AND THE AWARD FOR THE MOST ORIGINAL AW10 PRINT DESIGN GOES TO...

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

...Brooke Roberts. I ran into Brooke at the On|Off exhibition a moment ago. I only realised I knew who she was when I asked how she made her pieces and she explained that the patterns were based on medical scans. Brooke and Fashion Editor at Large have been emailing back and forth for some time now and we were both keen to get a look at the spawn of this original and bizarre technique up close.

The skirt Brooke is holding is effectively a scan of somebody's sinuses! Who would have guessed? I've nabbed a disc of images and will add more for your viewing pleasure and disgust this afternoon.

Updated edit:

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DAVID KOMA AW10 COLLECTION IN MOTION

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Annoyingly almost all of my photos came out really badly, but I did manage to capture some of the Koma show on video. Apparently this show was much busier than last season - that'll be the celeb hype then. What do you think of the new collection?

Jeez, in the last day I've learned how to mobile blog from a brand new BlackBerry, opened a youtube account and signed up to twitter (here I am in case you're interested: https://twitter.com/fash_junior). Phew!

BORA AKSU GETS MY VOTE

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

My favourite show of the day was probably Bora Aksu. Lots of peach tones on pale grey, liquid gold lamé and sinewy lengths of fabric twisted around the model's bodies. I didn't manage to get my hands on a press release to discover the inspiration behind the collection but I'm intrigued to find out.

There is always one piece which causes a little ripple of excitement when the model steps onto the catwalk. The audience is in agreement that this is our collective favourite, and camera bulbs pop just a little more ferociously than normal. In this collection it was the pale pink dress in the far right of the picture. Gorgeous...

Pic Credits: Chis Moore / Catwalking.com

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LFW REVS UP: KOMA & HAKAAN

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Slow start today. Nothing much happened this morning, but I kept looking at the David Koma at 2.15 time slot, and the Hakaan show at 2.45 timeslot and breaking out in a cold sweat. How to do both? In the end I went backstage at David Koma, got what I needed and hot-footed it to Hakaan where as promised Kate Moss and Carine Roitfeld sat smiling on the front row. Here's a photo gallery.

David making final adjustments to his models before they hit the runway

David Koma models

A rail of Koma

HAKAAN

Et Voila.

What do you think of these two very new designers? For their lack of experience playing in the big leagues I was impressed at the finesse, though I wish designers would move on from their obsession with short, sexy tight, sliced dresses.

Meanwhile the fashion junior at large is at The Ones to Watch at Vauxhall Fashion Scout now; David Koma was part of that show last year so lets hope she discovers some more fresh talent.

I'm going to drinks with ACNE founder Jonny Johansson soon then onto dinner with the lovely Olivia Palermo later. Will report!

WAITING ON KOMA

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

David Koma show is running late. I'm smooshed next to Zoe from Topshop (she writes their wicked blog) and she tells me The Vintage Academe are doing a talk at the Oxford St store today at 6 and tomorrow from 3 til 4. They've got vintage couture and lots of YSL so I'm told. Get your butts down there.

I hope things get moving soon!


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NEWS FLASH: HOBBS DO AWESOME SHOES!

In line for Aminaka Wilmont and street style snappers are going mental. I'm getting in on the act. Check these.

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LONDON FASHION WEEK MOOD BOARDS: #2 ERDEM

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Not many people get let into Erdem's inner sanctum. I'm feeling pretty lucky that he let me in, we had a quick coffee and chat about the new collection. For his new show there are no flower prints! He has also created an insane high heeled hiking boot with Nicholas Kirkwood.   I'm really looking forward to his show on Monday.

ALL ABOUT HAKAAN!

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

Hakaan with Ramona

There’s a new name on the London Fashion Week schedule as it kicks off tomorrow. And none of you will have ever heard of him. Just who is Hakaan? Where did he come from, and more important – should we be going to his show tomorrow??

I made a couple of calls and discovered that he is a 37 year old Istanbul based designer, who won a major Turkish fashion competition. This earned him the attention of Mert Alas, one half of Matt & Marcus the photographic duo who shoot half of the worlds fashion campaigns. Alas encouraged him to get to London, and show at London Fashion Week, and here he is!
So will this show be hot? Well, French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld is 100% coming to London tomorrow just to see his show. Sealing the deal, at least for the promise of a high end fashion show experience, Hakaan has Edward Enninful of US Vogue styling and has booked Lara Stone, Natalia Vodianova, Natasha Poly and Anje Rubik to model for him! AMAZING.

Having now met the designer, and seen the clothes I can see why Carine Roitfeld would like them; they look like they were made for her. Sexy, short, long, lean and with an architectural element that gives it a high fashion kick.

As I write Hakaan is hard at work with his team in a basement in Shoreditch, doing fittings. He doesn’t speak much English, but what he lacked in chattiness he made up for with some nifty pinning and pulling. I don’t want to get into hype territory here, but this show is one I definitely won’t be missing!

DOUBLE DENIM IS BACK? SERIOUSLY?!

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

   

 

'There is no excuse for double denim. I wouldn't care if there was a law saying that everyone should work the matchy-matchy look; this does not mean you should start dressing like a rock band from Estonia in the 80s. "Matchy-matchy" refers to matching colours, not matching fabrics. Key point. Another key point is that just because a couple of designers promote a look does not mean it is good – and certainly not, contrary to what some magazines might say, "essential". Why in the name of all that is sane and obvious do you want to do the double denim look anyway? Do you think it looks good? Do you own a mirror?' - Hadley Freeman (Guardian)

'Nuff said Hadley - the return of double denim has blind-sided us both. But I think I've discovered a scapegoat to shoulder the blame. Who saw Vogue's Alexa cover issue this month?:

 

You can't really get the full effect from this angle. I know Alexa is the face of Pepe Jeans and recently designed a range for American denim label Madewell (which is pretty good - credit where it's due) but I think giving her contributing editor status and letting her pen a love letter to double denim is maybe taking things too far. Meanwhile French Vogue printed this:

A four page spread of double denim. And in February's issue of American Vogue...

 

Same story. This really is the worst example of double denim ever! On no wait...

Unique SS10 - My eyes! It burns!

There are some things I wore as a 90s child which I thought had been banished to fashion's Room 101 forever, and for the greater good. I was mistaken. Floral leginggs, Doc Martens, and belly tops anyone?

When I was nine my friends and I banded together to form the aptly named Denim Club. You can probably guess what our club rules were; members must wear head to toe denim each and every day. How, I wonder, could my mother allow me out of the house? I blame her. 

Anyway, not only is double denim a trend for summer, pictures filtering through from NY fashion week seem to be indicating its popularity will continue into next season.

Mulberry AW10

I try never to say never when it comes to fashion so perhaps I'll set myself a little challenge. One day this London Fashion Week I will attempt double denim and post a pic on the FEAL blog for your judgment. Wish me luck!

 

AMERICAN VOGUE CELEBRATES FASHION BLOGGERS! OH HAPPY DAY!

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large


When I was on holiday in Cape Town this new year I spent a magical new years eve with Matthew Brookes who told me he had photographed the worlds most recognised fashion bloggers for the March edition of American Vogue. My main reaction was WOW! I was so proud of Matthew for getting such a high profile feature to photograph. It was only later the 'if only' feeling kicked in. Despite my existing status as a respected print fashion writer of 14 years standing, I humbly realised I was also someone merely starting out as a fashion blogger.

To be recognised by American Vogue as a significant example of the new breed of fashion bloggers would be totally beyond! Still, I'm not bitter. I'm delighted for Bryanboy, Garance Dore, and especially for North Londoner Catherine Kallon of redcarpet-fashionawards.com for making the US Vogue cut. Also highlighted is personal lifestyle chronicler Todd Selby, beauty blogger Michelle Phan, Michelle Obama watcher Mary Tomer  and my blog crush, street style photographer Tommy Ton of Jak&Jil. Go, go, go guys! By showing us YOUR world view, edited by you without censorship, you have demonstrated the power of the people to cut through the hyperbole of constructed media and deliver the simplest most wonderful thing: the refreshing truth. You are the inspiration for the unpaid labour of love and personal commitment that is fashioneditoratlarge.blogspot.com! Thankyou and big love from Melanie Rickey of Fashion Editor at Large xxxx

WESTWOOD AND WESTFIELD NEED YOUR HELP!

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Some of my friends are social workers and drugs councilors, and I often feel a little bit embarrassed that I have chosen to pursue such a glossy career path after hearing heartbreaking stories from an average day in their shoes. But then I remember that no matter what our profession we all have values and morals which are important to us, and of course we strive to find our own way of helping when a situation like the Haiti earthquake demands it. Well the solution is here people...

To support The White Ribbon Alliance Vivienne Westwood is opening a pop-up store at Westfield shopping centre from 19th - 21st February. The shop will be selling limited edition charity t-shirts, and the proceeds will boost the charity's efforts to rebuild Haiti's healthcare system for mothers and babies (who are often the most vulnerable in the aftermath of a disaster). It's your chance to help Haiti and get a piece of Viv history at the same time.

Westfield will also be meeting the faces of Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief show tomorrow, and will be streaming live fottage from www.westfield-uk.com.

DOMINIC JONES SCARES ME IN A GOOD WAY FOR LFW

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Alice Dellal and Dominic Jones

A year and a half ago up-and-coming British jeweller Dominic Jones was living in the notorious London squat known as "Squallyoaks" because he said "there was more drama there in one week than the omnibus of Hollyoaks". Then he came up with a jewellery range of high-end looking fierce pieces made using gold plate ten times thicker than the usual, but with an affordable heart. His idea was to create jewellery that his generation could afford and not just love from afar. I remember meeting him at a Dover Street Market party to launch Stephen Jones perfume, and being impressed by both his grey/blue hair (he is definitively ahead of the fashion curve), his endearing manner and his clear talent; he was wearing his own instantly covetable fang jewellery. He set up his business with funding from the punky model Alice Dellal, one of his best friends, and his first season saw his jewellery go global. Then Anna Wintour came knocking; then he got NewGen sponsorship.

Could he sustain the hype for his second collection? This is the all important question with any young designer, and having seen his new collection go from an idea he told me about over coffee in my Paris hotel last season, "I'm thinking about skulls," I can say he is moving steadily in the right direction! Here is an exclusive preview of his Autumn/Winter collection.

The "Vampire Bat Skull Heart Pendant" by Dominic Jones for AW10

The new collection is both beautiful and challenging inspired as it is by skulls, scorpions and beetles. "You would run a mile from these things in real life, they are pretty intimidating, but I hope I have made them desirable," says Dom. The model shown is 15 year old Daphne, who is represented by Union. The Dutch girl is already a hot property and has been modelling for just one month. She won't be allowed to walk for a catwalk show until she is 16.  The "Vampire Bat Skull Heart Pendant," was initially created by fusing two anatomically correct and to scale Vampire Bat skulls. We will bring the rest of the collection to you on Saturday.  Thanks for the preview Dom! Good luck (you won't need it). FEAL xxx

Image: by Aitken Jolly
Styling: Francesca Burns
Photo of Dominic and Alice from http://weblog.brownsfashion.com/

LONDON FASHION WEEK MOOD BOARDS: # 1 MEADHAM KIRCHOFF

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

Meadham Kirchoff let me have a preview of the collection, but I can't tell you anything about it until Sunday when their show takes place, except that it is going to be the most beautiful thing they have done to date, and that the jewellery is extra special. If, like me, you are a fan of the fashion designers' mood-board, this is theirs.Until Sunday!

TECH-CESSORIES FOR FASHION WEEK

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Hopefully the Fashion Editor at Large and I will both know how to mobile blog by Friday (in fact we are just this second trying to teach ourselves). If not I'll have no choice but to drag my chunky Toshiba PC (a cheap emergency purchase after my last computer was stolen from my empty house during Nottinghill Carnival) from show to show in a disgracefully ugly laptop bag. Please god don't let it come to that!

In an ideal world I would be carrying one of these:

 

YSL, Downtown Laptop Case, $1795

  

Mulberry Bayswater Sleeve £349.95

Aspinal, London Ladies Laptop Bag, £375  

  

Mulberry Daria Tote Laptop Bag, £599  

Fendi Laptop Sleeve, £255 

Credits: apple.com, net-a-porter.com

THE DIGITAL FASHION REVOLUTION

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

I remember when I first got a laptop,  it was darn heavy. My first mobile phone was weighty. And dial-up Internet access was so slow I used to want to bang my head against the wall of my very 90s loft apartment in De Beauvoir road that my girlfriend Sonja used to whitewash from top to bottom every six months. Maybe it was all that white that drove me mad? ANYWAY.  Today I was reminded of those moments of technology frustration when I sat down to watch the Rodarte show live streamed from New York via Showstudio.com about an hour ago.

At first it was all good, and my tea-time interlude was accompanied by a nice strong cuppa and M&S jaffa cakes. Then Sarah Mower texted to say she couldn't get a picture. While feeling all smug that I could see Anna and Grace taking their seats and Kirsten Dunst being interviewed, the lights went down for the show and...the screen went black, and however hard I clicked and closed and re-opened the browser it remained resolutely dark. That was the end of that then. I'll probably be able to watch it later, but it won't be THE SAME. Grrr.

This rant precludes what I was intending to write about in this post, namely the digital revolution taking place in fashion and the explosion in fashion film as the medium of the future for designers to express their work and ideas. London Fashion Week has an entirely new arm this season. There is a digital space where designers can show films; Hussein Chalayan is doing one, as are Boudicca and newcomer Craig Lawrence. Hussein is calling me tomorow to tell me more about his film, so I will update then.

Over at the British Fashion Council there is a bunch of dedicated people making this digital thing happen, one of them is Clara Mercer. "The digital fashion revoution has been happening naturally; London is the worlds innovation capital, and we are the first of the global fashion weeks to have a dedicated digital space. Fashion has embraced online, and we're taking it to the world." she says. I'm looking forward to seeing how some of our most visual designers make use of the fashion film medium. Its something that excites me much. And also makes me think of McQueen again, and his unforgettable last show - Showstudio's brave and brilliant livestreaming try-out session. Lucky that I was there.

Fingers crossed for LFW. It's only a revolution when it WORKS!

http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/digitalschedule (to find out how you can get involved with fashion's digital revolution)
http://live.showstudio.com/ (for Rodarte)

TAVI OUSTED BY YOUNGER BLOGGER?

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

The haters who speculated that everybody's favourite teen blogger Tavi Gevinson was being aided by a 'Team Tavi' have finally been silenced by the insightful opinions she voiced at the Evolving Influence Fashion Blog Conference hosted by the Independent Fashion Bloggers in NY last night.

Here's her take on the editors Vs. bloggers debate:

'A lot of it is kind of made up. I think it started to sort of come back and gain a little more momentum when a Grazia writer was sitting behind me and couldn’t see because of my hat. But like I saw what [she] Twittered, which was ‘Can’t see behind Tavi’s bow,’ and it’s like, I think [she was] just sort of like making a joke. But then it was like [transfers to ominous voice-over voice] ‘Bloggers and Editors at War — which side are you on?’

Read the full story at The Cut blog.

Meanwhile Racked.com are introducing guest blogger Katie as their New York fashion week critic. By the way she's only five. (Those jokers)

Katie hobnobbing with fellow blogger Bryanboy

Katie's show notes...vital I think you'll agree.

Picture credits: racked.com, nymag.com

MY NEW YORK MODEL CRUSH: TATI COTLIAR + STYLISTS HIT THE RUNWAY!

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Tati modelling Marc Jacobs AW10  

  

Tati modelling for Rodarte SS10

Tati's first shoot

One of the fun things about doing shows, is spotting new modelling talent. It has been the same faces on the runway for a few years now, so the Marc Jacobs show last night was a pleasure as his casting agent worked with a rich new seam of new modelling talent. Tati, (above) is a teenager from Buenos Aries who gave up studying cinema to model. She has been working just a year, and yesterday opened the Marc Jacobs show, which signifies she is seen as a rising star. Tati also stars in the new Vivienne Westwood campaign photographed by Juergen Teller, but he doesn't capture her beauty at all. She is my new favourite brunette (sorry Freja). Better still Marc decided that size two teenagers were not the only choice for his runway, and he did a bit of studio casting, picking two of his creative stylists, Camille Bidault Washington, (below) and Suzanne Deeken, (bottom). Maybe next season Marc could do a spot of "street casting" at the Fashion Editor at Large office?

Picture credits: Catwalking.com; Reed+Radar