London Fashion Week ss11 -Day 3 highlights



*Mary Katranzou’s interior prints. I missed the show but saw everything up close on the stands. This young designer continues to raise the bar in her collections. Each one is better than the one before.

MARY KATRANTZOU

*Front row at Michael van der Ham. Sometimes you can time your arrival just so that a spare front row seat needs filling and you’re the nearest person to do it. I used my vantage point to eyeball Michael van der Ham’s acid-pastel hued shoes and crystal-adorned clutch bags up close. I love his colour palettes. For ss11, he’s pushing acid yellow, dove grey, cobalt blue and a medley of pinks. Having gained a following for his pieced-together collage dresses, he is now branching out into separates, including a covetable silk mannish trouser.

MICHAEL VAN DER HAM






*David Longshaw. The LFW exhibition is vast and sprawling. Just when you think you have everything covered, you turn a corner and discover a whole other area. As I was about to give up the ghost near the end of the day, I came across David Longshaw, one of the Elle Talent Launch Pad winners. This new BFC-supported initiative gives emerging designers who have been in business for two years, further help and mentoring to nurture their careers. Longshaw is one of a new crop of designers who happily juggle many different plates. As well as his main collection, he creates his own prints, illustrates, writes stories and articles and has a blog (about a fashiony mouse). I liked his print scarves and the jewellery he has made in collaboration with Kirsty Ward.


*see more of my LFW coverage on the Style Compare blog



Breaking news: Church’s to open standalone women’s store



 


News just in: Forget Louis Vuitton, Prada and Chanel, the only shoe destination you need in New Bond Street is about to open at number 163. Formerly a mens shoe shop, the new standalone Church’s store, ‘Lady Bond’ (according to my mole) will be dedicated to women’s shoes in unique colorways. These shoes will be made in Italy ( thanks to the Prada connection?) as opposed to Northampton.

I’m praying for highly-polished brogues, oxfords and lounge slippers in Laduree macaron shades – not much to ask I’m sure you’ll agree. ETA: end of November.



London Fashion Week ss11 -Day 2 highlights



*DAKS
I’m seriously loving creative director Filippo Scuffi’s work for DAKS. Reminding me of APC and Margaret Howell, this is another label to add to my love of luxuriously utilitarian heritage basics. Factor in the minimalist-but-youthful styling by Cathy Kasterine (demi-wedges with socks, Celine-esque boxy tote bags) and it was well worth the 9am start.

*Louise Gray
The antithesis to DAKS’ sensible chic, Gray pushed her madcap mish-mash look to the limit. And I love her for it. How can you not adore an outfit consisting of bold block stripes, chiffon patchwork and mirrorwork applique?

*Topshop Unique’s genius show location
The Topshop Unique show was a bit too wacky for me (billowing chiffon kaftans drowning in crystals, clear perspex disco wedges, swishy cropped flares) but the location was a certified winner. The former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo was comandeered for the day, giving us a vast space to play with. The best view in the house went to a couple of office workers in the opposite building who couldn’t quite believe their luck.

*Alexis Mabille’s Pyrenex Premium AW10 launch
Being of a permanently cold disposition, I have developed an unhealthy fascination for posh Puffa*-wear (*actually, you’re not allowed to use the word ‘Puffa’ as a generic description – it’s a brand name – but ‘puffer’ doesn’t have quite the same ring…). Word arrived that couturier Alexis Mabille has collaborated with old school down brand Pyrenex to create a clothing line, so I had to investigate. Would the ex-Dior designer who now shows at Paris couture and has arguably elevated the bow tie motif to cult status magic up a bow-festooned collection? Hell no. But there is plenty of wit and whimsy.

Mabille was given a free reign by Pyrenex to unleash his creativity. “They picked me because I didn’t come from a sportswear background, they wanted something totally different,” he told me at his ‘boutique ephemere‘ in Dover Street. “As I’m coming from another direction I wasn’t constrained – it was super easy.” There are capes, ponchos, muffs and sequin gilets in the AW10 collection – about as far from the emerging minimalist mood as you can imagine. “I’m not crazy about minimalism. We have artisans and they know how to create interesting things,” he said. And what does Mr Mabille wear when there’s a nip in the air? “A special piece I made that didn’t go into production. It’s brocade, a copy of an 18th century fabric which I made up in red, purple and green silk and lined with fox fur. It was too elaborate to produce so I got to keep it for myself!”








The Pyrenex Premium shop is open until 30th September 2010

Read more of my London Fashion Week musings on Stylecompare’s new Style Platform blog…



Noughtie Nightlife Symposium




The downside of attending LFW? I’m going to miss the (frankly unmissable) London College of Fashion ‘Noughtie Nightlife Symposium’ on Wednesday 22nd September.

To accompany the Noughtie Nightlife exhibition currently showing at Rich Mix, The LCF has brought together four youth culture heads to discuss all things clubbing, music and style-related. The symposium is from 2-6pm and the line-up consists of clubbing impresario K-Tron, stylist, designer and customising enthusiast (and owner of The Emporium), Fee Doran and Time Out’s longtime writer, photographer and general clubbing correspondent, David Swindells.

The fourth speaker is anthropologist, writer, and photographer Ted Polhemus who authored the 90s style bible Streetstyle which has just been updated and re-published by PYMCA.

For tickets and info, hurry here and be sure to report back…

UPDATE: Unlucky for others but lucky for me, this event has been postponed. I’ll update when a new date is announced.