Over the last month I have been on various working vacations which involved unfortunate evenings spent in Travelodges, Premier and Holiday Inns, as well as an unwelcome diversion from my career path and a painful reminder of just why I must stick to it. During this vacation from my career and on the subject of it, I was described by a friend as "a part-time intern" - Haa! Part-time, freelance, free falling...whatever. I am no longer interning for powerhouse-super female-beau ideal-Fashion Editor at Large Melanie Rickey or anyone else for that matter. So as London Fashion Week approached I thought it high time for me to bust my own chops and get the low down for AW13. Today marks the end of lfw and after my baptism of fire into the SS13 shows, this time around I found myself very much on the periphery of the action, attuned to but only occasionally seduced by the tweets of the fashion frow. Over the last week the fashion pack have descended on Somerset House (this year via the Topshop show space at the Tate Modern) and as much as I enjoy my vicarious internet existence there ain't nothing like seeing it in the flesh so off I went to join the Somerset circus. But before braving Somerset House I was faced with my ongoing internal fashion conflict. I have a love-hate relationship with fashion, I tend to view it in binaries constructed in the bi-polar melting pot of my mind. For me fashion is both empowering and crippling, simultaneously an art form and trite, a rich part of culture but also superfluous. I enjoy fashion in the context of it shaping and reflecting society and culture and in the context of my own wardrobe to a point but there is a large portion of it (and people) that I would rather not connect with at all. That said battle face on. Here's the good, the bad and the ugly (naturally not mutually exclusive) from London Fashion Week...
+ London and New York set two very different tones for AW13 office wear:
At Somerset House BFC concierges got a Jonathan Saunders makeover...
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| (Image via @Topshop) |
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| (Image from Style.com) |
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| (Image via Love Magazine) |
The latest silver-spooned Bedales export, "model of the year" Cara Delevingne is taking over the world. The Vogue cover girl has appeared in just about every show so far this fashion month and she isn't about to put the brakes on anytime soon. In between sporting the pioneering model cam at the Topshop Unique show (because we all need to see the show through her eyes obviously), partying with Rihanna and dating Jake Bugg, the 20 year old also has her sights set on a move into acting. There will be no hiding from Cara Delevingne in 2013. The "kooky" self described "professional human being" (vom) made her acting debut in the 2012 adaptation of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and is anything but shy in front of a film crew. The evidence speaks for itself. . .
+ GOOGLE PLUS
Fashion is set to change forever and enter a new entirely interactive age. We are now able to live-stream around 70% of shows from the comfort of our own laptops and without a moments anguish about the trends we may or may not be working underneath the duvet. Last season Topshop Unique transformed the way we watched fashion shows and this time around Google has played an unprecedented role in fashion week. The creatives at Google teamed up with Topshop Unique to create a home for all the amazing internet possibilities of fashion week to be curated in one place. Google Plus is the social media strain of the company and resembles a combination of all the leading social media sites. This lfw you were able to follow your favourite models (Cara obviously), collect your favourite visuals, "be the buyer", follow model cam down the catwalk and much more. On Friday afternoon Melanie Rickey hosted a global Google Plus Hangout at Topshop HQ allowing the international fashion community to be at the centre of the action in London and demonstrating the way the internet can be positively involved in the evolution of the fashion industry. Great for those whose show tickets were tragically "lost in the post", gaaah the Royal Mail.
+ Fashion Vs. Celebrity
There was a strict divide in the fashion community on Saturday night those seduced my saucetress Rhianna and those more interested in emerging fashion talent Thomas Tait. It seems the fashion crowd might have seen it all before (on instagram) Rhi Rhi as the media furore caused by the singer's collection for River Island only fuelled more celebration of designer Thomas Tait's collection and her show to be dismissed as a great PR stunt. The young designer's collection was described as by The Cut as, "funky aerobic wear fit for your next trip to Lucille Roberts."
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| (Thomas Tait AW13) |
...Another music star, A$AP ROCKY had some equally great insight into nyfw to contribute...
.httpvine.co/v/brBOnb6bmQJ
(Vine was also everyone's favourite new video app this season)
+ TRENDS FOR AW13:
Era: The 90s revival is here to stay but AW13 is all about the 90s for now. As street style becomes evermore prominant and a real part of fashion month the lines between designer and street wear are now entirely blurred and bad news there's DOUBLE DENIM. The Save the Last Dance vibe is now creeping it's way on to front rows with fashed up beanies being sported by 40 something editors and buyers...
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| (The 90s for now at Unique. Images: The Cut) |
Style: "CO-OR"
Christopher Raeburn, Eudon Choi, Zoe Jordan, House of Holland, Thomas Tait, Holly Fulton all featured fully co-ordinated, matchy matchy looks, playing with prints, textures and layering.
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| (Zoe Jordan. Image: The Cut) |
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| (House of Holland. Image: The Cut) |
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| (Christopher Kane. Image: The Cut) |
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| (Whistles. Image: DisneyRollerGirl) |
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| (Marques' Alemeida. Image: Londonfashionweek.com) |
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| (Topshop Unique. Image: The Cut) |
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| (Lucas Nascimento. Image: FashionEditoratLarge) |
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| (Christopher Kane. Image: The Cut) |
+ MUSIC wise Burberry brought their boy Tom Odell back, this time he performed live with a choir at their show. There was also a live performance from Shystie at the Nasir Mazhar show but in terms of new talent insiders were buzzing about South-East London girl Rainy Milo...
+ And finally it's her AGAIN and it seems the Topshop pr team don't miss a trick and we won't be shaking off the 'Harlem Shake' anytime soon..
