SHOW & TELL: HANGING OUT WITH OSMAN

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

Osman Yousefzada is such a sweetie. I popped over to his central London shop-fronted studio last week to catch up with him in his startling progress from young dressmaker to London catwalk designer with an enviable roster of the kind of strong, elegant professional women all designers dream of dressing when they start out. These include Lady Gaga, Caroline Issa of Tank magazine, Tallulah Harlech, the architect Pernilla Ohrstedt and the influential art collector Valeria Napoleone.

Osman's AW 2012 collection, using beautiful hand-loomed Spanish brocade shown at London Fashion Week (photo: catwalking.com)

Osman is from Birmingham and was secretly making dresses for his sister's Barbie at the age of five using offcuts of fabrics from his mother's bridal dressmaking workshop. His sister would pretend she had done the Barbie clothes, and he would pretend he had been playing football. "We are workers in my family. When I was ten I could plaster a wall, and cut a dress. Creativity is a middle class luxury after all, to me creativity is getting stuck in, getting work done."

Despite his openess Osman still squirms uncomfortably when talking about his personal life, which is hugely endearing. In fact, there is still something of that five year old lurking around the aura of Osman. Fashion is like his secret passion, and sometimes he finds it hard to articulate in words exactly what he is trying to say with his clothes. However, give him the opportunity to dress you up, drape some fabric, share some embroideries being completed in his basement atelier and before you know it a coat has been flourished in your direction, a trousers has been proffered (his tailored coats and trousers are his strongest seasonal offerings in my opinion) and you become his muse.

Osman's AW 2012 collection, shown at London Fashion Week (photo: catwalking.com)

Cobalt dress from Osman's Spring collection at Matchesfashion.com

When I press him to explain his passion for dressing women up in his now signature linear, modern cuts and opulent brocades, he eventually expresses the following: "I grew up watching women coming and going from my mothers workroom...I think that is why I love dressing women, and no two are the same," he says. "I know the transformative power of well cut clothes, and I guess what I do is work with my experience of women to create the right clothes for them. My method is, well...basically I will bend over backwards to help someone find the right thing. If a client comes to me " - 15% of his business is bespoke, and he has 80 global retail clients - "and needs something in two days, I will do it. I'm a worker. My motto is "I learn by client" which is something I have also heard Azzedine Alaia say, he needs to work on his women in order to keep learning. He is an inspiration to me."    

Osman (photo courtesy of the designer)

So who does Osman see as his typical customer? He laughs. "I call them 'second wife clothes': not young first wife, not mistress. She is independent, intelligent, comfortable in her skin," he says. At this stage we are upstairs in his glossy showroom, but I want to see the studio downstairs the hub of activity in any designers' domain. "Oh, you don't want to go down there," his assistant warns. "You haven't seen his desk!"

Osman beckons me downstairs and the crammed space is a cacophany of visual stimuli; indeed his desk is not just a mess, it is an avalanche waiting to happen - possibly even an archeological dig of paper, ribbon and tear sheets. Osman's work is largely inspired by the colours, fabrics and dress of ethnic cultures dovetailed with the purity of line of, say Cristobal Balenciaga whose mother was also a dressmaker. Below are images of his studio.

If you love Osman's work and want to get something from one his past collections, the designer is taking part on the British Designer Collective at Bicester Village, which launches tomorrow. I will be there from 10am with a certain Alexa Chung looking for a dress for my BIG birthday which is a week today, but being celebrated with friends this weekend. Aaaaargh! I'll be trying on an Osman that is for sure.

Images from Osman's studio walls

BICESTER VILLAGE 

BRITISH DESIGNER COLLECTIVE  - DETAILS

MARKUS LUPFER- A FASHION MAVERICK

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

A case full of Lupfer loveliness 

Contrary to popular belief, London Fashion Week, or any other fashion week for that matter,  isn't all about the shows. One example of an off-schedule event this time around was Relative MO's gorgeous event at Two Temple Place. Within the ornately decorated venue which, oddly, used to be the HQ of The Bulldog Trust, (though I reckon it looks like a Freemason Lodge) jewellers and fashion designers exhibited their Autumn/fall offerings and pepping up weary press who'd been sprinting around the catwalk circuit. Dominic Jones was there as was Bolzoni & Walsh, but by far the busiest room was Markus Lupfer's.

Two Temple Place 

You know Markus, right? He is an utterly charming boyishly handsome designer in his late 30s, a German who has lived in London for most of his adult life. Every fashionable woman in the world's major cities probably owns, or wants to own, one of Lupfer's superfashion novelty knits. You might recognise the lips below, this is his all-time bestselling motif. I've got one!  Markus doesn't just create cult status jumpers, but he accepts that this is what he is famous for. In fact he embraces it.  Markus is also doing fashion business in his own very successful way. I had an fascinating chat with him at the event, and he told me how he's tailored his brand to suit what he's learnt his customers want from him. Something of a theme this week, as it is almost the same discussion I had with Richard Nicoll too. In the fashion business, there are many ways to be successful. 

Sequin embroidery on an iconic Lupfer jumper

"Four and a half years ago, everything changed" he told me. How so? "I just thought, I need to prioritise being good to my customers, giving them good service. It is not only about the catwalk show".

To put this in context, you should know that Lupfer began his career in the same way as many London based designers, through sponsorship from NEWGEN. So he began with catwalk shows, as is often seen to be the 'done thing' in fashion. The big change came when Lupfer realised that he didn't actually NEED to do shows to be a successful designer.  He decided it was time for "a totally different approach" to showing his work and so abandoned the catwalk concept. At the presentation at Two Temple Place, there was a room dotted with Lupfer's new season sequin embroidered jumpers, precisely cut glittery tailoring.  A vintage trunk, lined with glitter, was stacked with neat piles of cartoon animal designs while close by a few models hung out by the fireplace in big armchairs wearing his jumpers and cute skater skirts, doing fun poses while much needed refreshments were served.

Cute animal tees with sequin masks

Hanging out in Markus Lupfer AW12, no wonder they look like they're having fun

One of the main reasons that Lupfer has changed his approach is his passionate belief in fun, which obviously comes through in his designs. "I've let that showbiz design ego go and am just doing what feels natural - having fun, being light and bright!" he said. It just so happens that being fun works well for Lupfer's balance sheet too. Having fun AND making good business sense? Sounds pretty perfect to me! If you are a fan of the Lupfer aesthetic, and who wouldn't be, you should get yourself  down to Bicester Village's British Designers Collective which opens next Wednesday.  I'm going to the launch which is hosted by Alexa Chung to do some shopping, and I will definitely be on the look out for a bit of Lupfer. The full list of British designers present is impressive

The full list of womenswear designers at the Bicester Village British Designer Collective is here- 

Nicholas Kirkwood

Preen

Osman

Marios Schwab

Jonathan Saunders

Markus Lupfer

Peter Pilotto

Holly Fulton

Bella Freud

James Long

Goat

Emma Cook

Hermione de Paula 

Jean Pierre Braganza 

plus accessories from Pauric Sweeney

Lily and Lionel

Mawi 

Erikson Beamon.

Find out more about the British Designers Collective here. And maybe see you there next Wednesday. 

Friday Fun jumper from Markus Lupfer

THE BRITISH DESIGNERS COLLECTIVE IS COMING TO BICESTER

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Bicester Village is a firm fashion favourite. In case you're not aware, this little designer shopping haven just outside Oxford is home to outlet boutiques from labels like Celine, Prada and Marni. The stores are almost as heavenly as the Bond Street versions but the merchandise is discounted by up to 60%. The British Designers Collective is the result of a collaboration between Bicester Village and the British Fashion Council. It is giving some of our best British designers the opportunity to get in on the Bicester Village action. Yes, that means discounted Peter Pilotto, Osman, Preen, Jonathan Saunders... the list is long and very, very exciting.

The Great Hall will house The British Designers Collective 2012

In two weeks time, on March 21st, the British Designers Collective will open its very chic doors for the third year and FEAL will be there! In the mean time, we'll be giving you a few tasters of what to expect. As you well know, we are big supporters of our amazing British designers who work and show in London. Now that they're giving us the chance to snap up their pieces at a reduced price, it would be rude to refuse wouldn't it? And if there any guys reading, then we have good news for you too because in May the collaboration will launch its first ever Menswear selection- James Long, Grenson, Margaret Howell and Sunspel are just a smattering of the labels which will be on offer there.

Pieces from previous seasons will be available at the
British Designers Collective, like this from Osman AW11

Or this from Preen AW11

We'll be keeping you posted on all the Bicester action in the coming weeks with interviews with some of the designers which will be available plus news from the launch.

The full list of womenswear designers- Nicholas Kirkwood, Preen, Osman, Marios Schwab, Jonathan Saunders, Markus Lupfer, Peter Pilotto, Holly Fulton, Bella Freud, James Long, Goat, Emma Cook, Hermione de Paula and Jean Pierre Braganza plus accessories from Pauric Sweeney, Lily and Lionel, Mawi and Erikson Beamon.

THE NEW GEN GANG!

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

The NEWGEN Crew throwing some shapes for the SS12 fashion season. Lookin good!

The British Fashion Council last night announced its 17 designers, selected by a panel of judges, (of which I am proud to be one), to receive NEWGEN sponsorship to show their Spring/Summer 2012 collections at London Fashion Week this September. I'm very proud of them all, and to be honest got a bit emotional seeing them all lined up for their victory shot. I'm such a wuss.

THE RECIPIENTS ARE

Catwalk sponsorship: David Koma, Holly Fulton, Louise Gray and Michael van der Ham.
Presentation sponsorship: Christopher Raeburn, Craig Lawrence, Dominic Jones, J.W. Anderson and Nasir Mazhar.
Installation sponsorship: Jordan Askill and SISTER by SIBLING.
Exhibition sponsorship: Felicity Brown, J. JS Lee, James Long, Palmer//Harding, Thomas Tait and Tim Soar Woman.

It was wonderful to see that Natalia Vodianova had taken time out to support her fellow countryman David Koma at the Pimms and pork-pie cocktail party on the terrace at Somerset House last night. Daisy Lowe also came to support Craig Laurence. Looking at David and Natalia together, you can see that apart from their Russian bonds, they have a sweet friendship and doesn't she look utterly fabulous in his clothes?

David & Natalia

At the end of the evening, a few wags decided to play naughty with the designers names, originally displayed in correct order on an old-fashion cricket score board for the night. The anagrams are far too rude to publish here, but it was a lot of fun reading them.

Images courtesy of:

Vogue.com

Britishfashioncouncil.com

FROM OBSERVER TO PERFORMER. YIKES!

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

My very dear friend Yasmin Sewell has been curating the Estethica press day for a couple of years now. Last season I got there just as they were packing up. Cue guilt trip. So with my sense of journalistic duty front of mind, I skipped along to Estethica after we, (me and Yasmin, who is advising me and the g/f on our wedding looks), left the showroom of the designer who is charged with making us look amazing on the day. And no, I still have not decided on a wedding dress, though Mary has, and she looks so amazing in it. Grrr.

Loved Yaz's look yesterday. Hat from Amsterdam, jacket, coat and jeans by Margiela, shirt by ACNE, TopShop shoes, Roger Vivier Bag. Paper bag from Whole Foods contained nachos and guacamole, yum!

ANYWAY. Turned up at Somerset House to check out the group of ethical designers selected by the British Fashion Council, with their collections edited for the press by Yasmin, and finally to observe a panel discussion on the future of ethical fashion. I was interested to hear what progress was being made in creating awareness of ethical labels, and how the companies are doing on a business level. But before I knew what was happening, I was inserted into the panel representing Grazia due to Volcano absenteeism. YIKES!

 The view

Yasmin and Laura Bailey

 The PANEL: Laura Bailey, Verra Budimlija planning director of thinktank G2, Orsola de Castro owner/designer of upcycling label From Somewhere, Baroness Lola Young arts & heritage consultant and independent cross bench peer in the House of Lords. Out of shot is Charty Durrant, fashion consultant.

Brain in gear, I reacquainted myself with my thoughts on the subject. My view on ethical fashion is that something has to happen to rectify the disconnect between fashion seasons and actual seasons. Winter coats in on sale in September and bikinis on rails in March are an accepted shopping norm, but should they be? We also need to question a system that demands of designers they produce two main seasonal catwalk collections, as well as two pre-collections annually. High street stores produced a new range every six weeks. It was these points that revved the discussion into gear. 

What we were all agreed on across the panel, is that awareness of ethical fashion/clothes needs to be fostered in teenagers. We also agreed that educating young consumers to develop personal style, rather than chasing fashion trends would be beneficial to everyone.

For me, what emerged from the panel discussion is that it is a darn good thing there are a bunch of people out there trying to make a difference to the way we think about and consume clothing. We need the London College of Fashion and its Centre for Sustainable Fashion. We need the British Fashion Council and Estethica. We need the designers selected for Esthetica to start making a difference, and to get recognition and exposure in the fashion press. Most especially though, we need them to make clothes that are desirable which stand up as stylish, functional, practical, beautiful - whatever they intend for them to be - but in the wider market. Not in an ethical market.

Christopher Raeburn creates functional outerwear using reclaimed, second-hand army fabrics, including leather and parachute silks. www.christopherraeburn.co.uk 

The better ethical designers get at looking as good as the rest, (like Christopher's work above), but with the added edge of green credentials, the more likely we are to see the movement growing. It is the future. Stella McCartney has shown that you don't need to use leather to create amazing accessories. Edun has shown that you can create your own supply chain by growing cotton, and educating and caring for your workforce. There are manifold ways to be ethical.

On a personal, philosophical level I don't believe in consumption for consumptions sake. I find it sinister that we should be encouraged to keep shopping (J.G Ballard's Kingdom Come anyone?) So Primark, Peacocks and Tesco clothing lines are not on my shoppping list. I only buy what I need. But I DO want to support designers who are trying to educate people by creating ethical clothing in whatever form that might come in whether it is non-chrome vegetable dyes for leather; rearing their own sheep and knitting jumpers from them; upcycling, recycling, remaking..

I do find it difficult to find amazing ethical pieces for the magazine at times, but the selection on show for AW10 gave me hope.

Baroness Young was right when she stated "when things change, the two ways need to co-exist for a while."

From Somewhere uses off-cuts from the design process and upcycles them into beautiful pieces, like this one. Established in 1997 it is one of the pioneers of of the UK sustainable fashion movement. IThe clothes it creates improve season-on-season. www.fromsomewhere.co.uk 

Loved this "Madonna" dress in 93% Bamboo fibres by MAXJENNY, they are worth checking out http://www.maxjenny.com/

Carapace gauntlet by Makepiece

Phyllite jumper by Makepiece

Edgeway dress by Makepiece

Here is Beate Kubitz of Makepiece with the sheep that make the above garments! She co-owns the label with designer Nicola Sherlock-Windle, and all of their well-designed - some fashionable, others functional - knits are created using British farmed wool, alpaca, and mohair. http://www.makepiece.co.uk/

Meet Nin Castle of Goodone. Her energy and flair was infectious, and Yasmin told me she could see Goodone going all the way. Nin designs using upcycled surplus luxury fabrics and used garments, she also makes use of end of roll cashmere and British knit. The designer is posing with a mannequin wearing her bestselling and very sexy crochet panel knit dress. Her next project is a collection using all the surplus fabrics from Arcadia Group for a TopShop collection. Watch this space! www.goodone.co.uk

Photos by Fashion Editor at Large and from the press packs of designers shown.