London Fashion Week - SS13

I feel like I'm behind with the Fashion Week posts after moving in and getting settled in the new place at uni and whatnot, but never the less, here's a quick round up of some of my favourite shows from London. 

I really like the futuristic vibe from the Burberry Prorsum show, reworking their classic mac with metallic fabric in two-tone shades of electric blue and turquoise. The metallic lavender shirt teeters on the edge of looking too much like tin foil, but the dusty pink and grey in the skirt balance things out.

There's a great use of colour and pattern from Matthew Williamson, lots of sky blue, navy and turquoise with bright pops of fuchsia dotted throughout. The patterns on shorts and cropped trousers create a bleeding out effect, the colours slowly 'dripping' off into white towards the hem of the garment.

Topshop Unique kept things very clean and simple using monochrome and linear patterns to add detail to dresses of sheer fabric. The garments also have an oversized, slouchy look to them, which is something I've noticed popping up in a number of FW shows.

Burberry Prorsum

Matthew Williamson

Topshop Unique

Vivienne Westwood Red Label was as wacky as ever, (painting models faces green and blue) but there were some great dresses with ruched hems and gorgeous patterns, along with expertly tailored jackets, shirts and cropped trousers. Also, an honourable mention to the amazing dangling skeleton necklace (add to: list of things I want, but can't have!)

Another favourite was House Of Holland with a slightly darker, grunge-ier collection than usual.  Oversized checks in navy and contrasting black and yellow were featured on dresses and shirts, while the amazing rainbow floral trousers injected some colour. There was also a few pieces with a murkier, splatter print which added to the 90's grunge throwback vibe. (side note: I'm a big fan of the H! by Henry Holland collection at Debenhams) 

Finally, Acne hit the oversized-trend nail on the head with this collection. There was an oversized denim coat with exposed belts tightened to give the garment some shape, maxi shirts slashed at the knee and a jacket with large roll-up cuffs and featuring a thick, black and white stripe pattern that reminds me of Beetlejuice. I also really love the shoes in this collection and the use of buckles on the garments to make the oversized pieces more fitted.

Vivienne Westwood Red Label

House Of Holland

Acne

Acne

A review of the Milan Fashion Week shows will be up soon!

all photos - style.com

H&M Fall Collection // Lana Del Rey

  

You may have seen these beautiful photos floating around online as excitement built around the rumour that Lana Del Rey would be the face of H&M's Fall collection. Well, this pretty much confirms it. The collection is typical LDR style and perfect for A/W, with sweaters of angora blend and chunky knits, pastel shades of pink and mint mixed with burgundy leather-look trousers and pencils skirts, finished off with ankle boots and suede court shoes. There's also some gorgeous printed pieces (the leggings and one of the blouses can be seen in the photos above) which feature a floral print that is reminiscent of a water colour painting, finished off with oversized, jewelled accessories which add an extra touch of glamour.

The full collection is now available to buy in store and online and, as if that wasn't exciting enough, there's a music video to go along with it!  Released in a few days, the shot below shows Del Rey, with her signature sixties winged eyeliner, bouffant hair and razor-sharp nails, singing into a vintage microphone. A short commercial/teaser was posted online which gives a hint to what the full video will be like.

I also want to quickly mention the way H&M are featuring the collection on their website. There's links to see the full Del Rey photoshoot, browse through the collection - each garment and accessory has been photographed individually so you can really get a good look at them. Then, there's an animated lookbook which shows how the garments can be styled. I think having an animated lookbook is something new and different as it's more interesting than a regular photo lookbook. Finding unique ways of advertising is something I feel H&M do very well and in some ways, puts them ahead of other high street stores.

see the full collection, lookbook and photoshoot here and check out this behind the scenes video!

Givenchy sketches

As part of our summer task, we were told to research a designer and gather ideas in a sketchbook, focusing on garments, prints and accessories. We were given a list of designers to choose from and Givenchy appealed to me the most as I love the Fall 2011 RTW collection, with all the detailed panther and flower prints. Eventually, we'll be designing a garment, an accessory and a print for our chosen designer to be made as an outfit.

Below are a couple of outfit drawings from my sketchbook of my favourite collections - done with a mix of ink, watercolour, pencil and fine liner.

Fall 2011 RTW 

Fall 2011 RTW                     Fall 2012 RTW

Rodarte - SS13

There's always one collection that stands out against all the others at Fashion Week as my favourite and  this season, it's Rodarte.  

I saw a photo of the dragon ear cuff on tumblr and instantly thought, "ho-ly shit, that is beautiful" and I immediately went to look-up the collection online. I wasn't disappointed at all. Everything about these pieces is stunning; they're like a mix between an Oriental princess and a medieval warrior with some futuristic twists thrown in for good luck. The detail on the garments is absolutely beautiful and the cut-out pieces, leather lace-up trousers combined with some super badass necklaces and belts add to that chain-mail, medieval armour vibe. And is it just me, or does the black dress with the red detailing on the bodice scream House Targaryen from Game of Thrones?  I mean, dragon ear cuffs... Anyone? 

Anyway, I think there's a nice contrast between hard and soft here. There's the flowing, feminine skirts and dresses of chiffon and silk with pastel shades of blue and pink against the tough leather, plus angular shapes and cinched in waists that create a defined silhouette. The colour palette is a mix of deep, forest green, navy and purple tones with a pop of scarlet and bright orange on the fringed leather vest, all feeling very decadent. Not to mention the rich embellishment and heavy accessories. Finally there's the shoes: a good chunky block heel with various shades turquoise, pastel orange and grey defined with black edging and buckles that almost suggest velcro straps. And there's definitely a sports-feel to the shoes, due to the colours and materials used which - in theory - shouldn't work with the garments, but it stops the collection feeling too costume-y. They add to the subtle futuristic vibe of the pieces, complimenting the geometric shapes of the tops, skirts and shoulder pads, while metallic and wet-look fabrics help create an extra dimension to the garments. 

by evachen212 on Instagram

all photos - style.com

NYFW - SS13 // part 3

Donna Karan

DKNY

Marc Jacobs

Mandy Coon

Wes Gordon

3.1 Phillip Lim

3.1 Phillip Lim

all photos - style.com

NYFW - SS13 // part 2

Some more favourites from NYFW. I'm still majorly impressed with what I've seen in the past couple of days, it's getting me inspired and more eager to get back to uni to start doing things again. Along with the more extravagant collections I've picked out a couple that I think are really wearable for everyday (which is nice to see) and I love that Ruffian had all the models wearing Converse instead of heels. And I absolutely adore Monique Lhuillier's collection. The prints, colours and detailing are simply gorgeous and there's a number of gowns that are breathtaking! From all of this, I've got high hopes for the collections still to come from New York and also from London, Milan and Paris.

 Can't wait!

Alexander Wang

Hervé Léger by Max Azria

Prabal Gurung 

Thakoon Addition

Ruffian

Rebecca Taylor

Rebecca Taylor

Monique Lhuillier 

all photos - style.com

NYFW - SS13 // part 1

I feel like I've only just started shopping for autumn/winter (and for back to uni) and we're already thinking about spring/summer. In the past, I haven't really been a big fan of the majority of SS collections - maybe because there's usually a lot of florals, bright colours and I'm the total opposite of that, so I prefer the A/W collections more. 

That said, this year I've been surprised as there's so much that I'm really excited about. Already I can see a lot of coral pieces on the catwalk, so I'm guessing that's going to be big next season. And I've been loving the contrasting fabrics, like leather, lace, chiffon and silk along with slick, wet-look materials and the use of layering.

Here, I've picked out some of my favourite looks (there's a lot more I could have included) so if any of these catches your eye, be sure to check out the full collections because there's some absolutely gorgeous pieces. A few of my favourite collections so far are Katie Gallagher, Kimberly Ovitz, Tadashi Shoji and Jason Wu (my #1 so far!). I'll be doing some more Fashion Week posts in the next few weeks and I'm starting uni again at the end of the month, so hopefully there'll be some uni-related posts to come!

Costello Tagliapietra

Honor

Peter Som

Katie Gallagher

Kimberly Ovitz

Tadashi Shoji

Helmut Lang

Jason Wu

Jason Wu

all photos - style.com