Jasper Conran Spring/Summer 2012

Jasper Conran is the master of minimalism. He has a way of making the simplest of designs into something you find yourself craving to own. The sleek collection was sporty but feminine, chock-a-block full of sharp and timeless pieces in head-to-toe white, black, fuchsia  and bright red , slightly reminiscent of a Jil Sander collection. That’s by no means a bad thing, as I am a massive Jil Sander fan. In order to make such minimalist pieces stand out, Conran focus on little detail which went a long, long way.
Surprising small cut out sections in the jackets and dresses, the boxy shapes, the neon colours, the open back, the simplicity of the flat sandals, the slick headbands – it all helped to turn this potentially boring collection into a stroke of genius. To quote the press notes, because I cannot put it any better:  ”A distinctive air of ease highlights the disciplined lack of grandeur.”

Alex is the author of popular fashion blog www.alexloves.com

John Rocha Spring/Summer 2012

There’s always a bit of a buzz around the John Rocha shows. Although he’s always remained a little bit under the radar, the Hong Kong-born Irish designer has a large cult following, who happily show up at his shows in his designs. This includes myself. I suppose he’s best known for his budget range for Debenhams, but whilst I have to admit this is one of the better designer high street collaborations, nothing quite measures up to the pieces he creates for his own range.

The moment the first breathtaking structured dress made out of thousands of black ruffles hit the catwalk, we knew this was going to be big. Models sported dramatic wire constructions on their heads, some resembling horns, with black pieces of fabric dangling from them. The platform shoes resembled seaweed, as if these mythical creatures had just waded out of the ocean. Some of the pieces were also covered in ‘seaweed’, whilst others were constructed out of sheer panels with wave-like draping. The slightly gothic vibe was accentuated with an almost full black collection (which is usually the case with Rocha) and a series brighter broken-white pieces.

Will we be seeing a watered-down version of this in Debenhams? God I hope not, it would be wasted on them, but in between the dramatic and over-the-top looks, there were some beautiful classic pieces to be found, like a simple black jumpsuit, or the white sheepskin leather jackets or the tailored tuxedo jackets. And that’s most probably the stuff we’ll be seeing on the high streets next season.

Alex is the author of popular fashion blog www.alexloves.com

Holly Fulton SS12

Holly Fulton was the fourth designer to hail the British seaside as an inspiration for her collection. However, where most people chose the (former) glamour of the arcades, beach and seaside frolicking as a reference, Holly Fulton chose the rather… unglamorous town of Margate as her starting point. Margate isn’t really known for its style, but Fulton admits to enjoying bad taste. So much so, bad taste has become her signature style. Always taking elements often considered tacky, she magnifies them and somehow turns them into a bold and beautiful design.

This time was no different. Her trademark Art Deco prints featured everywhere, but this time mixed with zebra stipes, turquoise ruches, bold sequins and bright colours. The beach-theme was visible in big hoop earrings adorned with shells, and a couple of cheeky bikini’s. So wrong, and yet… The vibe was a little reminiscent of the old Versace days. Just comes to show that when you add enough terrible things together, you actually end up with something strangely beautiful. Although I want to make clear I’m not actually suggesting we now all start trying this, let’s leave that up to the professionals, shall we?

Alex is the author of popular fashion blog www.alexloves.com

All images: Press Association

Christian Blanken Spring/Summer 2012

Not all designers have a big catwalk show to showcase their new collections, some opt for a small, intimate presentation. It allows the guests to look at the clothes in depth, from every angle and for a longer period than a fleeting appearance on a catwalk. Some designs really require a second look, because the genius lies in the details, and this was the case for Christian Blanken.

Amanda Wakeley Spring/Summer 2012

Showing directly after the all-dancing, colourful spectacle at Meadham Kirchhoff, Amanda Wakeley’s show felt somewhat like having our happy bubble burst. This is perhaps a little bit unfair, but for a brief moment we were reminded of how fun fashion could be, Amanda Wakeley brought us back to reality with a hard thud. This isn’t to say that the collection is no good, not at all, it’s just that it was a little… serious.

There were lots of long grecian draped dresses in a comfortable silk-jersey, which meant they could easily be transformed from eveningwear into daywear, with just a few styling adjustments. Some featured leather detailing, others sported a few sequinned elements, but all this was kept to a bare minimum. The colour palette moved from black and navy to flashes of coral red, mustard yellow and ended with turquoise. The simple leather accessories were a real highlight, with the oversized leather envelope clutches now featuring high up on my wishlist.

It was a solid collection, but just not terribly exciting. But then, Wakeley has never been a big trendsetter, she just does what she does, and does it well. Sadly I’ll probably only rremember the model who tumbled all the way up and down the catwalk after getting her shoe stuck in her hemline.

Alex is the author of popular fashion blog www.alexloves.com

All images: Press Association

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The invites to fashion-darling Michael van der Ham’s show were all individual, handmade collages. Immediately after the first model stepped onto the catwalk we understood why: instead of his trademark patchwork, van der Ham had evolved his signature style into collages (there is a big difference, I promise). The colourful designs were everything you expect from the young Dutchman, but for the first time, we saw a commercial side to the collection too. Lots of pretty delicate shirts, simple shift dresses (well, as simple as a van der Ham shift could be) and printed Christian Louboutin heels showed a real sense of understanding of his customer: a classy, chic woman who likes to stand out, but doesn’t want to go completely over the top as was sometimes the case in his previous collections. I even desperately want one of the two-tone trousers, usually a major fashion no-no.

There’s a thin line between making collages look like a crafts-class gone wrong, but Van der Ham managed to stay on the right side of tacky. One of the stand-out shows of the week, by far.

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Danielle Scutt was the penultimate designer to show at London Fashion Week and there was definitely that “end-of-exams” kind of feeling around the tent. I’ve always loved Scutt’s quirky style, so I was quite excited to see what she had come up with this season. According to the press notes, the collection was inspired by youth culture from the Nineties, when the designer was growing up. This meant thugs, skin heads and other quite masculine subcultures. Through her collection she wanted to show a girl who’s grown up to be a strong woman after growing up in those days.

It sounded fascinating and a great concept to work from, but the reality of it was a little confusing. It started with elegant evening wear, beautiful copper metallic skirts and tops, then moved on to bleached dip dyed denim, then moving on to some pretty yellow and black pieces which were styled with cannabis references, to eventually end with a series of tartan pieces – one of which featured a picture of Tupac.

Some pieces bizarrely had T-shirts clipped to the front, whilst others wore turban style hats made out of T-shirts and with a section of a newspaper stuffed into it. The whole thing left me quite confused, and if it weren’t for the explanation in the press notes, I would have hated it. It had too many ideas floating around, where one would have worked just fine. I think youth subcultures make a great subject, but there’s no need to reference every single one of them. The show as a whole just didn’t feel cohesive.

It’s clear Danielle Scutt is an amazingly talented young designer, one of the most exciting ones of her genereation. I loved the copper skirts and the bleached denim pieces had me craving for more, but on the whole, I was left a little disappointed.

Alex is the author of popular fashion blog www.alexloves.com

Images: Press Association

Meadham Kirchhoff Spring/Summer 2012

As it was the last day of London Fashion Week, lots of top editors had already packed their bags and left for Milan, which meant they ended up missed one of the best and funniest shows ever. Meadham Kirchhoff put on a real spectacle, which had everyone laughing so hard – including a brief smile on Anna Wintour’s face – we almost forgot about our painful feet and lack of sleep.

Words can’t quite describe what went on, but here’s an attempt. A Hole track burst onto the speakers and out came a dozen girls with messy blonde bobs, smeared make up and matching pastel-coloured satin dresses which revealed their neon bras. As they came on they were frantically putting on lipstick or powdering their faces, and just as we were wondering whether this was the collection, the girls burst into a choreographed dance routine, to everyone’s delight. The “real” models then appeared and walked around them, wearing clown and cartoon-inspired outfits. To be honest, I was too distracted by the dancing girls to really notice.

Then the music drastically changed to slow classical music, and out came a group of little ballerinas, butterfly wings, tutu’s and all. Cue lots of ooh and aaah-ing. The ballerinas performed a little ballet routine, again with the models walking around them. Then out of nowhere, the gold curtain opened up revealing another handful of showgirl-style models on a tiered podium. One surprise kept following another until there were editors in tears of laughter. You’ve got to hand it to the Meadham Kirchhoff boys: they managed to make fashion fun again. After days of trawling around town, queueing for hours and lack of sleep, this was just the little boost we all very much needed.

As for the actual clothes? I only really saw them after I arrived back home. Between the completely over-the-top styling and almost theatrical spectacle, there were actually some incredible pieces there. Some of it a modern take on Marie-Antoinette-style dresses, others inspired by the circus and even showgirls. However, the cartoon-esque knitwear sweaters are bound to be on every fashionista’s wishlist.

Thanks boys, for putting that much-needed smile back on our faces. Those on the way to Milan will be kicking themselves, as this show will be the talk of the town for some time.

Alex is the author of popular fashion blog www.alexloves.com

Images: London Fashion Week and Press Association

Below is a selection of the celebrities – dressed in Burberry of course – as they were photographed on their way in to the venue. Oh yeah, and you can check out the spring/summer 2012 collection here!

Photo credit: Press Association

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

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Rosie Huntington-Whiteley arriving for the Burberry Catwalk show, during London Fashion Week, at Kensington Gardens, Kensington

Nicole Farhi Spring/Summer 2012

Nicole Farhi welcomed fashionistas to a garden party at the rather aptly venue: the Royal Horticultural Society. Her spring/summer 2012 collection showed a designer who has come into full bloom after 30 years in the industry, offering a bouquet of tulip-shaped dresses and skirts in hues of sunflower yellow, clementine orange and candy pink and rose-prints.

Farhi’s love for experimenting with the fabrics was noticeable, showing tunics in exaggerated mesh and leather laser-cut flowers and plastic sequins on shirts.

And those retro orange sunglasses were amazing. We’re so adding it to next year’s summer shopping list!