ALEXA CHUNG SHOWS US THE NEW CROP TOP

Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large

Once upon a time we thought crop tops were silly things. Who on earth would you want to show off your belly in public unless you were Rihanna or Miley Cyrus? Then Miu Miu happened. Last September, Mrs Prada showed crop tops in a new light as chic pieces to wear with pencil skirts. Coupled with a huge revival in 90s fashion, crop tops became normal, nay, fabulously cool. This has also been the Summer of the cami top which is slightly less challenging than the crop top but still hardly straightforward when it comes to controlling one's cleavage beneath it. All in all, tops have undergone quite a transformation. The humble vest just doesn't quite cut it any more.

Alexa Chung in Carven resort '14 at the launch of her book (via vogue.co.uk)

So what will next summer bring for our torsos? If Alexa Chung's choice of outfit at the launch of her debut book last night is anything to go by then it will be all about the off-shoulder. On the majorly plus side, shoulders tend to be pretty good parts of our bodies- when did you last hear someone complain about their fat shoulders? On the downside, any kind of bra with straps would likely be a terrible idea. Clearly we really need a miraculous leap forward in the world of strapless bras before next Spring.

Once Alexa wears something, it's almost guaranteed to become a big trend. But it's not just Alexa. There were lots of off shoulder tops and dresses in the Resort collections, including Christopher Kane which Chloe Moretz then wore to the Teen Choice Awards. Rebecca Hall also gave Celine a rare turn on the red carpet a few weeks ago wearing the AW14 obi wrap top. Thankfully, the new off shoulder top is more fitted and sleek than those regrettable boho super- flouncy gypsy tops of the early noughties. Hurray.

Chloe Moretz in Christopher Kane at the Teen Choice awards (via uk.omg.yahoo.com)

Rebecca Hall in Celine (via telegraph.co.uk)

Alexander McQueen Resort '14 (via style.com)

Kenzo Resort '14 (via style.com)

CARVEN X PETIT BATEAU: DREAM COLLABORATORS

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

36. That is the number is the number of Breton striped tops I own. So, logically I really have no need to be casting my eye over this latest, very exciting brand collaboration from Carven, one of the hottest design houses in Paris with Petit Bateau, purveyors of the ultimate striped tops and basics. But I am, and I want every piece, from the stripy body suit (obviously) to the cute little red dress and the genius white collar to tuck under a jumper without wearing a whole extra layer. 

Carven x Petit Bateau collar- coming soon to FarFetch.com

Guillaume Henry, the designer who has breathed life and love back into Carven (and who the FashEd profiled here), has developed some unmistakable signatures during his three years at the house and those have translated perfectly into the Petit Bateau collaboration. The polo collars, pops of primary colours and chic neutrals all come together to form classic outfit building blocks, with a twist. The short little dresses will look equally sharp with tight and biker boots by day as they would with some WOW heels for a night out. I would wear the striped body with denim shorts in Summer  or under a pinafore dress for a more preppy look. As with as the very best wardrobe staples, the possibilities are virtually endless. 

Striped polo collar body suit by Carven x Petit Bateau

And there's more good news because we can now get our hands on the collaboration a month earlier than expected on FarFetch.com, whose partner, Concept Store Smets in Belgium are one of only three retailers to be stocking Carven x Petit Bateau for the next few weeks. The only bad news is that when I clicked through to buy, shipping costs were pretty steep at £16 so I suggest finding a few fellow keen purchasers and placing your oder together to split the shipping costs. From December 4th, the collection will be available at Petit Bateau stores. 

SPORT INSPIRED: OPENING CEREMONY'S NEW ANNUAL

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Last night I finally got myself along to Opening Ceremony's pop up shop in Covent Garden. It was full of delectable pieces from familiar designers like Maarten van der Horst and Marques'Almeida but also introduced me to Norma Kamali and Chloe Sevigny's cute skater skirts and animal print knits. Struck with indecision, the only thing I came away with was Opening Ceremony's newly released Annual- a new book/ magazine hybrid which will be published in limited edition each year with a different theme.  In a no brainer kind of way, this year's is all about Sport.

The book, because really that's what it is given it's £20, is full of shoots where models do yoga poses in Carven, ride horses in Jonathan Saunders or renact forgotten Olympic sports like the tug of war wearing Band of Outsiders.  Embedded amongst these are profiles of young athletes, sport themed memoirs and interviews with inspiring sporty people. I know that leafing through its pages will keep me entertained for hours, plus it's a nice, offbeat reminder of what has been the most brilliant few weeks of Olympic and Paralympic sport. The annual is edited by Rory Satran, OC's head of online development and digital platforms. I thought that was interesting in itself- OC's digital co-ordinator heading up a big print project shows that the brand a. takes both media very seriously b. sees that there should be continuity between the two. In her editor letter, Satran says "Opening Ceremony is like a geeky fashion Olympics, with the original New York flagship as our home stadium.... The company takes its name from Baron de Coubertin's modern Olympic games" most importantly though "sport brings us together, and adds fun and meaning to our lives".

 "The Deep End" shoot is seductive and fresh and basically makes you want to plunge in and do 50 lengths. The images were taken by Zoe Ghertner and styled by Lester Garcia (who works with Jeremy Scott's). It is all about the contours of the body, the meeting of flesh and water and the kind of peace you get from gliding through the pool- well, that's what I got anyway. It reminded me that I really need to read Swimming Studies- reviewed here- a comprehensive look at the sport written by a former Olympic hopeful who still has a kind of love/hate obsession despite giving up her dreams when her family moved away from where she trained. I have heard many good things and am tentatively hoping it might be to swimming what Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is to running.

Anyway, here's a taster of Ghertner's gorgeous shoot. You can get Opening Ceremony's Annual online here. 

RESORT 2013 COLLECTIONS: THE BEST LOOKS

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

I've been at Graduate Fashion Week in London on and off all week, and most inspiring and fascinating it is too, but I took some time out this afternoon to indulge in the hobby du jour for all professional fashion editors this week - namely viewing the Resort 2013 collections and deciding on the best new looks. With all the 'trashion' (my new favourite word) doing the rounds on pop stars, tacky TV folk and young girls about town, a jolt of real honest-to-goodness fashion refreshes my senses and restores my faith in style for style's sake. Here they are.

Stella McCartney

Nina Ricci

Valentino

Givenchy 

Givenchy

Cedric Charlier

Carven

Celine 

Acne

THE SECRET OF CARVEN'S SUCCESS AND THE ALEXA CHUNG FACTOR

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

Fashion dynamite: Alexa and Carven's Guillaume Henry (image from http://blog.shoppleasedonttell.com/)

Ask any journalist and they will tell you about the stories that got away. I'm not talking about the missed scoop (there are those too); I refer to the stories that get commissioned and written, and then for whatever reason - be it bad timing, more urgent news coming up, advertiser commitments or a combination of all three - they get repeatedly put on hold until they become out of date.  In others words: spiked.

Any passionate journalist with a bee in their bonnet about a story likes to get that story written, out the door and in print asap. Time is of the essence, so I have been getting increasingly teeth-grindy about a very timely piece I wrote for Grazia in February about the resurgence of the Parisian label Carven, with personal insights on the label's rightness-for-now by its self-confessed Number One Fan, a certain Miss Alexa Chung.

Mr Carven a.k.a Guillaume Henry (image from vogue.fr)

To my mind Carven's designer Guillaume Henry is a significant talent, and his work for the house is so on-the-button for fashion now because it is playfully cute as well as elegant and modern. The way he throws his looks together is pure fashion magic; and we can lay the trend for bejewelled collars, pinafore dresses and flatforms squarely at the door of his Parisian atelier.  It's little wonder he has been the bestselling label of the season across retailers including Net-a-Porter, my-wardrobe.com and Matches.

The story has been with the magazine for three months and has been scheduled numerous times, only for a more of-the-week story to usurp it at the last minute.  I'm sanguine about it all of course, because I have my beloved blog through which to share it with you. 

Alexa in Carven SS12 (image from http://blog.shoppleasedonttell.com/)

Following is the story exactly as written for Grazia; you'll see the way I write on here, and the way I write for Grazia are markedly different. House style shifts dramatically from publication to publication, and Grazia's tone is very specifically upbeat, informative and fun. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did to write it.  Interspersed through the copy are Carven's best-sellers of this season. And FYI, retailers love carven right now. Harrods' Head of Womenswear, Helen David told me

'Since the arrival of Carven at Harrods earlier this year, the brand has been phenomenally popular with our customers. Several pieces from the SS12 collection sold out within hours of being received, so we have reordered almost every style a few times over.  Carven has been so successful in-store and online as the collections are versatile, intricately crafted yet without the designer price tag, thus appealing to a very wide audience.’

WHY EVERYONE LOVES CARVEN
By Melanie Rickey

You’ve got to know a label is seriously happening when two of the world’s most influential fashion women are not only wearing it, but telling everyone how much they love it. Step forward Carven, and its designer Guillaume Henry; or as he tells us Brit girls, “just call me Guy.”

When Net-a-Porter founder and its chief fashionista Natalie Massenet first clapped eyes on the brand three years ago, it had zero stockists and the business consisted of three people in a dusty room in Paris looking for a break into fashion. This fact did not deter her from buying the collection immediately, and pronouncing that 32-year-old Henry had “the talent of a young Yves Saint Laurent.”

Cropped tweed jacket £550

For Alexa Chung, arguably the chicest 20-something on the planet, her Eureka moment came, typically, on a fashion shoot. “I was on a shoot for L'officiel magazine and the stylist had brought some detachable collars for me to use,” she told me. “The story was a 60s theme and not all the dresses were right so I ended up using the collars on everything. It was super weird because that item was exactly what I wanted at the time. I was thinking of making them myself before I saw his more perfect version, now Carven is my dream label.”

Now you’re probably thinking, “why have I never heard of Carven?” The reason is, of course, its relative newness to the 21st Century marketplace. In its present form it is three years old, still a baby, and only known by fashion insiders. A fact that is about to change this spring, as it hits its 500th stockist with a hit Spring collection chock full of pieces from zig-zag fit-and-flare dresses, cute poufy skirts, and neat little jackets creating waiting lists all over the world.

Mountain shorts £550 at Matches

Fashion buffs will know, however, that Carven has history. The diminutive 5 foot 1” tall Madame Carven inaugurated her Haute Couture house in Paris in 1945, and her elegant fashion was designed expressly with the petite chic of Paris in mind.

Over the years the label ground to a halt, until all that remained was the house perfume, Ma Griffe. When Guillaume Henry was hired to the job in 2009, he had literally nothing to take inspiration from expect the little trademark Peter Pan collars and cuffs Madame Carven and now Alexa Chung and her fashion fans love to wear.

So what is going right with Carven? Guillaume Henry is what. This young designer who trained at both high fashion house Givenchy and everyday fashion label Paule Ka has truly got the knack of understanding how to walk the line between creating clothes that look like fashion, yet you can wear them all the time for any occasion.

As worn above by Alexa... Lace dress £590 at Net-a-Porter

Just ask Alexa, who says she wears Carven “24/7”. In fact I’ve never heard her speak more passionately about a fashion label. “Carven really is my dream label. I love how they layer things, how they make ugly cropped sweaters in strange prints, how everything is new but classic. I adore their shoes, I live in their coats and I'm always very very excited to see what he does next.”

The feeling is mutual of course. “I LOVE her. She’s fantastic and super inspiring. I saw her the first time and you see her body and then you hear her husky voice. I love contrasts. I love that is chic and tough, and doesn’t do that whole “sexy girl” thing.“

“The thing with Monsieur Henry,” continues Alexa, “is he knows what modern women want. His clothes are practical but beautifully crafted and quirky enough that you feel amazing wearing them and as though you look interesting.”

Cute jacquard dress £575 at Harrods

Another thing: they are not outrageously expensive. Carven fits into the “contemporary” fashion category between high street and high fashion.

So what is Guillaume Henry’s secret? I ask him what he thinks it is. “Well, for me Carven is about freshness, spontaneity, smiling elegance. You know, some designers create and imagine a woman, a customer, and that’s great – but it’s not for me. I design for my mother, my friends; someone going to work, with children, going out at night – women I know.”

“I am always asking myself: who is the girl? Where is she living, how is she working? What’s her face? What kind of life does she have? At the end of the day, I want my products to have their own life. I love it when I hear about different people wearing the same pieces. Recently, with the same dress, we dressed Rihanna and Isabelle Huppert. They’re so different. Once I had a call from a friend and she was at the supermarket and she was wearing a cropped jacket and she told me there was a lady near her who was about 60 and she was wearing the same jacket. It’s fantastic!”

Pink contrast skirt £304 at Matches

I can’t help but agree. If you look at the Carven pieces available on net-a-porter and my-wardrobe.com, you can see exactly what Guillaume Henry is trying to do. It is cute pieces – a flecky knit with a peter pan collar, a sweet peplum T-shirt, a shrunken yellow blazer - that have the touch of high fashion and a touch of the everyday; and they’re just a bit geeky too which means they can go in the direction the wearer takes them.

We can’t help agree just a little bit she Alexa says of our new best friend Guy Henry, “I hate him....because he's perfect.” We dare you not to fall in love with his clothes.

Ends

THE WEEK IN FASHION: APRIL 16th- 20th

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

First up this week, huge congratulations are in order for Alex Fury who is to become Editor of LOVE magazine, leaving his current position as Fashion Director at SHOWSTUDIO.com. Here at FEAL, we are huge admirers of Alex's unmatched dedication and fashion geek factor. We always look forward to his  unique perspective in the reviews he posts from fashion weeks.

Alex Fury in Maarten Van Der Horst for Dazed Digital (from www.dazeddigital.com)

Today also happens to be the launch date of Fashion East designer Maarten Van Der Horst's collection for Topshop. Alex has been modelling the Aloha shirt from the range for Dazed Digital. Also loving the Topshop carrier bag booties!

Aquascutum's factory was established in 1851 (image from www.aquascutum.com)

The other big fashion story which has really pulled at our heartstrings, but for all the wrong reasons, this week is the news that historic Brit brand Aquascutum has gone into administration. It was then confirmed yesterday that the factory in Corby will close. This means that the 115 employees will be made redundant. The move apparently comes from an attempt to secure the jobs of the company's remaining 135 staff. In an ironic coincidence, Burberry- a brand with a heritage easily compared to Aquascutum's- is still going strong, forecasting profits of £372m for 2011. According to EDITD, the past few months have actually been extremely good for Aquascutum, their online fan base grew by over 67% over fashion month- the biggest percentage rise of any brand. Aquascutum is now looking for a buyer to revive its fortunes- somebody who can take the strength of Joanna Sykes' design ethos and use it to give the brand back its appeal.

The super cute Jospeh Altuzarra with a model dressed in pieces from his J.Crew collection (image from www.fashionologie.com)

This week the highly anticipated J.Crew collaboration with Joseph Altuzarra was finally unveiled. Both these labels usually present me with the exact kind of things I want to wear, J.Crew being a little more achievable than Altuzarra. I was ready to pay massive shipping costs to get my hands on a piece from the collection. But I mentally shopped too soon. I'm not saying I don't love a Breton stripe top or a gingham summer dress, but I expect I, and most other women who might buy this, already have several of those. They're boring wardrobe staples, not pieces you would expect one of America's hottest designers to produce. I love that Altuzarra was inspired by 'what Jean Seberg wore in Breathless and by pictures of "Brigitte Bardot walking around St-Tropez in espadrilles and a slouchy boy's sweater" but the pieces just don't have the fashion element I was expecting. I think plenty of American women will be pleased to re-stock their wardrobe with Altuzarra's classic staples but I think I'll just have to save up for the real thing... Pamela Love and Creatures of the Wind collaborations are also on their way from J.Crew.

Jean Seberg in Breathless (image from www.fashioninfilms.com)

He may have been dogged by recent rumours that Stefano Pilati is being lined up to replace him but it seems Giorgio Armani is still very much at the helm. His latest venture is designing Lady Gaga's costumes for her upcoming sold-out tour. Mr Armani's designs are right up Gaga's street with latex, crystals and plexiglass detailing galore. He said 'Collaborating with Lady Gaga is always an exciting experience for me. I admire the way she uses fashion as a scenic element and as a means to build a character'. The outfits will be worn by Gaga during the Asian leg of the 'Born This Way Ball" tour.

Gaga's guitars (and keyboard) get up, by Giorgio Armani (image from www.telegraph.co.uk)

We have a lot of shop news for you this week... first up is Celine who will be opening a store on Mount Street after a three year absence from London's streets following the closure of the New Bond Street store shortly after Phoebe Philo joined the label. Form an orderly queue at the current site of Jordan International Bank people. While we're speaking of Mount Street, Oscar de la Renta will soon open his first UK store in the premises currently occupied by Nicky Clarke. We're sad to hear that Isabel Marant's first London shop will now be opening in September rather than July as previously planned- we'll have to wait  little longer to get the full Marant experience. I am most excited by whispers that Givenchy and Erdem are looking for possible London store sites.

An Erdem shop, yes please! (image from catwalking.com)

Another week, another Olympic outfit unveiled by bother designer looking to win gold in the fashion stakes. This instalment comes from Ralph Lauren who is kitting out the American team for the closing ceremony. Whatever we all had to say about Stella's Olympic outfits, at least they don't seem to involve all white baker boy caps. I quite like the belted dress though. What do you think?

The US ladies' costume for the closing ceremony from Ralph Lauren (image from www.wwd.com)

We have another, properly exciting reason to get into the Queen's Jubilee celebrations- Karl Lagerfeld is to provide commentary on the day's outfits for French TV, as he did for the Royal Wedding. The Chanel designer is infamous for his acerbic tongue e.g his 'short skirts on fat legs' comment regarding the wedding guests. He'll appear on France 2, can we get that here?!

King Karl is set to give his view on the Jubilee outfits (image from www.galleryoftheabsurd.com)

A couple of news bites....

Carine Roitfeld has teamed up with MAC to create her own range of make-up. It'll be out in the Autumn we hear, the same time that her magazine 'CR Fashion Book' will debut.

Carven has been chosen to be Guest Designer at this year's Pitti Uomo. Lapo Cianchi, Director of Communications for Pitti Uomo said that Carven “harmonized perfectly with the general trend we are promoting at Pitti Uomo: a new, sartorial elegance and affordable luxury in men’s wear.”

The CFDA and BFC this week confirmed the dates for NY and London fashion weeks for the next two years. The announcement brings to an end a few months of wrangling over dates. It seems that Paris and Milan have stood firm on certain demands, meaning that New York will now have to begin earlier than usual.

Keith Varty with his partner Alan Cleaver and a model, in 1987(from WWD)

Finally, Keith Varty who designed Byblos during the 1980s died last week aged just 60. His friend Joan Burstein, founder of Browns said this in tribute:

"Keith Varty was the first of the first that set a standard, he was a young innovative British designer. Keith worked for Dorothee Bis in Paris before being wowed over to Italy by Gianni Versace, who then worked at Byblos. After two successful years, Keith Varty and Alan Cleaver took over. The collections could have been as modern today as it was then. He bought an infusion of talent from Britain into the Italian market."

Byblos from Spring 1992 (image from WWD)

The FashEd and I are off to enjoy the delights of the Vogue Festival now. Have wonderful weekends! 

FASHION STAPLES: THE BROWNS EDIT SS12

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

There are fashion staples and there are Fashion Week Staples. This post is about the latter. In 10 days time the New York fashion shows start, neatly followed by London Fashion Week and onto Milan and Paris. I've never been one of those women to dress up deliberately for the cameras at the fashion weeks; I do get snapped occasionally if I'm having a particularly photogenic day at the shows, but I dress for myself really, experimenting as I go. Of course, there are people out there who organise their outfits in advance, borrow clothes from designers and make a big and fabulous show of themselves to fan the flames of their online careers and web fashion fame. Hello Anna Dello Russo, Susie Bubble, Kristin Knox, Fran Burns and co, not to mention the hordes of fashion-obsessed students trying to get noticed. I wish I was more inclined to play the fashion game their way, but I'm not. No matter. Fashion-paparazzo not withstanding these are the clothes I want for fashion week.

I've been logging into all the major fashion websites everyday over the last ten days to see what is on their respective New In pages, and to see what makes my heart beat faster. For the high fashionista that I am right down to my marrow, Brownsfashion.com is hands down the best place to shop right now. Their edit of Kane, Balenciaga, J.W Anderson, Erdem, Carven and Alaia is inspired and I love the way they find labels that even I haven't heard of yet. I respect that their buying team, including Ruth Runberg and Francoise Tessier have the nous to order the printed Erdem trousers, say, not just his signature dresses which all the safe department stores buy. Browns have even bought into Dr Martens exceptionally cleverly, and the white-soled tassle loafers are truly edgy fashion shoes (even if, to you, they look like something a nurse at Broadmoor might wear).  Designers trust Browns and looking at their edit of Spring/Summer 2012, I can see why.  Now, I have to choose which one of these is the most worthwhile to have in my wardrobe. What would you choose?

J.W Anderson shirt

Christopher Kane skirt

Laurence Dacade boots  

Carven dress 

Erdem floral trousers 

Dr Martens loafers 

PREFALL AW12: GETTING TROUSERED

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

As a fashion editor I'm supposed to be analysing the just launching prefall collections to give you a steer on the where fashion is going, but instead I'm shopping for myself.  This is to be expected as the prefall collections are, certainly for me and my friends, the richest source for the designer clothes we hone in on and buy as they arrive at the shops in late summer.

I'm not a woman who buys an off-the-runway look. However fabulous it is, give me the stuff I can wear over and over again please. As a dedicated wearer of trousers (today I'm wearing my navy "Cult of Nobody"jeans AGAIN) I have been looking for inspiration for where to take my trouser style, and happily found it from my personal current favourite crop of designers. These are: Carven, Theyskens Theory, Preen, and Givenchy. Celine is currently off my list as the Autumn collection was too heavy to wear for normal London life, and way too expensive.

Sometimes I feel like the only trousers obsessed woman on the block... Its not that I don't like dresses, I can rock a dress like the best of them, but I love wearing trousers. Are there any more of you out there?

Theyskens Theory Prefall AW12 - these leather jeans are effing gorgeous

Giles Prefall AW12 - digging the flares again

Preen Prefall AW12 - a good shade of orange

Givenchy Prefall AW12 - loving this whole look to the max

Carven Prefall AW12 - i think you would call these "slacks" now theres a word I haven't heard for a while

Images are courtesy of the designers