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! 

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO BRING BACK HOLLYWOOD'S HEYDAY SHOES

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

You might think press days are mostly about looking at lots of lovely clothes, bags and shoes- quite often they are- but at the best ones you learn something new. This morning, I went to Salvatore Ferragamo's AW12 presentation. Their mainline collection is perfectly on trend for AW12, inspired by the luxe side of Russian history- think Tsars and Princesses wrapped in gold threaded embroidery and astrakhan (the hideous fur taken from the bodies of unborn lambs).  Aside from this, the Italian family business famed for its shoes and leather goods since the 1920s has revived several of its iconic designs from the past. Today, I have learnt all about them.

A Ferragamo ad from the late 30s (image from www.blog.stylesight.com)

My favourites are these chunky heeled gold disc mosaic sandals which were made for Brazillian Samba star and Hollywood actress Carmen Miranda in the late 30s. I can just imagine wearing these on holiday with a crop top and some kind of huge flower/ fruit piece of jewellery. They seem sort of timeless, like they could work just as well now as they might have done on stage in the 40s or at Studio 54 in the 70s.

Salvatore Ferragamo originally made the gold mosaic sandal for Carmen Miranda (www.wikifeet.com)

There are platforms which look like they might be crafted from foam to make you bounce along as you wear them. They're architectural, as all good shoes should be. In my research this afternoon, I learnt that Ferragamo did courses in Human Anatomy at the University of Southern California so that he could fully understand how to make the perfect shoe to complement the foot's bone structure. These are versions of one of Ferragamo's most famous styles- the Rainbow- which he made for Judy Garland.

As the most in-demand shoemaker of the mid-century, Ferragamo was, of course, called upon to do shoes for Marilyn Monroe. The company is re-launching the very sleek mid stiletto which she made her own this July (along with the other designs shown here) and there will also be a special exhibition at the label's museum in Florence.

Marilyn Monroe in her Ferragamos (image from www.museoferragamo.it)

The Marilyn heel has been resurrected in lots of colours 

 FERRAGAMO AW12...

Mega glam lace heels from the AW12 show

If you look close enough, you'll see that star signs represented on this mega opulent necklace. 

All images by Fashion Junior at Large, unless otherwise stated.

COLOUR.... MY EYES ARE DANCING

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Bright eyes... Meadham Kirchhoff beauty looks from AW12 (image from www.lloyd-evans.com)

Maybe it's the sudden turn in the weather from bright to dismal, or perhaps it's the amount of time the FashEd and I spend looking at the specifics of colour in our consultancy projects, or it could be that walking into most stores at the moment involves being confronted with such powerful, undiluted palettes. Whatever it is, my eyes have become addicted to complete overdoses of rich and saturated tones, whether it is the tangerine neon of the jumper I bought the other day, or the bloody rich maroon in J.W Anderson's AW12 collection, the picture of which I just cannot stop looking at. I feel like the pastel trend which so dominated the SS12 catwalks hasn't quite hit my consciousness yet. In fact, in a few weeks time these could become a diluted antidote to the intensity which is pervasive in my mind right now.

My colour obsession... JW Anderson AW12 (image from catwalking.com)

The road to York through Sledmere by David Hockney 1997 (from www.hockneypictures.com)

It was on a visit to the Royal Academy's David Hockney exhibition (a few days before it closed) a couple of weeks ago that I felt like my colour channel was  properly attuned. The only way I can even begin to describe the feeling of looking at a Hockney painting is that it makes your eyes dance, so vibrant are the colours and the ways they're combined. The images which I have included here do not even begin to visually describe the effect of seeing a Hockney original. I would love to know how he achieves this insanely concentrated bouncing-off-the-canvas-it's-so-bright effect.  His eye transforms the gentle browns greys and greens of the natural landscape into cyan blue leaves, lilac roads and pink skies. They're delicious and unexpected combinations.

More felled trees on Woldgate by David Hockney 2008 (from www.hockneypictures.com)

And the book I most want to read right now? A Pantone Colour Book. Odd, I know given 
that I'm more often found with my nose buried in classic literature but the thought of looking
 at that faded, brownish paper and uniform black type just makes my heart sink, especially
 when I could be poring over seven pages of 'pink' representations. 

I like to think that this new found colour obsession might be my version of patriotism, 
given the upcoming Jubilee, bear with me here. One of the highlights of this month's 
Vogue is the back page on which the magazine charts Her Majesty's colour choices 
over the course of a year. It looks to me like The Queen might also be a fan of the Pantone 
book, so considered are her head-to-toe choices of hue, from the palest of lemon curd 
yellows to the rubiest of Wizard of Oz reds she seems to have worked her way through 
them all. I can imagine her handing her circled colour choices to her dressmaker Angela 
Kelly as reference guide to her latest outfit creation.  

Devastatingly, I don't have my own Angela Kelly to rustle up something in my latest
 colour whim so I will amuse myself a while longer looking at my new favourite Tumblr,
 RAINBOW C-O-L-O-U-R-S

The Queen in colour (image from www.dailymail.co.uk)

THE RETURN OF BLING: FASHION GOES GEM-TASTIC

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

The most worn and blogged about fashion item of this Spring has been the Prada satin-collared bomber jacket covered with colourful chunky stones. During the catwalk shows I lost count of the number of people - both male and female - who owned one, and each individual jacket seemed unique to the wearer. That is the power of a gem; they become part of you. It is also the power of Prada. Every time I saw one on someone I become mesmerised to the point of childlike awe; I need one of these jackets in my life, as entertainment if nothing else.  

Miuccia Prada tends to roll out an influential corker for the summer season, and a more commercial collection for winter. This summer's Prada collection may have revved up the high street with its Vroom-Vroom car iconography but it also, it turns out, has influenced the most directional catwalk designers for Autumn from Lanvin to Vuitton, Nina Ricci to Versace, and we're not talking about the cars, but the hundredweight of bling.  Miu Miu and Prada carried on showering chunks of rock onto their clothes for Autumn.. but scroll down and you will see how the rest of the high fashion firmament lost themselves to the power of opening fire with equivalent of an AK 47 loaded with crystal ammo. 

This all marks the return of bling, something the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China  - who are all in the throes of a boom time, will love and indulge to the max. In the Western market partaking in this trend will be done with more than a sense of irony. 

THE PRADA JACKET 

Prada 

More Prada

Even more Prada 

You guessed it... 

Street style blogger Hanneli Mustaparta mixes Tom Binns bling with a varsity jacket

More Tom Binns.. (All the above photos by the inimitable Tommy Ton for Style.com)

AUTUMN/WINTER 2O12 GEM-TASTIC OFFERINGS

Prada AW12 (image from www.jasonlloyd-evans.com)

Dolca and Gabbana AW12

Lanvin AW12

Lanvin AW12

Marni AW12

Nina Ricci AW12 

Versace AW12

Louis Vuitton AW12 (all catwalk images from www.catwalking.com)

THINGS TO BUY NOW... 

Jewelled sandals £58 Topshop

Gem sandals £40 River Island

COACHELLA FASHION: THE FOUR EASY RULES OF FESTIVAL FASHION, PLUS TUPAC RISES FROM THE DEAD

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Hanna Gaby Odiele and Kasia Struss rocking out at Coachella (image from Harper's Bazaar)

It's a pleasingly predictable occurrence at this time of year: the hype surrounding Coachella as the first music festival of the year. There is always buzz about the line-up, the attendees and What 'Everyone' (aka fashion bunnies) Will Wear. But what is quite comforting about the photos which pour out of Coachella - which is near Palm Spring in California - and therefore has quite warm weather - is that what people wear never really changes that much. The general uniform is frayed denim shorts, some form of boots (Dr Martens/ wellington/ worker) a cool top (boho fringing or graphic print), and some sweet friendship necklace/wristband type thing, not forgetting the obligatory slouchy bag. This is a good thing.  When in daily life there are many ways to look cool, so many options that it can often be overwhelming, Coachella, and festivals in general, are places where it is easy to look pretty fab in four easy steps. Not including getting off your face and lost in music, obvs.

THE FOUR RULES
1. Denim shorts
2. Cute little top
3. Work boots
4. Slouchy bag

Here are a few of our favourite takes on the denim shorts look...

Kate Bosworth in animal tee and little Mulberry bag. I'm a big fan of the
lime fish earrings too (image from  harpersbazaar.com)

Coachella not scout camp- boyish badges and camouflage, and hey is that Josephine de la Baume? (image from harpersbazaar.com)

Ok, they're coloured denim but these laced up shorts are along the same lines. Really love the scarf flapping in the wind and wintry hat (from www.mrnewton.net)

Zanna Roberts Rossi lets her bleached and ripped denims take centre stage. This is a bit chavvy for us at FEAL.  (image from harpersbazaar.com)

The Zombie that is Sky Ferreira does double denim, and looks more grungy than cutesy festival.  (image from www.fashionologie.com)

When the festival fashion formula is so easy - read: safe - it takes a lot of sass to veer off course. These girls did and we love them for it. Hanne and Karla (top and below) are my best dressed for the sole reason that they actually look like they're at a festival. They're a bit thrown together but there's not a a denim cut off in sight plus they actually look like they're having a brilliant time. 

It's Hanne and Karla again... LOVE Hanne's fringing, face paint and pewter patterned trousers (image from  www.harpersbazaar.com)

Best Dressed Who Are Clearly VIPs at an Exclusive Party Rather than Moshing in with Everyone Else...

Harley Viera Newton looking very sweet in pastels and Charlotte Olympia slippers. (image from HarpersBazaar.com)

Alexa Chung in Phillip Lim- a sweet evening dress and Jesus sandals. Not an outfit for muddy days or tents. Long gone are the Barbour days for Alexa (image from Derek Blasberg at Harper's Bazaar)

Nathalie Love and Gia Coppola (image from Vogue)

Best Dressed Normal People...

I have no idea what this girl is actually wearing, but her make-up is fabulous enough to warrant a special mention (image from Huffington Post)

Blanket coats...

Image from HuffingtonPost.com

What festivals are all about... 

Image from www.huffingtonpost.com

Best dressed man: Kanye West in Celine SS11. We like the 80s open chest plus medallion styling. 

Kanye in Celine (image from harpersbazaar.com)

See through rucksacks? These girls must be staying at The Standard or The Parker as their bags are filled with lollipops and bright fun things rather than pants and wet wipes. 

Image from Vogue

PLUS, you MUST WATCH the hologram performance from Tupac and Snoop Dog. It's moving and beautiful and quite unbelievable that a performer could be so present nearly 16 years after his death....