1. L O N D ON FA S H I O N W E E K
LONDON
FASHION REPORTING FROM
FASHION’S FRONT LINE
WEEK 2011
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ISSUE N O 4, LONDON FASHION WEEK AUTUMN/ WINTER 2011 IN ASSOCIATION WITH WEDNESDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2011
THE FASHION MOMENT A quiet moment backstage yesterday at the Mary Katrantzou A/W 11 catwalk show (see page 5 for catwalk review). Photography by Anna Bauer
The biggest trend of them Granny
The Chanel effect all? The no-trend trend knows best
REPORT BY HEATH BROWN who thinks hijacking such a style is REPORT BY JULIA ROBSON any age, anywhere. I welcome it. NOTED BY DAVID HAYES
“A Chanel cardigan is all I’ve ever ultimately subversive. The memorial-like installation with Designers may not all be doing the You might have caught sight of
wanted to wear,” said Edward The Topshop-venue catwalk was its wilting flowers at Meadham same story, but there’s still enough them out of the corner of your
Meadham, backstage at Meadham strewn with car-crash memorials Kirchho said it all: RIP trends. The to fill pages of magazines, women’s eye, with their prim, buttoned-up
Kirchho . Design partner Benjamin tied to fallen fences, in remembrance days of judging a season by its wardrobes and stores.” layers, fingerless gloves, long dresses
Kirchho is also a fan. “Her clothes of the duo’s past collection. But as identikit, box-ticking “looks” are Central Saint Martins’ Professor and sensible boots, and for a second
were revolutionary,” he told us. “The soon as the the army of models came over. “I don’t give a s**t about Louise Wilson has the last word. perhaps thought a coach-load of
whole look became the bourgeoisie’s marching out, a whole new mood trends,” rasped Benjamin Kirchho “Where is fashion heading? If OAPs had hit fashion week. But
uniform for a while, but now they was set. Cue lace beneath wool skirts post-show, which was yet another I knew that I’d be extremely rich if you look a little closer, those
just want a piece of subculture.” and coats (in boyish Coco-esque that demanded to be viewed as a and very thin. The pressures on loveable-looking “grannies” turn
With an aim to reclaim the true silhouettes). A classy collection that separate entity orbiting Planet young designers today are so out to be a whole lot younger.
spirit of their fashion idol, the design was just that little bit more Fashion. “Trends are invented to intense, it’s a miracle they are still “For me it’s about anti-sexiness,
duo hope to re-invent the Coco look Shoreditch than Sloane Square. make women feel bad about this driven and creative.” a backlash against the Wag look,”
of old in a fresh London way. “It’s themselves, created solely for the said 24-year-old Fashion Junior-at-
not about trends,” said Meadham, Photography by catwalking.com purpose of business,” he ranted. Photography by catwalking.com Large George Langford of the
Last year, when global-trends emerging little-old-lady trend.
Your handy at-a-glance round-up forecaster David Wolfe predicted
a style “standstill”, it was barely
reported. Now it appears to be true.
“I’m a platinum blonde and don’t
want to be obviously sexy, so
wearing a grannyish dress makes
REPORT BY HEATH BROWN Darks are always an A/W staple, “Trends are exhausted,” said designer the perfect contradiction.”
So many ideas, so many trends and DARK COLOURS but this season they were sludgy in Christian Blanken, following a The trend has even taken
not a glaringly obvious theme in tone, which contrasted with flashes collection he explained, was “more doddery steps on the catwalk this
sight. But hey, that’s London for you,
ARE ALWAYS of electric colour and accents of of an attitude than one look”. week. “It was all about my granny’s
always brimming with creativity. So AN A/W STAPLE, neon to uplift any outfit. Sportswear “I’d say currently fashion is favourite things,” said Henry
what were the key looks this week? met haute in a new take on luxe, about maximal minimalism,” said Holland of his budgies, bingo and
Fabrics were intended to jar with
BUT THIS SEASON while other dress-down themes were fashion journalist Elizabeth crochet collection. Even Christopher
one another: rich, shiny velvet THEY WERE given a makeover, with arts-and-crafts Saltzman. “London has always been Kane opened with crochet, though
combined with fine gossamer techniques reworked with finesse. divided about trends. Look at the was quick to quash any thoughts of
chi on and heavy leather did not
SLUDGY IN TONE If one overall feel can be found, many villages in this city, east “old lady” inspiration.
look amiss worn with soft knits. It’s WITH FLASHES it’s refinement. London has finally London being one town, one If really old is starting to look
all about mixed media – and sleeves grown up and realised wacky ideas country, even. My favourite shows really new just now, perhaps it’s
in contrasting material, which
OF ELECTRIC alone cannot a successful business of the week are Erdem, Mary because the over-60s rarely dress
looked like another garment was COLOUR AND make. True creativity reigns. Katrantzou and David Koma. Not that way any more – and as we all
being worn beneath. Textured fur one has a similar thing going on and know, rarity in fashionland is always
next to fine felted wool? No problem.
ACCENTS OF NEON See pics at lfwdaily.com yet all three would suit any person, a plus point.

2. 2 NEWS LONDON FASHION WEEK THE DAILY Wednesday 23 February 2011
LFW THE DAILY CREDITS THE DAILY SHOP
His ’n’ hers has never been such fun.
Editor
Compiled by VICTORIA BAIN,
CAT CALLENDER
Junior Style Editor, The Daily Telegraph
Deputy Editor & Chief Sub Editor
MARION JONES
Art Director & Designer HIS
BIANCA WENDT
Managing Editor
JANE MONEY
Deputy Chief Sub Editor
FIONA RUSSELL
CUFFLINKS, £36
Sub Editors
Brink (farfetch.com)
MICHELLE MARGHERITA,
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Designers
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JAKE DOW-SMITH
Reporters
DAVID HAYES, JULIA ROBSON,
HEATH BROWN, MARION HUME,
SUSANNA LAU
Beauty Correspondents
ANNABEL MEGGESON, JESS HOGAN
Guest Contributors
LINDA GRANT, EMMA LOFSTROM,
PHILIPPA WILLIAMS
Staff Photographers
T-SHIRT, £40
ANNA BAUER, MARCUS DAWES,
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LIVE CATWALK ILLUSTRATION AT MARY KATRANTZOU
HERS
For advertising enquiries, By Julie Verhoeven
email cat@lfwdaily.com
How not to make a fash prat
CONGRATS TO CHRIS! of yourself via live stream
REPORT BY MARION HUME nothing to those in Dubai or Taipei
There is no such thing as who have logged on to shop the
“fashionably late” in the world of show). Rule 2: Dress appropriately.
SHOPPER, £140
live streaming. In ye olde days, If you are wearing an LED-
Natthakur London
the bigger the designer, the later the illuminated jacket, either disconnect
(notonthehighstreet.com)
show (Marc Jacobs was once two the power source or turn the thing
hours late in New York). Today, inside out. Designers don’t want
designers flex their muscles by Christmas-tree sparkle distracting
being bang on time. from their clothes. Rule 3: If in
And so, some newly minted doubt as to how to behave, copy
catwalk etiquette for the iPad era. Julia Restoin Roitfeld, who gets top
Rule 1: Be there (that you are stuck marks for her immaculate front-row
in tra c en route to Burberry means demeanour and her serious shoes.
Hip to be dipped CARDIGAN, £29.90
REPORT BY JULIA ROBSON says Verhoeven, adding that her Mango (mango.com)
Hoxton and Dalston are being transformation occurred (shock
represented in the smarter environs horror!) not East but in Chelsea, at
of London’s West End by means of go-to salon Real Hair, whose clients
dip-dyed “crusty” hair. include Alexandra Shulman.
Creative crusties sporting the Nura Khan, stylist at The Sunday BELT, £49
latest fashion prerequisite, a barnet Times Style, reveals her purple-dyed Toast (toast.co.uk)
in dip-dyed shades of rinsed-out ends were tended by Dalston dip-
pink, smudgy lilac or tattoo blue, dyer-to-the-stars and inventor of
with dark roots – obviously – include the latest crazy colour hairdo, Alex
designer Louise Gray, illustrator Brownsell. Colourist and session
Julie Verhoeven, stylist Richard stylist Brownsell is co-founder of
Sloan, PR guru Mandi Lennard and, Dalston salon, Bleach. Converts are
of course, fashion students. known as “Bleachenders”.
“John Vial dyed my hair
pink/indigo about six months ago,” See pics at lfwdaily.com
A case of the cobble wobbles
REPORT BY EMILY FLEURIOT increasing popularity of London
As London Fashion Week closes, shows, have made for sardine-
style medics have issued a warning like front rows at catwalk shows,
that endemic fashion ailments can causing thigh-chafing numb pins,
no longer be contained, with and teeth-grinding.
TRENCH, £275
fashionistas advised to focus on Additional sta have been
LFW The Daily salutes CHRISTOPHER KANE, mitigating the symptoms. drafted in to assist vertiginous heel
Aquascutum (brandalley.co.uk)
With catwalk venues favouring wearers a icted with Cobble Hoof,
winner of the BFC / VOGUE DESIGNER ringside benches over chairs, there a seasonal disorder that strikes
has been a marked increase in around the time of fashion week.
FASHION FUND 2011 Dowager’s Hump, as the fash pack Symptoms range from the mild
stoops to note the Autumn/Winter “cobble wobble” to the more serious
2011 collections. There are concerns twisted ankle, and are often
that some are taking the trend for accompanied by inflamed toes.
granny chic a little too literally. Those wearing sporting brogues SANDALS, £29.99
Crowded venues, due to the should be una ected. River Island (020 8991 4904)

3. 4 NEWS LONDON FASHION WEEK THE DAILY Wednesday 23 February 2011 www.lfwdaily.com NEWS 5
Catwalk highlights
Report by LINDA GRANT , Novelist; lindagrant.co.uk
Photography by catwalking.com
THE
BEAUTY
SPOT
MARIOS SCHWAB MARY KATRANTZOU EMILIO DE LA MORENA SIMONE ROCHA
Fashion’s fearlessness has passed across every known If you are on your third or fourth Mary Katrantzou As a woman of a certain age, my heart leaps when I see a For young designers, mash-up is not a state of mind but
The search for imperfection A good lashing frontier. Is there anything it won’t appropriate from the
street? We are long used to bondage and fetish, and
now… the pu a jacket, that garment beloved by people
show, you might have forgotten the impact of seeing her
for the first time, as I did yesterday morning. Trends,
wearable, sculptural, draped – none of the usual fashion
sleeve. For years they have been out of fashion, as a
generation of gym-toned triceps were shown o . Which
is a shame, because the whole of fashion history has
the state of how you live. There’s no longer such a thing
as purity of form, we live in a world where everything is
available simultaneously to be mixed. It’s no longer a
REPORT BY ANNABEL MEGGESON applied layers of lipstick and lip wasn’t so precise. It’s di cult, REPORT BY JESSICA HOGAN mascara into the roots, while Lucia who say they never pay any attention to fashion. Marios words apply to an experience more like spending 15 been that of changing sleeve trends: the floor-sweeping matter of borrowing, copying or even a homage.
Create a perfect look. Now undo it, liner, only to smudge it afterwards. because we’re trained to do things After two seasons on the back Pieroni coated “every single lash” Schwab had elements of all of them. His high-necked, intense minutes exposed to lavish beauty. Everything medieval trains you could hide a lapdog in; the leg-o’- Everything is equal – what you made, what someone
but just a little. That’s the latest “Normally, we’re polishing and perfectly,” she added. burner, defined lashes have made a at Aquascutum for a voluminous, long-sleeved austere wool dresses, banded or sleeved in was on those fabrics: florals, goldfish, lotus buds. These mutton sleeves of the Victorian era. Emilio de la else made. The e ect can sometimes be incoherence, or
mood to emerge backstage this week. blending,” he said. “This time, we It was a similar story with hair storming comeback for Autumn/ fanned-out style (right). Amanda leather, discreet studs and outsize pearls, were the were dresses as Fabergé eggs – decorative three- Morena’s lean, normally body-con silhouette was it can show how things that don’t obviously belong
It was a counterpoint to the couture- wanted the make-up to have a looser backstage at Emilio de la Morena, Winter 2011. And about time, too. Wakeley’s make-up artist Sharon epitome of pared-down elegance, worn with wrist-length dimensional objects that stood away from the body in transformed into a modern-day version of Edwardian together can, in a new juxtaposition, say something
e ect polish of the collections. Raw, feel. It’s easier, fresher and sexier.” as undone ponytails portrayed a At Julien Macdonald, make-up Dowsett actually let each girl apply gloves. There is a mood in fashion at the moment that peplums, cocoon-shapes or a skirt as an open vase dress using crochet, high-necked pin-tucked blouses original. Simone Rocha’s collection for Fashion East
deconstructed and imperfect were If you prefer, you could stop dishevelled romance that injected maestro James Kaliardos insisted, her mascara herself because, as she suits our times of economic uncertainty. It’s the exact delicately holding the abdomen. A sequined skirt was and knee-length pencil skirts. But the most exciting aims for the biggest mash-up of all, between masculinity
the watchwords of this approach, before you finish. “I was going to modernity to the Edwardian-inspired “No girl is complete without said, “you get more on that way.” opposite of vulnerability and fragility; it’s toughness and covered with roses, as if the contents of the room aspect of his look was his attention to sleeves. They and femininity, with mixed fabrics and surfaces, cable
with make-up artists and hair stylists apply the finishing touches during collection. Panos Papandrianos, mascara; eyes look naked without After all, she added, “We switch our strength. Schwab’s colours were strong (mulberry, acid had flown to attach themselves to the body. Looking appeared quilted on a Lurex wool skirt suit, on dresses knit, pony skin, shearling, gingham and tulle. Severe
faux-sabotaging done-up looks. the line-up,” said Florrie White, of hair stylist at the show, released it.” So how has it been updated? outfits seasonally and it’s important green) and his pu a jackets – also seen in New York last at great beauty on the catwalk, you inevitably have to with flattering panelling, and the message was that of tailoring in black wool sat above tulle shorts and panels
At Julien Macdonald, make-up the etched-on lips and imprecise, wisps of hair from the ponytail band Lower lashes are being left clean to do the same thing with your week and at Aquascutum later in the day – may be ask the perennial “wearable” question. But when a the modern adult. The e ect might have been too of teddy-bear faux fur and even fur sleeves. At a couple
artist James Kaliardos was inspired multicoloured dots she painted on for a mussed-up look. “We wanted while the top row is loaded to face. Now that lashes have made a a response to two very cold winters, or a need for woman walks into a room in a Mary Katrantzou dress, demure had it not been for the red satin high heels by of points she sent out dresses that looked as if they had
by supermodel Abbey Lee Kershaw, models’ faces at Meadham Kirchho to reference the clothes, while also the max for a modern e ect. At comeback, I have a whole wardrobe protection. The utilitarian nature of the pu a was she is making a present to everyone in that room, for Charlotte Olympia, which seemed to be a reference to been designed for Ms Flintstone. The shoes were
who came in to the test with half (above). “But then I realised I didn’t projecting an edge.” Holly Fulton, Andrew Gallimore of mascara.” Load up now. o set with chi on scarves, belts and even a belted pu a fashion is a gift not just to the wearer but the visual the underwear that might lie beneath – showing that Perspex-heeled brogues, both masculine and feminine
her make-up scrubbed o from an want them to be perfect. I let the even used a small make-up brush coat with a skater skirt. Next, the fashion slanket. aesthetic of our surroundings. what you cover up can be the sexiest thing of all. at the same time, odd and interesting.
earlier show. Kaliardos painstakingly models go and eat, so the make-up Photography by Anna Bauer to backcomb lashes and shove Photography by Anna Bauer
Susie styles it
BESPOKE FEATURE
REPORT FROM THE EXHIBITION
BY SUSANNA LAU
Irwin & Jordan does the sort of with
clothes that fashion people love to TIFFANY & CO.
airily declare as “e ortless” and
“easy”. What this dress is, though,
is simple with something special
radiating from the shimmery nude
lamé front. I decided to mess it up a
bit with some texture underneath,
courtesy of Bebaroque’s ribbon-
embroidered mesh dress – part of
the Scottish label’s bodywear line,
which is burgeoning alongside its
well-known hosiery collection.
Mawi keeps growing its jewellery
range, and this rose-gold-plated cu
encrusted with jewels is just the
thing to add weight to the grey jersey
sleeves of the Irwin & Jordan dress.
I don’t need to tell anyone that
Linda Farrow does good sunnies,
and these snakeskin-e ect shades
are just the ticket to add yet more
texture to this outfit.
Irwin & Jordan dress, L2
BFC/Elle Talent Launch Pad;
Bebaroque dress, L1; Mawi cuff,
Ground Floor; Linda Farrow
sunglasses, Ground Floor, all at
the Exhibition, Embankment
Galleries, Somerset House. Shoes,
Susanna’s own
Photography by Shaniqwa Jarvis
Dark stars, charms for people to spell out
whatever they wish. Would “M F P
collection, which had no particular
theme but focused on superbly crafted
shining bright
ROX” hanging o my shirt lapel be coats, trousers, skirts and shirts in a
an overkill? Nah… palette of cream and navy. There
I also stopped by Alex Noble’s was a majestic fluidity to pieces such
debut presentation in the crypt as the long skirt split up the front,
REPORT BY SUSANNA LAU at St-Martin-in-the-fields, where with volume created by two arched
As the womenswear shows wind anatomy-inspired couture pieces peaks at the hips, like origami folds.
down, it was time to take a breather were suspended on rails for all to It’s an assured collection from Tait,
today by wandering round the eerily see clearly the intricate lacework who made his debut last season, and
lit Freemasons Hall to see Maria and corsetry that the set/costume on the back of him winning the
Francesca Pepe’s new collection, designer and artist has created. Dorchester Collection Fashion
themed around amulets and sacred The best comes to those who Prize, we’re sure to see more of him.
objects. Continuing to focus on wait, and Thomas Tait’s eagerly In the meantime, I’m already in
statement accessories, she has come anticipated sophomore collection A/W 11, picturing myself wrapped
up with studded headpieces and concluded a stellar week of up in one of his inky navy cashmere
masks encrusted with crystals and LFW womenswear. Sponsored by coats – the perfect winter cocoon.
pearls. I particularly love the rings NEWGEN this season, Tait chose a
and safety pins hung with alphabet fairly low-key presentation for his Stylebubble.co.uk TIFFANY.CO.UK