THE WEEK IN FASHION: JULY 23rd-27th

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

As I write this, Olympic fever is catching fast. It's difficult to recall that there are other things happening in the world besides a two-week long sports day. But there are, lots of them very serious and important but also happenings from the wonderful world of fashion. So before you go off to dress head to toe in gold and wave union jack flags while drinking Pimms all night (or is that just me?), here's the latest...

Happy Birthday to Christopher Kane, who celebrated his 30th yesterday!

Mr Kane in 2007 when he was 24, cute! (from list.co.uk)

A look I love from Christopher Kane Resort '13 (from style.com)

You don't get much more British than Downton Abbey, the period drama which has been a huge hit over its last two series both here and in the US. So much so in fact, that Ralph Lauren's AW12 show was entirely inspired by the 1920s aristo fashion of the show and it was the talk of US press and buyers we met in Paris. Let's face it though, cutting edge fashion endorsements don't come more major than LOVE magazine which is a kind of seasonal indicator of what's really key. The latest issue- entitled 'A Costume Drama'- stars Lady Mary, Lady Sybil and Lady Edith in a high fashion meets decaying Edwardian shoot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.  The girls are styled by LOVE Editor-at-Large Katie Grand who also works with Marc Jacobs and Giles Deacon among others- remember Giles' burnt out medieval AW12 show? Or Marc's floppy hats, 18th century coats and steam engine at Vuitton? We sense an obsession! The new issue, the with editorial input from Alex Fury and Lulu Kennedy, is out on Monday. And I can't wait so much that I tried to buy one yesterday.

Lady Mary a.k.a Michelle Dockery bursts out of her corset in the name
 of fashion, what would Matthew say? 

Laura Carmichael plays Lady Edith who never usually gets the chance to strip
off on TV, given that she's the super straitlaced sister

We've highlighted before the frankly awful practise of copying in the fashion industry- and we don't mean 'inspired' but full-on trying-to-be-identical. Now Mother/ Daughter copycat duo Linda and Courtney Allen from New York have been ordered to pay a mahoosive $44 million in damages to Coach after they set up two websites selling counterfeit versions of bags from the much sought after American label. The judge Coleen MacMahon told the court that "This award may be crippling, but it is plainly needed to prevent Allen from going back once again into the business of counterfeiting.". It was not the first time Linda Allen had been prosecuted- in 2007, she was sued by Chanel over 'the same exact illegal conduct'. Copycats, you have been warned!


London has so many great schemes to support designers at every stage on the road to establishing viable businesses. Two of these were in the spotlight this week. First of all, Fashion Forward which is a kind of follow on from NEWGEN announced that eBay would become its new sponsor. This means that Fashion Forward recipients, Mary Katrantzou, Louise Gray, Henry Holland and James Long will all receive grants and advice to help with their SS13 shows and beyond. Not only is this great news for the designers but it's also an interesting move for the auction site which is a favourite of fashion lovers looking for bargains. eBay has become an even more credible high fashion destination of late as celebrities chose it to auction their clothes for charity- Carey Mulligan sold her Prada dress from the Met ball and Princess Beatrice got £80,000 for Children in Crisis and UNICEF by flogging her infamous Royal Wedding hat. 

Louise Gray AW12- her next collection will be sponsored
 by eBay (image from catwalking.com)

The winners of the latest prizes from Vauxhall Fashion Scout, which is a first rung on the ladder for designers, were also announced this week. The Merit Award goes to Heohwan Simulation while the Ones to Watch winners are Hellen van Rees, Ming Pin Tien and Hana Cha. The Merit Award is worth £25,00 over 3 seasons and all the winners get unprecedented exposure at both London and Paris fashion weeks. Judging by this cohort of prizewinners, it's quite clear that minimalism, architecture and menswear are still big influences on emerging designers.

HEOHWAN SIMULATION

CHARLOTTE SIMPSON

HANA CHA

HELLEN VAN REES

MING PIN TIEN

If you need something else to get excited about aside from sport then perhaps we can interest you in the forthcoming release of Carine Roitfeld's CR Fashion Book on September 13th. A new website emerged this week- crfashionbook- where readers can pre-order. If the mere thought of a new publication from the former Editor of Vogue Paris weren't enough then there is a taster image to tantalise further. This involves Juliet Ingleby strolling virtually naked through a cemetery save for a swathe of purple fabric and flanked by three leather clad, veiled fellow models. The scene is captured by Sebastian Faena and is prone to being mistaken for a shot from a war and death themed porn film.

A taster image from Carine Roitfeld's new book (image from fashionologie.com)

Two of the most enigmatic (sort of) figures in fashion got together this week when Karl Lagerfeld shot Victoria Beckham for a forthcoming front cover of French Vogue. Mrs B kept her Twitter followers updated on the backstage details via several twitpics, including one of her in a bath robe sitting on the famous staircase from which  Mademoiselle would observe her shows. And if you're a Chanel fan with a predisposition to jealousy, then don't even look at the photo of rows of Chanel gowns and jewels.

Backstage at the Lagerfeld/ Beckham shoot- looks like Chanel galore!

King Karl hotfooted it from his VB shoot to London to give us all a pre-Olympic fashion treat. He was here to open his Selfridges pop-up which will be selling his latest eponymous which is full of reference to the the Games, including plenty of gold, silver and bronze as well as medal motif. Lagerfeld turned up fashionably late for the event- two hours in fact. Nevertheless, this did little to dampen the excitement of many a tweeter who was feverishly awaiting his arrival. Daphne Guinness, Tallulah Harlech and Edie Campbell were among those on hand to welcome the designer when he eventually showed up at the reception. The Guardian's Jess Cartner-Morley wrote a fascinating piece about the might of the King Karl show which is a great read.

Karl and Daphne at Selfridges on Tuesday evening (image from dailymail.co.uk)

As promised in last week's news round-up, we're on celeb beach fashion watch. here are our top 3 from this week:

Gisele 'confirmed' her pregnancy via allowing herself to be photographed with a slightly protruding stomach on the beach. Good job about the bump really which deflects from the wet patch/ print on her crotch which the tabloids might otherwise have had a field day over...

Image from dailymail.co.uk

I'm going to be glued to The Telegraph's already brilliant Olympic fashion live feed. They've unearthed this gem which shows Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini in a loud, very Italian, Versace/ Pucci-esque swimming costume. 

Image from telegraph.co.uk

Finally, Lady Gaga has eschewed the concept of swimwear/ underwear and posted a picture of herself apparently naked on Twitter. The fact she's in an armchair in a darkened probably disqualifies her from  any 'Best Beach or Summer Look' competitions.

Finally, Sample Sale alert! Print the pic below and you'll get £5 off.

NEW TALENT: LEUTTON POSTLE

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Sam Leutton and Jenny Postle at FEAL HQ

This post has been a long time coming. Ever since the autumn, Sam Leutton and Jenny Postle have been regular visitors to FEAL HQ,  coming to show us how they were progressing with their AW12 collection and getting advice from the FashEd who always loves to see what new designers are up to.  We've seen the evolution of their ideas from experiments with their quite astounding textiles techniques, into the formation of the collection which was shown at Vauxhall Fashion Scout on the very last evening of London Fashion Week.

A FEAL favourite- the reverse appliqué jacket

The Leutton Postle studio where knitters are constantly hard at work

I'm only in my second season working in fashion, so it's been great to see young designers at every stage from initial thoughts and experiments to showcasing the finished collection in the VFS showroom in Paris. They also helped me out with a talk I recently did about knitting, and how young designers like themselves are pushing the thinking about what can be done with what is sometimes seen as a 'traditional' technique. In fact, that's what Sam and Jenny are all about- they use crafts and look at making them new and right for now. They are sort of the antithesis to the girls who hand knit vintage 1950s patterns of cutesie little jumpers and cardigans.  

Up close: the reverse appliqué technique which runs through Sam and Jenny's work. 

Another of the techniques used by Leutton Postle: E wrapping

For AW12, a face motif became the anchor of the collection. There were 3D knits, with chunky plaits popping out and cascading towards the floor, as well as more abstract reverse appliqué dresses and trousers. On close inspection, you see the faces peeping out at you, and it's a little bit haunting and very clever. For the show, some of the models even wore face masks, just to hammer home the strong theme.  On a visit to their studio a month before the show, Sam and Jenny showed me the mood boards they were working with. There were images of tribal crafts and patterns, face painting as well as colour palettes and scraps of hand knitting experiments. Among their 'inspirational women' were Princess Diana and Camilla Batmanghelidijh. Camilla would look amazing in a piece of Leutton Postle. 

Mood boards in the Leutton Postle studio

Shoes by Chris Delapena for AW12

The face masks used in the show, which was styled by Ellie Brown (image from www.retoxmagazine.com)

Leutton Postle AW12 (image from www.retoxmagazine.com)

Leutton Postle AW12 (image from www.retoxmagazine.com)

The absolute best thing about what Leutton Postle is the creative potential of their pieces, which makes them perfect for visually stunning editorials. If we were doing shoots, we'd be calling in Leutton Postle knits, trousers and dresses all the time. As the images below show, the tufts of wool, beautiful fabric combinations and off beat decoration (we loved that they combined gold tinsel and pom pom yarn in their AW12 knits) photograph fabulously. We're pretty sure that all the coolest, most creative women in London will be wearing Leutton Postle before too long.

This image and above from Idol magazine SS12

Leutton Postle in Phoenix, March 2012

Leutton Postle in Bstore magazine

 Browns obviously think the duo are onto something too because they've bought pieces from Leutton Postle ever since Jenny's graduation collection from the Central Saint Martin's MA course a year ago. If you're not sure about going all sugar sweet, girly pastel for SS12 then Sam and Jenny's super bright, hand crafted pieces could be a just the cool alternative you've been looking for...

Hand crafted applique trousers £415 at Browns

Knitted top £355 at Browns

Knit dress £1,245 at Browns

BEHIND THE SCENES AT MASC STUDIOS

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Not many designers score their very own display in the window of a world famous department store in their first season, but that is exactly what happened to MASC duo Duncan Shaw and Billy Yick. After being approached at September’s Vauxhall Fashion Scout exhibition , the designers were given just three weeks to turn around the pieces which ended up being seen by hundreds of thousands of people passing the Oxford Street store.  They also saw their collection sold through the Bright Young Things pop-up shop which accompanied the windows. In fact, their pieces are still available to buy online from Selfridges, as well as at Young British Designers

MASC designers Duncan Shaw and Billy Yick

One of the wing-pleat dresses from  MASC SS12

How do you follow that? For MASC, the answer is a luxurious AW12 collection entitled ‘Shadow Box’. The colours and shapes of this collection have been informed by the film ‘In the Mood for Love’  which Duncan says has a ‘60s mandarin aesthetic- it’s dark and poetic’. Where the SS12 collection used wings to create the silhouette (dresses with fitted bodices jutting into angular pleats), this time it is the rectangle  which forms the basis of each piece.

The MASC AW12 collection on a rail

One of the mood boards featuring Japanese pattern cutting and other references from the East

 Duncan and Billie both studied at Nottingham Trent, graduating in 2007. After they’d finished, Duncan took up an offer to study at the Institut Francais de la Mode in Paris- he was the only British graduate in the intake. Billie followed him there. ‘Our time in Paris still has a huge influence on our work’ Duncan says, pointing out a Halston style 70s shot on the mood board with the caption ‘Nuits de Paris’.  These two seem so calm and are so clearly completely in sync- they describe how they work on the same mannequin, taking one half each and eventually blending their two creations into a MASC piece.

Another mood board- textured mandarin collared dresses, glamorous night time shots and mysterious corners.

 Where the first collection comprised just two colours and was made up mostly of dresses, the AW12 has a more comprehensive palette (maroon, navy, bright red, cream…) and a foray into different textures with ribbed wool, suede and an innovative material which is printed, glazed and laser cut to create a feather-like effect.

 And it doesn’t stop there; the structured scarves are super cool, with their trailing tails and upturned collars. Alongside these, there are leather belts with folded back ends so the smooth and  rough sides of the leather are next to one another- Duncan makes these himself. The pair are very proud that each item is made in London, with materials sourced from English mills and specialist factories here and in Italy. 

The structured scarf

The double mandarin collar dress (image by Phill Taylor)

Belts made by Duncan

MASC have also expanded their horizons for AW12 by including trousers (one slim leg, one wide leg style) and coats in the collection. They are passionate about getting the cut exactly right. They have a dedicated pattern cutter, Alice, working with them to perfect the process.  The outerwear is a key  part of the  ‘armoured elegance’ philosophy which underpins everything Duncan and Billie do.  There are a couple of short- length shrug on jackets as well as more substantial pieces in amazingly soft mohair- Duncan calls it ‘plush’ and I couldn’t find a better word myself!  Zip makers YKK have been  collaborating with the pair so there are chunky zipped pockets on the coats and also running down the back of dresses . 

Alice the pattern cutter altering pieces in the run up to the VFS exhibition

Split details on one of the coats

My favourite piece from the collection- the coat dress

Different colours and fabric trims have been used on opposing pockets- ‘We knew the collection was very symmetrical’ say Duncan ‘so we decided to break that up a bit by not matching each side on the pockets’. Thus, on the sleeveless coat dress (above and below), one pocket is red while the other is navy.

The coat dress contrasted against the dark wood walls at The Town Hall Hotel (image by Phill Taylor- www.philltaylor.com)

The look book, shot by Phill Taylor, brings the collection back to its initial starting point, that dark Chinese film ‘In the Mood For Love’. ‘We chose The Town Hall Hotel (in East London) because it reminded us of the hotel in the film- all the dark walls. It was the perfect setting for showing off everything we’ve created’ Duncan told me.  

If the shots tickle your fancy then you should pop along to see MASC’s collection up close.

 You can visit them at The Vauxhall Fashion Scout venue, on until Wednesday, at Freemasons’ Hall, 60, Great Queen Street, WC2B  5AZ. Alternatively, they’ll be at the VFS Paris showrooms from Thursday March 1^st to Tuesday March 6^th at 18, Rue de 4 Fils, 75003. 

A SNEAK PEAK AT MANUELA DACK AW12

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Manuela Dack is a woman on a mission, with a clear vision carrying her label- which she began after graduating from Middlesex in 2010- from the rack of beautifully crafted pieces which represented her SS12 collection towards a brand offering everything from bespoke commissions to jewellery and small leather pieces. Her lady likes classic, beautiful fashion, with a contemporary edge which Manuela seems to be nailing fast. 

Manuela at her studio

I first met Manuela at the SS12 Vauxhall Fashion Scout, back in September. I was immediately taken with her soft colours and beading details which all seemed very accomplished for a label which was only on its second collection. I wasn’t surprised that The Shop at Bluebird decided to buy up lots of the light as air column dresses in fresh ivory and mint green.  Earlier this week, I went to visit the 25 year-old at her East London studio to take a sneak peek at the AW12 collection which went on show today at the VFS exhibition.

One of the most popular SS12 pieces, a stingray leather print dress £820 at Avenue 32

Grey sweatshirt and wool skirt from Manuela Dack AW12

Navy tee with foil print, inspired by wood carvings

 Manuela’s designs have always been influenced by her childhood growing up in the Cayman Islands (see the stingray dress, above), as well as her family’s interest in interior design.  However, for an Autumn/ Winter collection, incorporating those elements from warmer climes is perhaps not such a straightforward task. One of the stand out pieces is a short suede dress. A panel of suede, laser cut into an  intricate pattern and backed by bright cyan blue and orange Batik fabric runs down the front. It’s sexy for sure, but also a clever way to incorporate the more summer-orientated elements of Manuela’s references into an A/W collection.

The skirt made using the same techniques and Manuela's signature stepped up hem

The AW12 mood boards

 I also visited Manuela just before Christmas. Then, she showed me lots of images of wood carvings which she’d been looking at.  I get the sense that Manuela's obsession with interiors and furniture might eventually lead her to becoming a complete lifestyle brand.

For now, those mood boards have developed into the laser cut effect which appears throughout the collection, mostly on suede skirts and dresses, but also on a grey sweatshirt where the jersey cut out has been backed with chiffon to create a luxe-sport effect.  This sits alongside another  beautifully cut grey sweatshirt- both are a new foray into a more casual aesthetic.

One of the collection's two sweatshirts

Manuela comments that the whole collection has ‘the same elements as Spring’ but it’s ‘stricter, more like a uniform with lots of angles and layering’. Stepped- up hems on skirts and dresses are becoming a signature of Manuela’s work.  As well as the Batik, foil effect leather which twinkles through the carved panels makes an appearance.

Christina Smith shooting the AW12 look book 

When you speak to Manuela, you can’t help but be excited about where her label is going.  She already has a store on Avenue 32, but she is also planning to have her own e-commerce store where her fans can pick up jewellery, scarves and leather goods which she is currently developing.  She already does belts which she tells me are selling really well. For AW12, there is one crafted from thermocromatic leather so that it changes colour as you touch it.

Manuela's belts

Like many designers Manuela also notes that “Made in Britain’ is a key appeal of her clothes. After noting that is was the more expensive pieces of her collection which sold best, Manuela began to realise that she was tapping into a market which wanted a unique, keep forever investment piece. To that end, she will begin offering a bespoke service where clients can use the look book as a ‘menu’ for their orders, perhaps changing a colour/ fabric/ length here and there as they like.

There's a lot going for on for Manuela. Ultimately though, she is adamant that anything she does, she must be do ‘really, really well’.  This woman is a perfectionist, and nowhere is that more clear than in her beautiful clothes.

If you want to take a closer look at Manuela's AW12 collection, you can visit here at The Vauxhall Fashion Scout venue, on until Wednesday, at Freemasons’ Hall, 60, Great Queen Street, WC2B 5AZ. Alternatively, she’ll be at the VFS Paris showrooms from Thursday March 1st to Tuesday March 6th at 18, Rue de 4 Fils, 75003.