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issue no 3, London fashion week autumn/winter 2011

reporting from fashion’s front Line

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tuesday 22 february 2011

LONDONFASHION WEEK 18-23 FEBRUARY 2011

PRINCIPAL SPONSOR

the fashion moment English blooms and sunset hues backstage at the Erdem A/W 2011 show yesterday (see page 5 for catwalk review). Photography by Anna Bauer

The latter half of Kane’s collection saw dye-filled see-through plastic details adding muted colour to simple, beautifully cut dresses. “I was inspired by pencil cases we had when young and the way ice-pops were all squidgy before they froze.”

As a finale, Kane showed beaded column dresses with lava lamp-esque insets. “I wanted a SodaStream kinda feel,” he said, “all fizzy, bubbling and sparkling.” More fine champagne than plain soda, I’d say.

Photography by catwalking.com

RepoRt by heath bRown

Christopher Kane insists the fine cashmere crochet presented at the beginning of his catwalk show had nothing to do with the current street trend for granny chic.

“It’s more Art School than an old lady,” he told us backstage. “It’s the most luxurious crochet you’ve ever seen.” So where did he source these creations from?

“We’re not telling you,” said Tammy, his sister and business partner. “And it wasnee me!” his mother told me. “I can hardly knit.”

RepoRt by MaRion huMeIn fashion, out of fashion – it’s an old-fashioned concept in a world where we know the consequences of throwing things away. 

But how can the “Reissue, Reuse, Recycle” mantra work for new pieces so outstanding that not only will they be recognised when you wear them, but might even look “old” if worn a year from now?

Think of them as “cradle to cradle” pieces, treasures that will be worn with joy the first-time around, packed away and then brought out again. As for how long that time lag

RepoRt by david hayes “There is a real emphasis on ‘investment’ at the moment,” said Vogue’s Fashion Director Kate Phelan, after the Burberry Prorsum show. “Everyone has enough black and grey. That now means a designer’s colour palette is really significant when a women wants to invest in something extra special.”

The coats from Christopher Bailey (which are indeed Burberry’s “something extra special”, with buy-it-now prices starting at £1,395), came in shades of lipstick red, deep orange, teal blue and loden green for next season. They perfectly nailed London’s trend for lush colours-to-keep in ultra-rich fabrics.

“It’s not about buying a cheap item in fluoro yellow from the high street any more,” said The Observer’s Fashion Editor Jo Jones. “I saw another editor in an amazing red coat yesterday. That’s the kind of thing you want to invest in, hold on to for ever and bring out again and again.”

As dappled and luminous as an Impressionist painting, the colour at Erdem had that keep-me-forever feeling practically woven through every seam. But it was Michael van der Ham who came up with some of the most sumptuous shades of the week in a standout collection of

it with a grey cashmere sweater to bring it back in later years. Ditto the Burberry biker jacket – great now, next season too identifiable and maybe even a bit old, but then you bring it back.” On Issa’s A/W 11 hit list for cradle-to-cradle wear? JW Anderson’s long pleated kilt.

As for clothes that last a lifetime, several editors were spotted reworking Yohji Yamamoto pieces bought years ago, in tribute to his upcoming V&A exhibition. As The Telegraph’s Tamsin Blanchard puts it, “There’s nothing more modern than clothes that last forever.”

fashion forecast: bright winter ahead fizz, bubble, pop!

don’t throw it all away

deep-pile velvet dresses, soft georgette trousers and seamed Lurex knits (below). “I wanted to strip everything back to blocks of colour this season,” he said after his show. And what colour – everything from dusty pink, powdery lilac and soft tangerine to bright turquoise and chartreuse green. “It’s nonsense you have to do dark colours for winter,” van der Ham added. Suddenly charcoal grey and black are looking just a little bit silly.

Photography by Anna Bauer. For more pics, see lfwdaily.com

noted by linda gRant Years ago, one of the first female newspaper editors told me, “I don’t need a coat, I have a driver.” While I’m waiting for my lottery win and my driver, my coats are the most important items in my wardrobe, and the ones I’m prepared to spend most money on. Here in the northern hemisphere, we can spend up to eight months a year in a coat. At Peter Pilotto, a duo best known for their beautiful prints, the stand-out pieces were the long, lean greatcoats with military styling, big collars and slanted pockets.

These coats, in black, navy and winter white, were ingenious in their interpretations of how to tailor. Some were cut away at the front to reveal wide-legged trousers, but the most interesting ones looked hard at the long-neglected topic of sleeves. There were velvet sleeves on wool coats or, startlingly, no sleeves, like a gilet, with many possibilities for what to wear beneath, to add interest to a functional item and mark it with your own individuality. Better still, with a large enough wardrobe, it’s never the same coat twice.

We Had It So Good by Linda Grant (Virago) is out now. Visit lindagrant.co.uk

Thoughtful shopper

should be, chic front-row fixture Caroline Issa, the Publisher and Executive Fashion Director of Tank, says, “At least three seasons and then worn differently to keep it fresh. Take Christopher Kane’s neon skirts from last season – wear one now, take a break and then team

there’s nothing more modern than cLothes that Last forever

2 news London fashion week the daiLy Tuesday 22 February 2011

RiotBoyyys

MeadhaM Kirchhoff is one of London’s most uncompromising labels. As revered for its highly crafted creations as for a refusal to give a fig about trends, owners Ed Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff wouldn’t dream of designing anything as banal as an It bag. It hasn’t stopped them just winning a fashion forward sponsorship, though. “It’s very significant for us,” say the duo. “It gives us the opportunity to develop our work in a relevant manner.”

The BFC initiative, sponsored by Coutts & Co for a second year and supported by the LDA, provides two seasons of financial support and mentoring to three emerging British designers. It’s a good fit for Coutts, which has a history of supporting creatives. In choosing Meadham Kirchhoff, it is also canny. Here is a label whose S/S 11 show rejected the prevailing good-taste trend for a weirdly ethereal grunge. And yet the collection helped kick-start a season of the same on the high street. The label’s credentials – rebel stance, poetic sensibility, subcultural references, high-street fans – are utterly London.

So what will the pair unveil today with their show, I Am a Lie That Tells the Truth? “It’s about feminism. There’s an element of subverting bourgeois symbols,” says Meadham, a CSM menswear graduate, like his partner. “I grew up with Courtney Love and Riot Grrrls.” Then he adds, “And I’ve been depressed. The collection is a manifestation of a huge emotional void.”

Theirs is a vision of heart-rending contradiction, then – romantic and tough, political and personal, all sewn into wool and lace, velvet and embroidery. These two are coining a beauty all of their own.

Meadham Kirchhoff is showing today at 1.45pm, EC3

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Live catwaLk iLLustration at david komaBy Julie Verhoeven

RepoRt by Julia RobsonA fountain pen (along with a black Moleskine) is going the way of the dodo, but we can reveal that the fash-pack folk haven’t entirely dispensed with theirs (yet).

“I would do a fountain pen, but I’d get it all over my clothes,” said front-rower Melanie Rickey, iPad teetering precariously on lap. “I use one in my daily life for cards and letters. It’s the ultimate anti-iPad statement.”

“For me, it’s iPhone for shows and fountain pen for thank-yous,” says Grazia’s Paula Reed.

Sarah Bailey of Harper’s Bazaar uses a plastic Pilot V fountain pen because “it simply writes so much more fluidly. Great for making notes, and something of a cult in the HB office”.

The BFC’s Rosanna Falconer uses a fountain pen, as does The Daily’s own Cat Callender.

“I asked for a fountain pen for my birthday and got a Parker with a black-gold nib,” says Callender. “After so much time on a computer, it’s a counterpoint to pick up a fountain pen and be reminded of the craft by which I earn my living.”

RepoRt by david hayes “I tried to tweet about lamé yesterday, but I didn’t know how to do the accent on the ‘e’,” says Harper’s Bazaar’s Sarah Bailey. “And without the accent… well, that would just be ‘lame’, wouldn’t it?”

Anyone with a magpie eye like Bailey’s is in for a treat next season: even the most unexpected of designers has gone all razzle- dazzle “jazz hands” showbiz on us. Yes, we mean you, Richard Nicoll. Nicoll’s lamé was gorgeous liquid midnight-blue stuff, fashioned into drop-waist dresses to die for. And

over at Antonio Berardi – no stranger to a bit of sparkle, it has to be said – it was all about Lurex siren dresses in show-stopping red and gold. Even Mulberry’s Emma Hill included floor-length gold plissé in her country-girl mix.

Can’t quite picture it? Get help now. “One of our team obviously thought it was so tasteless that she couldn’t even remember seeing it,” says Bailey. “Not a glimmer – she had completely blocked it from her memory.”

See pics at lfwdaily.com

a regal toast to dame VivRepoRt by MaRion huMeYou’d assume that designers would welcome a stiff drink after the slog of staging a show, but few are toasted as Vivienne Westwood was on Sunday night: with 18-year-old Chivas Regal, at a candlelit dinner for just 45 people in a Regency mansion in Belgravia.

Westwood has designed what is sure to be a much-coveted bottle for the whisky brand. “I don’t do many things like it, but I like this,” she said, as she showed Tracey Emin the bottle, swagged in a battered Union

Jack. Only 2,500 have been issued, with just a few going to Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nics to be sold at £400 a pop.

Westwood is the third designer to collaborate with Chivas Regal, after Christian Lacroix and the late Alexander McQueen, although few of McQueen’s bottles reached the market. While Chivas Regal called a halt as a mark of respect, about 100 bottles had sold before his death, and now change hands for thousands. “We can’t, and wouldn’t put a price on them,” says Chivas VP Vanessa Wright, “and we’d never sell the

4 news London fashion week the daiLy Tuesday 22 February 2011

“The chance came up and we grabbed it,” says Stephanie Chen, Executive Director of Womenswear and Accessories at House of Fraser. She is speaking, of course, about the relaunch, exclusive to House of Fraser, of one of fashion’s best beloved icons, Biba.

How did they dare go there, to a brand whose reinvention has proved so irresistible to so many, but whose magic has proved so elusive to recapture? “In its heyday, Biba was all about excitement, and that came from the product,” says Chen. “There were new things all the time, and sometimes it was barking, but we loved it.” She pauses. “We knew we had the infrastructure to support all that.” Cue team labour of love, universal price points and a design integrity that spans it all, from denim to dresses to key rings to fine jewellery. Oh, and Daisy Lowe as muse. “She looks divine,” says Chen. “She captures the spirit of it. She just loves Biba.”

S/S 11 is new Biba’s second season and Chen is choosing her favourite pieces. “I love the silk camisole with the dark indigo high-waisted jeans [seen left]. We’ve had amazing feedback on the denim, it’s a great fit.” Then there’s the tiered maxi [right]. “Especially worn with a metallic knit…” she says. Looks like the magic is back. Biba, from £15, houseoffraser.co.uk

It’s the high-street name we cherish, but whose reinventions have left

a trail of broken hearts. So how has

House of Fraser made Biba bloom again?

love to love you, biba

Photography by eLLen von unwerth

RepoRt by JessiCa hoganThere’s something fishy going on at LFW. From the mermaid-like hair at Christopher Kane to the fishtail plaits and silvery skin at Erdem, make-up artists and hair stylists were hooked on a watery beauty.

Far from diluting the message of the catwalks, it has helped the clothes do the talking. “The collection is very fluid,” said hair stylist Luke Hersheson, of the clothes at Richard Nicoll. “I wanted the hair to complement that.” Cue boyish, slicked-back locks morphing into long, floaty lengths.

At Christopher Kane (right), collars filled with watery gel and shiny sequins inspired hair stylist Paul Hanlon’s slick ponytail, and he used plain old H2O to give mousse-prepped hair a “soaked” texture.

Make-up artists continued the marine theme. For Erdem, Nichola Joss used a “silvery-rose” highlighting fluid to add shimmer; at Pringle of Scotland, Loni Baur moisturised lips for an aqueous sheen; and at Giles, Lucia Pieroni used M.A.C’s Lipglass to lend a wet shine to cheeks and lids.

Photography by Anna Bauer

RepoRt by annabel MeggesonIf there’s one fashion role model you can’t argue with, it’s the strong woman. And though she was all over the catwalks in New York, it’s taken her a while to emerge in London this week. She’s now out in full force and ready to take on the season in style.

Last season, Peter Pilotto’s muse was the epitome of modern elegance. This time around, she was a sharp-edged icon of revolution (above). Her powerful personality was evoked with a statement eye in vibrant green and clashing yellow,

glimpsed beneath tousled hair, fresh from fighting the good fight.

At Michael van der Ham, rich, earthy bronzers and eyeshadows sculpted the face into a look that make-up artist Hiromi Ueda summed up as “tough but beautiful”. David Koma’s signature power-dressed woman even toughened up the clean line of her ponytail, with a wrap of wool and leather.

“It’s not just any ponytail, it took us ages to get the look just right,” hair stylist Shay Dempsey pointed out backstage.

All of which could explain why

the strong woman was a little late to arrive. But perhaps it’s just taken her a while to acquire her powers.

At Holly Fulton, hair stylist Duffy noted, “Holly’s woman started out young and fun, and last season she started to grow up. But this season her strengths are really playing out.” The result? Structured hair and strong crimson lips, courtesy of make-up artist Andrew Gallimore for M.A.C.

Hey, it’s only make-up – but it’s apt for these revolutionary times.

Photography by Anna Bauer

i am woman, hear me roarrr!

the

beauty spot

www.lfwdaily.com news 5

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tiffany.co.uk

with tiffany & co.

Catwalk highlights

Report by cLare couLson , Fashion Features Director, Harper’s BazaarPhotography by catwalking.com

peteR pilotto eRdeMbuRbeRRy pRoRsuMThe show notes for Peter Pilotto’s collection talked of “a new tough territory”, but tough is probably the wrong word, as there was nothing hard about the draped dresses, the dynamic digital prints or the foray into knits that the duo showed first thing yesterday morning. However, this season some strong tailoring – in the form of long sleeveless coats – did offer a more structured counterpoint to the often complex dresses and tops. And while many silhouettes seemed to be developed from last season’s collection, they seemed more commercial than Spring/Summer’s slightly tricky midi-lengths. Perhaps that’s because there were more options – some shorter, printed dresses, silk tops and clean column dresses, some of which featured billowing trains. Some shapes didn’t quite work – the layering of skirts over voluminous trousers, for one. But those printed trousers had a lot more appeal when they were paired with an elegant draped jersey top and a tailored coat.

It was fitting that Christopher Bailey chose to move his Burberry show to Kensington Gardens this season – the vast marquee was a stone’s throw from the stamping grounds of the original Chelsea girls who inspired his collection. With Dusty Springfield’s You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me on the soundtrack, Bailey kicked off with a parade of fabulous outerwear – clean-cut coats in Sixties silhouettes, in tangerine, scarlet, lime and Wedgwood blue, before moving into skinny-rib knits and figure-hugging black flares or beatnik pants and cropped jackets in oversized plaids. Nubbly tweeds in moss green and earthy browns followed along with glossy black fur coats, trimmed with patent leather, while the Burberry trench was reworked in a cream Aran knit with black leather trims. Leave it to Bailey to give us one of Fashion Week’s sweetest moments: as his flock of Chelsea girls took to the catwalk for their finale, faux snow tumbled down from the roof-top as each girl walked out in a cream beret and a clear plastic cape.

Like many designers this season, Michael van der Ham explored velvet for autumn, draping, folding and wrapping it into a series of dresses in rose pink, fuchsia, lilac, peacock blue and turquoise, before exploring draped tops in the same material, which were paired with fluid silk trousers in matching colours. It was familiar van der Ham territory, even if panne velvet replaced last season’s rich silks and dévorés. Less familiar, and perhaps more successful, was his experimentation with knits. Blocks of colour, metallics and florals with an Art Deco feel were merged into simple long-sleeved sweaters paired with colourful silk pants, or into shifts worn with cardigans. Without the complex drapery, his patchworks of colour seemed much more approachable. He ended with a series of asymmetric tailoring in chunky wools and some challenging trousers entirely embroidered with swags of silk fringe, which jarred a little. Van der Ham has such a great eye for colour and he’s at his best when he embraces it.

The biggest problem when faced with Erdem’s collection is how to make rapid notes on all those incredible prints, intense colours and finely worked details (perhaps, for a start, someone could come up with a colour sequel to Niki Segnit’s Flavour Thesaurus). His autumn collection will surely have his fans salivating, including Samantha Cameron, who sat front row at yesterday’s show. This season, Erdem developed painterly abstract prints with shots of magenta, emerald and turquoise, which were worked into long, lean velvet or silk dresses. He reined in his silhouettes, focusing on shifts and neat pencil skirts, while occasionally letting his prints sing on more billowing chiffon dresses. But he also showed how to wear all those prints in a more modern way, by teaming a lustrous silk skirt with a plain raspberry pink Aran knit, or contrasting a long-sleeved printed tee with a clashing A-line velvet skirt. And for anyone still not convinced of the allure of print, Nicholas Kirkwood’s delicious silk boots provided a pretty attractive access point.

MiChael van deR haM

RepoRt FRoM the exhibition by susanna lau Clemency London is part of the BFC/Elle Talent Launch Pad this season, and for her latest collection designer Alison Clemency-Buddenhagen has returned to intricate detailing, as illustrated by the beautiful beaded collar I’m wearing here. It’s detachable from the white shirt, which features layers of silk that form a bib detail on the front. I’m calling the ensemble a dress... well, just about! David Longshaw, another Talent Launch-Padder, has once again collaborated with his girlfriend Kirsty Ward (who has a budding line of her own) to create a collection of jewellery that I love for its unique mix of hardware. I’ve been a longtime fan of Bebaroque, purveyors of beautiful embellished hosiery that is always eye-catching, and these black numbers, decked out with paillettes and tassels, are no exception.

Clemency London collar and dress shirt, L2; David Longshaw necklace, L2; Bebaroque tights, L1, all at the Exhibition, Embankment Galleries, Somerset House. Boots, Susanna’s own Photography by Shaniqwa Jarvis

RepoRt by susanna lau Cramming was the key word of day four of LFW, because every show was deemed a must-see and making it to each one on time felt like a mountain conquered. It started with Peter Pilotto’s continuation of the longer silhouette, as seen in his coats, the dresses that were elongated at the back, and earthy prints in shades that felt “off”, but of course in the context were totally right.

David Koma was dotty for conceptual artist Yayoi Kusama, so dots were laser-cut out of cashmere and leather, and for the first time the designer known for his hard-edged materials worked on a digital print inspired by Leigh Bowery. I always welcome the presence of pompoms as well as dotty dresses on any occasion.

Love was in the air for Holly Fulton, who fantasised about Coco Chanel’s love affair with the Duke of Westminster in a way that meant luxurious detailing was rife. Tweeds threaded with snakeskin, Mongolian fur trims and velvet ribbondry contributed to this tactile trip. Fulton’s prints were

what really got me going, particularly the lips that graced a covetable pair of palazzo pants.

Les Chiffoniers surprised everyone by shifting the focus from its leggings to dresses – made from pliable stretch leather that had once lived as leggings and had been reworked into intricate patchwork formations comprising ox blood, brown, green and other unexpected shades. The label hasn’t abandoned legwear entirely, though, as a pair of luxurious inky-blue ponyskin zippered leggings is another one to add to the list of desirable bottoms observed yesterday.

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The revel’s in the details

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so grunge, so on it, so Pretty Polly

launched from advice personally delivered by US Vogue’s Anna Wintour. “It was amazing advice,” she says. “Of course she’s very knowledgeable, so to get advice from her is really something extraordinary and I’m just happy I was able to fulfil it. I’ve loved doing Pre-Fall.”

Everything seems to be happening at once for Ilincic, but that’s OK with her. “I think it was quite timely for all those things to happen to me now,” she says thoughtfully, “because I’m in the right place. As a young designer, it’s always about being different and new, but after a while, that’s not your message any more and you have to get to the next level. Then it’s about how to make those ideas work in the real world, how to make them last, how to make them timeless.” Or as Bridget Cosgrave, Fashion and Buying Director at Matches, puts it, “Roksanda has really perfected her fit while hitting the right price point. It’s a winning formula.”

Anita Barr, Womenswear Buying Director for Selfridges, also feels Ilincic’s time is now and has brought the designer to the store this season. “Her Spring/Summer 2011 collection really resonated with our buying team,” says Barr. “Some pieces were shorter and more wearable, but the jewel tones and silk fabrics ensured the elegance wasn’t lost at all. I can’t wait to see her vision for Autumn/Winter.”

Ilincic admits the recent recession taught her a lot. “It just made me really concentrate on doing things in the best possible way without even thinking of too much artistic experimentation, which is what I maybe would have done before,” she says. “But suddenly, it was about the quality and pushing what you’re

he view that drops away behind Roksanda Ilincic’s desk is breathtaking. On entering her fourth-floor office in east London one cold, late-January afternoon, it’s initially impossible to talk about anything else. A neighbouring warehouse has been demolished

and, in its place, spanning the width of the window, is a huge, open wound of earth: JCBs claw at ragged black trenches while men in yellow vests run around like ants.

And yet, here’s Ilincic, all Slavic cheekbones and impeccable chic in her dark, wide-legged trouser suit, standing next to a tailor’s dummy swathed in cobalt-blue silk. Could a designer known for her fluid femininity, her contemporary elegance, be juxtaposed against a sight more brutal than this bleak canyon? “It’s so sci-fi!” exclaims Ilincic with glee. “It’s been weird watching it happen. At one point, there were machines drilling into the ground like giant birds of prey. Funnily enough, the Autumn/Winter collection is all about birds…”

Whether or not the audience detects something of the urban nightmare when Serbian-born Ilincic unveils her A/W 11 collection later today, this is the backdrop against which it has been designed. From the evidence of kingfisher-blue and suede-like silver silks, and from the scatterings of Swarovski pearls and luxurious felted wools, however, the Ilincic bird is less dystopian JG Ballard and more the splendid, preening type.

There’s folklore thrown in, too. A floor-to-ceiling mood board in the designer’s office is layered with photographs of feathered friends – pheasants, birds of paradise – and a startling row of ethereal, large-eyed women, which includes Garbage’s Shirley Manson and Liza Minnelli. “There’s this idea of the bird changing into a woman. It’s about those connections,” Ilincic says.

But it is bird feathers and their colours that have really inspired this collection. “It’s incredible how they can either completely blend in with nature or, on the contrary, be beautifully dramatic and stand out,” Ilincic says in her romantically accented English. “Or sometimes both. A bird can be covered in brown, earthy feathers, so it settles into the background, then suddenly, there’s a flash of graphic black and white and yellow or royal blue. It’s just fascinating the way that nature mixes colour. No human mind can match it.”

Ilincic, however, is trying her damnedest to. She has always been drawn to vibrant colour combinations, and her recent creations were powered by an impressive paintbox. The Resort 2011 collection – an explosion of mimosa-inspired fluoro yellow – was followed by her S/S 11 collection, accentuated with “dying sunset” tones and neon pink-orange pieces, which simulated a waxy sun sinking over London. “Look!” she says, whipping out her iPhone to offer photographic proof. “And the picture

“it’s Just fascinating the way that nature miXes coLour. no human mind can match it”

“you don’t have to wear a corset or be tied with beLts and baLLgowny fabrics to Look eLegant”

the best at. You get to the core of what you are.”Professor Louise Wilson, MA Course Director at

Central Saint Martins, was one of the first to recognise Ilincic’s essence and can sum it up in two words: “Effortless elegance,” she says. “Roksanda is a woman who designs for women – a rare thing these days.”

Ilincic is happy with this tag from her mentor. “That’s what I’m trying to achieve, a free woman in certain ways. It’s this concept of soft architecture. You don’t have to wear a corset or be completely tied with lots of belts and ballgowny fabrics to look elegant. The architecture of a garment holds it on a body; but rather than being hard and stiff, it is soft and freeing.”

It’s something she has wanted for her own designs since the days when she collected and wore vintage clothes. “They came corseted or finished in an old-fashioned way. I used to wear something and think, ‘Gosh, it’s so beautiful, but wouldn’t it be nice if it was comfortable, too?’” she says, laughing.

Her fascination with modernist architecture has also fed into this desire. “I’m attracted to the whole process of architecture. I mean, how do you actually build an effortless place, a spacey building, without many walls? I love that type of brutalism, which is interpreted in a completely modern way. That’s something I also try and do in my garments.” She shows me the toile of a dress to be covered first in hard metal hoops and later smothered in Swarovski pearls. “It’s that same architectural principle. In Pre-Fall, you’ll see a beautiful, delicate lace dress held by very harsh, unpolished metal straps,” she says. “Or I’ll use hard industrial zips to contrast against soft silk. I think it brings a certain modernity to a garment, an edge.”

Suddenly, the view from this room makes sense.

Roksanda Ilincic is showing her A/W 11 collection today at 12.45pm in SW1. Stockists: Harvey Nichols, Matches, Selfridges, net-a-porter.com Kate Finnigan is Style Director of Stella

Belle de jourWords by kate finnigan

Photography by Lina scheynius

Roksanda Ilincic has taken her beautiful, silken, colour-infused creations from the catwalk to the high street to politics, and reinvigorated our ideas of daywear in the process. Now she is in further expansion mode. Women of the world, rejoice

a “colour surprise”. “I’ll have a touch of colour inside a dress. This blue dress [on the tailor’s dummy] has a rusty grosgrain belt inside. You can’t see it on the outside, but when you open the dress up, it’s there.”

It’s this kind of detail that has taken Ilincic from London Fashion Week newcomer, with a quirky penchant for designing cocktail dresses and gowns (at a time when no one was wearing them), to an established designer fronting a serious business. In the past 12 months, she’s not only become a mother (in August) to daughter Efimia, but is now producing four collections a year – her first Pre-Fall collection, a sort of reworking of her greatest hits, drops into stores in a few months. She also has a swimwear line, available in London exclusively at Harvey Nichols, and is working on a bag collection. And this season, after her highly successful collaboration with the Whistles chain, she joined Debenhams’ new Edition team, alongside Jonathan Saunders, Preen and Jonathan Kelsey.

Perhaps that’s why there’s a new, palpable confidence about this designer. Here is a woman who has the self-assurance to say she doesn’t need a muse, or even a particular image, to inspire her. All she needs is herself. “What is most important to me is to feel our time,” she says. “So rather than starting with, say, the sun on a late summer’s day, what is more important is to feel what a woman wants on that day. What are the needs of the modern woman?’’

There are some powerful modern women who feel she is answering that question perfectly. Women such as Michelle Obama, who wore head-to-toe Ilincic for the Chinese President’s first visit to the US last month. “It was a big honour, especially as Michelle Obama has such great style and is known for choosing and supporting many young designers, unlike other women who’ve been in her place,” says Ilincic, smiling. “So to not just be chosen by her but chosen for a big and special occasion… obviously it was amazing.”

Meanwhile, her Pre-Fall 2011 collection is being

doesn’t do the sunset justice. Those are all the colours in that collection: orange and purple, going to silver... That was my palette right in front of me.”

With A/W 11 in its final stages, the studio is now decorated with a new palette – fabrics in burning red, burgundy, roseberry, dark red wine and rust, as well as the eye-popping blue. “It’s all about getting the right shade,” says Ilincic, “shades that sit beautifully against each other, or are clashing against each other in a way that makes you excited, or at least makes you feel something. I love colour. I think that comes with people brought up in the sun. The colours in Serbia are bright, and when the sun shines they’re even brighter.”

So strong is this love of colour that sometimes Ilincic likes to present a garment with what she calls

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8 news London fashion week the daiLy Tuesday 22 February 2011

Lfw the daiLy

Designer notesUsed up all your inspiration on Fashion Week?

The Daily is on hand with enough cultural dos and dates to fuel your next few seasons

SNAP!One of the world’s most prestigious photography festivals is coming to LFW’s favourite location. The World Photography Festival and Exhibition (previously held in Cannes) showcases new work in all genres from fashion to documentary, plus a roll call of practitioners, from emerging talents to esteemed names. Highlights include talks and workshops from modern masters and the exhibition of winning images of the Sony World Photography Awards. And all under the photogenic roof of one somerset house. Festival from 26 April to 1 May throughout Somerset House; Exhibition from 26 April to 22 May at the Embankment Galleries. Visit somersethouse.org.uk

PERFECTLY FORMEDYes, we’re wedded to our five-packs of plain white M&S hipsters, too, but coLLette by coLLette dinnigan, is, as it were, the mistress on the scene. For when you need to up your game.Collection from £8, at M&S Marble Arch and online from July; marksandspencer.com

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FASH WEEK FUNThis Fashion Week business is irresistible, is it not? Drink your fill by getting down to H&M, 234 Regent Street, W1 from 2 to 6pm on sat, 26 feb to take part in London fashion week the daiLy presents h&m’s fashion week workshop! It’s your chance to make like a model in your own photo shoot – you’ll have your make-up done professionally and a top photographer from The Daily to snap you rocking the latest H&M looks. There’ll be drinks, styling tips from The Daily folk and the chance to win a s/s 11 h&m wardrobe worth £500.

diary directoryWe know your name.

20,000 style suspects from fashion photographers to fashion brands.T 020 7724 7770 E info@diaryd.com W diarydirectory.com

need a photographer, and snappy?phone diary directory, your fashion friend

“What are the most popular fashion photographer names listed on DIARY?”

johndavid

paul

ben

SPRING/SUMMER CLEANFeeling the new-season bare-all fear? one aLdwych heaLth cLub & spa has a sliding scale of fitness how-to programmes, from personal-trainer hi jinx, right down to a nice massage, via a glorious pool. Maybe a facial to start with...Health Club & Spa, One Aldwych, WC2; onealdwych.com

DON’T CRY, IT’S ONLY ART! After LFW, a mind-clearing museum trip is in order. But why venture out when you can look online? Artist, designer et al JuLie verhoeven has thoughtfully created installations you can see from the sofa at un-titledproject.com, including Tears of a Clown (below). Off to Paris? Pick up Ponystep mag, launching during Fashion Week, and pore over her Fashion Icons portraits. Installations at un-titledproject.com/julie-verhoeven/single-gallery/8150520;

www.lfwdaily.com news 9

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h&MeditoR’s ChoiCe

Jessica bumpus fashion features editor, vogue.comwears dress £39.99, sandals £29.99, all by H&M

I’ve always loved Alice in Wonderland. And somehow I seem to have subconsciously adopted Alice’s style: long, straight hair, and now a bright, bouffy dress. That’s the fashion cycle for you.

I like the dress being fitted – which is odd because I normally wear baggy dresses for Spring/Summer. I also love to clash prints. The print and colour drew me to this. Then I saw the sandals, loved the clash, put it all on and thought, “Yesss!” I’ve added black opaques. I’d wear this anywhere. I could also style the dress with socks and sandals, or dress it up with Prada boots. I love the sandals. I’ll wear them with shorts and dresses.

This look is typical of my style – bright and clashing. I used to do bold eyes, but I’ve steered more towards the lip; it transforms an outfit. I wear what I’m in the mood for – comfort or structure. But if I buy something new, I have to wear it. Then there are the staples. I have a fantastic pair of flat old brown boots I’ve worn to death. They got soaked in New York last week. Must get a new pair.

I got this gold elephant necklace in New York and I haven’t taken it off since. With jewellery I always wear my thing of the moment. Otherwise, I don’t wear accessories, so I’m very mix and match. I love how the Olsen twins do that and look effortless. Designer-wise, for me it’s anyone from Antoni + Alison to Matthew Williamson. And Chanel, of course.

When I first came to London, I went to London College of Fashion. It’s right by H&M, so that was where you spent your lunch hour. It was so dangerous. I still go in and want it all. H&M catches a mood. I’m a big fan of the kids’ department. There’s one boyswear jacket I wear all the time and people always ask about it. Then there’s the jumper with the skeleton bones on it. It’s very cool, very Funnybones. Alice would love it.

Clothes available from H&M. Stockists 020 7323 2211

JESSIcA BUmPUS, PHOTOGRAPHEd AT VOGUE HQ, lONdON, BY mARcUS dAWES

coLour me happyYes, it’s grey outside, but colour

is popping on the catwalks

supersiZe snacksSaucer-like cookies and steaming mugs of coffee at Pringle. We like

anna bauerHer photography’s on fire (and

hitting bookstores in September)

dishy boys servingdishy food

And now we’ll shut up about food

tongue-twisting partiesLove/Liberty/Alexander Wang

LFW party. Come again?

barometer

punctuaLityFar-flung show venues mean we’re (literally) running late

pecking orderPhotographers refused food while journos chow down. Don’t you want your collection snapped?

bLogging, vLogging, tumbLr-ing, fLickr-ing,

tweeting, facebooking…Oh, enough, already

venue staircase + heeLsequals fashion pratfall

Life’s no picnic Problem In Chair Not In Computer – pah. Stuff is going down, IT!

hats entertainment

RepoRt by eMily FleuRiot “I hope I’m making sense – I’ve barely slept the past couple of days,” reflects hat maestro Nasir Mazhar.

As the bassline thuds, adoring stockists and press jostle to congratulate the designer on his full-throttle NEWGEN-sponsored A/W 11 collection, shown on Sunday night at Topshop’s Show Space.

We squeeze into the nightclub-like room to gawp at his futuristic tableau: sparkling papal crowns, signature box-rim baseball caps, metal-embellished hat brims and bags created with leather

designer Kay Symons that adorn a stock-still posse of fiercely individual characters.

“Growing up in London, I’ve always been into street cultures, but they’ve lost their power,” says Mazhar, “so my new collection explores and merges the undiluted extremes of London, from punk and S&M to hip-hop and ragga, to create a gang I want to be part of. I took each style tribe, mixed them up and made it 10 times harder.”

From the balloon crowns seen at Louise Gray’s show, to the ultra-theatrical get-ups Mazhar creates for Lady Gaga (along with Nicola Formichetti, whom he describes as “experimental, supportive and open”), Mazhar’s designs thrill and challenge. His latest showcase is deliberately tribal and provocatively drives home his eclectic vision.

If Middle England is the elegant backbone of this season’s LFW, this flip-side of Britishness, where urban cultures collide and are celebrated, is the raw underbelly. And the unassuming Mazhar, who “just wanted to see ‘rude boys’ wearing my designs”, has, in the process, found himself firmly at the core of this alternative sensibility.

Photography by Shaniqwa Jarvis.

Magazine. But it is peeking through the darkness, as front-rowers employ an element of strategic colour placement. An orange sock here, an apple handbag there, a tomato-coloured pair of heels or just a glimpse of an electric-blue watch.

“It just lifts your outfit,” says the gorgeous Calgary Avansino of UK Vogue, wearing an acid-yellow scarf over her smart charcoal coat. “Yesterday I wore some fabulous neon shrimp trousers, and I plan on adding a bit of zing every day.”

Some fashionistas have never

RepoRt by heath bRown We all know that anything in any shade of black has long been the uniform of choice for fashion journalists and buyers – it’s de rigueur, surely. But, with the impending colour explosion expected this spring, the front row is already dipping its Louboutin-clad toes into a new palette by adding some not-so-subtle flashes of bold and bright colours to its workaday wardrobe.

“It takes a lot to get the front row out of inky black,” says Tamsin Blanchard of The Telegraph

shied away from colour. “I don’t own any grey or black anyway,” Guardian freelancer Kelly Bowerbank told us.

Jo Elvin, Editor of Glamour, is also a readymade convert. “I have always been attracted to anything bright and vivid,” she told us, wearing a lime-green polka-dot Miu Miu blouse with her smart grey slacks. “It helps with my pallor.”

Canadian catwalk photographer Michelle Bobb-Parris, wearing sharp tangerine pedal-pushers, summed up the mood for change. “We all need a little bit of sunshine every day.”

fash pack in colour – shock news

This “Frankenstein fabric” phenomenon can be traced to the shores of Lake Como in Italy and the surrounding textile mills.

“High-end Italian mills are reacting to the rise of the high street (and technical advances in mass manufacture) by creating specialised fabrics, like ‘novelty’ leathers, that Zara and Topshop can’t duplicate,” says Christian Blanken, who will show in his presentation today a patent shearling trench (made from rabbit) that can be rolled up to fit in a handbag.

“Rather than simply asking if you

RepoRt by Julia RobsonThe bubble-bubble science-lab/human-heartbeat soundtrack at the Christopher Kane show was fitting, given the extraordinary textile experiments on show. Those in the front row could just about make out that the jackets were leather embossed with crochet prints, but the lava-lamp-inspired straps required a double take.

Throughout LFW, we’ve been wondering “Is it a print, or a fabric, or juxtaposed fabrics in various weights?” Prints have often been camouflaged by tactile fabrics (net at Acne, chiffon at Richard Nicoll), creating a 3D effect.

want high shine, or herringbone, mills are encouraging designers to develop amazing fabrics individually.”

They are also allowing designers to produce smaller runs using newly developed luxe fabrics and the fabric equivalent of old body parts. Previously, only companies such as Prada or Lanvin could afford to be leaders in developing fabrics.

As a result, we are witnessing a new era of textiles. LFW’s most outstanding fabrics include Antonio Berardi’s chevron marquisette inlaid in Aran knits, and Michael van der Ham’s Lurex jacquards, which played on sheer and opaque in the same garment.

“it’s alive! it’s alive, i tell you!”

RepoRt by eMily FleuRiot Award-winning design brand Paperself is starting a super-cute paper revolution on your eyelashes, at the heart of the LFW exhibition.

The fashion pack is even prepared to – gasp! – queue to try out these delicate, fluttering paper falsies, cut into intricate, Rob Ryan-esque forms inspired by nature and Chinese symbolism. Options include horse (success), deer and butterflies (free, beautiful and sensitive) and peacock (auspicious and lucky days). “We’ve had so much interest we’ve had to limit makeovers to 60 a day,”

Blinking beautifulsays a peacock-eyed rep. “Our lashes are our biggest success so far.”

Designer Chunwei Liao, scion of a cardboard-manufacturing family, founded Paperself in 2009 to make entirely eco-friendly products – these glam paper lashes being the latest line.

Paperself has teamed up with kitsch DJ duo the Broken Hearts to launch a limited-edition collection – revealed here at London Fashion Week, and due in stores in April.

Photography by Shaniqwa Jarvis. Find Paperself in Embankment Galleries, L2, at the Exhibition

“my new coLLection eXpLores and merges the eXtremes of London, from punk and s&m to hip-hop and ragga, to create a gang i want to be part of”nasir maZhar

London fashion week the daiLy Tuesday 22 February 201110 peopLe

Photography by marcus dawes

A couple of opposites attract And sport luxe is so where it’s at Two perfectly fur-crazy hats A pair of such glamorous cats

All hail the magnificent togs!Cheers for your sartorial blogsSo London right down to their shoesFash-forward to autumnal hues

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www.lfwdaily.com peopLe 11

Pile on a chain or three, because more is more

Chain Reaction necklaces, £83-£105 hang

it all!

follifollie.co.uk

Take it to the topAre you a fashion lover in search of an original Spring/Summer 2011 wardrobe from the latest labels? Or maybe you’re a fledgling designer dreaming of a platform for your work? Either way, BrandAlley’s new online fashion community, Le Lab, is made for you.

Every month this season, BrandAlley will commission a roll call of the hottest emerging designers to create a summer piece exclusively for Le Lab. Whether dress or blouse, trousers or trench, skirt or bag, it will add up to a complete and inspiring statement wardrobe. Subscribers can vote for their favourites, then commission an item from any of the winning talents.

The possibilities are endless. Just imagine a chic, deluxe tee…

Visit brandalley.co.uk/lelab

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City gent and his lady we spy Two angels adorn the night sky These funsters give Dada a call Ms Arterton, meet Rebecca Hall

Brit heritage chic reconciledA couple of partygoers wildStylish ma and her cool little girlA couple of cocktail-chic pearls

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Photography by marcus dawes