Bring on the 90's party!

So mid week, after my party slump from fashion week I am picking myself up and looking for some inspiration for an early 90's ghetto fab party I am attending on Saturday.

Now we are not talking mid 90's grunge fashion that I'm dipping in and out of at the moment anyway. I am talking full on Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Saved By the Bell with a bit of Salt-N- Pepa and MC Hammer thrown in for good measure.

Hi-top trainers, mammoth sized gold chains and earrings (if they look disproportionate to the size of my head I'll be getting close) and cycling shorts- a trip to American Apparel should cater for all my needs!- But maybe this isn't distasteful enough? hmm..

Think I'm going to go for a Salt-n-Pepa vibe, when it comes to 90's ghetto fabulous it doesn't get much better than this...


Once the outfit is sorted it is a matter of hair and make up... initial thoughts backcombing.. second thoughts- crimping! If that doesn't scream 90's bad taste I don't know what does.

While I was on the 90's vibe I stumbled across a couple of classics, Anna Wintour and a shockingly fresh faced Kate Moss circa 1993. I'm pleased to see Anna's haircut has stood the test of time, you have to love her dedication to the 'do.

Just when I thought shiny trousers had no more fashion miles...

....Topshop go and bring out yet another update, we've had wet look leggings, pleather trousers now its the turn of PVC. I'm liking the gold zip detail but, make no mistake, these are not for the faint hearted and need to be worn tight!

I'm going to side-step the potential of looking like an Angelina style 'bad ass' villain and wear mine with some chunky, playful heels and go baggy on top in my oversized Madonna tee. Stay clear of the off duty hooker look!

Pucci dress to impress

This is one of my favourite looks from the Pucci spring 10 show. Love the trousers, loose fit with the popper detail at the side and they're cut slightly up the leg to make them more flattering and feminine.

Great shoes, we've seen a lot of footwear with ties around the ankle. Looks set to be a move on from the multi buckle strap shoes we are seeing at the moment.

I thought the Pucci collection was really beautiful mixing up some great casual day pieces, sharp tailoring, sexy mini dresses and grecian style evening dresses.

New purchase!

Popped into town on saturday for a bit of 'browsing' looked into my bulging wallet (bursting with receipts as opposed to cash I hasten to add!) then realised I had a gift card for Office- brilliant! I can make a purchase with minimum guilt factor, it's the perfect way to shop!

Bought a pair of black leather platforms that I'm going to debut as early as Monday on a venture out for a birthday in town. Love the fringe detail and the huge platform with cone shaped heel, they must add at least four inches to my height- excellent! Now an outfit to base around the shoes......

A stylish meeting in Belgravia

Nathan Jenden & Michael Herz

Thursday I attended my second Fashion Business Club meeting and it was held in Il Bottacci, Belgravia.

Gorgeous 19th century French Renaissance style venue with sweeping staircases and floor to ceiling windows overlooking a glorious sunny day in Hyde Park.

This session saw guest speaker Nathan Jenden, Creative Director of Diane Von Furstenberg and his own label Nathan Jenden being interviewed by Aquascutum’s Head of Womenswear, Michael Herz.

Nathan is really charming and it was refreshing to hear such a high profile figure talking frankly and honestly about the business.

Some of the points from the session included how he goes about designing for a collection. "I have a vision of the mood I want to create for the show and the clothes work around that. It's about an attitude, clothes should be fun!"

Nathan also spoke about how the cliches of fashion week no longer stand. "London isn't always avant-garde in the same way that New York isn't dull."

He commented on UK designers decisions to show out of London and said this has to be done to open up markets. "The UK is dominated by the high street, designers choose to leave London to open up international markets, but at the same time if a collection is truly outstanding buyers will still travel to see it."

All followed up by some good old fashioned networking with real people- at least until 4.30pm when we disappeared back into the world of emails, blogging and twittering....

Follow the Fashion Business Club on www.fashionbusinessclub.net/blog and if you're interested in the venue www.bottacchio.co.uk

Futuristic Americana at KTZ

With the three influences for Kokon To Zai designers Marjan Pejoski and Sasha Bezovski cited as “Galactic high, American football and crushes" the spring 10 collection was bound to be an interesting creation.

I was assisting the stylist for the show at 180 The Strand on Tuesday and in preparation we headed to the store on Monday after the Marios Schwab show and spent the afternoon styling the outfits.

The Notting Hill store deserves credit on it's own. I've never been there before and it's filled with trinkets and treasures from Sasha and Marjan' travels to and from Asia which create a customer base that can often be completely separate from the KTZ fashion follower.

The store reminds me of what fashion spaces can be about- intriguing, inspiring and inviting places to spend time. It is a tranquil haven a million miles away from the bustling high street we have come to know and accept.

Boxes and boxes of new samples streamed out off the stock room and on this sight my mind was fixed firmly back on the collection and into styling mode, time to have some fun!

The spring 10 collection is bright with turquoise, electric pink, yellow and meadow green a contrast to the dark mood of the previous KTZ collection. Futuristic Americana the theme for the season and as soon as I saw the clothes I knew why.

College jackets, laced up details inspired by american football and numerous styles of caps led a clear theme but one that remained looking fresh thanks to the diversity of fabrics, graphics and prints fused with metallic high shine pieces to bring in the futuristic element.

Accessories were bold but at the same time kept simple using small quantities to not overpower the colour and prints in the clothes. The staples were bumbags, hats, chunky brass necklaces and bracelets. My personal favourite was the footwear that was inspired by orthopedic shoes and combined with leather strappings that enclosed the calves, see picture above.

Great team behind the brand and I loved working with them, if you haven't been down to the Notting Hill store it is well worth a trip and check them out online at http://www.kokontozai.co.uk/

On with the show!

Sunday night rolled into Monday morning far too quickly, and before I realised I had been having too much fun to go to bed it was all but too late. I got to my door at 3.30am only to be ordering a cab for 4.45am to take me to Baker Street for early morning call time for a show. Damn you my partner in crime (you know who you are!)

So 6am I'm at the Meadham Kirchhoff show backstage with the very talented Jason Farrer who I was assisting for the show. I'm happy to report there was endless caffeine, although I was feeling particularly perky considering the early start.

9am and I'm in the middle of arranging one of the models when like a bolt from the blue (or a bat out of hell depending on your opinion) Anna Wintour was standing before me in the flesh. The lady herself had come back for a pre-show rundown with Ed and Benjamin and as quickly as she had arrived she vanished and the frantic dressing resumed backstage.

I hope from the catwalk the show looked seamless, of course behind the scenes naturally everything was running smoothly..! :)

The show was well received and it was a great experience for me but no rest for the wicked I had to dash off to the KTZ (Kokon to Zai) store in Notting Hill for an afternoon of styling with Jason and the lovely KTZ team!

Life is a merry-go-round!

After Topshop Unique on Sunday I headed straight over to the Meadham Kirchhoff studio in East London to have a briefing with the designers Ed Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff about the collection and theme of the show as I was to be assisting the stylist Jason Farrer on the show the next morning. All very exciting as the collection looked amazing and very my style!

Next I hopped on a bus over to Holborn to meet my friend Laura and we hot-footed over to the Mulberry party at the Claridges Hotel.

Luckily we had pre-empted the fashion scrum to get in to the eagerly anticipated party and had headed over only a few fashionable minutes later than the doors had opened.

The Mercury Award nominated Friendly Fires were performing on the night who are a favourite of mine at the moment. If you haven't already heard of them check them out on http://www.myspace.com/friendlyfires

Inside we were greeted by a fairground themed soiree complete with carousel horses, candyfloss and hundreds of helium balloons lining the walls. My personal favourite was the 'hook a duck' stand but no cuddly toys took centre stage for the prize of this game, oh no, there was a brand spanking new Mulberry tote on offer for the lucky winner. Unfortunately I came away with nothing, except a few Mulberry stickers to console myself with...oh well theres always next season..

Keep posted.

Later today all the gossip on what I got up to for Fashion Week...

Kate hysteria at Topshop Unique...

Topshop Unique showed at Baker Street in the Topshop sponsered NewGen venue. Apart from the tropical heat in the place melting away some of the well sculptured fashionista faces, I particularly liked this venue. Danielle Scutt had shown there the day before and it was a really light space with high ceilings and and nice little chill out area.

It was amusing to look on as an outsider at the paparazzi scrums for the celebrities on the front row. The previous day it was Alexa Chung (who was also at Topshop) and Peaches Geldof triggering the snaps but on arrival at Topshop Unique they only had eyes for Miss Moss. Taking centre stage next to Sir Philip Green and his daughter, it made for great people watching until the lights went down and everyone remembered why they were actually there, not to see Kate Moss but to see the new collection- duh!

So on with the show, bright, bubbly, upbeat with painfully thin models which at times took my mind off the clothes themselves, with their pelvic bones sticking out, quite unsightly as they all looked about 12 aswell!

Influenced by laid back California chic, the collection had a strong sportswear element looking to 80's and early 90's skateboarding and surf culture using embroidered badges on jackets and shorts. Oversized garments still popular giving it that thrown together 'borrowed my boyfriends' look.

Apologies for the poor quality video attached, I don't think Steven Spielberg need worry anytime soon!

So today I am at Somerset House for day two of London Fashion Week with my good friend and fashion buddy Laura. It's almost half past six and we are three shows down, two to go.

First up was Danielle Scutt in Baker Street then we headed back down to Somerset House to view Osman and across to Holborn for Hannah Marshall.

So far so good, Danielle Scutt has been my personal favourite of the day but that may change by this evening- Pam Hogg and PPQ still to see!

Short and sweet as we are about to rush off in yet another direction of London to see an OnOff show.

Stay tuned for pictures, videos of the shows and shots of the fashion pack in full force! It's a jungle out there!

Something to think about....

It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.

- Oscar Wilde

London stepping into the spotlight with...Boris??

London Fashion Week always seems like it's trying to prove something to the rest of the fashion capitals. Over the years we have tried to carve out the cool, young talent niche to validate our relevance amongst Paris and Milan.

As we all know this year is the 25th anniversary of fashion week and I find it really strange that of all people, with the world watching, we picked Boris Johnson to open the event at Somerset House today. Not sure if that thought crossed other people's minds but it's like someone went out of there way to choose somebody who is so far removed from the fashion sector its unreal.

Surely it would of been a better reflection to celebrate the 25 years of fashion by choosing a person or organisation that has been a backbone of the British industry, or even selecting emerging young talent to shout about.

Ah well, at least with beginning fashion week with Boris Johnson things can only get better in the days to come...!

Playtime at Marc by Marc Jacobs

Marc by Marc Jacobs, the younger counterpart of the main line, exploded onto the stage in a rebellious, playful manner, living up to it's little sister status.

The clothes reminded me of children's presenter get-ups of the late 80's, awash with colour, clashing tribal prints, polka dots and candy stripes.

Blue, orange and red with highlights of pink ran through the collection with checks and plaids another strong feature.

Turn ups and carrot style trousers were key and not for the first time this week we saw twists on the traditional mac.

Highlights

- silk green jumpsuit
- orange & blue dress
- plaid box jacket with drainpipe trousers

Taking a shine to Proenza Schouler

Known for their clean cut uptown look the Proenza Schouler duo added a casual element to their spring 10 collection.

Usually a vision (stereotypically I admit) I associate with anorak wearing individuals, the jacket tied round the waist look was in fact an influence on this collection. Sure this was a design re-work to make this appear less trekking up a mountain and more trekking up Harvey Nics but nevertheless the comparison was there.

Twisted seams and fringing made appearances and the hemlines were kept short.

Indigo blue, yolk yellow an beetle shell green made up the palette and many of the dresses sported iridescent finishes reminiscent of reptilian skins and peacock feathers.

Highlights

- green & purple iridescent mini dress

- emerald green mini skirt

- Yellow & blue tie dye style top

All the frills of the fair at Marc Jacobs

Bumbags, Edwardian ruffles and Japanese beauty throw it all together and you're getting the picture for the Marc Jacobs spring 10 show.

The ruffles, frills and pleats were seen in a neutral colour palette with nude flesh tones and pale white-washed greys most common. The copious amounts of fabric spoke for themselves without adding colour to the equation.

Spring Jacobs style is a bulky affair with few clean lines. Voluminous skirts and trousers paired with tailored belted jackets, underwear worn to be seen and to add shape over shirts also featured.

It was certainly far removed from the 80's and grunge looks we have been submerged in of late. This collection was theatrical, yes, but there are elements such as the cut out shapes in the fabric and abundance of ruffles that will translate from high fashion to the high street.

The rules of conventional dressing were disregarded with the unusual pairing and layering of garments but this made for an interesting show whatever your take on the collection overall.

Highlights

- sheer full length dress

- exaggerated ruffle tops

- high volume trousers

Thakoon, New York s/s10

Bold, bright prints were the overriding factor at Thakoon. Key colours included primary red, turquoise blue, black and nude. Contrasting prints and fabrics were paired together to create panelling and add dimensions to the silhouette.

A commercial collection with abstract floral prints, box cut jackets, slouchy dresses and harem style trousers. Draping and assymmetric cuts were a recurring part of the collection.

highlights
- nude asymmetric dress
- oyster trouser with blue floral graphic
- green and nude print dress