12 November, 2009

Equipment: The ultimate boyfriend shirt

There are boyfriend shirts and there are boyfriend shirts. On the one hand, you get the girl who throws on her boyfriend’s old Gap plaid shirt, half-tucked into her Current Elliots, with sleeves rolled up for Sunday afternoon slouching. On the other you have Carine Roitfeld.

The editor of French Vogue brings a whole new meaning to boyfriend shirt as she can literally wear her boyfriend’s shirts. Her boyfriend is Christian Restoin, the original creator of Equipment shirts (trademark style – loose cut, soft fabric, patch pockets) and soon we can wear Carine’s boyfriend’s shirts too as Equipment has now been relaunched for SS10.

Here’s a sneak peak of what to expect…

Equipment sheer blue leopard-print

Equipment workaday cotton stripes

Equipment day-to-night lace

What do we think…is Carine wearing an Equipment shirt here?*

Tatty Devine comes to Covent Garden

New shops are springing up everywhere and I was most excited to see the finishing touches being put to a Tatty Devine shop in Monmouth Street last week. According to Wee Birdy’s blog, it opened on Saturday and sells all sorts of wonderful non-Tatty Devine merch alongside their own label.

If you decide to go, make sure you pop into The Vintage Showroom, two minutes away in Earlham Street for a hefty dose of vintage utilitarian eye candy. Covent Garden just got exciting again…

Disneyrollergirl 4 Comments News, Retail concepts

29 September, 2009

George Davies’ next move

George Davies’ GIVe has had a fair amount of pre-launch press. Not only has it had a huge push in partnership with Grazia, but The Guardian, The Mail, The Telegraph and The Express have all given over column inches to the new brand which launches tomorrow. So what’s it all about? (more…)

Disneyrollergirl 5 Comments Brands, Business of fashion, Design, News, Retail concepts, Technology AW09, George Davies, GIVe

19 September, 2009

Front row fix AW10

It’s day two of LFW AW10 and I’m already dead beat. Someone get me a stamina sandwich please! The good news is that there is a fantastic optimistic atmosphere. Whether it’s due to the weather or the new venue, everyone is in upbeat mode! Day one saw Joan Collins pitching up bright and early, obviously loving all the shoulder pad action going down in the collections. I was thrilled to see Yang Du (below) finally show on a catwalk – her cartoon stripy T-shirt dresses and knitted tiger bags were so graphic and poppy. I must say, it was bloody hard watching shows, getting designer quotes and filing copy for The Daily (practically all at the same time) but I managed to pull it off by the skin of my teeth.
Today was an easier ride beginning at Mark Fast. I’d heard a rumour that he would be sending out (gasp!) plus size models and he did. Opinion was divided on whether this was a good move. His original stylist refused to work with ‘big girls’ so he had to cast at the last minute. Unforch, size 14 models aren’t usual catwalk material so his girls weren’t brilliant at mastering the catwalk strut. Hey ho. That aside, the collection was brilliant and OMG, the suede ruffles were beauties.

Mary Katrantzou showed back-to-back with Mark. More cleverly thought-out shapes plus Mary had developed her glass bottle prints into something slightly more abstract and freeform. I loved the painterly eye make-up too.

The Kinder Aggugini show was the big WOW. I earwigged on a post-show conversation with Hilary Alexander and set-designer Michael Howells as they each took turns to say an exclamatory line.

“Sensational!“

“He’d be perfect for Ungaro!”

“Haute couture!“

“If he’s not snapped up within the year…”

“…you’ll eat your cigarette!”

I can never quite decide about Kinder Aggugini (OK, I didn’t like it) but I loved the Louise Gray presentation. There was collagy layering and art-school patchwork, hot pinks and blues, more colourful crayon make-up and DIY accessories fashioned by Judy Blame. And the DIY aesthetic extended to the decoration of the space – fluoro spray paint (a la Madonna’s Borderline video), gaffer-taped signage and even Louise’s own grafitti’ed laptop.

Ashish as usual was a riot of sequins and colour, this time with a holiday theme. Nike tick sequin tees, flamingo motifs and the Beach boys all added up to vacation, vacation, vacation.