LFW: Craig Lawrence

Another show I reported on, from a man who dresses the likes of Lady GaGa and Jessie J, didn't disappoint in his futuristic collection:

LFW: Craig Lawrence SS13

September 17, 2012

Doing a little bit of background research and seeing Craig Lawrence has dressed some of the sartorially sassiest ladies of pop; queen of quirk Lady GaGa and princess of spandex Jessie J, I was set up to expect something equally as impressive as his preceded collections.

Craig Lawrence opened in the Portico Rooms at Somerset House with the magical sounds of a jewellery box springing into action, gradually introducing the ring of a tambourine and Jamaican drums, which sprung the first model onto the runway.

 Models cascaded onto the runway sporting ghetto hair with an elegant twist; sideburns were pressed into stylish swirls cascading down both cheeks with the rest of the hair slicked back into a sleek pony tail paired with a polished red pout.

The official theme of the collection was inspired by ‘phosphorescent plankton that glow in the ocean at night’ with knitware designed to imitate ‘Urchins, Sponge and Scale’, however to the non-aquatic among us aesthetics boarded more on team NASA dressed in sexy knitted chainmail.

Spring/Summer 2013 demonstrated metallic silver knits in optic fibres, with clear and reflective yarn stretched across the body creating a peekaboo flesh effect.

Shapes varied from dress to trousers to trouser dress, combining skirts and woven silvery leggings.  The most exciting pieces protruded silver hair from silver woven dresses, creating the impression of a sparse horse’s mane hugging the figure. The footwear du jour were grey ankle socks combined with black leathered chunky platforms. Accessories consisted of clear perspex bum bags doubled up as waist belts or the occasional upper arm purse, giving the whole look a more futuristic feel.

The whole show built to a space style crescendo, plunging the brightly lit space into darkness casting a UV light on the models strutting the 8 different looks in a luminescent glow, a bit like a parade of UV jellyfish.

The ever modest designer, Craig Lawrence nimbly stepped out at the end giving a small and humble wave, before disappearing like the sea creatures before him behind a mirrored wall.

LFW: Felicities presents

One of the loveliest events I went to last week was Felicities Presents at Somerset House, an innovative way of showcasing new designers by making the party a little bit more interactive by inviting guests to watch each brands fashion video on ipads. The videos were brought to life by having the models featured in the video wearing the collection and accompanying the designers stand. 

This is a straight copy and paste from my report for Who's Jack:

LFW: Felicities Presents SS13

September 18, 2012

Felicities is a boutique East London creative PR agency who looks after some of the most talented and unique up and coming designers and brands, and weren’t afraid of showcasing them last night in Somerset House Portico Rooms.

Felicities represented a global range of emerging designers, from the GreekEvmorifa to the Russian Xsenia and Olya to home grown talent such as Beautiful Soul and Tramp in disguise.

Evmorfia designer and model

All designer films were available to watch on ipads

The evening was a digital premier of fashion films from each brand, showcased on ipads around the room with models bringing the digital collection to life wearing covetable pieces from the short films.

Beautiful Soul’s videography featured a life in the day of a very well dressed girl in Beautiful Soul’s pretty feminine and floral designs shopping on Portobello Road, returning to her house and getting ready for her date, all to the tune of the wonderful Eddie Halliday.

Other fashion films that got their premier last night included Ada Zanditon, Arianna Cerrito, Tramp in disguise, Phanatiq and Xsenia and Olya.

Head wear seemed to be the fashion statement amongst attendees, ranging from diamond encrusted bindi’s to a toupee/ hair piece entirely made up from Swarovski crystals.

Felicities rewarded us with rows of delicious bottled raspberry martinis cleverly packaged in plastic and disguised as smoothies, and goody bags filled with treats from Chocolate Alchemy to silky intimates from Playful Promises.

LFW catwalk report: Ashish SS13

I was invited for the third year running to be part of the Who's Jack London Fashion Week reporting team, 

team, another flurry of fabulousness; free haircuts from Tony and Guy, make up from Mac, goodies from smoothies to posh panties, and the joys of sipping elderflower martinis with Gok Wan. 

Below is a copy and paste of the catwalk report I wrote for Ashish SS13 collection, an assortment of beautifully mismatches designs, encapsulating kitsch cool.

LFW: Ashish SS13

September 18, 2012

The Ashish Spring/ Summer 2013 beautifully mismatched collection was a high school catwalk of the unofficial coolest girl in school, forget the pristine matchy matchy cheerleaders, this show was all about the girl who didn’t fit in, for all the right reasons.

Outfits morphed between trousers and skirts, always leaving something out, or opposite paired together. One leg of a trouser was black sequins paired with denim or one grey cotton leg paired with one denim, or even two different shades of denim for each leg.

Tops always left something out, either armless, backless or frontless separates stark white shirts layered with chiffon and sparkly polka dots.

Jumpsuits featured with half the body in black sequins and the other half in denim, often thrown over a crisp white shirt, or pale shirt adorned with black thick type faced letters of the alphabet or a silver sequin bodice shimmering through.

Each girl’s hair scraped back into a sequined scrunchie ranging from white black and midnight blue, the beautifully dishevelled looks were accessorised with white reebook’s and mismatched sequin socks. Vintage wide eyed glasses with gold frames graced the young girls freckly faces, topping off the geek chic look.

The collection matured into floor length fitted sequined gowns, from a sparkly peach to a deep midnight blue bringing the beautifully dishevelled collection to a close.

King Koma

http://www.whosjack.org/whos-jack-chats-to-david-komas-first-assistant-aisha-kascioglu/


King Koma is the nickname given to David Koma, London Fashion Week’s most hotly anticipated designer. Who’s Jack writer Tania Willis was fortunate enough to grab an exclusive peak into his upcoming LFW show through the eyes of his First Assistant, Aisha Kascioglu…

If you have not yet heard of the 25-year-old Georgian born designer, then you will most definitely recognise his genius eye for structure and embellishment, which has not only paid dues to his celebrity following, (Cheryl Cole, Beyonce and Kylie Minougue are huge fans) as much as leaders of the fashion world. Not many designers are fortunate enough to finish their Central St Martins MA and within a year explode into stratospheric demand; (for starters his graduate collection won him the Harrods Design Award) swiftly evolving from student designer to superstar designer, being pressed by the likes of Rhianna for pieces fresh of the runway to having just recently released a capsule collection with high street mogul Topshop, there is no doubt David doesn’t deserve the nickname King Koma.

Like all precise trend forecasters AUCB Costume Design alumni Aisha Kascioglu was smart enough to notice Koma’s design’s when he was still deep under Alexandra Shulman’s radar; “I was doing my usual stalk of Central St Martins students and came across David Koma. His work appealed to me with the strong silhouettes and materials he uses, he really creates a very powerful and sexy image. I emailed asking if I could show him my work, and if he would need any interns soon. My timing was lucky, as I messaged him when he was just starting out and was his first intern!” Very lucky indeed, Aisha continues, “David is great to work for, as his first assistant I was even trusted to try on one of his dresses! Alicia Keys wore the exact same design to perform on Britains Got Talent”.

So what is it really like working for one of the UK’s highly anticipated designing talents, a bit like embodying a multi-tasking, tea making, pin cushion? Or as titillating as being invited to raid Alexa Chung’s wardrobe and be her plus one to a super exclusive bash in one of Karl Lagerfeld’s hand chiseled icebergs?

Aisha begs to differ: “It really is such a privilege to work for such a huge up and coming designer like David, every day varies which makes the job very exciting. Sometimes I will be working on finishing his collection for runway, or writing the press release for his upcoming collection before fashion week.” However working for fashion’s new ‘it boy’ or granting a request from her wacky highness Lady GaGa for your painstakingly hand stitched affections does not guarantee that you will be cosied up on your sofa in time for Hollyoaks. “It’s never a 9-5 however; sometimes I’m working through the night! But seeing the audience’s reaction to the designs I’ve helped work on when they come out on the runway makes it all worth it,’ says Aisha.

Can she reveal any exclusive secrets about his upcoming collection at LFW, a collection which is working up quite an anticipatory sweat amongst fashion editors? After some reluctant mumblings Aisha discloses, “everyone is working very hard for this season, I am not allowed to give too much away, you will have to wait till the 21^st of February. All the best designers must keep their secrets!” But does indeed confirm the A/W 11 collection will be influenced by forests touched by a Tim Burton level of darkness. A complete antithesis to his last S/S 11 collection inspired by the metamorphosis in Swan Lake,imitating a very structured tough ballet silhouette, which used monochromic patterns and inserts of python leather dipped in striking metallic embellishment.

Behind every incredible designer there is without question an equally commendable assistant, after all who was appointed creative director after Alexander McQueen’s untimely death? None other than his first assistant Sarah Burton, who closed her debut collection with a deafening round of applause. Miss Kascioglu does eventuallt see herself following in such famous first assistant’s footsteps, but not just yet. “I do have ambitions to move into designing at some stage, but at the moment I’m happy to help David with each season. I’m learning so much on the job, this will be my third season with David Koma so we will have to keep our fingers crossed and see where it takes me!”

Follow Aisha on twitter at www.twitter.com/AishaKascioglu

David Koma A/W 10 Collection

David Koma for Topshop

Aisha in David's Topshop design