Mirror Mirror On The Wall Who’s The Trendiest Of Them ALL?! Our LFW Low down will tell you!
For a bone fide London living, fashion feasting, style stalking journalist like Mary Bello, London Fashion Week is a magical five day period where dressing with aplomb and getting papped like a celebrity, whilst sitting open mouthed front row at fashion shows and mingling with the glitterati is a natural thang! Here Miss Bello shares a few of her highlights with Flavour.
The Shows
LFW involved a serious lack of sleep, aching feet and the occasional blag. But it was undoubtedly worth it. Every show was a blast this season from the fashion to the tantrums and models stomping their way down the catwalks (and occasionally going ass over tit). From creepy crawlies at the Bora Aksu, to country bands on the runway at Prophetik and diva strops at Ashish here are some highlights from my week:
The kooky
Bora Aksu the models looked like sexy beetles with metallic plating on their garments and white woollen ants in the hair, a bit creepy crawly but still kinda stylish!
Prophetik was all about sustainable chic. They used materials such as hemp in their whimsical designs, which were soft, feminine and fairytale like. Highlight of the show was when country band Hogslop Bluegrass (all the way from Nashville, Tennessee) suddenly popped outta nowhere and started bringing down the house. Jeff Garner, Prophetiks head designer, even came on to the run way for a little boogie!
Romeo Pires showcased hillbilly style, with models wearing a lot of denim and shredded cotton tops. I spotted the living art installation that is Pandemonia at this show. She (or he- the voice was quite deep I couldn’t tell!) was actually really sweet but sweated so much in her red PVC outfit that she left a puddle on the floor!
The Celeb Packed
Ashley Isham’s On/ Off show attracted a celeb front row of bone fide stylista’s. I spotted Shingai from the Noisettes and Paloma Faith clocking the diva sexy designs on the runway. And who could blame them. With dresses that looked red carpet ready, I’m sure these two were picking out their wardrobe for next awards season!
Paloma and Shingai:
Ashley Isham Design:
Vivienne Westwood is the Doyenne of design and anyone who is anyone will clamour to get into her audience. Nicola Roberts from Girls aloud, super sexy couple Marvin (JLS) and Rochelle (The Saturdays), Amelle from The Sugababes, Vivienne’s muse Tolula Adeyemi and Pamela Anderson were just a few of the heavy hitters who turned out for her show. The event was so packed that many ticket holders didn’t even get the chance to see her iconic and timeless pieces on the runway. They were left standing outside the packed to capacity venue (cussing in their six inch stiletto’s). Oops, the early bird catches the silk worm!
Ashish was the design house that I was most desperate to see. Held up in traffic I made it into the show by turning on the charm. I arrived late and saw a well known fashion editor get turned away. However, Flavour writers don’t go down like that, I managed to flutter and pout my way in and got to watch the show of the season! It was all country and western style with fringing on jeans and cowboy boots. The front row was packed with hot young celebs like Pixie Lott, Diana Vickers, VV Brown, Shingai and Paloma F. The models walked to bashment music- I clocked Paloma Faith shocking out to the beats!
Where The Wild Roses Grow was one of the first shows attended by the bootylicious Amber- Rose. Kanye’s former wifey was rocking a denim jumpsuit and some geek chic glasses. Amber took off quickly after the show but she managed to spare me a few minutes and said that she was loving the mania of LFW!
The Key Trends- Get fashion forward with the juice on the key looks for spring/ summer 2011
70s Disco Sexy– Topshop Unique and Maria Grachvogel had long flowing dresses and skirts with splashes of bold colours (think blue and orange hues) . Also get your hands on a pair of bell bottom style trousers a la Matthew Williamson.
Country and Western/ Fringing – The Ashish show had the audience stomping their feet because the designs were so hot. It was all about dressing like a modern cowgirl from the wild west! And there was a whole lotta fringing going on with tassels galore, fringing was also seen at Topshop Unique. Think Jessie from Toy Story!
Feminine Chic – Vivienne Westwood and Holly Fulton had lots of girly dresses, with floral prints and 60’s flair. Wanna be in bloom next spring? Then incorporate a little flower power into your style or rock a structured, block colour shift dress.
Oh and get your leathers out because Burberry Prorsum (who always set the bar for outerwear) were giving us biker jackets, leather trousers , leather coats and big ol’ leather belts.
It was stylish, exciting and oh so emotional but now its over – so long LFW….until next time!
Words by Mary Bello
