Erin O'Connor and others at Ashley Isham (On/Off). All in all, a solid show abounding in great use of texture. There was a floral patterned white quilted rabbit coat, black and white waffle suits, a floral halter dress with a seriously embellished neck, and a space age meets Tudor-style heavily embellished purple corset/skirt suit. I was disappointed on the evening wear front, however. The printed chiffon dresses with shiny beads generically arranged about the neck and waist was a throwback to yearning over those BCBG beaded frocks in high school and the amount of white used did not suit for autumn/winter. There was also a suspicious one-shouldered white frock--reminiscent of a certain inaugural gown. I'm tired of it already.
Secrets, secrets are no fun. Unless you're Erin O'Connor.
I love this. It's very nineties in its simplicity, but the shape is great, the colors strong and I can think of about a million ways to style it.
Avsh Alom Gur at Vauxhall. Really fun exploratory collection. He played with silhouettes and shapes like a pro. Decadent full hoop skirted ball gowns were juxtaposed with austere black jumpsuits and tight evening columns bearing the words "credit crunch" scrawled across the bust and waist in thick gold lettering. A paradoxical choice in and of itself--as credit crunch should be written in tin or copper, not gold! Anyway, he had fun with his collection and established a cheeky dialogue with it about today's society and economic crisis. It was great fun, I'm so glad one designer just approached the credit crunch head on, sending it down the catwalk, and not merely dancing suggestively around it with an all black collection or some other attempt at poverty chic.
For more, check out my review in Clique Magazine: http://www.clique-magazine.com/fashion/avsh-alom-gur-aw-2009
I think it's so fantastic. I desperately hope that TopShop knocks this up ASAP so I can scoop one up before the dow takes a turn for the better--which, when you come to think about it, means I probably have at least a year or so! But still. Let's just hope that six months from now Gur doesn't send his Spring/Summer models traipsing down the catwalk in potato sacks bearing the word "Depression" embroidered in twine.
The contrast of these ornate Victorian style ball gowns with the simplicity of the Credit Crunch pieces is pretty genius. As if to say, yes there's a crunch on, but what do we do when things get tough? We through caution to the winds and go for old school opulence. The question is: is Gur being cheeky and ironic or cynical and jaded?
Fashion East at Quaglino's showcased the collections of Holly Fulton, Maria Francesca Pepe and Natascha Stolle. All the big shots were there, Colin McDowell front row and center next to Hilary Alexander.
Natascha Stolle's collection-my favorite. She had this beaded/embellished robot thing going on, very Marni meets Miu Miu meets Topshop. I love it!
I love this piece: an oversized tee-dress with shoulder pads? I really hope American Apparel jumps on board with this, I could do with one in every color!
The Blow Presents guerilla show--a last minute addition to the Vauxhall lineup after Spijkers and Spijkers pulled a fast one and moved their show to Milan at the last minute. Wish they hadn't as the young designers who took their place were all conceptual--a little too much so for my taste. The designers were Gemma Slack, Komakino and Craig Lawrence.
She's like the spawn of the evil demon moth in cream leather--frightens me a little.
This whole silence of the lambskins thing is just not right. Scary leather mask freaks me out--the journalists in the front row don't have SARS, Gemma, I promise! Seriously, no one wants to see Hannibal Lector walk the runway. No one.
Craig Lawrence's collection was well suited for the catwalk, and I really mean cat. If he had unelashed a couple of felines onto the runway, they would have been in heaven as the whole collection seemed to feature walking cat toys! Can anyone say meow?
Man does this guy look unhappy.
Seriously, Mittens would go to town on this one.
While ribbons have been having quite the catwalk moment this spring, let Lawrence's collection be a warning to all arts n' crafters who would be designers--please use sparingly.
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