London Fashion Week AW12: more highlights

More snippets from LFW…
London Fashion Week is famous for its surprises and its mix of commercial shows by Paul Smith, Nicole Farhi and Jasper Conran are nicely balanced by the interactive, multi-sensory theatre of other designers. Richard Nicoll chose to present a hybrid of showroom, shoot and show while McQ by McQueen’s theatrical show had an element of audience participation at the end. Everyone loved Anya Hindmarch‘s ‘handbag factory come to life’ presentation where glitter-dusted tote bags, clutches and Terry De Havilland shoes ‘danced’ to the the original soundtrack recording of Funny Girl. Watch the video below…

Essential fashion week reading: Grazia, The Gentlewoman and The Mr Porter Post distributed by dapper delivery boys…

Aiste Nesterovaite‘s adaptable bags that can be fastened in different permutations depending on how you want to wear them

Topshop NEWGEN10 T-shirt sales analytics. My spies (AKA the girls selling them in the Somerset House courtyard) told me they sold out every day and that Mary Katrantzou and Erdem were the clear favourites. And T-shirts sold out over sweatshirts. “The T-shirts are selling better because they’re cheaper. People just want a souvenir,” I was told. “All different people are buying them – models, fashionistas, students.”

Topshop also had a pop-up shop at its NEWGEN venue, selling the £30 tees to guests before and after the shows. While some of my fashion colleagues were horrified at the idea, others thought it was a natural progression in the consumerisation of fashion shows. At the Handpicked Media Bloggers’ Suite at One Aldwych, Warehouse and Ted Baker had their SS12 collections on show for bloggers to view or borrow for events (including the natty floral shirts and pyjama-ish trousers from Warehouse below). Warehouse’s senior press officer, Katriye Mehmet said, “Working with bloggers helps us to put a personal spin on fashion. Although the shows are about next autumn-winter, everyone’s really thinking about spring and because we have our press days so far ahead, it’s nice to give people a refresh. When you’re at London Fashion Week and everyone’s rocking their new look it inspires you to go shopping so it’s good for us to have a presence here. ”

Fred Butler’s sushi-coloured collection complete with sushi cakes and Rosy Nicholas knitted shoes…



Katie Baron’s book launch for ‘Stylists: New Fashion Visionaries’ at Darkroom Store. Showcasing the work of some of the most famous stylists in the industry (Katie Grand, Marie-Amelie Sauve and Edward Enninful are all profiled), it also explores their partnerships and collaborations with the world’s powerhouse brands. Signed copies are available at Darkroom here.


I also couldn’t resist these upcycled lanterns in the window by Naomi Paul, handmade from textile waste from famous fashion houses…

Sister by Sibling’s scorchio colour palette and animal-print twinsets, plus shoes by Underground London

Alien-like winter sunnies at Acne…

Marques Almeida’s raw-edged denim at Fashion East. Not to everyone’s taste but I feel London needs a bit of grunge to offset the prettiness and polish…

Vodafone’s genius under-seat tech-chargers (alas only for the front row elite)…

And finally, a nice post-LFW surprise from Penhaligon’s… their special Meadham Kirchhoff scented chocs delivered straight to my door…

[Images credits:
Disneyrollergirl x 4
Topshop
Disneyrollergirl x 2
Elisha Smith-Leverock x 2
Unknown x 2
Disneyrollergirl x 6
Style.com x 3
Unknown
Disneyrollergirl]

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