ASOS AW2012 preview | Shake it up baby, twist and clash

Fed up of waiting for the ‘New:In’ sections of ASOS to update, we sent Craig White and Katy Spry charging at the new AW2012 collections, beady fashion eyes and cameras at the ready.

The emergence of ASOS as a major player in high street fashion without a single store is proof that online sales in the UK matter, not only in cash terms but in directing trends. The bold ASOS creative team continue to take risks and push high street style into occasionally perplexing directions (check out the woolen houndstooth onesie!) and their mix’n'clash styling suggests new twists and turns while allowing you to cherry pick what’s right for you.

The influence of British designers like Christopher Kane, Osman and House of Holland on this collection are occasionally blatant, but who doesn’t enjoy foxing friends with a well executed knock-off?! Here’s a round up in pictures of the key ASOS looks for AW2012.

AW12 Press days | Mickey Mouse meets Mumbai

Last week, Million and Naomi went along to the Blow PR press day and discovered some beautifully unique designs from around the world.

Located in a very underground basement just off Regent Street, Blow PR is one of the most well-established public relations companies in the city, with a client roster spanning from well-known brands to freshly graduated designers from all around the globe. We were pretty excited when S&TS asked us to cover the Blow press day. On arrival, we swapped our coats and heavy bags for a big glass of vodka sour – now that’s what I call a proper welcome.

The first designer we came across was Little Shilpa, a Mumbai based designer and Central St.Martins graduate renowned for her fabulous handcrafted head pieces.

Her “Disney Couture” collection was a huge success of Lakme fashion week. I mean, how cool is that mickey mouse scarf?

In these hard times, it’s always good to do a bit of recycling. Jane Bowler (an RCA graduate whose talent was dicovered by photographer Nick Knight) certainly embraced that by designing a whole collection out of scrap plastic. My favourite piece was this knitted sweater: totally wearable but sustainable too.

Now Marie-Me Jimmy Paul are a couple that know a thing or two about the term ‘thinking outside the box’. Based in Amsterdam, the design duo took the concepts of shape and texture to an extreme level: their clothes are bursting with patterns, colors and fabrics, creating a geometric feast worthy of an exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery. And yes, those bags really are made of concrete.

Alpana and Neeraj specialise in the design of striking couture dresses. They mesh together two extreme ideas such as plastic bodices swathed in soft drapes, bandages and surgical masks teamed with slim dresses and structured armour-like cages.

Sorapol, born  in Bangkok, considers London’s cultural melting pot a great source of inspiration. His autumn/winter collection is inspired by the story of Vasilisa, a young orphan was adopted by Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, an exiled extremist, during the Russian Revolution. Sorapol is a real story-teller who instantly engages you with his dark and edgy designs.

Bjorg, an artisan from Norway, started making jewellery in India in 2004, and went on to design numerous collections which have featured in magazines such as Italian and French Vogue. Materials he uses include silver, uncut diamonds and bronze, all responsibly sourced. Isn’t the golden cigarette holder just genius?

There’s no doubt Charlotte Valkeniers has a bright future ahead of her: her unique neck and arm pieces of embroidered leather definitely fall into the statement jewellery category: big, yet classy.

With the new hipster trend spreading like an oil stain, Underground Creepers are one of Blow’s key brands.  The new collection revisited the classic wulfrun shoe by adding colours like robin’s egg blue, acid green and metallic silver, as well as showcasing a new range of Creeper Wedges.

Pam Hogg at London Fashion Week AW12 // Definitely NSFW

What: Pam Hogg AW12 at London Fashion Week

Where: Vauxhall Fashion Scout

When: Sunday 19th February 2012 at 7.30pm

Who: Alexandra Burke, plus loads of ageing celebs including the original supermodel Janice Dickinson, Jo Wood, Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes and Siouxsie Sioux on the front row. Also actress Jaime Winstone modelled.

I love a bit of LFW drama. And boy was there plenty of it on Sunday night outside the Pam Hogg show. A very pushy lady was being ejected before she’d even got in the door, and she was not happy about it, shrieking and shouting at the bouncers. The drama continued on the catwalk, with a typically jaw-dropping delivery from Hogg. I had to squeeze in at the back of the extremely crowded venue and strain to get a decent view in between other people’s heads, hence my less than perfect photos.

The skintight full-body catsuit is Hogg’s stock in trade, and this season that stock was rendered in myriad variations of red, white and black panels, and silver metallic lycra too, each crowned with a huge neckpiece reminiscent of old fashioned ladies bonnets (or, to be completely honest, those collars that vets put on sick dogs). The suits got skimpier as the show went on, until all that remained in the midst of an entirely see-through gauze number was a tiny strip of black lycra preserving the model’s modesty. Another, which, as you can see from the photo, had Nick Rhodes in stitches, was completely opaque, but had a huge brown fur bonnet attached and a strip of matching fur on the crotch. You’ve got to love Hogg’s sense of humour.

Jaime Winstone’s blushes were saved as she sported a high-necked red, white and grey dress with a stiff full skirt for her turn on the catwalk, during which she stopped halfway for a little dance with another model. There was then an uncharacteristically girly interlude that featured a long sequinned gown and a catsuit, both in baby pink – not a colour you’d associate with punk icon Pam. The sweetness didn’t last for long though, because the final look was pure sex: a confluence of lipstick red bows and a pair of knickers that barely concealed the model’s naughty bits, it could have come straight off the rack at Agent Provocateur. It’s the sort of thing that makes Hogg such a hot LFW ticket each season. When a show features this much nudity, no wonder people are clamouring to get in.

Spijkers en Spijkers at London Fashion Week AW12 // Penniless Eccentrics

What: Spijkers en Spijkers AW2012

Where: Vauxhall Fashion Scout, Covent Garden

When: Saturday 18th February, 2012

Who: On the way out we were behind singer Kate Nash.

Last season I loved, and I mean LOVED, Spijkers and Spijkers at LFW. So I was pleased to see some echoes of SS12′s fantastic 1920′s vibe remained for autumn/winter. Skipping forward precisely one decade, this time the focus was on the thirties. Ewing Bouvier Beale and ‘Little Edie’ were the muses – a mother and daughter duo who were known for their glamorous but eccentric wardrobes and hectic social lives, well, before they were left abandoned and penniless when Mr Beale upped and left one day, that is.

Whimsical fairground waltz music opened the show and the whimsy continued on the catwalk. Again the Dutch designer twins sent out a lot of silk knee length dresses constructed of graphic coloured panels but the colour palette was much richer than last season – mustard yellow, deep purple and burnt orange clashed in scallopped panels and circular tessellating prints. A couple of mannish trouser suits played up the androdgyny slant the designers are so fond of.

Fashion writer Tim Blanks said something recently about fans of Marni liking the ‘sensuality of expression’ the clothes afford, rather than any obvious sexiness, and the same could be said of the Spijkers’ output this season. Some of these looks were very busy visually, especially where prints were doubled up on jackets and dresses. Pulled apart, though, they’re much more manageable. And for evening the eccentricity factor worked really well with feathery fringing and cute little fabric bird brooches, the ‘birds of paradise’ for which the show was named. The only question that remains now is: will Spijkers en Spijkers head for the 1940′s next season?

Image and Video credit: Samantha Meachin.

Zoe Jordan at London Fashion Week // Cowgirls and tomboys

‘My favourite show so far’ – that was what I tweeted straight after former ELLE Talent Launch Pad Award Zoe Jordan‘s show. Now I realise that’s not a huge statement to make on day one of London Fashion Week, but it really was a darn good show.

And at the risk of coming out with two moronic utterances in as many paragraphs, this might sound like a stupid thing to say about a fashion show, but it really was all about the clothes. Bear with me here. What I mean is it wasn’t about the theatricality of the production or the spectacular venue or which supers were walking or some pretentious concept. Quite simply, these were clothes that I could imagine in the shops, and on people on the streets, right now. And those people would look good. In a slouchy maroon crochet jumper and pegleg trousers for instance, or a fitted black leather zip up jacket, or a pair of boyish leather shorts. It wasn’t all aimed at stick thin teenagers thought – there were plenty of softly demure knee-length chiffon and lace dresses often styled with chunky grey or fawn knitwear and a waist cinching belt. These Navajo-esque blanket cardigans, plus the stiff wide-brimmed hats and liberal use of leather (in maroon too, a really nice touch) gave an Americana feel throughout. Whatever the origins, this is a collection that will look good on the streets of any city.

PPQ at London Fashion Week AW12 // Bike to the future

No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is indeed a bicycle being wheeled down the catwalk at the PPQ on day one of London Fashion Week. Very Dalston isn’t it?

Someone asked me right before the PPQ show which I preferred between the summer and winter fashion weeks. I answered that these days the boundary between the two, in terms of the seasonality of clothes on show, was so blurred that I couldn’t decide. But then I had to eat my words as minutes later PPQ sent out an array of resolutely cold weather-friendly clothing. It started (once the girl wheeling the bike had exited, more on that later) with a host of winter coats in black and grey raggedy mohair, cinched 80′s-style with wide belts. A hood embellished with gold and a slightly Amish head piece (that was way cuter than it should have been in theory) put a focus on the neck up. Next up were cosy, rouched black velvet dresses that had added sex appeal thanks to deep V-necks, cut out backs and off the shoulder detailing.  Typically for PPQ there were a few very out-there looks, like the cream, off the shoulder unitard that brought to mind two terrifying words: camel and toe. The black latex high-waisted knickers were equally zany, but the eveningwear was mostly very tasteful – a couple of flowing black and white dresses in particular. And then the bikes were back. For the final walk-through three of the models wheeled out a bike that matched their outfit. A collaboration with lifestyle brand RULE, 100 of the snappily titled Limited Edition PPQ Rule Supreme Style bikes will be available to order in March. It seemed like a slightly gimmicky end to the show but I’m a big bike fan so I don’t care. In fact, if I had £1500 spare (yep, that’s how much they’ll be) I would totally be placing an order.

Check out the rest of Style & Then Some’s LFW coverage here.

Corrie Nielsen at London Fashion Week AW12 (VIDEO) // Great Scots

What? Corrie Nielsen at London Fashion Week AW2012

Where? BFC Showspace, Somerset House

When? Friday 17th February, 11am

Who? Stylists Rebekah Roy and Joel Dash, Hilary Alexander (yep, her again).

A tartan invitation. Bagpipes playing. The words ‘Destiarium Scotitum.’ Do you need any more clues as to where former Fashion Fringe winner Corrie Nielsen was headed this season? That’s right, this was a Highland affair from start to finish, inspired by Nielsen’s distant Scottish relatives apparently.

Tight tartan pencil skirts were paired with ruffled long sleeved blouses, while jackets with high necks and leg o’ mutton sleeves suggested a Victorian sternness. There was also something beautifully funereal about the black chiffon overlaid from waist to chin on an off-the-shoulder red tartan frock. Elsewhere, the corsetry and draping, particularly on a heavy navy asymmetrical dress, called to mind one of Nielsen’s former employers, Vivienne Westwood. Black court shoes with architectural block heels were provided by those makers of zany shoes, United Nude.

But the designer this collection owed most too was, of course, Alexander McQueen, or more precisely, his 1995 Highland Rape collection. That’s no bad thing though. Nielsen took the Scottish theme and deftly placed it in a historical context – and the results were grand but restrained.

Well, restrained with the exception of the final two looks, that is: a huge black and white tartan full skirt with a stiff white sleeveless chiffon blouse, and the piece de resistance, a ruffled billowing navy silk cape that the word ‘voluminous’ doesn’t even come close to describing. Again, it bore more than a passing resemblance to a red McQueen cape (one that Andre Leon Talley once wore to the Met Ball), but since this is only Nielsen’s third London Fashion Week solo show we can forgive her that.

Check out the rest of Style & Then Some’s LFW coverage here.

Antoni and Alison at London Fashion Week AW12 // Going back to their art school roots

What? Antoni and Alison at London Fashion Week AW2012

Where? BFC Showspace, Somerset House

When? Friday 17th February, 9am

Who? LFW stalwarts (and fashion journalism royalty) Hilary Alexander and Colin McDowell were in the front row.

Kicking of the LFW action on Friday morning was Antoni and Alison, taking the early bird spot usually held by Paul Costelloe. While some of the fashion pack might still have been preping and preening (there were several empty back rows) those of us who made the effort to get to the first show of the day were rewarded with a fresh, lively collection that was worth getting up early for.

Opening with what sounded like a press release being read out, a booming voice told us about the history of the brand. Antoni Burakowski and Alison Roberts met at famed design college Central St Martins and have been designing together ever since. This year marks 25 years in the business, and a catwalk show was chosen for their latest work as ‘the vehicle for its one and only performance.’

Voiceover aside, the goods on show were far from pretentious, and consisted mainly of easy to wear dresses. Going back to their art school roots, the designers riffed on a trompe l’oeuil theme, with texture and embellishment added by way of print. Tweed, petals, buttons, ribbons, wet-look latex - all were rendered in 2D, with the dress acting as a blank canvas. Many dresses were spliced at the waist with a virtual ‘skirt’ in a contrasting print.

A lot of warm golden brown tones were interspersed with deep purple and the odd splash of deep purple and turquoise. A couple of evening looks took the ‘faux’ theme to its natural conclusion: blown up sequin print on a minidress and a printed cropped tux on a floorlength gown. It might not have been groundbreaking, but this kooky-luxe collection still felt fresh and appealing.

Check out the rest of Style & Then Some’s LFW coverage here.