique than previously seen, the collection seems to have missed the mark amongst a few of my peers  but I’m going to start saving now for a slice.   

So the fabulous capital offered up, Metallics, more Pastels, Ancient Egypt, 1990’s Street Wear, Animal Prints, Van Gough and English Weather Essentials. A great LFW.