London Fashion Week SS 10 Part 8: Qeelin, Issa, Mulberry

Dear Viewers,

After we saw the Eley show, we just had time to go back to the hotel for an outfit change before we grabbed a tube over to the Dorchester hotel for the UK launch of the Chinese fine jewellery company, Qeelin.  Nice champagne, tasty snacks, many models and lots of beautiful and very expensive jewellery.  It was a good launch, but we had to cut it short in order to get back to Somerset House in time for the Issa show, which was totally worth it.  We weren't expecting much from the clothes, not really our scene, but we were soooooooo excited that we got to see Naomi Campbell work her stuff three times!  A pregnant Jourdan Dunn had been sitting in the front with a smug look on her face, obviously in-the-know, but all the other guests seemed genuinely surprised to see Naomi.  In fact, an over-excited Jameela Jamil from T4 fame turned round in her seat, grabbed my leg and squealed when she stepped onto the catwalk.  This, if anything, was a fashion moment.  As for the clothes, my friend the excellent stylist Masha Mombelli (http://www.mashamombelli.co.uk/) pointed out the striking resemblance to Pucci, something I can't deny...

 

 

 

 

The Issa show was followed by an absolutely fahbulous Mulberry party at Claridges.  The ballroom was stuffed with balloons, circus games, tattooists, a dance-floor, hobby horses, candyfloss, and waiters with an unending supply of tasty apple cocktails and miniburgers.  Delish.  Revellers included Sarah Harding and Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud, Leigh Lezark,  Lara Stone, JLS, Lady Victoria Harvey, David Walliams...  :-D  And not forgetting our friend Kristin from The Clothes Whisperer

 

 

Later,

Duck.

London Fashion Week SS 10 Part 7: Qasimi & Eley Kishimoto

Dear Viewers,

The morning started early (for us) with a champagne breakfast at the Red Bull Fashion Factory in honour of Qasimi's second ever womenswear runway show.  The brand has big Middle Eastern backing, and certainly likes to flash the cash.  Waitresses wandered the room with delicious platters of fruits, cakes and chocolates, and waiters constantly refilled our champagne glasses.  I am pretty sure I had six glasses before 11am...

When it comes to the clothes, Qasimi also doesn't hold back - gorgeous silks and chiffons, intricate brocade and what looked like solid gold breastplates.  The collection was unbelievably beautiful, and not what we had been prepared for by looking at last season's dresses.  The designer had taken the trend for large shoulders to a new extreme, with rigid metallic power dresses making the models look like futuristic eastern warriors.  The best dresses, however, included metal breastplates, swathed in gorgeous fabric which billowed out behind the striding warrior queens.

I think we likey Qasimi :-)  Pics below:

After Qasimi we headed back to Somerset House for the Eley Kishimoto show.  We have had the pleasure of viewing the past two collections (we especially liked last season) so we were looking forward to this one.  Sadly, it was a bit of a let down.  To be honest, none of the looks really jumped out, and the choice of models was particularly poor (WHO chose the model for the finale??).  Bonus point: we did have our first spotting of Diane Pernet, our idol from A Shaded View On Fashion! Couple of pics below:

After Eley we popped into the Wolseley for lunch (mmmm Schnitzel) where we noticed Rufus Wainwright was sitting at the table opposite us.  In fact, Anna (from Eva London said he had been checking one of us out as we walked in....)

Later

Duck

London Fashion Week SS 10 Part 6: PPQ

Dear Viewers,

PPQQQQQQQ!

So we finished off Saturday with the biggest show and the best party...  It all started with a quick trip to Harvey Nichols where picked up some tasty delights to eat for dindins in the hotel (the brand new 5-star Grange St Paul's) After snacking while dressing up, we headed to the Red Bull Fashion Factory for the PPQ show.  We stupidly went into the main waiting area by mistake, and so almost missed out on the free bar!  Luckily, we made up for this by sitting right in the front row and enjoying the contents of our fab gift bag - seriously, gift bags are usually a bit crap, but PPQ went all out - chocolates, sherry, underwear, full bottles of Shu Uemura products.  Nice.  The front row had the usual line-up: Jodie Harsh, Henry Conway, Leigh Lezark, Martine McCutcheon, Fearne Cotton, Alexa Chung, Peaches Geldof, Erin O'Connor...

Then the show:  PPQ decided to use all black models this season to show off their 1950s-inspired collection.  It was a vast improvement on last season, and I particularly liked the hats and shoes.  Photos below:

 

 

 

After the show we grabbed a taxi and popped over to the May Fair hotel for the first after-party.  And what a party it was.  They had taken over one of the large function rooms, and built a (Alice-in-)Wonderland with a blue lit-up H-shaped dancefloor (the sponsors were Harveys).  There were sweets and cocktails galore, and all the celebs from the show turned up :-)  Fab.  There was also a second party back at the Factory to launch the PPQ collaboration with Addidas, but we were so wrecked that we skipped it and just headed back to the hotel for some shut-eye....  Pics:

Later,

Duck

London Fashion Week SS 10 Part 5: Alice Palmer

Dear Viewers,

After lunch on the Saturday, we decided to take a look at Alice Palmer's show.  Unfortunately, the queue outside the Vauxhall Fashion Scout venue was über long, and we only had an eticket on the Blackberry thanks to the postal strike, so it took quite a while to get in.  Once inside, the queue continued to wind its way slowly around the building, a bit like Disney World.  The room where the show was to be held clearly had no air conditioning, and in the unusual September weather, it was like the black hole of Calcutta :-(  We quickly took our seats in the front row and proceeded to down every bottle of Vitamin Water we could find (Do they sponsor EVERY show??).

The clothes were mainly knitted textiles, and while not as fashion-forward (eugh) as e.g. Mark Fast, some of the pieces were quite beautiful.  We especially liked a two-piece outfit.  Sadly most women with any cleavage at all wouldn't be able to pull these dresses off - even most of the anorexic model breasts were falling out!  Pics below:

Later,

Duck.

London Fashion Week SS 10 Part 4: Jasper Garvida

After Blow Presents we grabbed a taxi and rushed back to The Strand to check out Project Catwalk winner Jasper Garvida's second collection for SS 10.  It was also very bright colours, very girly, but didn't seem to fit in with many of the trends seen on the runways so far for next year.  But most excitingly, he used lots of models from the last season of Britain's Next Top Model!  I have a friend or two who would have been very excited to see them in the flesh...

 
We just had time to pop into the Bistrotheque pop-up café for a quick champagne lunch before trotting off to the next show:

P.S. Isn't Anna Jewsbury's Marni plastic jacket so fab?

Later,

Duck.

London Fashion Week SS 10 Part 3: Blow Presents...

Saturday morning took us to the Southbank Centre where Blow PR was presenting 4 of its designers, which included celebrity hairdresser and wig-maker Charlie Le Mindu (who happens to be Jamie Bull's bf).  Like all Blow events, it started late...and also we had to endure some random Blue Peter presenter dancing for the first couple of minutes.  And then the real show began.

Charlie Le Mindu's pieces were terrific costumes made of hair and crazy headpieces.  I desperately want the Eiffel Tower that lights up, it would go down so well at BBB...

Next up was Gemma Slack, whose metallic outfits were conceptually cool, but didn't look very well made - most of them did not fit the models, and the metal was covered in finger prints...

 

There was a third designer who I've forgotten, but they definitely saved the best for last.  Iris van Herpen's intricately pleated leather patterns were so beautiful.  And the choreography was refreshingly different, even if the music did grate somewhat...

Later,

Duck.

Interlude

Ha ha I just found this video of Anna Jewsbury (http://www.evalondon.com) sitting on my lap throughout the JCDC show:

Video JCDC

London Fashion Week SS 10 Part 2: JCDC

Dear viewers,

So after Nova Dando, we hop skipped and jumped it over to Ghost in Farringdon where Jean-Charles de Castelbajac was launching his new JCDC diffusion line.  We'd picked up some in-season mainline collection to wear to the event that morning (helped by the fab Jamie Bull http://www.fleshwig.blogspot.com/), and we managed to speak to the lovely Alexandra in-house PR who helped us avoid the already huge queue outside the club.  Inside, we were greeted with tasty drinks and then took our seats for the show.  Sadly, the show was totally oversubscribed so Anna (from Eva London http://www.evalondon.com) and I had to share a seat on the front row.  Luckily, this gave me a perfect photography position, and I managed to get quite a few good shots of the young, fun collection entitled Punkahontas and the Ducks (mmm ducks). Also, surprise of the evening - Peaches Geldof closed the show in a Native American headress and dress made of feathers.  It wasn't to be the last time we'd see her that LFW....

After the show, several East London bands performed, but we were much happier when a DJ took over and we could finally dance...

Check out the pics below!

Later,

Duck.

P.S. If anybody knows the name of the girl who was wearing the Ann-Sofie Back "Boooh!" sweatshirt, please get in touch, I WANTSSS

London Fashion Week SS 10 Part 1: Nova Dando

Dear viewers,

Since you are already acquainted with Anastasia, I guess I don't have to say anymore about her, other than thank her for giving me the oppotunity to write this blog.  I'd also like to thank my mother, who supported me through the...  and Jesus who...  and my future ex-husband Tom For... *sob* *sob*

Anyway, enough with the crap jokes and on with the FASHION! 

Sadly this is a short one.  Short but sweet.  Well, not sweet for Nova Dando I guess...  Last Friday's events started out with a visit to the Nova Dando fashion show held at the Hospital Club in old Landantown.  Unfortunately, I had to run off before the show started, so worried was I that I was going to miss the launch of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's new diffusion line at Ghost.  Nevermind, I still managed to knock back a good bottle or two of free Veuve with a couple of friends, and check out a hottie in cardigan and thick-rimmed glasses.  I also bumped into Dean (a friend-of-a-friend) and managed to stay just long enough to see House of Dangerkat perform.  And then I was off...

Check out the pics :-)

Ooops, I guess Duck isn't so anonymous now :-D


Later,

Duck.

First times are always the best

This will be the first, and possibly the last, post from me, Anastasia.  I am afraid that I am a very shy owl, and find this whole blogging thing makes me feel rather uncomfortable.  Even the seclusion of Bungalow 8 can be too much for me...  However, I am willing to let my industrious assistant, who shall remain forevermore Duck, post stories and photographs from his exploits in the world of fashion.  Duck is somewhat of a man-about-town, and always seems to find himself at the best shows, the coolest parties and the most happening events around London (and beyond).  And what better way to start off his blog, than some posts from the fabulous times I hear he had at London Fashion Week SS 10...