THE WEEK IN FASHION 20TH-24TH JUNE

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

This week in fashion has been all about making up, breaking up, love and hate. It's been emotional.  Here's our look at the goings on from the fashion playground over the last 5 days...

 Galliano's last couture collection for Christian Dior. There will probably never be anything like this ever again.

1) The big one. John Galliano's trial took place on Wednesday at the Paris magistrates court. Just in case you were under a rock/in rehab/on the moon when the scandal broke, Galliano is being sued on moral grounds for an alleged anti-semitic, racist, and generally offensive rant directed towards three people in a Paris cafe earlier this year. He also subsequently lost his job at both Dior and his own label. It's a really sorry state of affairs, which has seen a former shining light of the industry reduced to a shadow of his normal gregarious self; hidden away in a rehabilitation program since the alleged attack, his future remaining highly uncertain and bleak.

He appeared in court to explain his behaviour (apparently a consequence of problems with drink, drugs and stress) and the result of the trial will be announced in September. This is undoubtedly a very dark moment for both the designer and the industry, and the case should be given the coverage it deserves - however is the slew of commentary about the outfit he wore for his court appearance really necessary? With that in mind, I won't be posting a picture. If you do crave a blow by blow account, the Telegraph have it covered in their live blog.

 

Tania Fares, Bella Freud and Lulu Kennedy, all in Lulu &Co

2) In a much friendlier turn of events, this week Lulu Kennedy hosted a lunch to celebrate the launch of the latest Lulu and Co collection. According to a certain Fashion editor at Large who happened to be in attendance, "the whole of London" turned out for the fashion feast, proving that there is a lot of love for Lulu. The new collection will be in stores from August.
 
3) Back to the business of bitching, and Azzedine Alaia has exploded with the outburst to end all outbursts, and the subjects of his disapproval are one Karl Lagerfeld and one Anna Wintour.

 Grace Jones and Azzadine Alaia. Who do you reckon is scarier? Read on to find out...

Lucky it was no-one important, eh? According to Alaia, Karl "has never touched a pair of scissors in his life", and "no-one will remember" Anna Wintour. Despite her scary rep, Alaia claims that when the Editor-in-chief of US Vogue sees him, "she is the scared one." Somehow, we're not surprised! 

4) As far as fashion relationships go, this week has been more on and off than Made in Chelsea's Caggie and Spencer (oh! the drama!). After joining in the whoops and hollers that followed the announcement of a Versace and H&M collaboration, the industry was subdued by the news that Jil Sander will no longer be designing for Uniqlo, and the next J+ collection will be the last. There were audible sobs emitting from fashion editor's offices across the city. If you are a fan of the Sander/Uniqlo collab, you better start preparing for the last offering now; it will no doubt be elbows at dawn when it hits stores.

Jil Sander: no longer + Uniqlo

5) Florence Welch 'got the love' from Nylon magazine (sorry, that was terrible) when she hosted a party at the Mondrian Hotel in New York, to celebrate their music issue, of which she is the cover star. Florence can do no wrong in my eyes; she is consistently beautiful, inspiring and unique. Her choice of this quirky Anna Sui dress for the party has divided opinion, but the people who don't like it are, well, wrong.

Flo: it's good to see you back. New music soon please!

6) Fashion doesn't get much more friendly than bestest buds Leith Clark (Ed of Lula) and Kirsten Dunst, who are rarely seen at events without each other, and have obviously been having a bit of a girly week out and about in London town. These two are so close, they are even co-ordinating outfits like schoolgirl best friends do - but you know what? They are so cool, they can get away with it.

 Leith and Kirsten looking demure yet achingly stylish at Wimbledon  (nice sunnies, Ms Clark!) ...

...and just a little bit naughtier as they skip out of The Box in matching trenchcoats. Kirsten&Leith4Eva!

7) And finally, a little bit of eye candy to put a spring in your step this sunny Friday afternoon. The SS12 Menswear shows have been happening over the past week and yesterday's offerings from Paris were causing ripples all the way over this side of the Channel. Friend of the Fash Ed, Kim Jones, sent his debut Louis Vuitton collection down the catwalk to rave reviews, with critics hailing his arrival as the best thing to happen to the label since Marc Jacobs.

 Louis Vuitton SS12

However, before Kim Jones took Paris by storm, one other designer had got everyone hot and bothered. Twitter exploded, pictures were being sent round the world, journos who normally pay no attention to the menswear collections were suddenly clicking onto Style.com like there was no tomorrow.

Five words: Nicola Formichetti, Mugler, ARMOUR BOY.

Mugler SS12

Images: Splash, Getty, AFP, Style.com

TOPSHOP GOES PSYCHOBILLY FOR AW11

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Psychobilly, rockabilly, punk, goth and all things retro generally fall under my department at Fash Ed towers. So you can imagine how my ears pricked up at the first mention of Topshop's AW11 'Psychobilly' collection - I had serious urges for some of the leather trimmed, skinny trousered, fluffy mohaired outfits at the Arcadia press day, but to see them styled up in the newly released lookbook was just too much excitement to bear. Both the Fash Ed and myself drooled over the be-quiffed models with black pouts and serious attitude; this is not a look for the fainthearted.

I very much enjoy a magenta/mustard combo. A houndstooth skinny trouser is a tricky style to pull off, but worth the effort, right?

There is just something about the tomboy punkiness mixed with full on sex appeal that makes Psychobilly so perfect.

A buttoned up shirt, a leather lapel, a basketball jacket, and the creeper shoe - all essential elements.

Perhaps it's a reaction to the softly softly, floaty floaty Seventies styles that have been everywhere for the past year, but fashion is definitely starting to toughen up. Topshop, style setters for the nation, are simply leading the way where others will follow, by taking inspiration from subcultures and rock n'roll attitude.

The psychobilly lifestyle has been around long before many Topshopettes were even born, rising from the ashes of the late Seventies as a mixture of punk and rockabilly, with an appreciation of all things horror, sci-fi and sex. New York band The Cramps are generally considered to be the people who kicked off all things psychobilly, after their posters covered with voodoo references for gig nights at CBGBs went up around the city in the 1970s.

The Cramps circa 1979 - Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, Bryan Gregory and Pam Ballam.

One of the band's founding members, Poison Ivy, describes the music as "crazed, sped-up hillbilly boogie version of country, played super loud." The fashion is equally extreme, with skewed versions of Teddy Boy styling, neon colours, leopard print and chunky, clunky brothel creepers all playing an integral role. Tattoos - serious tattoos - are also pretty much a prerequisite for entry into the scene. Someone who knows a lot about that is my friend Lady Frankenstein, psychobilly pin up for the masses.

Jasmine Danks a.k.a. Lady Frankenstein, pin up girl, tattoo model, and psychobilly roller derby demon, shot by Stuart Mitchell. Note the t-shirt...

So watch out London - the days of 'nice' fashion are over and the punks are coming back to claim this town...

All lookbook images: Topshop AW11
,Lady Frankenstein shot: Stuart Mitchell (Walnut Wax)

VERSACE FOR H&M

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

 The Versace clan back in the day: Santo, Donatella and Gianni

This morning the fashion world is all a-Twitter with the news that Donatella Versace has stepped up to the plate as the next H&M/high end design collaborator. Following on from the sell-out success of last season's Lanvin collection, it has been announced that Versace will produce 40 pieces for the international high street heroes, except this time the approach will be slightly different to H&M's previous collaborations. Instead of more 'budget friendly' versions of a designer's contemporary work, Donatella has explained that instead, she will be revisiting some of Versace's most iconic pieces from the archives. ‘For me, this is an opportunity to show to a very, very big audience... what Versace has been, and what Versace is now,’ she explains, in the vid below.



In fact, Donatella is so excited about this project that she wore one of the H&M pieces to take her bow at the end of the menswear show in Milan yesterday. That's dedication to the cause! 

Always on the pulse, the Fash Ed was only saying yesterday how all the coolest kids are wearing vintage Versace shirts, revelling in all their baroque 80s glory. Fashion blog Zone 7 Style has some choice examples of Gianni Versace's finest work:

We can only HOPE that Donatella dusts off those 80s prints like these for the H&M range, which is also set to include homeware for the first time. Can you imagine a bed spread in one of these colour combos? With a bit of chain print edging and maybe a Medusa head or four? FULL. ON.

Images: Versace archive, Zone 7 blog

STEVEN MEISEL 4 PRADA

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Ondria Hardin from North Carolina, Kelly Mittendorf from Arizona, 17 and 18 year old Swede Frida Gustavsson make kooky look beautiful for Prada AW11, thanks to Steven and Mrs P.

It is not often I can lay claim to actually enjoying reading a press release, but  Prada have a convincing way with even the most purple prose.

"This campaign exemplifies an anything goes attitude to fashion maximalism, but is delivered with a unique sense of grace and casualness, where cherry-red heels, coral kid gloves, and the orange glint of a mermaid scale dress blend with natural ease and precision."

On the green sofa we have Antonia Wesseloh, a 16 year old from Hamburg with a touch of the Freja Beha about her, and Kelly Mittendorf. This was Mittendorf's first ever modelling job.

"The delicate sensuality expressed by the fresh-faced models is at odds with the sophisticated fashion on display: trompe l’oeil boots in grownup velvet masquerade as girlish knee-highs, oversized coquettish lapels are paneled in fur and python bags are cradled like cute teddy bears. It’s a dressing room of contemporary desire disguised as a playroom of childhood dreams."

Photos: courtesy of Prada 

FASHION GETS INTO THE GROOVE

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Jigging about and getting energetic is probably the last thing on everyone's mind on Monday morning, but it seems that the fashion industry has other ideas. Having been perusing the Resort 2012 lookbook images, it couldn't escape our attention that a heck of a lot of the models seemed to be leaping around like they are hardcore members of Pineapple Studios.

Gone are the days of boring studio shots - busting a move seems to be the future. Not that we are complaining, it sure makes sorting through the new collections more fun. Now what we want to know is this: when are the images going to become GIFs? Even more enjoyable!

Here are our fave Resort 2012 shots featuring models on the move.

Max Azria

Chloe - shot on the streets on Paris, these pics reminded us of film stills, or particularly chic paparazzi shots.

Lanvin (above and below) Daphne Groenveld not only wafts around showing off the garments to their maximum potential, she's also clearly not afraid of a good 'hair swish' or three.

Missoni: slightly more sedate, but nevertheless,  having a model stride through the incredible backdrop made these looks come alive.

Theysken's Theory

Giles' multi-fluro-patterned-craziness for Ungaro looks incredible in these wind-machine shots. Glamour to the max.

It's Daphne again, striding about for Versace. Can this girl not sit still?

Vionnet: showing us the best way to model a skinny flare.

And finally, Lindsay 'The Pout' Wixon turns senorita for Z-Spoke. You can just see her ruffling that skirt and salsa-ing off the page!

So there you have it: for Resort, it's all about models who move. Fashion has dictated that it's time to start throwing shapes that would make Louie Spence proud...

RESORT 2012 - FASH JUNIOR GETS BIGHEADED!

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Following on from the Fash Ed's Resort 2012 selections, I too had a go at our favourite 'dress up dollly' game to model my own top picks. Judging by these choices, I will primarily be wearing sky blue, hot pink, black, white and gold over the next few months, and acting like a starlet in a Sixties movie.

 Celine's hot hot hot pink throw-on shirt dress. For those 'I feel like Barbie days'.I'd probably have to pair it with a LOT of eyeliner or something to balance out the Pretty in Pink-sugary-sweetness...

 ...and would definitely NOT wear it at the same time as this flipping incredible Michael Kors coat. Wowzers.

 Marc by Marc's dreamy 60s party dress, for the Betty Draper days (and nights)

Whilst Roksanda's crossover playsuit is just classic cool.

 Richard Nicoll's gold dress has spot-on Sixties Sophia Loren style. Could also be teamed with sheer pale tights for an even more Carnaby Street feel, but I'd rather wear it whilst sitting at a cafe in Cannes (note: I am not a member of the Made in Chelsea cast. I'm talking about 1960's Cannes, with Brigitte Bardot posing on the beach in a bikini)

Back in Blighty, with a complete lack of summer weather, this more appropriate Stella McCartney ensemble is simple yet highly effective, Mod-ish awesomeness.  I'd swap the shoes for a nice patent loafer for extra Quadrophenia points.

 Bobby socks? Patent heels? A full tulle mini skirt? A JUMPER WITH A GOOGLY STRAWBERRY ON IT? Nobody does cute like Mulberry do cute. Did I mention it has a strawberry on it?!

 Peter Jensen has produced my favourite Resort images by far (above and below), ostensibly inspired by a silver-haired Meryl Streep, looking cool (as always) in various New York locations. Weirdly, my hair is the same colour as the model, which makes these Big Head pics look even more odd. Seriously though, the clean lines, pastel colours, loafers and general Sixties NY gal perfection made me fall in love with Jensen just a little bit more.

And finally, in true fashion show tradition, the bridal couture...

...er, not really! But this Lanvin number would definitely help me get my Jerry Hall on. Or look like a debutante. Either way, Alber strikes white gold with this one.