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.
As a non prairie living, non dungaree wearing Londoner, I’m struggling to critique this collection. Entitled ‘Gone Fishing’ and billed as ‘practical onboard, presentable ashore,’ this collection is meant to represent an escape to the freedoms of the simple fisherman’s life, reflected in the practical shapes, the cotton and linen fabrics and the things-found-in-the-sea patterns. I like a theme, most designers start from somewhere, but for me this is too literal. The press release talks about Stephen Jones’s Fisherman hats, but all I saw was windblown hair. Well, that’s what you get from a day at the seaside.
I got an email three hours before this show informing me that both Jourdan Dunn and Cara Delevingne would be walking for Sass & Bide which is pretty over enthusiastic PR work. This was another primarily black and white show, white featuring heavily in New York as well. The clothes had an oragami folded flowers feel to them (hinted at beforehand in the folded gold invitation) though in a much more structured and geometric way, and the laser work reinforced this sense of precision. The models were styled with simple ponytails and natural make-up.
This show started off with a monotone palette but as the looks came out splashes of acqua and reds were added. Strong lines emphasised what he refers to as ‘constructed tailoring’, patterns were sophisticated and hem lines fluctuated interestingly. The loose shirt dresses, shifts and trousers suits looked very wearable and I loved the statement jewellery.
This collection was intitled Florilegium, a Latin word meaning the gathering of flowers. Having been inspired by the Botanic Gardens at Kew, this show reflected Nielsen’s interest in the architecture of plants as well as the glasshouses in which they are showcased. With the tone set by a woodland soundtrack of birds and frogs, the models came out in a series of looks suggestive of origami flowers, unfolding petals and fullblown blooms. Shame about the draining make-up.
Maria Grachvogel was my first show of London Fashion Week held at Somerset House. Beautifully tailored and deceptively simple this collection was all about sheaths of silks in an array of whites, yellows, reds and greys; calm, ethereal and graceful. Styled by the incomparable Damian Foxe, this was a classy show for the clients Grachvogel knows best, the high-powered, confident, sexy women who don’t need to be obvious about their credentials.
has been a bit of a shock to the system. Pounding the hard pavements of London today for Fashion Week has left me in a slight daze but I will do my best to keep you up to date on what I’m going to. With seven shows completed today and eight shows tomorrow expect more of a detailed update on Sunday. I’ve enjoyed the sunshine, the Greek salads and even the ouzo, but honey, it’s good to be home.
I apologise for reporting late on this exhibition but I only managed to see it just before it closed last weekend. As ever the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy is an exciting and stimulating mixture of artists and genres, with well known names alongside the unknowns chosen through the open submission process. I love how tiny little pictures are muddled together with bigger images, and the juxtaposition of paint, textiles, sculpture, architectural designs and photography. It’s one of my favourite things to do in the summer. As usual I was left lusting after a Tony Bevan, but at £78,000 it’s a little out of a freelance stylist’s price range! This sculpture was outside dominating the courtyard (no photos allowed inside) and is by Chris Wilkinson, titled From Landscape to Portrait.
The London 2012 Olympics are officially over and I’m officially not sure what to do with myself! When will I be able to watching rowing at 10am, water polo at 3pm and hurdles till 10pm? Team GB has had an outstanding medal tally and if the BBC coverage is being criticised for lacking impartiality, well, that just made me love it all even more! There is no way that a British presenter or interviewer is not going to be more proud of ‘one of us’ than ‘one of them’. My highlights were the boys winning Bronze in gymnastics, Mo Farah’s wonderful golden double, Jess Ennis and Tom Daly, ALL the cycling. London did me proud with an amazing and inspirational Olympics. Let’s do it all again next week! In fact, with the Australians and the French and Americans all singing our praises, couldn’t we just host it forever?
Great Britain had an amazing weekend at the Olympics and I was in Hyde Park to watch some of it. It was lovely and sunny with thousands of people coming out to support their countries including some impressively lary South Africans. If you are in London there are lots of big screen hot spots to watch all the sport – Duke of York’s Square in King’s Road is one – and I would definitely recommend you to go and hang out in Hyde Park: it’s free to get in with loads of screens to watch the different events. After watching through most of the evening I had a romantic walk back through a part of London’s Mayfair that I hadn’t been to before and I used my phone to record some of the serene places there. Love your city.
avogueidea 
Clements Ribeiro S/S13 LFW
September 18, 2012This 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.
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