Top 20 Looks from Milan Fashion Week

In keeping with New York and London there was a lot of black and white on show in Milan, with the occasional splash of colour used with best effect at Etro which was probably one of the most vibrant shows of the season. I also thought Bottega Veneta had a great collection.  There was surprisingly little consistency of vision/form/shape across the designers, or even within a brand. Sad to say, I wasn’t spoilt for choice in the edit.

Source: Style.com

Top 20 Looks at London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week is sadly over although my feet are incredibly grateful it’s done. Below are my picks from the shows I didn’t attend and reflect the looks I think stand above the rest.  The thing I’ve missed most from the shows this week is some great music; a lot of the ‘music’ the producers have chosen this year has been downbeat and melancholy, and sometimes just plain odd. I think a show is really lifted by great music and when the whole front frow is toe tapping to the beat you know it’s going well! And the accessory of the week, the very latest arm candy, seems to have been….a baby. There have been babies or toddlers toted at every show and even some breast feeding at Sass&Bide. They do say the bloggers are getting younger.  Roll on Milan and Paris.

Style.com

Top 20 Looks from New York Fashion Week

As I was away perfecting my tan lines during New York Fashion Week I missed reviewing the shows, but I have clicked through most of them now and the pictures below are my edit of the best looks.

Source: Style.com

Christopher Kane S/S13 LFW

Christopher Kane is one of the most sought after tickets for LFW and most of the fashion world turned up for this. I was annoyed not to get a glimpse of Samantha Cameron as I’m a huge fan of hers but the room was huge and I must have missed her. I don’t suppose she made use of the pink car Nails Inc had parked outside pumping music with girls raising money for charity by giving manicures: surely that’s a touch risky just before a show? This collection was as unpredictable as we have come to expect. With a lot of white, and some yellow and pink that the designer said ‘make you feel a bit sick’, it certainly leant towards excess, the ‘too pretty’ that he wanted to push for. There was plastic and rubber and gaffer tape on lace, and a squiggly bow belt in clear plastic that echoed one of the patterns. It took forever to leave as a room full of people tried to get down the limited lifts back to street level but it was a good chance to people spot and do a bit of networking, dahling.

Ashish S/S13 LFW

You can always count on sequins from an Ashish collection and as ever it didn’t disappoint. This girl was a grungy super laid back ‘mathlete’, whose slogans are ‘I’m Serious’ and ‘Tres Fatigue’. She wore one legged blinged up and the other denimed down. There were lots of loose hoodies, spangled of course, mixed with flowing white or polka dot shirts, pale slouchy sparkling T-shirt dresses and crazy geeky glasses. To quote the press release, she’s ‘more concerned with quadratic equations than the number of ply in a chashmere sweater’. Well, this maths whizz better have a lot of chutzpah because some of these all sequin looks will take some wearing and she may be too cool for school.

Osman S/S13 LFW

The invitation should have been a clue to the heart ladened motifs seen at Osman’s show. Apart from this pattern, which looked better in some versions than others, the looks were mostly colour blocks of bright pinks, neon yellows with black used as a contrast to break up the all the elements.  There was a lot of layering, with slit skirts over trousers predominant, and different elements like the wide wrap around stole-collars that added complexity, or possibly confusion . One design featured, from the top, a wrap around scarf, a one shouldered top with a blouson above a peplum, with a skirt that had a long train.  I’m not sure how wearable some of the leather looks will be for summer (not that we have much of a summer here!), and the  daring deep V neckline is not for the faint hearted…get it?

John Rocha S/S13 LFW

Nice to see some colour at John Rocha, although he did show some signature black looks towards the end. Dresses with convolutions of ruffles contrasted in volume with simpler pale overblouses in sheers. There was a faded romance, slightly raggedy flowergirl feel to the collection, not least because of the incredible hats; how they were anchored on would be interesting to know.  Underneath, though, there were some rather secondhand-looking blonde and black wigs which were a shame.

Todd Lynn S/S13 LFW

This was a mixed collection and one of contrasts.  It opened with a lovely soft colour range of taupe, rusts, buttery yellow, moss and sage greens and ended with a series of all black looks.  There was a lot of serious intricate tailoring as you would expect and also some gentler very summery dresses. The plain leather looked good and so did the beautiful silks in subtle organic patterns. Skirts were straight and A-line, trousers well cut. Models wore plaits again.

Holly Fulton S/S13 LFW

The first picture is of Gemma Arterton being harassed by photographers; I hope she’d had one of the gin drinks on offer in the waiting area before the show.  Holly Fulton’s collection was very summery with lots of her  signature strong prints and bright colours.  We were asked to imagine a woman on West Coast road trip to Mexico, the carefree holiday mood reinforced with great sporty fabrics, some country and western detailing and a soft chalky sun-washed palette of yellows, powder blue, peachy pinks and a spike of mint.

Clements Ribeiro S/S13 LFW

This show was held at Goldsmiths’ Hall with its stunning ceiling and decadent atmosphere. To give us all a bit of help the press release for this Monnrise Kingdom collection reads as follows: ‘The Muse is Suzy Bishop, the intense Francoise Hardy-lover of Wes Anderson’s film. It inspired us to look back into our archive: Mrs Simpson checks, foxglove print, luxe ‘Claudine’ collars, embroidered ‘cookies’ and rebooted rainbow stripes. Off kilter chic.’  Now, not all of these references are widely known so you have to take the clothes as you see them and I saw librarian cool, ‘who cares’ retro casual and  the slightly off contrasts that this designing partnership favours.