Designers

On my radar: Work boots with a little bit extra…



It’s good to see utilitarian looks being given a bit of extra snazz. Joe Casely-Hayford has revived the John Moore Paragon boot (cult 80s-90s work boot with commando sole and assorted rugged straps), introducing a 12-hole version. I have the originals which get many admiring glances but the Casely-Hayfords (below) are sadly only for guys at this stage. (Read the John Moore story over at Style Salvage.)
Meanwhile, JW Anderson’s heavy metal-adorned work boots (below) are accompanied by an equally hefty studded sock. I think these are mens too but I believe there may be smaller sizes available. I’m seeing these juxtaposed with khaki army surplus trousers (khaki and red, mmmmm) and a silk bourgeois blouse or Equipment shirt. Shoe designers: let’s have more of these in lady sizes please…



[Pics: Top to bottom:
Aitken Jolly
Style Salvage
Disneyrollergirl x 2

Style Bubble]

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The future of fashion: inclusive or exclusive?



Just as we get nicely comfortable with the idea of fashion for all, the goal posts shift again. Fashion’s Night Out was a fabulously jolly affair with customers, celebs and designers all happily sharing the same breathing space. This round of fashion weeks will have more brands than ever live-streaming their shows, while a number of designers and CEOs also tweet from behind the scenes (hello @vbfashionweek, @MarcJacobsInt). Marc Jacobs’ tweeter, CEO Robert Duffy has also been giving away bags and surfboards (eh?) to lucky tweeters, creating quite the fashion frenzy. Very caring, very sharing.

But just when it was getting so cosy and democratic – BAM! – all change. Yes Burberry is live streaming its show online and broadcasting it on screens in-store but those in-store iPads aren’t just for any old civilian. No, the in-store treatment is for a select few privileged customers, so while they get to watch, shop and quaff champagne in the luxe surroundings of Burberry’s serene-but-sexy temples, the rest can press their noses against the window and like it will have to make do with their iPad at home on the DFS with a cup of PG Tips for company.

Tom Ford made his much anticipated and (not-very-well-kept) secret comeback yesterday during New York Fashion Week and what a to-do there was. No live-streaming for Ford. Instead there was a small salon-style show where only a handful of VIP press were present and they were strictly instructed that “all photographic and recording devices are prohibited. Thank you.”

Ford introduced each outfit modelled by an all-star cast including Beyonce, Lauren Hutton and Julianne Moore. How thrilling! And the outfits? Well we won’t be seeing those for quite some time, the official pictures were taken by Terry Richardson (allegedly for French Vogue) and are embargoed until next year. Blimey, New York Fashion Week has never been this exciting. Ford has clearly decided that all this ‘fashion for everyone’ guff has reached its tipping point and is leading the charge in the opposite direction. At his preposterously luxe end of the market, he’s making a case for super-exclusivity, the kind where customers are more than happy to pay for the privilege of wearing something that’s not been seen on every other Tom, Dick and Sharon.

Is Ford onto something here? It was noted recently that Chanel has scissored its sample sale guest list. The Chanel sample sale invitation is already one of the most coveted perks in the fashion and beauty business and invitations are like gold dust. The culling of the list sent out a firm message; for all that they may be embracing bloggers, setting up etail sites and interacting on Facebook, there’s no doubt that exclusivity still has meaning for luxury fashion brands. Just ask Tom.

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Vogue’s Fashion’s Night Out



Vogue’s Fashion’s Night Out is looking like quite the event this year judging by my near-to-exploding in-box. I’m sorely tempted by Rupert Sanderson’s dance-off (choreographed by Bugsy Malone’s ‘Snake Eyes’, no less), Sophy Robson’s demo of Chanel’s new Khaki Nail Lacquer Collection at Selfridges and Liberty’s unveiling of its ‘World of Manolo’ pop-up shop. But the highlight will be Harvey Nichols’ designer ‘Haber-DASH-ery’.

We are promised a vintage haberdashery bureau overflowing with all manner of customising materials plus Jonathan Saunders, Markus Lupfer, Marios Schwab, Martin Grant and Erdem on Valerie Singleton duties. All rather impressive, but even more thrilling is the prospect of discussing the finer points of a well-placed button with Vogue’s Emma ‘More Dash Than Cash’ Elwick-Bates herself. If anyone knows how to create something out of nothing, it is she (although the ‘nothing’ in this case is a not-to-be-sniffed-at Fashion’s Night Out tee, which Erdem et al will be refashioning with a flourish of the Fiskars and a fistful of magic from their collective sewing basket).

Vogue’s More Dash Than Cash pages are my absolute favourite – beautifully shot and styled and proof that it’s not what you wear but how you layer it, tie it and reinvent it. For further reading, hunt down the More Dash Than Cash and Even More Dash Than Cash books – mine have been well thumbed over the years.
I will make it my mission to extract some choice nuggets of fashionable info from Elwick and co but for now, over to you…what are your FNO plans?

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Manolo Blahnik for Liberty: Candles and notecards and cushions, oh my!



Who better than ‘Uncle Manolo’ as I affectionately refer to him (nope, never met the guy) to curate Liberty this Christmas? Yeah baby, windows, decs, the lot. And before that we get a three-month pop-up* shop launching on Fashion’s Night Out 2010 (Sept 8th) which will sell shedloads of Manolo-shaped wares. Here’s a taster.









*Oops, my bad, you can’t call it a pop-up shop. That’s a Manolo no-no. “I hate that word – pop-up – it’s so spitty,” spiteth Manolo to Vogue.co.uk.

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