Thursday, September 22, 2011

London Brigade

"Face it lady, I'm younger and faster than you"

One of my main reasons for waiting until London Fashion Week ended before posting my favourite collections is that it just kept getting better. Both Holly Fulton and Mary Katrantzou provided memorable AW11 collections but the question on more lips than hips was how sustainable their ideas and designs might be. This season both of them have proved a magnanomous point. They are here to stay.

Holly Fultons' collection cemented her as the up and coming queen of over the top perfection. Her clothes were a bag of mixed media including a chequerboard print, zebra swatches, heavy shell embellishment and 1920's deco inspired prints. Striking a fine balance between aesthetic and shape is paramount in insuring the clothes don't come of as being 'tacky' and this is what Fulton has done so well. The clothes here are exciting - fresh colours, great silhouettes and the all important whopper dress. The mini in deco encrusted shells was fashion fabulous!


Mary Katrantzou had the fashion world drooling over her 'Kai Collection' for AW11 and although her SS12 collection showcased an all new shape and cut, for me it didn't have the same impact. Nevertheless it was one of the finer printed collections you will see this season. The garments are worked in such a way that they provide an optical illusion that you are watching through 3D glasses. The colours pop and the texture changes depending on your viewpoint. Overworked perhaps a little, the train element on the mini-dresses didn't leave me wanting more but one thing is for sure 'Mary, Queen of Prints' will provide one of the killer looks of the season year after year. The dip-dyed floral suit is a killer coffin outfit if you can't make it to St. Tropez but the winner here is the sculpted metalwork dress using car parts and 

If neither of these take your fancy, I suggest you take a trip down pastel lane with Nicole Farhi and her city chic sophisticated minimalist approach. If pastel is not for you and glam evening gowns is what you are after, look no further than Julian Macdonald and Alice Temperley where the collections oozed understated glamour!

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Holly Fulton





Mary Katrantzou






Monday, September 19, 2011

London Fashion Week - The Sabbath

What, When, Who, Where and Why!

Day 1.

When the slashed open tailoring of Jean Pierre Braganzas' new collection hit the catwalk one couldn't help but notice that New York was well and truly over and the visual impaction of London and its inherent common cool vibe was upon us. The show opened with a studded hexagon hem dress in black and gold which carried through the very apparent theme of all things aztec. Also included were pops of colour and a geometric clarity which added a modern element to the offset tailoring that we have seen before. Looking back this collection is one of my favourite for SS12

Shortly afterwards the print specialists Basso and Brooke sent an unusually sophisticated and form fitting selection of dresses and trousers down the catwalk. One thing however has not changed, the prints are ever evolving and more intricately done than the previous season. Bold colours and sharp angles on silk and chiffon prints gave the collection a more electric feel.

Anne Sophie Backs' collection had an altogether different approach. The looks were de-constructed, loose and monochromatic. If they related to buildings they would have been described as post-modern icons. The fabrics were moulded in a way that they floated around the models as they walked. The european influence here was perhaps more obvious however. The collection had a definite look of Anne Demeulemeester crossed with the relaxed looks of Martin Margiela. A really strong collection all the same.


Jean-Pierre Braganza






Anne Sophie Back 







Over and Out.. 

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Friday, September 16, 2011

I'm In Chains

London Fashion Week - La Amhain 

I am writing to you all from the confinements of a friends house in Islington. I have been residing here since I decided to land myself in hospital early on Sunday morning. Four hours later, under the dazed and confused feeling offered by the wonderful drug they call morphine, I was going under the knife to have my appendix removed. You might at this stage be thinking "oh jaysus, he's such an attention seeking wussy"- but believe me when I tell you that I have never felt pain like it. Already at this stage all I could think of was how hopeless I was going to be. In fairness the treatment I received was A1 Sharon (amazeballs). Pedro and Kate (the surgeon and anaesthetist were amazing and after only an hour, we were like THAT). If this had been Dublin there was a strong possibility I would have been sat on a rusty wheeler with eaten wheels waiting in A&E, septicemia taking control of my already emaciated body. Luckily though it was under control. 

When I woke up in the recovery ward, not feeling any pain due to the sword sized needle they injected into my side during the operation, all I could think was 'fashion week'. Friday was fast approaching and the idea of missing out on a jam-packed london fashion week (LFW) schedule was too depressing to think about. Now out of the blue and six days since my operation Friday is here and LFW is in full swing. The fashion elite and glitterati and those who think they are fashion elite and glitterati are attending todays shows at the British Fashion Council showspace at Somerset House and other venues around town. One thing is for sure my immobility won't keep me down. It might be with a slight limp and hunchback of Notre Dame shoulders but I'll be donning my best and taking to the cobbles of Somerset House from tomorrow.

I will be reporting all things fashion fabulous and catastrophic only here at greenewithenvy.blogspot.com

(It may take a while before the images hit the screen but here's hoping that the woman in the fur coat will give up her seat to an ole limp like me)

The pick of todays shows include Jean-Pierre Braganza and PPQ. 

Who will be hot to trott?

Speaking of hot to trott, it's my sisters birthday today. Happy Birthday Bearzo (",) 

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