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....

PORT ELIOT: A FASHION DOLL'S TEA PARTY HOSTED BY SARAH MOWER

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Rare is the festival where there is a corner so civilised that it is worthy to play host to the treasured childhood dolls of fashion's great and good. Port Eliot house is nestled at the bottom of the valley where the festival takes place and is open throughout to offer festival goers an antedote to tent and field based activities.  Thus, its Dining Room was the ideal setting for an auspicious gathering of Barbies, Sindys, Kens and traditional dolls owned and much loved by the likes of Viktor&Rolf, Simone Rocha and Lady Amanda Harlech. There are few with the cachet to persuade designers and fashion luminaries to allow their treasured possessions to go on a little trip to the country but luckily Sarah Mower, who came up with the whole idea and is the festival's fashion curator, and LOVE magazine editor Alex Fury were on hand to prise the dolls from their owners' hands for a few days of tea partying. 

It seems almost obvious that a fashion designer might begin their career making clothes for dolls. After all, our childhood toys are what we use to act out our fantasies of adulthood, giving them the lives and looks which we on some level aspire to- I remember that I would ensure all my dolls had nicely plaited hair and pretty party dresses before lining them up in neat rows in my bed to be taught by me in the role of teacher or to go on imaginary trips to the zoo (my brother's farmyard animal collection) and model in fashion shows. For an aspiring designer, the doll is an ideal canvas to begin on- take Erdem Moralioglu who was "violently jealous" of his twin Sara's Skipper Barbie, which had "a flatter chest and bigger shoulders" than the Barbie Bride Sara previously had. Erdem kidnapped Skipper Barbie whilst his sister was at Brownies and "got hold of this cheap-y blue polyester , and fashioned a circle skirt from it and put it over her head", he then got his Mum to help him make a strapless bustier- "very Spring/Summer". Whether that has anything to do with the fact that he's now a very successful fashion designer is anyone's guess.

The" cheap polyester" dress which Erdem made when he was five, and a dress
 from his AW12 collection in Barbie size.  

Many of the stories which Sarah, Alex and their team of curators (Jess Dubeck and Ben Evans) unearthed as they collected designers' dolls were far more extraordinary than them simply being childhood toys. In fact, this tea party was such an insight that I reckon the V&A would be mad not to hound Sarah and Alex until they agreed to host the same tea party, or even an expanded version, as an exhibition in the capital so that even more people could realise that the power of the doll is far more than a mere plaything. These are some of my favourite stories....

CHRISTOPHER KANE

The line-up of Chris Kane Barbies is a mini retrospective of his work to date. That's because a member of Chris's team recreates a look from each season in Barbie form as a record of the collection. They do it rather speedily too because Resort '13 already has its own outfit (far left). 

ALBER ELBAZ

It was Alber Elbaz's story which sparked Sarah's idea to host a Fashion Doll's Tea party. And it doesn't even involve dolls but a distinct lack thereof. Elbaz's family were too poor to afford toys for him and so he took the ingenious approach of dressing the figures on the family's chess board. Elbaz describes how he would "use my Father's silver cigarette paper, and use flowers and sequins, and stick hair on their heads with a piece of chewing gum". Decades later, Elbaz has an endless supply of real-life dolls in the form of Lanvin customers and models but has also created the Miss Lanvin dolls which perhaps go some way to making up for his doll-free childhood. The chess set which appeared at the tea party is one he recreated especially for Port Eliot. The process made Elbaz reflect on his chess piece dressing and he remarks in the tea party notes "It made me think: maybe the best creativity comes out of lacking resources". I think it also shows that when something is innate- like his desire to dress and design- there will always be a way around it.

JASON WU

Jason Wu's doll connection is probably the strongest of them all and he probably wouldn't be where he is today if it weren't for his love of doll dressing. He describes how "at the age of sixteen, while at boarding school in Connecticut, I decided to call the president of Integrity toys offering them my sketches, astonishingly they offered me a job designing for their fashion dolls. A year later, I was named Creative Director, then partner. Both positions I still hold today and am extremely proud of". In fact, Wu has financed his label through the money he makes designing for Integrity, meaning that without dolly fashion, he may not be doing real lady fashion now. 

SARAH BURTON AT ALEXANDER MCQUEEN

A doll version of a piece from Lee McQueen's final, posthumous collection

The dolls sent by McQueen's Sarah Burton do not have so much of a childhood resonance but represent a key stage in house's design process which began with the Plato's Atlantis collection of SS10. Each season, McQueen's famously tailored and complex shapes are engineered in doll form before being scaled up when perfect to human size. This reminded of the way that Vionnet would do all her groundwork on mini mannequins. It's not a practise unique to Burton and her team, but the dolls looked like works of art in their own right, especially as the paper dresses they have were printed with the patterns which would eventually make up the final dress. 

Lulu Kennedy's rabbits, Paul and Amanda, would be entertained by Lulu and her little brother dressed as pirates or gypsies for hours on end.

Giles Deacon sent dolls he made, dressed in miniature versions of dresses from his AW12 collection...

Simone Rocha's doll attends the tea party, complete with scars from being thrown down banisters by her loving owner.

Tallulah Harlech's Barbie with her Mother Lady Amanda's dolls

Sarah Mower at one of the first doll's parties she curated 

With such a prestigious group of dollies in attendance, this had to be a truly spectacular party. So set designer Michael Howells, who also curated the flower show at the festival and has decorated the house's chandeliers with feathers and dried flowers, scattered sweeties amid sets of doll's china to create the perfect backdrop for proceedings. The pièce de résistance was the doll's house which Sarah Mower spotted in the window of the Trinity Hospice charity shop in Kensington.

Sarah sent us this photo of (left to right) Hannah Lambert (her assistant),
Jingle-Jangle James, Meggie and designer Louise Gray beside the main table at the tea party

And Sarah couldn't get away with not inviting her very own doll. She sits, dressed in a paisley dress and knitted knickers made by Sarah's fashion loving grandmother, Maisie- the doll is named after her.  Maisie sits centre stage with Tammy Kane's (sister and business partner of Christopher) doll who is called Toni Bonnie Bella- Tammy has recently had a baby called Bonnie, perhaps named after the doll?

PORT ELIOT: A FESTIVAL LIKE NO OTHER

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

You might have heard about Port Eliot, the festival which takes place in a nook of Cornwall valley round the grounds of Port Eliot house, just beside the village of St Germans. The one which creates an exodus of London's creative and media community. The one which is really inspiring and beautiful. But until you've actually experienced Port Eliot- like I did this weekend- it's hard to understand exactly what is so special about it. It is a festival like no other but definitely the absolute definition of festival. Not only are there familiar faces around every corner, from Christopher Biggins riding about on a flower bedecked golf buggy to Dominic West chilling by the river but there is also something going on at almost every moment of the day from the early morning wild swimming and yoga sessions to 3am guilty pleasures DJ sets. The frustrating thing is, you can't do it all. 

My weekend included, but was not limited to,  dancing to a ceilidh band, a trip to the circus, cabaret Britney Spears, bhangra, gypsy jazz performers dressed as Elvis, dresses inspired by interiors, flower arranging, a folk band who gave their audience pop corn and crisps and encouraged us to make paper planes, history lessons and existential thinking thanks to a 20s jazz, Gypsy brass, English Folk and Trinidadian Calypso inspired fivesome. There was so much more it COULD have included had we got up earlier and been in more of a military mindset. There were so many workshops going on which I'd have loved to have done, such as Anthropologie's silk printing and ceramics, but most of them involved arriving at 9am to register which is a difficult feat to accomplish after a night of gin drinking and dancing.

It's not just the schedule which makes Port Eliot. The house- a proper example of decaying but beautiful aristocratic living- was open to view for parts of the day during the festival. Little touches like the Macbook left open atop an antique desk and pictures of the St Germans' much loved whippet Roo made it a million times more real than your usual stately home visit. If you needed a quieter moment, or a nice spot to sit with a drink then there were the vast and oh-so English river banks and rolling fields. A final West Country tip, we popped into the Thermae Bath Spa en route to Port Eliot for some pre-festival pampering and it was brilliant- a great way to get a spa experience at a rather reasonable £25 for two hours of steaming in variously aroma-ed rooms and bathing in the thermal rooftop pool. Bliss. Sadly, the festival is taking a break next year but ink it into your 2013 diary right now. 

Here's a tumble of my Port Eliot scrapbook....

The view from our tent- no luxury yurts or winnebagos for this Fash Junior

A grandly dressed tent

Murals inside Port Eliot house

 In the Wardrobe Department where the likes of Louise Gray, Fred Butler and Piers Atkinson were on hand all weekend to provide dressing up inspiration.

Milliner Stephen Jones sketches hair designs...

And Bumble and Bumble bring them to life.

Mary Katrantzou was there to speak with Love magazine's Alex Fury about her career to date, her unique aesthetic and the triptych of dresses which she created after a visit to Port Eliot house with Sarah Mower.

Sarah Mower (in Katrantzou jacket), Alex Fury (in Katrantzou trousers), Mary Katrantzou and Port Eliot's organiser, Cathy St Germans. They are posing with three of the four Warren sisters (Octavia, Aggy, Imogen and Bea) who modelled some of Mary's dresses during the talk.

Mary's triptych of dresses hanging inside Port Eliot house

The estate has a beautiful orangery which ousted the festival's Michael Howells curated flower show. Entrants were asked to celebrate the Jubilee and/or the Olympics...

 The main Park Stage where plenty of evening action took place...

Mobile tea dancing- a man with a car and a boom box travelling around the site hosting mini tea dances. The One Minute Disco was also hugely popular and by Sunday people were running towards it as they saw the van coming to blast out a tune for 60 seconds at a time all around the festival site.

 

 Silk printing and plate decorating in the Anthropolgie tent...

A word of warning, there are children everywhere at Port Eliot. If you're adverse to their presence at festivals, this one's not for you. Many of them were to be found rolling in the mud baths which appeared at low tide...

GETTING EXCITED FOR PORT ELIOT

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

The grounds of Port Eliot House where the festival takes place

It's starting to feel like Summer is properly kicking in. I haven't worn a coat for a few days at least and all the things I've planned for "Summer" are starting to happen. One of those is my first Port Eliot festival, which I'll be heading to Cornwall for two weeks from now. I booked almost as soon as tickets were released as I couldn't bear another year of tweets, articles and blog posts from the festival turning me into the green-eyed monster for not being there. I'm going with two friends- one's a foodie, the other a music and drama lover- so I'm hoping we'll force one another to broaden our horizons. However, the fashion line-up looks so awesome that I could probably spend the entire weekend getting made up by Louise Gray and hair stencilled by Alex Brownsell from Bleach, and being dressed up in the blindfold styling booth by Piers Atkinson and Fred Butler. Every girl's dressing up dream team, basically.


THE WARDROBE DEPARTMENT AT PORT ELIOT FESTIVAL from Minky Productions on Vimeo.


The Fashion Dolls' Tea Party, which Sarah Mower is organising with LOVE's Alex Fury, is written in indelible ink on my itinerary. Melanie is receiving regular updates from Sarah as the dolls arrive ready for their journey west. I don't want to spoil the surprise but one of our favourite designers has sent his Barbies to be part of the fun. Among the designers whose childhood dollies have also RSVP'd are Donatella Versace, Alber Elbaz and Roksanda Ilincic. Alice in Wonderland, eat your heart out.

Cathy St Germans, organiser of Port Eliot, tweeted this photo of some of the dolls arriving for the Doll's Party

I also cannot wait for...

1. Hip Hop karaoke

2. Luella Bartley's fairy tale writing

3. Wild swimming in the estuary

4. Partying under the stars

5. Champagne hurdles at The Rubbish Olympics, with legendary Christopher Biggins as Master of Ceremonies

If all this (and the rest) tickles your fancy, then there are still tickets available.

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!