SS13: MARY KATRANTZOU GETS HER SWAROVSKI ON

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Cara Delevingne walks at Mary Katrantzou SS13

No matter what happens each fashion season, it's now practically a given that Mary Katrantzou will knock our proverbial socks off with a fresh  and brilliantly baffling take on creating print. I saw Mary in conversation with her good friend Alex Fury (he who edits LOVE magazine) at Port Eliot festival and she said then that she could see a time when she moved away from print. Luckily, SS13 was not that time and last week she presented a collection inspired by postage stamps, defunct currencies and the notion of modernising those historical relics to reinvigorate them relevant once more. Style.com's Tim Blanks called it "an absolute fashion tour de force". An added element to Mary's print genius is her collaboration with Swarovski.  A series of fashion-high inducing pieces were created using Swarovski crystal mesh.  Katrantzou explains “We wanted to essentially use Swarovski Elements to create a new fabric for the collection that is an amalgamation of three different techniques, adding depth to the designs and creating a couture fabric for some very special pieces.” It's yet another excellent example of Swarovski's clever sponsorship programme which sees some of the most anticipated collections (designers like Giles and Wes Gordon are also involved this season) incorporating their products. It doesn't feel stilted or too corporate because the technology can fit so seamlessly. Swarovski created this video backstage at the show on Sunday of LFW...



Meanwhile,  legendary backstage fashion photographer Jason Lloyd Evans took some great up close shots backstage at the show which demonstrate beautifully the subtle sheen which the newly created fabric creates....

DON'T WHIP YOUR HAIR - SWISH YOUR SKIRT

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

There's an abundance of light and playfulness in the new spring collections. Personally I am feeling very strongly for wearing long, to the point I can't imagine wearing anything shorter than ankle length for the next few months. This will be hard as currently I own only two long black dresses. (Time to click-and-buy the new Olivier Theyskens for Theory.....) Still, there's always trousers. The lightness and length that abounds in fashion now has a further halo of appeal: swishing.

Karlie Kloss swishing her heart out backstage at Lanvin by Jason Lloyd Evans

                                           Chloe SS11 backstage by Jason Lloyd Evans

As a little girl anytime my mother dressed me in a maxi lengths or circle skirts (it was the early 80s) I loved nothing more than spinning and swirling around watching the fabric float and undulate around me.
While perusing the backstage photographs of the very talented photographer Jason Lloyd Evans - he is the go-to guy for all the major brands and global fashion magazines for his backstage and beauty work - I saw the young models were having a ball with all the floaty, gauzy fabrics designers were using for spring.

D&G SS11 backstage by Jason Lloyd Evans

Even the grown ups were at it Milan , captured below by Tommy Ton during the mens shows. Do you think we ever grow out of this childish desire to enjoy a swish?

                                       Tommy Ton shoots skirt-swishing in action at the Paris Menswear shows

Photos: Jason Lloyd Evans, Tommy Ton