“Steven Meisel shot me for British Vogue in 1994. Then he asked me to go and shoot the Versace campaign. I thought it was going to be me and a few other grungy girls – instead I found myself with Linda Evangelista. Then I went to Milan for the Versace show. Gianni Versace stopped the music mid-rehearsal and said, ‘Who is that?’ They cancelled me immediately.”
Stella Tennant, Vogue
Congratulations to new fashion graduate Karishma Shahani, who won the Fashion Textiles award at last night’s London College of Fashion BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Technology show. She also won the Disneyrollergirl Fave LCF Show award (yep, I totally made that up) for superb styling and use of colour. Gotta love those clashy layers!
[Catwalk pic by Chris Moore]
“Heels are coming down,” said my tour guide, Matches buying director Bridget Cosgrave as she held aloft a pair of Tabitha Simmons kitten heels. And these really were kitten heels, not the 7cm ‘higher kitten heels’ I’d been reading about in Harper’s Bazaar earlier that morning. Cosgrave told me they have been feeling it for a while and now designers like Marc Jacobs and Rupert Sanderson are fully backing it. Which isn’t to say long, thin heels have had their day by any stretch. There were plenty of plat-heels still on show, in particular a Burberry hiker-stiletto and Charlotte Olympia’s in-demand cocktail heels. But alongside were all manner of more managable heels – wedges, brogues and a super-wearable shearling-lined Burberry biker.
Tabitha Simmons
Burberry
A good in-between is the Celine boot with tall, stack heels – classic but sexy. Stealth sexy if you will…
Away from shoes, Bridget enthused about Richard Nicoll. His T dress is a top seller at Matches (“it has a stealth following”) and it’s not hard to see why. It’s a loose, easy shape that suits all silhouettes, but its fluidity offers a dressiness that makes it versatile for work or evenings.
Knitwear news: Lutz & Patmos are celebrating their 10th anniversary with a greatest hits collection. Matches will be selling all the Lutz & Patmos collaborations – Sofia Coppola’s dress, Christy Turlington’s poncho and Carine Roitfeld’s laddered cashmere sweater.
Matches’ vintage Chanel bags sold so well for SS10 that they are buying more for AW10. And they have added a selection of vintage jewels to the offer too.
Bridget also drew my attention to a new luxe label to Matches. Raoul is from Singapore and it has to be said, they make a pretty good handbag. The balance of clean lines with luxury hardwear is right on the money. Style.com have just written about them here.
Finally, coats. I couldn’t tear myself away from Stella McCartney’s strict masculine coat (below) but the real winner fair and square in the outerwear stakes is the shearling-lined aviator jacket (but you knew that already). Second to that, like it or not, is fur. As Bridget puts it succinctly, “fur demand is huge”.
Despite my not-so-subtle hints, Bicester Village has sadly not fallen for my self-serving genius idea of a pop-up shop in London. I shouldn’t cry too hard though as it has gone for something else, even cleverer.
MARIA FRANCESCA PEPE
