THE WEEK IN FASHION: OCTOBER 10th-14th

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

The Week in Fashion is back after its fashion week hiatus - it simply wouldn't have been able to keep up with all the excitement but is now raring to go again, bringing you all you need to know each and every Friday. This week we bring you images from the Frieze Art Fair, gross feet and we congratulate Sarah Mower MBE, recognised for her Services to Fashion. 

SARAH MOWER MBE
While Sarah's journalism career is stellar, it was in fact her contribution to the NEWGEN program and role as Ambassador for Emerging Talent that earned her the MBE.It is worth noting Sarah has transformed the global reputation of London Fashion Week since 2004 when she decided as she says "to become a botherer, and get young talented recognised and supported". Young designers who have been talent-spotted and/or nurtured by Sarah almost always go on to great things. See Christopher Kane, Roksanda Ilincic, Erdem, Louise Gray, Holly Fulton, Meadham Kirchhoff, Jonathan Saunders, Richard Nicoll and so on... Onto the party now, hosted by Sarah and the British Fashion Council.

Sarah Mower MBE with Melanie Rickey (aka FashEd). Sarah is wearing a coat made for her by Christopher Kane straight from the runway of his SS12 show

Sarah's MBE (via @_lulukennedy)  

Sarah and Chris Kane

Sarah receives her MBE from The Queen at Buckingham Palace (Image from  metro.co.uk)

(To see the full set of photographs of the night go here)

Photographs: Christopher James

NOW ONTO FRIEZE ART FAIR...

Leila Lavari from StyleBop.com at Frieze in the Isabel Marant navajo cardigan everybody wants (Image from telegraph.co.uk)

On Wednesday, the Fash Ed and I both visited the Frieze Art Fair at various stages of the day. We came back having enjoyed the art, of course, but also buzzing with the fashion spying opportunities on offer, Rick Owens here, Maison Margiela there, Christopher Kane everywhere. I was very excited to spot Tracey Emin and see some of her latest work. The FashEd attended a brunch hosted by Cos in the Frame section which they sponsor, showcasing the work of up and coming artists. Here a few of her favourite pieces from the exhibit...

We're still getting over Dasha Zhukova's inaugural Garage magazine cover (the Damien Hirst peel away butterfly, lest you forget), and this week the girlfriend of Roman Abramovich has supported her man by wearing a quite beautiful Louis Vuitton outfit for the court battle between her boyfriend and fellow Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky. If the case were judged solely on the fashionableness of the participants' ladies then Abramovich would still be in possession of his £3.2 million right now but as it stands there is a load of legal wrangling to be getting on with.

Dasha arrives at court in Vuitton (image from dailymail.co.uk)

 I did bring you the news that this was on the cards, but it has now been officially confirmed that next year's Met exhibit will be a comparison of the work of Miuccia Prada and Elsa Schiaparelli. To add further creative juices to the mix, Baz Luhrmann will be overseeing the retrospective. The opening gala will be co-hosted by Carey Mulligan who is currently working with Luhrmann on filming for The Great Gatsby. And, by the by, Tiffany will be providing all the jewels for the Gatsby movie. We feel a major fashion moment coming on.

The image which Baz Luhrmann released to announce Carey Mulligan's role as Daisy Buchanan (from deadline.com)

Alexander Wang has been on the peripheries of the fashion who'll-go-where-and-when saga for some time now since his name was thrown into the Dior hat. This week he told WWD:

“I always take a meeting and I always want to hear what people have to offer, but at the same time, I’ve been very content with focusing on our own brand,” he said. Wang said that if he took on an additional design gig, it would have to be something outside his comfort zone.
“If I was to do something else, I would want to do something that would be completely different from me,” he said, adding: “Sometimes you don’t get to say all you want to say in your brand.”

We could fill a book (has someone thought of doing that?!) with all the possibly relevant, yet probably irrelevant, comments we've heard in the past months but you never know.

Wang does his happy end of show bow back in 2010, now there are rumours he's moving beyond his own brand (image from harpersbazaar.com)

You have probably gathered that fashion month plays havoc with the skin, diets and general routines of all those that attend but today we ask you to take a moment to consider the humble feet of fashion show attendees and models alike. In Paris, the dust of the walk to the Tuileries has ruined the heavily invested in shoes of many a blogger/ photographer/ editor. This phenomenon was well documented on twitter, see exhibit A below. Models are no luckier; these shocking pictures of the feet of Sojourner Morrell, who walked in some of the biggest shows of the season from Marc Jacobs to Jonathan Saunders to Louis Vuitton, are one of the most extreme examples of the injuries which walking in sample heels every day for nearly a month can do. Any aspiring models, look away now...

The scourge of 'Tuileires feet' as tweeted by @candicelake

Ouch! (Image from refinery29.com)

Finally, much love for the new Sir Paul and Lady McCartney a.k.a Nancy Shevell who had a lovely looking wedding last Sunday. Fashion pundits have already said that the fact that the dress was designed by Paul's daughter Stella is the way we know this one will last; the last time Sir Paul got married, the bride did NOT wear McCartney. Sometimes a dress can speak a thousand words...

The official wedding portrait, captured by Mary McCartney (image from dailymail.co.uk)

NYFW: A STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

New York Fashion week will end tomorrow with the much anticipated Marc Jacobs show- always looked forward to of course but an extra frisson this season given the intense speculation that the designer will soon be making a move from Vuitton to Dior. Meanwhile, the FashEd and I are busily preparing for the beginning of London's turn on the SS12 merry-go- around. I am particularly excited given this is the first time that I am in some way a real part of the event which I have long read about and dreamt of attending. As somewhat of an aside, I would thoroughly recommend to any readers in that same position I was in just a few months ago (or any reader really) to read Lisa Armstrong's account of her journey to becoming a Fashion Editor. Even the Editors at the very top of their game began blagging their way into shows and adoring the industry they now play a pivotal role in from afar.

So what's been going on at NYFW? Well, there have, apparently, been clothes as well as pregnant pop mega stars and newborn Beckham babies but who'd have known? The clothes are what we here at FEAL want to share with you now. In the coming weeks and months we'll be sharing a tighter edit of the trends which emerge from the shows. But now, in the midst of things, I have picked some looks which jumped out at me.

Narciso Rodriguez: We can already be quite certain that a dropped waist will be an important silhouette. The dress below gives this normally straight and stark detail a modern fluidity. Cut on the bias and not quite at the usual dropped level, we recognise the reference but it's something new too. And the colours whisper 'Summer holiday'.

Narciso Rodriguez SS12

 Theyskens' Theory was true to form in its easy wearability. The loose, deconstructed pocket trousers are a sure hit. I will dream tonight about those shiny versions, will someone invite me to a reptilean fancy dress party please? The jacket and the drop-waist dress make one think of the original purveyor of clothes women could live in, Mlle Chanel. But then we look to the feet and the models are being sent down the runway in these trillion inch heels. Rebecca Lowthorpe at Elle asked, via Twitter, that if Theyskens is so keen to dress women in clothes which they will be comfortable in, then why would he include such preposterously proportioned footwear? I can only think that they might add an element of legend and implausibility for a designer who doesn't want to become too literal- he perhaps wants his customers to feel there is an uncrossable canyon between what they see on the catwalk and what they buy and wear themselves. That show quality. But Theyskens was also playing with our minds a bit because his final look, the most heel-deserving of them all, was styled with worker boots. Maybe he just wants us to mix it up a bit more? Or maybe he thinks if Gaga can do it, why can't every other woman?

Theyskens Theory SS12

Theyskens Theory SS12

Theyskens Theory SS12

Theyskens Theory SS12

Alexander Wang SS12

 Another trend which has been brewing since the last round of Spring/ Summer collections and now looks to have full- on exploded, is the printed suit/ top and trouser combo. My favourite thus far is Alexander Wang's for its mesh overlay, leather trim and flash of ab. The faded panel which bring the trousers to a high-waist is a genius twist which helps to break up the print bombardment. I am also fascinated by Wang's hats which look like a deconstructed version of the fun feline ones for Autumn/ Fall which the FashEd blogged about at the weekend. Either that or they look like bags on the models heads. The graphic suit is very Star Trek.

Alexander Wang SS12

Rodarte

 Designers often cite obscure sculptors or little known architects among their inspirations, which I do love. It means fashion is always expanding my horizons and making me look at things I would quite possibly not have come across otherwise. HOWEVER, the Mulleavy sisters cited Sleeping Beauty and Vincent Van Gogh as their references for this collection. A zany combination but probably familiar to most of us without having to furiously google something we've never heard of before. And the clothes are a testament to their deft handling of this pairing. It was refreshing also to see that Rodarte is looking across all decades for its shapes, prints and embellishments. There is a lot of room in this collection for the woman's own idea of who she wants to be.

Rodarte

Sophie Theallet

 As I read Meenal Mistry's synopsis of Sophie Theallet's show, I saw that Romy Schneider was one of Sophie's muses for this collection. This actress is important right now, given that Erdem used her as a key inspiration for his Resort offering. Theallet's collections was particularly influenced by La Piscine which Romy starred in alongside Alain Delon. I have provided a video as a taster. In case you don't speak French, she begins by saying she is only happy when she's with him and then, a few seconds later is telling him how annoying he is. Sexual tension is key and that backless dress is a key symbol of that. Romy is definitely somebody I will be writing more about at a later date. In the meantime, Sophie's clothes are rather lovely don't you think?

Sophie Theallet

And finally, Preen. This is by far my favourite so far. The colours make my mouth water. The peplums and frills take a silhouette which is familiar to a new level. It has sometimes been hard to imagine where print might go next with all the amazing work we have seen from the likes of Mary Kantrantzou and others. Bregazzi and Thornton have undoubtedly brought something very subtle but nevertheless new to the table which makes me go WOW, WOW, WOW!

Preen

Preen

Preen

Preen

All images from Style.com