David Longshaw - LFW

                               

                              

                                   loved these scarves.....

beautiful dresses, 

David's illustrative line drawings work really well on clothes

his distinctive accessory ideas....

On the LOOK OUT for new up and coming talent in the LFW Designer Exhibition I noticed David Longshaw’s stand displaying his distinctive SS11 collection.

He studied fashion at Central Saint Martins and did his MA at The Royal College of Art graduating in 2008. His quirky illustrative style works really well as a fabric pattern design.  I really liked his colourful illustrations of flowers and whimsical characters which work very successfully on accessories such as scarves, one of which he opened up to show me, totally fabulous. 

www.davidlongshaw.co.uk

Photographs Schelay McCarter copyright

Haunch of Venison - London gallery

The dogs move round on a conveyer and smash against each other!

Loved this piano  ! 

On Tuesday inbetween fashion shows I met a friend of mine at the 'Haunch of Venison' Gallery in London behind the Royal Academy in 6 Burlington Gardens. 

I was blown away by the diversity of talent revealed by one artist. Joana Vasconcelos a Portuguese artist has been much talked about because of her more controversial work where she recycles dead birds and stuffs them ( death by natural causes totally I am assured) to create art. I didn't realise how prolific and extraordinary an artist she is.

Her first work called A Noiva (the bride)  challenged a taboo in that it took the form of a chandelier made from around 25,000 tampons! Typical of her work these unglamorous objects belie the sculptures grand structure, like the chandelier made of old bottles above.

Hermione De Paula - London Fashion Week

My favourite dress. It is a very flattering shape and I adore the dropped shoulders. I can see Gwyneth Paltrow in this. Hermione's fabric prints are beautiful.

This dress fabric floral pattern reminds me in essence of a Celia Birtwell print.

I was very pleased I made the effort to go and see Hermione De Paula's collection at London Fashion Week on Tuesday afternoon. The show was part of the Vauxhall Fashion Scout presentations of new' up and coming' UK based designers.
I was also invited to see Charlotte Taylor, Georgia Hardinge and Lilee in Covent Garden earlier in LFW, a review of which I will post later.

http://www.vauxhallfashionscout.com/vfs_about.html

The venue in the Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden was excellent and created a perfect setting for Hermione De Paula's show. I met Manolo Blahniks niece Kristina in the queue for the show. She looked totally glam - it was very hot and she had a fur coat with her, so a conversation was struck up about how difficult it was to make a decision about what to wear. She had wonderful shoes on of course which made her very tall indeed. She told me her mother had been running the business for some time and that she would be taking over. She said that Manolo Blahnik is very much a family business and that she was looking forward to her new role.

Wish I had taken a photo of her shoes, they were beautiful.

http://www.wmagazine.com/w/blogs/editorsblog/2010/02/10/whats-it-like-having-manolo-bl.html

Educated at Central Saint Martins and graduating with a first class degree Hermione De Paula's collection of hand painted and collage print designs was apparently inspired by the purity of sexual awakening, using a female character from a mythological tale as muse.

She mixed textures perfectly, combining cashmere woven and crocheted tops with hand printed silk dresses, her large looped knitted attachments looked like the muse has walked through a large spiders web and wrapped the woven blanket around her like a shawl or skirt. The clothes were constructed with movement in mind and came to life with the motion of the models down the catwalk. Wonderful !

Photographs Schelay McCarter copyright

Issa - Brazilian talent in London

Issa was to be the last womenswear show on the BFC catwalk this London fashion Week. What a wonderful and colourful collection to finale.

The colourful bejewelled turbans were the creative glue that held this collection together. The day dresses made from a variety of exquisite fabrics such as soft silk, jersey, subtle chiffon, handmade lace, embroidered cotton voile and italian matt jersey to protect against the sun were very wearable. I loved the bright Diwali like colour palette of primary red, yellow, blue and bright green pared down with earthy tones reflecting the dusty and faded palaces of India.

I am sure that this collection will be very attractive to Indian buyers as well as the

European market and others.

Issa says of her SS 2011 collection...

" this collection allows the modern woman to have fun clashing colours whilst looking chic and refined in easy to wear dresses for a complete wardrobe to elegantly enhance and flatter her figure."

I hope to write more about Brazilian influence on fashion in London in my LFW diary I am writing for revista b magazine to be published in the next issue.

Photographs Schelay McCarter copyright

Jasper Conran - LFW Sunday 19th Sept

My invitation. A version of this bespoke illustration was recreated as a pattern on one of the 1950 silhouette dresses in his show.

What a lovely man! his group sat near me in the outside coffee area and I plucked up courage to ask if he would mind me taking a photo.

Thank you Jasper for my invite.......

I really enjoyed seeing your wonderful show.

The catwalk auditorium was very full and there was a real buzz in the air. His collection fell into three zones, blacks and white graphic patterns on sheer fabrics such as tulle, textured whites in sexy silhouettes in crisp cotton lace and beautiful embellishments, and then lastly citric brights combined with graphic patterns and whites. The silhouette was 1950s and early 60s inspired, as a result lady like and demure in every way.

I loved it all, but if I had to choose it would have to be some of those gorgeous white dresses, perfect for hot summer days and great for reflecting the heat!

Photographs Schelay McCarter copyright