The BAFTAs 2012 Red Carpet Illustrated

I love a bit of red carpet frock watching as much as the next fashion fan, but I get a bit sick of the same bunch of photos doing the rounds every year when awards season rolls round. So to try something a bit different, for the 2012 BAFTA Awards, which took place in London last night, I asked a group of  artists to choose their favourite red carpet look and create a fashion illustration. I’m thrilled with the results, I love how the illustrators have interpreted the actresses outfits so creatively. Here’s what they came up with.

Meryl Streep in Vivienne Westwood by Amber Grayson. Visit Amber’s website.

Meryl Streep took home the best actress BAFTA for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. She wore Vivienne Westwood, and with her reddish hair and this classic corseted number I think she actually looked quite like Dame Westwood herself, in a good way though.

Bonnie Wright in vintage by Naomi Austin. Visit Naomi’s Facebook page.

Harry Potter actress Bonnie Wright looked quite dressed down in comparison to some of the other glammed up guests but I really like this navy vintage polka dot dress which she teamed with Prada accessories. And she gets points for sensibleness, keeping out the cold with those black tights – temperatures weren’t much above freezing in London last night.

Gillian Anderson in Sybil Connolly by Naomi Austin. Visit Naomi’s Facebook page.

Gillian Anderson, on the other hand, admitted she was totally freezing in her strapless gown. It’s a beauty though, by Irish designer Sybil Connolly.

Fearne Cotton in Moschino by Hilary Killam. Visit Hilary’s website.

Fearne Cotton took a quick turn on the red carpet before taking her place to interview the nominees. I’m a big fan of Moschino and I think this dress is pretty perfect for her – it’s glamorous enough for an awards event but it’s still got a hint of whimsy with the little black bow, and she’s well covered up which is sensible (is it weird that I’m so worried about these girls being cold? Maybe it’s cos they’re all so skinny, with no flesh to keep them warm!).

Miss Piggy in Louis Vuitton by Hilary Killam. Visit Hilary’s website.

The Muppet matriarch Miss Piggy was interviewing stars as they arrived on the red carpet but she managed to give them a run for their money fashion wise in her custom Louis Vuitton dress.

Tilda Swinton in Celine by Gareth A Hopkins. Visit Gareth’s website.

You can always expect something brilliant and unusual from Tilda Swinton at an awards do and she didn’t disappoint last night. Not quite as fiercely androgynous as usual, she went for a stark white Celine maxi skirt and crop top combination. Good work Swinton.

Michelle Williams in H&M by Lizzie Donegan. Visit Lizzie’s website.

Fashion folk on Twitter were getting very excited at the fact that there was going to be a high street brand on the red carpet. But Michelle Williams outdid plenty of other designer-clad A-listers in her dress from H&M Conscious, the Swedish retailer’s ethical range. Nothing sure what she carrying though – is it a book? Is it a bag? Maybe we’ll never know.

Gillian Anderson in Sybil Connolly by Jo Ley. Visit Jo’s website.

Gillian Anderson was a popular choice amongst the illustrators because Jo Ley also chose to illustrate the actress in her delicate Sybil Connolly dress with mille-feuille pleats. ‘I’m not surprised, everyone loves Scully,’ Jo said. I totally agree, she looked amazing.

February Fashion Virals

Remember that Lanvin video last year? The one with superstar models Karen Elson and Raquel Zimmermann dancing to Pitbull’s I Know You Want Me? The video became an overnight sensation, spurning dozens of immitations and made us remember just why we love Alber Elbaz at the helm of the french fashion house

And it seems he hit upon gold, making the fashion industry quickly realise that viral videos are more chic than chav right now. In this vein, the first week of February has seen a flurry of fashion virals – a preemptive move before fashion week season I think. Here we round up three of our favourites

Victoria by Victoria Beckham, shot by Quentin Jones

This madcap sequence uses Quentin Jones skills as both a filmmaker and illustrator. With VB’s diffusion line taking a more youthful affordable edge, Jones employs a sixties- style synth track in the background as we are taken through a fantasy world, filled with shimmying cats, look book tear sheets and a magical self unzipping dress. No wonder the line already has a waiting list at Harvey Nichols, as Grazia Daily reported, just a week after it’s initial launch

Watch the Victoria by Victoria Beckham video here

Prada Spring Summer 2012 Campaign

With the current campaign shot by Steven Meisel, the video was always going to pay tribute to the uber-glamorous offerings Miuccia Prada presented last September. Staged in a American gas station, the viral takes a nostalgic turn with a 1950s aesthetic and accompanying soundtrack. Or so we think, until the music flips into an infectious mash up of the Sleigh Bells, Tobacco and Tom Recchion tracks – contrasting the sweetheart vibe of the collection with hyper-real music. Genius.

Watch the Prada Spring Summer 2012 campaign video here

Spring 2012 T by Alexander Wang, directed by Daniel Johnson

If South African hip hop isn’t your thing, chances are this might scare you a bit. Featuring a soundtrack by Die Antwoord, a trio of artists hailing from Cape Town, Alexander Wang presents his latest ‘T’ collection for Spring Summer 2012. The diffusion line quickly amassed a cult following after it’s first campaign back in 2009 fronted by Erin Wasson and for this collection Wang has created yet another line of covetable seperates. Very cool indeed.

Watch the Spring 2012 T campaign video here

Which viral is your favourite? Tweet us @Style_ThenSome to let us know!

Fashion SOS: Snow appropriate footwear for LFW

I love snow. I love sledging and making snow angels and forts and having snow ball fights. I love crunching along in the evenings when the falling snowflakes form feathery halos in the glow of the street lamps. I love waking up to that freshly fallen snow smell, and the muffled stillness that comes with it.

It was very unlike me, therefore, to be unhappy with the news that this ‘cold snap’ is predicted to last for another two weeks or so. Two weeks or so means London Fashion Week. London Fashion Week coupled with snow means a distressing footwear crisis. I’ve heard strange rumours that heels actually work very well in the snow, that they kind of act as stilts that lift your foot out of the cold and wet, but I’m unsteady enough on heels as it is without ice thrown into the mix. The truth is, the only footwear I wear in the snow are my converse (for a light snowfall or slush) or wellies (for the hardcore stuff).

Can I wear wellies to London Fashion Week, dear Style & Then Some friends? Please, save me from a massive fashion faux pas right now if it isn’t the done thing. I can feel the country girl in me putting on her practical hat. They are very pretty wellies, after all. (Joules, in case you wanted to know.) Maybe I should embrace it. After all, I am the one who stumbles out of shows stuffing the free cake in my mouth as the photographers who lurk at the entrances to catch celebrities and stylish people turn away in disappointment and slight disgust. At least I will be happy and comfortable with my cake and my lovely practical footwear.

LFW street style traditionally dictates that stylish boots are the answer to adverse weather conditions. Well, if it snows again, I’ll be very interested to see if I can spot any fashionistas wearing Prada‘s flaming lipstick shoes. If they do, I’ll be very impressed indeed.

Bid on a Bag to Save a Life

The Bag to Save a Life auction is now open online – nab a designer handbag at a bargain price and support Save the Children at the same time.

Bag to Save a Life is this year’s Save the Children’s Christmas campaign. Launched last Friday, fronted by UK supermodel Erin O’Connor, the appeal lets fashionistas bid to get their hands on bags from Christian Louboutin, Mulberry, Jimmy Choo, Miu Miu, Prada and many more in an online auction through www.savethechildren.org.uk/bagtosave.

Many of handbags were donated by celebrities, and we’re talking VERY stylish ones at that. Tilda Swinton, for example, handed over a really chic Chanel bow bag. Others came straight from designers – my favourites have got to be the two-toned Jason Wu ‘Miss Wu’ tote bag and the futuristic Christopher Kane PVC clutch, pictured above. I’ve wanted one of these ever since Sophie and I went to his London Fashion Week show in February.

The starting price of all lots will be set at around a quarter of the bags’ recommended retail price. Save the Children is also urging the public to show their support by donating and dropping off unwanted bags at any of their Save the Children stores around the UK.

The Bag to Save a Life auction is open until Sunday 4th December so get bidding now at www.savethechildren.org.uk/bagtosave.

Catwalk beats: Kreayshawn

Ok, so I’m a sucker for fashion-themed music, and when I heard Kreayshawn’s ‘Gucci Gucci’ on the radio with it’s ‘Gucci, Gucci, Fendi, Fendi, Louis, Louis, Prada’ chorus the other day I just had to look into this.  It is just screaming out to be sampled for the next Ashish show (fingers crossed), I mean Cazwell’s ‘I seen Beyonce at Burger King’ circa SS11…it just shouldn’t have worked but it DID.

Either way, Kreayshawn has got game, even if you don’t know half the stuff she’s bleating on about – I’m not going to pretend I know either.  One thing’s for certain, you aren’t going to catch Cher Lloyd being allowed to declare she has ‘swagger pumping out my ovaries’ – and I don’t think she’d dare.

On a slightly more random note, Kreayshawn has been rumoured to be directing the Red Hot Chili Peppers new video.  Yeah, I don’t get that either.

My very stylish week part 2: in which I meet a fashion hero

After a trip to Selfridges on Monday (read all about it in My very stylish week part 1) my stylish week continued on Thursday night with the opening of the new Somerset House exhibition Masters of Style: Celebrating the Stories behind Italian Fashion.

Dolce and Gabbana SS2011 by Steven Klein

I’m not sure how I ended up on the VIP invite list for this private view  (thanks for that 77 PR), but I was more than happy to go along, not least because the exhibition was curated by a man whose name is usually prefaced with the words ‘legendary fashion writer’ – Colin McDowell. The show brings together photography from the archives of six major Italian fashion houses – Giorgio Armani, Dolce and Gabbana, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Missoni and Prada. The designers themselves provide captions, as does McDowell and the result is a beautiful exhibition that fashion and photography fans alike will love.

While most of the guests on Thursday seemed happy to stay downstairs and quaff the free bottles of beer provided by sponsors Peroni Nastro Azzurro, I ventured up to where the photographs were on display. I’m glad I did, because there I found Mr McDowell. I quickly switched on the Voice Memos app on my iPhone (so useful as a makeshift dictaphone) and nervously approached (this guy is a fashion journalism hero of mine OK?) to see if I could ask a couple of questions. McDowell kindly agreed and I managed to get some pretty good quotes for my review, which you can read over on Fashionising.com. Now the only thing left to do is work out how I get on the VIP invite list for every other fashion exhibition in town.

Prada AW1998 by Albert Watson Prada

Gisele Bundchen for Missoni 2003 by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot