Ian's AW13/14

Time for a retrospective

Okay let's start with Balenciaga, easily the most anticipated of the season. Love love love the monochrome for a start, nice to see Wang exploring it again after his Spring/Summer and it leads nicely on from Ghesquière's final RTW. Minimal structure on the back of certain pieces (third down) was also reminiscent of both. Despite the links the collection was in no way tired or repetitive; sharp silhouettes and clean lines kept the Balenciaga woman simultaneously strong and elegant. By the looks of it Wang's going for a smooth takeover (with which he's succeeded), though it is only his first season. Looking forward to SS14. Bravo Wang.

Speaking of takeovers... it wasn't so long ago we saw Hedi Slimane's first collection for Saint Laurent. While Wang went for a smooth transition, Slimane clearly had over ideas in changing the name and logo of the iconic brand. Then came SS13 - I'm not a fan. And now... ugh. Basically how I'd sum up AW13-14 in a word... or noise. I'm kind of despairing at how far Slimane missed on this one. I just... ugh. No. He's been given a brand with a huge reputation and clientèle and has disregarded all of this to invent his own Saint Laurent girl (note girl, not woman). I honestly don't know who he expects to buy these, the slight problem being that fourteen year old girls who have soft grunge tumblrs can't afford Saint Laurent and people who can afford Saint Laurent don't want to look like fourteen year old girls who have soft grunge tumblrs. The only enjoyable thing about the show was the internet backlash - my personal favourite: "I didn't know Urban Outfitters were showing in Paris". Pull it together Slimane.

In other news... big fan of some of Derek Lam's work this season, mainly the coats. I can't resist minimalism when it's done well though more in shape and silhouette than in colour pallete here.

Again for minimalism you can always count on JW Anderson - big fan despite the shoes (and i'm still deciding whether I love or hate the fur plastic combos. A strong collection from Celine though I'll admit to not being a huge fan of the past the cuff sleeves. Loooved Tom Ford, good to see pattern done well again.  

Simons shines again developing the Dior woman (take note Slimane) while putting his own stamp on the brand. Love the similar motifs to his indescribably perfect SS13 menswear collection. All hail Raf.

Favourite show of all though has to be Chalayan for pure originality alongside a stunning collection of texture and silhouette. Perfect perfect perfect combination and contrast of structure and fluidity creates pieces that fit, flatter and accentuate the body beautifully. Ugh just perfect.

And those metamorphosing dresses my god.

London Fashion Weekend!

I feel like a zombie at the moment, had only about 5 or less hours of sleep last night and I have no energy whatsoever.. I want to go to sleep so badly but then I thought it's better to get this post done before it gets a bit out of date. So here it goes....

Before the half term I had a very hectic month; portfolios, uni apps, interviews, projects, etc etc. I did 2 interviews, one was at Kingston and the other was at Ravensbourne. I got an offer from Kingston which I'm overwhelmed about, and I am still waiting to hear from the other unis. By the way it is NO FUN at all to carry a huge, very heavy portfolio around London, I had sore arms for a couple of days. Oh and I've learnt that if you're waiting in a canteen or a room for your turn to 'shine' and your surrounded by other applicants, talk to them! If you're lucky you can meet some lovely people and it makes you feel  a little less nervous. So after all the hassling I said to myself...Jenny you deserve to have a break, just relax for a few days it won't do any harm, then whooosh it is the Sunday before college starts already. It's strange how time flies quicker when you're having a good time and it goes slower when you're not. I had a great half term if you ask me, I was having enough sleep, didn't need to worry about a thing, and the best bit was that I won 2 tickets to the London Fashion Weekend!!! Well, I bought them for 45 quid on ebay, not bad eh!? :D

So on the 23rd Feb, 2013 Saturday, me and my pal Daniella went to Somerset House with heaps of excitement to watch Issa London's S/S 2013 Collection show. Daniella Helayel the Creative Director of Issa London, who is born and raised in Brazil. The collection was inspired by the vibrant and exotic atmosphere of Brazil.

the pics I took were either too bright or too blurry :/

I absolutely love the collection, the prints were mesmerizing with vivid colour combinations and beautiful fabrics. It felt like the collection was made for me because I'm a sucker for animal/crazy prints. The silhouettes were elegant, the models were looking glamorous with their snake scale like heels and pretty embroidered flower head pieces with some golden statement jewelries. What I liked about the collection was how it was put together, Daniella (the designer) pick different range of styles like some were simple wrap dresses whereas some dresses had busy prints, there was a well-balance between the colours and prints and it wasn't OTT. It definitely captures the relaxing vibe of a summer vacation by a beach.

After the show, we went to the shop & lot bit which was pretty awesome. I found some cool shades and I couldn't resist to try them on... I bought some bracelets and they were pretty much the only items that I could afford to get....sad times, though we picked up every business cards that were displayed from each stand.

I love these mickey mouse ones

It was slightly uncomfortable

We got goodie bags which wasn't as exciting as i thought it would be like.

booking a charity by elli

 So its been a long time coming but my previous project, and first proper project under our specialism was "booking a charity". In which we had to choose an object from a charity shop and create a book as a final outcome. I chose an old fashion Kodak film canister as I thought it could lead to some good opportunities in terms of imagery and pathways. Below are my five favourite sketch book pages, I was also very pleased with my final outcome as it looked more or less exactly how I pictured to it. To make my book I developed a proposal in which the Kodak film canister was used as a vessel to transport images to my 'company' that I would then turn these images into a beautiful one of a kind book.

Best Parcel EVER!!!

After the crit before half term I realised how many Catherine wheels I was going to need for my skirt!! S I emailed the company who makes them not really even expecting them to reply

But then the best parcel arrived the other day and all they want in return is some photographs!!! So I now have 225 Catherine wheels to play with!!!

CHLOE- HELPED OUT AT MARK FAST'S LFW SHOW

HELPING OUT AT MARK FAST'S LFW CATWALK SHOW

On Saturday at  9pm I emailed Mark Fast's assistant reminding him I was free and willing to help during the London Fashion Week show which I was sure wasn't going to get read, but received a speedy reply 10 minutes later saying to meet him at 1pm opposite Somerset House in the ME hotel reception the next day. We were given a LFW backstage wristband so we wouldn't get questioned throughout the day and then taken to floor 8 of the 5*  hotel.

                             

(ME Hotel London)

       

For the first half hour me and the other 3 interns sat and watched endless amounts of people cram into the 4 hotel rooms and corridor that they had booked setting up the hair, make-up, clothing and refreshments stations in each room. The models started arriving and began the process of getting ready, we were instructed to help the models get into their dresses. The dresses were beautiful, with an orange, red and fuscia colour palette, the knitwear collection had some sculptured cape pieces and also some tight fitted fringed dresses, they were elegant as always and had a sexy edge to them making them questionably wearable but still extremely beautiful, each model had a red stripe in their slick back ponytails which matched the vibrant colour palette. Handling the designer clothing was such a bonus as the quality of his work is incredible, you can see the effort that goes into the precision detailing on each garment.

Next I was sent downstairs with Fast's assistant to stand outside and find the model whom was now running 2 hours late, it was freezing cold and she still hadn't turned up so Richard sent me inside with the guest list to stand by the lifts and tell the first arrivals that they were running (ALOT) behind. The model turned up 10 minutes before the show was meant to start as she had been in Vivienne Westwood's Red Label catwalk show and been held up through that, me and the other intern were told to calm the 200 guests waiting impatiently outside the lift doors whilst the model was sprinted to get ready. There was a lot of angry photographers and editors of magazines demanding we let them upstairs, where on the top floor of the hotel they had transformed the former restaurant into a catwalk.

After we let everyone up the lifts and they were seated we were told we could ourselves sneak into the show and stand at the back and watch!!

(My own photos of the show and view from the roof terrace)

There were two shows (3.30pm and 4.30pm), the most popular was the later one in the day; as we were escorting the guests up the lifts I met a few famous faces, first being Pixie Lott wearing a lush fur collar and then Delilah and Zara Martin who arrived together looking extremely elegant.

I loved the shows as the venue was quite small but very bright, the models walked very close to the audience and so you got to really get a feel of the extravagant dresses. There were 10 looks and 10 models all together but these four were my definite favourites. In the background of the top and bottom images you can even see me standing to the left of the models taking some pictures!

The day was totally unexpected and last minute for me but it was so lively and such a great opportunity to work backstage with Mark Fast's team, he is such a great knitwear designer and am so thankful that I got to experience the magic behind the LFW show!

I am going to be keeping my backstage wristband on for a long time.. here's a youtube link to the show!

Although the music is rather strange that they have put over the top, the actual music started off with Little Dragon - Ritual Union, which was very upbeat and I really enjoyed!

Purple moodboard by Sian :)

Okay so this one is just an artist response to a picture that I found on tumblr really but I thought it was quite cool!

And then this one is my final moodboard, all stuck down and everything. It took forever and lots and lots of superglue (involving me accidentally sticking my hand to the table...) and lots and lots of double sided. I like things being really busy, not that you'll be able to tell or anything!

Black Illustrations

Haven't blogged in a little while so now that they are finished I thought I would post my 5 fashion illustrations....

Now I just need to choose which one to make!!

Hope everyone had lots of pancakes :0P

Lauren x