BEYONCE, NEW BRIT FASHION TALENT AND THE REST OF THE WEEK IN FASHION

Posted by Bethan Holt and Maya Peilow

A flurry of last minute 2013 fashion and music happenings this week. No time for sitting back with a mince pie just yet...

NEWGEN and Fashion East winners announced

It's been a great week for Ryan Lo, Claire Barrow and Danielle Romeril who won NEWGEN sponsorship and along with it the chance to showcase to the world the incredible fashion talent which won over the hard-to-please NEWGEN panel- including our very own Melanie Rickey. Helen Lawrence and Louise Alsop also step onto the next rung of the fashion ladder winning support from Lulu Kennedy's fabulous Fashion East. That's some major fresh new talent to look forward to at LFW in February.

Danielle Romeril (via thebestfashionblog.com)

Helen Lawrence (via locallightpolluton.blogspot.com)

Louise Alsop (via catwalkqueen.tv)

Beyonce Day

This Friday 13th has (basically officially) been declared Beyonce Day. The fabulous Bey blindsided the world by releasing an entire album complete with a full set of videos unannounced and with zero promo in the middle of the night. That woman. While we're taking it all in and planning all the occasions this weekend when it's going to be appropriate to play the eponymous album, here's your essential checklist of all the items required to recreate the album in looks:

Denim hot pants (obvs), a silky scarf dress (one for wafting and floating about in which you make look like wings), a pinstripe tuxedo suit, very dark purple lipstick/ nail varnish, a pants plus long sleeve crop top co-ord, stacks of rings, a baker boy cap and a hand chain. Got that?

Congratulations lovely David Koma

Speaking of NEWGEN, it's been a big day for former recipient David Koma who's hot the fashion big time and been appointed Creative Director at Thierry Mugler. Koma's fierce and super sexy design ethos will be the perfect fit for Mugler. Koma steps in to replace Nicola Formichetti whose good friend Lady Gaga famously modelled for the brand during his tenure.

Galliano has a newjob

John Galliano has landed the ultimate luxe drag costume designer gig. It has been confirmed that Galliano will design the costumes for Stephen Fry’s stage adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest, due to open next year. Galliano pipped Roland Mouret and Sarah Burton who were also rumoured to have been in the running for the job. In addition to directing the production, Fry will play Lady Bracknell.  Galliano joins a line of high fashion designers working on stage costumes; Chanel designed the costumes for Diaghilev’s Le Train Bleu in 1924 and, in 2011, Stefano Pilati, former head designer at Yves Saint Laurent, created the costumes for Harold Pinter’s Betrayal. However, Galliano is well experienced in this field, having dressed Judi Dench in the Lady Bracknell role back in 1982.

Judi Dench in Galliano as Lady Bracknell in 1982 (via zoewanamaker.com)

Après-ski fashionjust got a lot more interesting

One of the top skiing destinations, Courchevel, is about to welcome some new guests. Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Prada boutiques will be taking to the Alpine slopes this winter. Prada’s chalet-like boutique is seated at the bottom of the slopes in Place du Rocher. It was designed by a Prada-loyal architect, Roberto Baciocchi, who has worked with the brand on their other stores. Louis Vuitton will also launch a pop-up at the resort, close to its permanent boutique. The pop-up will showcase a selection of products, including the new Capucines bag, as well as furs and jewellery. You can never have too much Louis Vuitton in one place! Chanel has gone one step further to make sure its arrival at the exclusive ski resort stands out. Karl Lagerfeld has adorned 36 out of 72 cable cars with Chanel sketches. Le ski, c'est chic!

Mango launches plussize range

This week, Mango announced that it would be launching a plus size range, Violeta, in the New Year. The range, set to hit European stores in mid-January, will come in sizes 12 to 24. The Spanish retailer is reported to have recruited a team of experts to address the technical details. The 400-piece collection, modelled by Australian plus-sized model, Robyn Lawley, is intended to be “comfortable, feminine and modern” and will be expanded gradually, with new products added on a monthly basis. The collection will be available online in the UK from 15 January. Our only question is- who decided that a size 12 is plus-sized?

The 12 year old taking the fashion world by storm

When people speak of new and exciting young designers, you expect them to at least be a teenager. But Melissa Jade Aiello, better known as Missy, is only 12 and she’s already making a name for herself in the fashion industry. Having discovered her ability to draw, she set up a t-shirt label at the age of 9 with the aid of her mother, a model booker. She has drawn fashion icons, such as Karl Lagerfeld, Anna Wintour and Donatella Versace, who she described as having “a really interesting face.” Her t-shirts are only available upon request, although she already has plans for expanding her business – she’s added a line of tote bags and is in talks to bring the label to a wider audience. In her own words, “fashion is really important to me because it defines who I am.”

Baby Chanel

This week, Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore confirmed that she is expecting a second baby girl with her husband Will Kopelman. The best bit though- and what sets the news part from your standard snippet of celebrity gossip- is the little one's nickname. The unborn child’s grandfather, Barrymore’s father-in-law, Arie Kopelman used to be chairman of Chanel and so  has declared that his fifth grandchild will be nicknamed Chanel no.5. We wonder how long he's been thinking about that?

ANDROGYNY IN FASHION, PART 2: 1205, ANTONIO AZZUOLO AND E.TAUTZ

Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large

As I wrote a few weeks ago, women really love menswear right now. Specifically, menswear which feels simple, long-lasting and beauifully made. In fact, when one girl I met the other day was asked "What would you buy if you had £1,000 to spend on whatever you want", she replied, unhesitant, "A load of Cos menswear". While the idea of a crisp white shirt, perfectly pleated trousers and a pleasingly heavy overcoat is appealing, the reality is that men do not have breasts and bottoms and they mostly prefer their clothes to be quite loose fitting. What we want is that crisp shirt, but with appropriate darts so we're not drowning/ busting out in it. If you totally relate to that kind of boy/girl fashion balance, then you need to know about these three menswear labels now doing womenswear which exhibited at Paris and London fashion weeks.

1205

1205 AW13 (via vogue.co.uk)

"It's called 1205 because I like the purity of four numbers" Paula Gerbase told me when I met her at her NEWGEN debut at LFW back in February. That introduction sets the scene nicely for Paula's collection of precise and simple blazers, sweaters, shirts and trousers. There are details though, like shots of red on right-hand cuffs, which trip up any kind of straightforward minimalism. Paula has great credentials having worked at Savile Row tailors Kilgour and Hardy Amies for several years before going it alone to set up 1205.

Annemarie Schwarzenbach, the writer who inspired 1205 AW13 (twirlmart.tumblr.com)

 For her first womenswear collection, Paula read the collected articles of Swiss journalist Annemarie Schwarzenbach and then went on to create a wardrobe which would feasibly have been quite perfect as Annemarie travelled the world in the 30s reporting on wars and financial crises. It was also characters in the book,entitled De Monde en Monde but sadly not translated into English yet, whose lives play out in Paula's clothes, like the denim overalls of American factory workers which she has reimagined in cashmere. A quick glance at images of Schwarzenbach shows that she is probably exactly the kind of woman who would have loved to be able to buy from a label like 1205. "My philosophy is to make things people will buy and keep and add to, so nothing will ever jar" Gerbase explains, which pins down the way we want to dress now quite perfectly. 

Buy 1205 menswear at Harvey Nichols. Women's coming soon. 

A flash of red among the grey and navy at 1205 AW13

A 1205 blazer

ANTONIO AZZUOLO

Antonio Azzuolo SS13

Antonio Azzuolo SS13

Antonio Azzuolo likes to describe what he does as "non-gender" though in a way what he really does is make clothes for boys which girls also want. Antonio has an impressive menswear background, with stints at Hermes and Kenzo among his achievements. "My Dad was a tailor so really I've been learning forever" he says of his ingrained interest in creating clothes. In 2008, Antonio began to offer a custom-made service which has opened up his half-slick, half-street aesthetic to women. He was nominated for a CFDA award for his menswear last year but has now started to mix up his shows hiring both male and female models. Sadly, womenswear is still only available on a custom-made basis, contact sales@antonioazzuolo.com. Browse the menswear at The Corner, the bib shirt is pretty fabulous. 

Antonio Azzuolo AW13 at Paris Fashion Week

E.TAUTZ

E Tautz shirt dress, £280, at Matches 

You'll probably know E. Tautz. Either because you've seen their modern take on Savile Row dressing or because you've watched their head designer, Patrick Grant, be a harsh but fair judge on The Great British Sewing Bee. As a girl, an E.Tautz show is always a little bit annoying, on a very personal and selfish level, because you really just want to see a women's version of the eye-popping colour combinations and twisted traditional looks for yourself. Thankfully, it seems that lots of people must have told them this, most likely including Patrick's girlfriend, the accessories designer Katie Hillier. The first range of E.Tautz women's shirts is in Matches now and there's more to come for Autumn, including shirts with fabulous paisley cuffs which mirror the main print in the menswear collection. If they don't convert you to androgynous fashion, who knows what will?

E. Tautz AW13 shirts

LFW AW13: BRAVO LUCAS NASCIMENTO

Posted by Bethan Holt. Junior Fashion Editor at Large

A few weeks ago, I visited NEWGEN designer Lucas Nascimento to preview his AW13 collection, which was shown at Tate Modern this morning. It was a beautiful, chic and clever collection which had  several editors and buyers I was sitting near to actually cooing out loud. Quite a feat on the last day of the week. Obviously not the actual week, the fashion week you understand. Today is London Fashion Friday. Here's the preview, which also appeared in today's The Daily interspersed with some pictures from today's show....

As with most East London designer’s studios, it’s easy to get lost en route to Lucas Nascimento’s Hackney Wick abode. Indeed, at first glance it’s a lighting and furniture factory. But venture further round and you come to the right place. It’s not rails of samples and acres of fabric which greet visitors, as one might expect. It’s an enormous, industrial sized Stoll knitting machine.

Brazil-born Nascimento has confounded those of us who thought we knew what knitting looked like by producing light as air, fine as feathers modern wardrobe staples. In his debut season of NEWGEN sponsorship, A/W ’12, there were bafflingly novel carpet-like knits, for S/S 13 the look was light, fine and sheer. Knitwear like you’ve never seen it before.

The wild-haired 32 year-old has been engrossed in the M1 Plus software which he calls ‘the Photoshop of knitwear’. It allows him to experiment with new techniques which he then tailors into the simple yet voluminous shapes, like shell tops and sculpted shift dresses, which are fast becoming his signature. The night before we met he produced a fabulous double-sided, flock effect pattern which he likens to ‘oil on water’. It is constructed with a combination of shimmering gauze thread and luxurious chenille. It could be jacquard but it has sheen and stretch. Then there’s bouclé yarn knitted with cellophane thread in a way which Nascimento compares to quilting. This squishy, waffled creation will be crafted into a pencil skirt. Prepare to be astounded too by fur tightly knitted into yarn. It’s all about balancing wintry richness with a lightness of touch. 

Nascimento studied knitwear at London College of Fashion, having learnt from his Mother when he was growing up. ‘I love hand knitting and I’m really good at it’ he emphasises, remembering the ‘brilliant’ internship he did with Sid Bryan and the gang from Sibling during his second year. It was post- graduation factory visits while working for the likes of Neon and Basso and Brooke that piqued a curiosity about what technology could do for knitting. 

‘We go through the yarns for the season, but it’s always a surprise because they will do something you didn’t think they would’ says Nascimento of the starting point for every collection. He has a beautiful mood board, which includes a 60s photograph of Jean Shrimpton, Nefertiti-like in James Galanos, and a tufty haired rabbit. But those images play out in specific details, like the way he wants his knitted fur to look. It is the pocket of The Shrimp’s dress which informs the pouches you will see on dresses in today’s collection. 

He has his fashion aesthetic down to a tee. Those sleek, modern pieces such as a column skirt or neat bomber jacket. For A/W ’13, dresses take on a cocoon shape while jackets are cropped, or cut out at the shoulder. Old ladies are a constant obsession, ‘you must put them in!’ he exclaims in his lyrical Brazilian accent. He goes on, ‘their proportions and how they put together their outfits fascinates me’. While we don’t think geriatric when we see a Lucas look, those demure lengths and inspired colour combinations make sense in this context. Navy is Nascimento’s favourite colour and is guaranteed to appear in every collection. This time it is teamed with ochre, grey and blush pink.

 

At a time when Céline is selling mink sandals, and Margiela offers leather joggers, it is savvy of Nascimento to experiment with imbuing his simple shapes with high-end luxury. One look comprises a fur sleeved sweatshirt and matching rabbit panelled pencil skirt. Perhaps it’s something to do with hailing from a BRIC country? ”I really want women to look at something of mine and say ‘Oh my god, I need that. I want to rock that’” Nascimento enthuses. Cue, a whole new wish list for Autumn.

THE WEEK IN FASHION: DECEMBER 10th to 14th

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Just 11 days until Christmas and the fashion world is beginning to descend into festive silliness. However, there are several stories of note for us to catch up but before that we turn to in-depth analysis of Victoria Beckham shunning the Spices and the shocking new "megging" phenomenon...


It was supposed to be a mere premiere, the opening night of the latest instalment in the oeuvre of Judy Craymer. Yet it turned into a culturally significant moment as four members of the band formerly known as Spice Girls rocked up attempting to emulate the Girl Power they'd ignited nearly 15 years ago with glitter, botox, flesh on show and girly showing off. What was once so right (well, it was in my mind as a 9 year old) just became so wrong. That wrongness was only magnified when the fifth Spice, Posh a.k.a Victoria Beckham rocked up terribly late looking super chic in her white shirt and shrugged-on coat with her Burberry bedecked boys as companions. She eschewed the post-pop tragedy of joining in with the group posing and pouting of her fellow Spices and instead showed just how much she'd moved on and had created her own new brand of lady power. Lisa Armstong's take on the evening's significance is really spot on.

The latest big, searching debate in fashion is.... The Megging. Indeed, that is the Man Legging. It may seem an absurd notion to entertain right now, but stranger things have happened on Planet Fashion.  They could become the ultimate lazy boy move on from the tracksuit bottoms, much in the same way that leggings were for girls several years back. For further insight, read The Guardian's in-depth investigation. 

Working the Megging (image via telegraph.co.uk)

The AW13 NEWGEN recipients were announced this week. J.W Anderson and Simone Rocha get catwalk sponsorship while newcomers include a man whose does very classy footwear, Liam Fahy, and Paula Gerbase, whose androgynous tailored designs you can find out more about here.

Paula Gerbase designs

Lovely, luxurious Liam Fahy slippers

It's been yet another big week for Stella McCartney. Her brand was the most searched for on the internet this year, no wonder really considering every A-lister worth their salt has had a Stella turn on the red carpet not to mention the fact that every Team BG athlete was kitted out in McCartney kit for the games. To round off her phenomenal year, Stella held her traditional Christmas light switch-on at her Bruton Street store on Monday evening. The honour of switching on the festive display went to Vic Reeves and Paul Whitehouse who also sang to the assembled guests about being vegetarian.

Paul, Stella and Vic sport matching tweeds  (image via http://entertainment.topnewstoday.org)

Ok, so it's not strictly fashion- specific news but the ongoing difficulty of merging our Instagram and Twitter feeds is really to getting to those of us who want to show off lovely pictures of shoes/ handbags/ jewels etc. etc. The two social networking sites are having a number of disagreements which means that they have reduced their compatibility with one another. Find out the details here. And here's to a 2013 when we don't have to keep opening new tabs to see the latest pictures of people's latest fashion finds. Talk about #firstworldproblems.

We're missing out on gems like this thanks to the Instagram/ Twitter feud. Image via Tommy Ton 

Congratulations to Sarah Burton who picked up her OBE at Buckingham Palace yesterday. Burton is due to give birth to twins in February so obviously this makes a lovely story about her being a prine candidate to outfit Duchess Kate for her own pregnancy. Sarah did a lovely job on herself yesterday, going for a gold embroidered coat and simple black dress. Also at the palace was April Ashley who I have coincidentally been learning about in the book I'm reading, The Last Curtsey. Ashley was one of the first transexuals and has had a quite incredible life. She's now been awarded the MBE for her services to transgender relations.

April Ashley and Sarah Burton collect their honours at the palace (images via daily mail and style.com)

Spring/ Summer '13 is really feeling like it's getting underway, especially as the Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs campaigns have now been released. Of course, Ruby Jean Wilson stars in all the optical illusion imagery.

Images via WWD.com and Fashionologie.com

i-D's interview with Sarah Mower is inspiring; if you've ever had so much as a passing thought about a career in fashion then you will find a wealth of advice and very refreshing reality check right here. This one of the best wise quotes-

"You only get anywhere if you have to write – if you actually have to put something down on paper. If you’re driven. You have to be self-critical and write things over and over again, and redo it and redo it. It can take me three hours to write the first sentence."

Sarah Mower with her assistant Hannah Lambert (image via i-donline.com)

If you can't possibly stand another gallery of trinkety fashion gift ideas, then may I refer you to Colin McDowell's edit of the best fashion books to put on your Christmas list this year.

W: The First 40 Years is one of Mr McDowell's recommendations (image via highsnobette.com)

To round off our pre-Christmas Week in Fashion, we bring you two of our favourite celeb outifts of the week.

My long term girl crush on Kirsten Dunst has been renewed after she wore one of Dior's SS13 fabulously simple and chic navy jackets with the metallic, space heels. Meanwhile, Kanye West went for a leather Givenchy kilt when he performed at a Hurricane Sandy fundraiser on Wednesday. The high fashion piece has divided opinion and now has its very own Twitter account, we like it. Happy Weekends everyone!

Kirsten Dunst in Dior (image via stylite.com)

Kanye's Givenchy kilt

NEWGEN SS13: 5 REASONS TO BE OBSESSED WITH HUISHAN ZHANG

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

One of yesterday's big treats was the debut presentation of Chinese-born, Central St. Martin's educated Huishan Zhang in the sun drenched Portico Rooms at Somerset House. It was a beautiful, elegant way to bring Eastern dressing to London. The cheongsam dress was a popular silhouette during the previous round of shows in February but Huishan elevated it with cut-outs, embellishment, China inspired prints (mahjong tiles and three-person families) and the occasional frill.  Here are the five things about Huishan Zhang's collection which I can't get out of my head...

#1 GOING BACKLESS

Demure at the front, a chic flash of skin from behind.

#2 EMBELLISHMENT

The Swarovski collaboration provided a counterpoint; pins sticking into nostalgic prints and oh-so-pretty lace. Ever so slightly unhinged.

#3 PLAITS

Perfect hair by Bianca Tuovi.

#4 MUSIC

The music made this presentation seem almost old fashioned, in a good way. It felt like we could almost have been society ladies looking to choose our dresses for the coming season, so calming and atmospheric.





#5 CAPES AND ALMOST-CAPES

The most ladylike way to cover one's shoulders.

NEWGEN SS13... THE WINNERS ARE...

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

From left: Work by J. JS Lee; Christopher Raeburn; Michael van der Ham; J.W Anderson; Simone Rocha; Lucas Nascimento; Lim Cooper; Huishan Zhang with shoes by Sophia Webster; Palmer Harding; Sister by Sibling and Marques Almeida

As you might know by now I sit on the NEWGEN panel with my esteemed colleagues in the British fashion industry, headed by the wonderful Sarah Mower MBE, BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent. It is a great privilege to be part of the group selecting the talent representing the best of new British fashion design to the world, and it is not a task any of us take lightly.  Each season we comb the colleges, look closely at graduates and fledgling fashion businesses, spending hours deliberating on the right way to distribute the TopShop/BFC provided funds fairly and for maximum effect to the designer and London Fashion Week. The scheme has seen the likes of Alexander McQueen, at the inception of NEWGEN in 1993, Christopher Kane, Erdem and Jonathan Saunders (and many, many more) pass through its doors.

Yesterday, the latest recipients of NEWGEN sponsorship for the Spring/Summer 2013 season (showing in September) was announced, and I had something of a baptism of fire when Sarah Mower asked me to step in to announce the winners of her behalf at the last minute due to a back injury brought on, no doubt, to her spending all weekend attending menswear shows in her amazingly high and gorgeous Rupert Sanderson heels. I wish Sarah a speedy recovery, and of course huge congratulations and good luck to the designers. All the hard work begins for them now.

Winners of Catwalk Sponsorship

Michael van der Ham;
J.W. Anderson
Simone Rocha

Michael van der Ham

J.W Anderson

Simone Rocha

Winners of Presentation Sponsorship

Christopher Raeburn;
J.JS Lee
Lucas Nascimento
Marques Almeida
Nasir Mazhar
Sister by Sibling

J..JS Lee

Marques Almeida

Sister by Sibling

Lucas Nascimento

Nasir Mazhar

Christopher Raeburn

Winners of Exhibition Sponsorship

Palmer//Harding
Huishan Zhang
Lim Cooper
Sophia Webster

Sophia Webster

Palmer// Harding

All images by Fashion Editor at Large