London Fashion Week AW13: Ashish

Many of you know that I'm a civil engineer by background and have spent a good part of my working life on construction sites. Some years ago, I was based full-time on a couple of construction sites wearing oversized hi-vis jackets, hard hats and steel toe boots. My only means of counteracting that scruffiness was to put on lots of lippy, all through the day. That period had a lot of influence over my conversion into a fashionista. I needed creative balance in my life after a long day of being surrounded by diggers and construction folk.

 

I never once equated hi vest jackets and PPE with fashion. You can imagine my surprise when I received my invite to the Ashish show at London Fashion Week which had a construction site as its cover photo. I was suitably intrigued. Ashish stuck to the promise in his teaser invite. The  show began with the models sauntering in wearing glittery hi-vis jackets. I felt a DIY PPE session coming on.... Whilst the entry seemed a bit too predictable, the follow-up act was good. The show focused on construction site inspired chic  with boiler suits, keffiyeh inspired dresses and plenty of hi-vis action. It was fascinating, to say the least. I'd be interested in seeing how many celebs/people actually end up wearing some of this collection. I quite like the dresses...

What do you make of the collection? Would you wear a hi-vis jacket with glittery heels? Could this be the future of fashion? ;) Ann x

All photo via Vogue Online

London Fashion Week AW13: Edeline Lee

I'd be lying if I said I knew anything about Edeline Lee before LFW. Nevertheless, I happened to get an invite to her AW13 presentation on the last day of Fashion Week. Day 5 also happened to be the day I got the maximum invites so I'm pleased that despite thinking about it, I did not give her show a miss. The location of the presentation was intriguing and historic Middle Temple Hall which brought to mind secret rituals and masonic elements. The collection seemed inspired in parts by Egyptian mythology, Adam & Eve and the Art Deco era. The prevailing ambience was one of mysteriousness. 

The presentation took place at 10 minute intervals. As we walked in, the models were dancing to what I now understand were 16th century Tudor dance steps. The fact is, I only knew this from scouring show reports whilst attempting to make full sense of the presentation. After that, the girls they seemed to partake in some kind of old-school cultish ritual but lining up to bow before the main character who wore a blouse with the Eye of Horus printed on it. It was at once both baffling and interesting.

I will now stop my feeble attempts to deciper to mind of Edeline Lee and her choreographer and let you enjoy the photos ( all mine) instead. Ann x

London Fashion Week AW13: Haizhen Wang

 

Haizhen Wang's was the last show of LFW AW13. Considering it was my first LFW season, I'd done pretty well with shows to the point where the much anticipated Emilio De Morena show failed to move me. It is amazing how quickly one can get blasé about these things. The long queueing in the cold and dark for Haizhen Wang ( it was a 6pm show that got delayed) was starting to get to me. However, as soon as the show began, I was completely won over by his fantastic collection.

Haizhen Wang was a newcomer to the main scene at LFW. He won Fashion Fringe last year and there was much excitement over his debut collection. That excitement was well justified. The designs were futuristic, well tailored and like a cross between Margiela, Balenciaga and Acne. I was completely wowed by both the show and the collection. Despite starting to feel slightly jaded by Day 5, the creative genius that was displayed at the final show enthused me all over again.

Do you like the collection as much as I do? Ann x 

P.S. All photos via Vogue Online

LFW AW13 Fashion Scout: Krystof Strozyna & Ekaterina Kuhkareva

I know it's three weeks since London Fashion Week and I have been slack in writing about all the shows I've attended.  An unexpected surprise of the LFW saga was the invite to some Fashion Scout shows. I knew very little about the designers whose shows I was invited to but that just made the experience more interesting. I'm going to play lazy and rather than writing reams about the show, I will share my favourite looks from Krystof Strozyna  and Ekaterina Kuhkareva. All photos via Vogue online as mine were just not good enough.

One way to my heart is definitely through my tummy. The Krystof Strozyna show got off to a good start with servings of delicious frozen yogurt and champagne. The collection itself contained a mixture of streamlined greys and teals and minimalist shapes. Whilst interesting, it was not colourful or quirky to make me want to run to shops and buy it all. 

The Ekaterina Kuhkareva show on the other hand was a different affair. Whilst the I didn't quite 'get' the show notes about idle housewives dreaming of more exciting times, I did like the collection. It was full of colouful knits and sheath maxi dresses. I also loved the rollers inspired glittery headgear and the fab doorknocker earrings. Shame there was no frozen yogurt or champagne!

Hope you are having a lovely weekend. Ann x

London Fashion Week AW13: Orla Kiely

I once came across my mother-in-law's school photo from the 60's and  fell in love with it. It was a black & white official school photo of a girls only class where they all had either a fabulous back-combed up-do or a swish bob. It was très chic. It was so different to the bland school photos of my generation. MIL is the shy private types and would not have any of my "I'd like to copy it and frame if please". And I let it go. Zoom back to a week ago, I had the same expression on my face as had when I first saw that photo and felt the same awe as I knelt on the floor watching and photographing the Orla Kiely A/W13 collection at London Fashion Week. Amongst the countless astute media  narratives of the presentation, and references to Margot Tenenbaum and chubby coats et.al., the best I can muster was a 'oh so pretty! I want it all!'. The presentation, which centred around a 60's typing pool, was all about vintage office girl chic.

The Orla Kiely presentation was the bit I was most excited about at London Fashion Week. Having read accounts of her previous ones, my expectations were sky high. I was not disappointed. The icing on the cake was Orla's unassuming presence in the room. Following my Mawi cringe-fest, my grown-up self should have learnt how to pitch myself better. The reality was far from it, I was completely star-struck. I blurted something along the lines of "Hi Orla, I'm a big fan I love your work. Can I take your photo please?" Orla was lovely ( and kind?) and said she looked awful and that she had no make-up on and went on to say she'd send me a photo. Then she has for my card. In my little head, I had arrived. Even though she quite possibly added mine to a pile of others filed under 'sad bloggers'. Next year, I'll make intelligent conversation, I promise myself.

I'll leave you with some of my photos from the day. Let me know what you make of the collection. Ann x

 

London Fashion Week AW13: Jena Theo

After the mild disappointment with the Bora Aksu screen situation, I wasn't sure what to expect at my next show, Jena Theo. There were two sessions of Jena Theo which was reassuring but I wasn't taking any chances. So I trotted off to the Portico rooms on the top floor Somerset House and in plenty of time for show. Turns out, I was the first one there and show wasn't going to be as crowded and so I made my way back to the exhibition area where I spotted jewellery designer, Mawi. If you remember my blog resolutions from  a couple of months ago, I wanted to do a celebrity interview and Mawi was on my list of potential people to approach. And after much hesitating, I did. It was a cheesy bumbling, I'm a blogger, I'm a big fan, I love North East India and I want interview please. Thankfully, she was kind enough and suggested I talk to her PR Rebbecca and book a slot. More on that later.
I wandered around Somerset House for a bit before heading back to a smaller queue at Jena Theo.

The Portico Rooms are small-ish, airy and filled with natural light. I managed to stand by an elevated area at the back of the room which was better from a photos point of view. I was still too dinky-legged to get impressive shots. The show was nice enough. The collection contained lots of silks, pinks, leather and oversized shapes. It was eclectic but not in an over-the-top sort of way. In fact, I thought the colour palette was rather summery. And why not, I think! The models channelled a tough girl chic. I particularly loved the cape shaped pink suede tops; feminine but not in a bubblegum girly way.

Jena Theo say they were influenced by the works of abstract painters Helen Frankenthaller and Morris Louis Bernstiein in developing the collection. It explains the beautiful multicoloured prints which formed a significant part of the AW13 collection. I must also say, I thought Jena and Theo were so very cute; they looked like the most approachable duo in fashion.

My verdict  was a thumb-up, mostly. If I could, I'd definitely invest in one of their pink mini-capes or silk blouses. Or possibly even those over-sized golden cocoons. The show didn't have the wow factor that Bora Aksu did but it was a lovely, friendly and intimate setting which is sometimes just as good. What do you make of the collection? Ann x

London Fashion Week AW13: Bora Aksu

When I started writing this post, I asked myself what I was hoping to achieve. Detailed reviews, clips and photos are already all over the Internet from the Bora Aksu AW13 show (which was the  second on schedule on day one of LFW). I'm not really going to add much more by way of sartorial musings than say Vogue or Elle. I could however share my experience of my very first show at my very first Fashion Week. Also, as a fashion outsider, I suspect my perspective may be slightly different to that of those on the inside.

Fact is, I felt a school girl giddiness as I lined up for Bora Aksu. I was thrilled that I'd actually got a ticket in the first place (newbie blogger and all). That giddiness turned to slight anxiety when, after over half hour of queueing, we were told that the catwalk was full. Thankfully, I was among the first forty on the standing allocation that got to view the show from the large viewing screen behind the catwalk. From a taking-photos point of view, it was rubbish. But then again, given how popular Bora shows are, even if I did get in to the catwalk arena, a standing allocation may have just meant photos of multicoloured fashion heads. Point to note, always get to a show half an hour early. They are often overbooked. 

 

As the music started up and the show began, I sat open mouthed and mesmerised. Slinky, expression-less models sashayed in wearing exquisite creations in multiple textures, intricate weaves and floaty purples. The clothes were fantastic and to my novice eyes, very much wearable. I absolutely adored the beautiful crocheted headgear ; if only I had the bone structure to carry them off. There was something strangely familiar about these models; I now understand Bora was trying to capture the essence of the Diane Arbus identical twins photo.

The show only lasted about thirty minutes but I really did love every minute of it. The purples and floatiness-contrasted-by-leather aesthetic very much appealed to me. The whole experience felt surreal; moi geeky engineer sat at a London Fashion Week show. I know I would have been terribly annoyed had I been one of those that got turned away; for some, this was their only fashion week show. The upshot of it all is that I am intrigued by this Turkish designer and will hopefully be able to afford his beautiful creations one day ( Are you listening TK Maxx?). 

What do you make of these clothes? Was your first Fashion Week show experience anything like mine? Ann x

All photos downloaded from Vogue online as mine were shit; taking pictures of a screen is pointless.