Amelia’s Magazine | Sorapol at Old Vic Tunnels: A/W 2012 Catwalk Review

Sorapol AW12 by Joanne Young

Sorapol AW12 by Joanne Young

I was excited to receive an invite for the A/W 2012 catwalk show of Sorapol because I had heard that the creative director of this young underground brand is the extravagant club kid Daniel Lismore. So I eagerly arrived at the graffitied, atmospheric venue of Old Vic Tunnels to meet photographer and burlesque performer Tigz Rice aka Tigzy aka Raven Six, who took some of the photos shown here. There was a palpable air of excitement in the long queue, which was chock full of beautiful beings. Some of them, like Boy George, were superstars, and others were well known and popular scenesters, fashionistas and nightlife luminaries, such as Jodie Harsh, Lady Lloyd or Philip Levine. The crowd began to complain when it descended into a disorderly mass to enter the show space via a too small archway, resulting in a serious amount of squeezing and ticket waving. At one point I really thought I had lost my chance to go in, which sadly happened to a large number of guests. A few really disappointed ones even started burning their Sorapol tickets in protest, I hear, but Sorapol could not have been more apologetic on their twitter feed and I am sure this will be something they will think through more carefully next time.

Sorapol AW12 by Tigz Rice Studios

Sorapol AW12 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Sorapol AW12 by Fay Myers

Sorapol AW12 by Fay Myers

Thankfully, once inside, the vibe was completely friendly, happy and relaxed. The show, entitled Iron Grip, opened in utter darkness aside from the lights behind a curtained archway, from which smoke crept down the catwalk against sounds of sirens, gunfire and explosions. After a few minutes the first model appeared and started walking slowly towards us as Charlie D Soprano sang in a majestic and slightly sinister opera style. I could not really make out what or in which language she was singing, but, intriguingly, the day before the show she wrote on her twitter feed that she was ‘translating pop songs into Russian for tomorrow’s gig’.

Sorapol AW12 by Tigz Rice Studios

Sorapol AW12 by Nicola Ellen

Sorapol AW12 by Nicola Ellen

Indeed the outfits that Thai head designer and recent graduate from the London College of Fashion Sorapol Chawaphatnakul sent down the catwalk were so theatrical and adorned with such symbolic props, that one could not help wondering – I like to read the press release after a show – what was the specific reference point or message of this collection. What the press release revealed was that for his A/W 2012 collection Sorapol was inspired by a very specific storyline, which is rather helpful to know when looking at these creations. The story is that of Vasilia, an orphaned girl in pre-revolutionary Russia, who was adopted and raised by exiled Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov aka Lenin. The story then goes that Lenin took Vasilia and his communist ideas to the Russian cities intending to overthrow the aristocracy, but he found Vasilia a place in the Royal Household and there she fell in love with Prince Alexander. Suspicious of this, Lenin ordered the assassination of Prince Alexander. Love and aesthetic beauty won over her father’s ideology and Vasilia attempted to warn the prince but failed. So, enraged and heartbroken Vasilia joined the ranks of the white-clad soldiers fighting to restore Russia’s splendour.

Sorapol AW12 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Sorapol AW12 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Sorapol AW12 by Tessa McSorley

Sorapol AW12 by Tessa McSorley

Via this fairytale, therefore, the A/W 2012 Sorapol collection was created from Vasilia’s point of view with an emphasis on the grandeur of the pre-revolution Russian culture, showing lots of opulent furs, long gowns and embellishments of pearls and gold. [A little parenthesis here to say that I really hope the fact that Sorapol Chawaphatnakul is a Buddhist means all this fur on show was not real.] There were also a lot of elements which suggested war, death and the clash between luxury, or beauty, and fighting. For instance the second outfit was a long red gown with a line of bullets running down from the shoulders to the waist on both sides, complemented by a very impressive tall beehive hairdo in which a gold gas mask had been incorporated. Another favourite hairdo was again a tall beehive this time with a gold skull poking out of it. The theme of death was further emphasised by a model holding a black skull prop in her hand and battle was spelt out by dresses with structured armour sleeves and a silver, gloriously sparkly military suit.

Sorapol AW12 by Tigz Rice Studios

Sorapol AW12 by Joanne Young

Sorapol AW12 by Joanne Young

Sorapol AW12 by Joanne Young

The make up for the show was executed by Illamasqua. Unfortunately it is not properly evident in the photos, but it looked fantastic up close. A pale, whitish effect, with glittery touches here and there extended down to the models’ cleavages and brought to mind either corpses or the snowy Russian landscape or perhaps powdered aristocracy.

Sorapol AW12 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Sorapol AW2012 by Janneke de Jong

Sorapol AW2012 by Janneke de Jong

The last couple of outfits were especially theatrical, featuring predominantly white and gold colours, and the crown worn by the last model suggested some kind of victory. This collection was far from commercial, and I can see how it would not be everybody’s cup of tea. As for myself, I was slightly disappointed that it was not more over the top, but then a lot of the time my ideal fashion design is something along the lines of Andrew Logan’s Alternative Miss World. In any case when the Sorapol spectacle ended the vibe was certainly one of victory, with Sorapol Chawaphatnakul running down the catwalk in really high spirits and the audience congratulating him with cheers and a standing ovation.

Sorapol AW12 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Sorapol AW12 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Sorapol AW12 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Sorapol AW12 by Tigz Rice Studios

Sorapol AW12 by Tigz Rice Studios

Sorapol AW12 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Sorapol AW12 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Sorapol AW12 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Sorapol AW12 by Tigz Rice Studios

All photography by Tigz Rice Studios and Maria Papadimitriou

Categories ,Alternative Miss World, ,Andrew Logan, ,Blow PR, ,boy george, ,Buddist, ,Burlesque, ,Charlie D Soprano, ,Daniel Lismore, ,Fay Myers, ,graffiti, ,Illamasqua, ,Janneke de Jong, ,Joanne Young, ,Jodie Harsh, ,Lady Lloyd, ,Lenin, ,london, ,London College of Fashion, ,Luxury, ,Maria Papadimitriou, ,military, ,Nicola Haigh, ,Philip Levine, ,Prince Alexander, ,Raven Six, ,Russian, ,Russian Revolution, ,Sorapol, ,Sorapol Chawaphatnakul, ,Story of Vasilia, ,Tessa McSorley, ,Thai, ,The Old Vic Tunnels, ,Tigzy, ,Tigzy Rice, ,Vasilia, ,Vladimir Illyich Ulyanov, ,war

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Amelia’s Magazine | Fred Butler: London Fashion Week A/W 2012 Presentation Review

Fred Butler AW 2012 by Mitika Chohan

Fred Butler AW 2012 by Mitika Chohan

I love Fred Butler. She has been one of my favourite accessories and props designers for a few years now and apart from what she makes I also adore the fascinating and playful way in which she dresses as well as the way she expresses herself in interviews, which reveals a really quite special person indeed. I had seen her props pop up here and there in magazines, like in Amelia’s Magazine Issue 7 for which she made a Noah’s Ark shaped paper hat – in fact Amelia Gregory was one of the first to commission props from Fred. But I think a story I saw in i-D’s The Agyness Deyn Issue from May 2008, titled ‘Attitude’, featuring an inflatable rockets bra by Fred among other striking props, was what made me an official fan.

Fred Butler AW 2012 Charli XCX photo by Maria Papadimitriou

While queueing to see Fred’s live presentation of her A/W 2012 collection at The Portico Rooms in Somerset House on the 20th of February I was extra happy because – apart from the obvious reason – my young friend and budding stylist Isabella Sumner of Secret Danger Sister was texting me from backstage. Isabella became Kim Howells’ assistant for this London Fashion Week season after I forwarded to her a post by Kim I saw on Facebook asking for help! Kim has styled numerous Fred Butler presentations, films and lookbooks. Fred’s presentation took the form of a mini catwalk show which repeated itself over and over to a different audience each time. And there was quite a crowd to get through. During the four times in and out from the Portico Rooms – I saw the show twice – there were queues extending all the way to and down the stairs leading to the ground level of Somerset House. In those queues I spotted an array of some of the coolest, cutting edge creatives around, like Piers Atkinson, Bishi, Alùn Davies and Diane Pernet and filmmaker Konstantinos Menelaou from ASVOF, to name a few, all of whom of course love Fred’s original work.

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou 9

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Refreshingly the show opened with pop singer Charli XCX singing her catchy song ‘I’ll Never Know’ live with a band. Fred Butler, who’s twitter feed is full of #thismorningimlisteningto and other music related tweets, has a special relationship with music. She often DJs, she has made props for musicians such as Patrick Wolf, Nicki Minaj, Beth Ditto, La Roux AND Lady Gaga and, according to her, looking at the way musicians were dressed on album covers when she was little has been very inspiring. So it seems entirely natural that this season Fred, enabled by Red Bull Catwalk Studio, collaborated with Charlie XCX on a bespoke soundtrack for the collection. In general I think that the way Fred uses different art forms to enhance and show her work works incredibly well – for example she has made beautiful fashion films of her previous collections with talented young directors such as Zaiba Jabbar and Elisha Smith-Leverock.

Fred Butler AW 2012 by Nicola Ellen

Fred Butler AW 2012 by Nicola Ellen

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Fred Butler 2012 by Catherine Meadows

Fred Butler 2012 by Catherine Meadows

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Another notable and interesting thing about Fred Butler’s collections is the way she titles them using combined, long and sometimes made up words and phrases that seem to describe an other worldly thing or process in exactly the same intricate and imaginative way her pieces are made. The title of this collection was Tank Top-Ranking, Tong-Tied and Twisted. Her S/S 2012 collection was called Sonic Sinuate Supertemporal Sequestador and a 2011 collection went under the name of Incandescent Meta-morph-incessant.

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Fred Butler AW 2012 LFW  by Deborah Moon

Fred Butler AW 2012 LFW by Deborah Moon

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Following her S/S 2012 collection which featured more round shapes, frills and quite a bit of fabric, I was personally happy that in this collection Fred returned to origami folding techniques and body props with more clear cut, geometric shapes. This time I thought that the four colour goddesses that stepped out looked impeccable from head to toe. Each model had a monochrome base formed by beautiful knitted undergarments – a collaboration with EDE who specialise in English produced hand knits – and a matching colour wig. Placed on top of that base were a quilted, high collar gilet, origami obi belts, a marshmallow hued harness with twisted tubes, more belts and headbands out of twisted strings and more origami inspired, sculptural body pieces. The outfits were completed by colour matching shoes designed in collaboration with Rosy Nicholas. According to the press release there was a sushi related theme under all of this, especially in relation to the colour palette used. Usually I am very intrigued by the designers’ influences and references – and I have fun making up quite a few of my own when looking at collections – but Fred Butler’s work is for me so striking and fulfilling visually that my mind feels too drunk with pure aesthetic pleasure to care for any explanation in other terms.

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Fred Butler AW 2012 photo by Maria Papadimitriou

All photography by Maria Papadimitriou

Categories ,A Shaded View on Fashion, ,accessories, ,accessories designer, ,Agyness Deyn, ,Alun Davies, ,Amelia’s Magazine, ,ASVOF, ,Beth Ditto, ,Bishi, ,Catherine Meadows, ,Charli XCX, ,Collaborations, ,Deborah Moon, ,Diane Pernet, ,EDE, ,Elisha Smith-Leverock, ,Ella Dror PR, ,Fashion Film, ,Fred Butler, ,i-D, ,Isabella Sumner, ,japanese, ,Kim Howells, ,Kimonos, ,Knits, ,Knotted, ,Konstantinos Menelaou, ,La Roux, ,Lady Gaga, ,London Fashion Week, ,Maria Papadimitriou, ,Mitika Chohan, ,monochrome, ,music, ,Nail Art, ,Nicki Minaj, ,Nicola Haigh, ,Noah’s Ark, ,Obi Belts, ,origami, ,pastels, ,Patrick Wolf, ,piers atkinson, ,Portico Rooms, ,Props, ,Quilting, ,rainbow, ,Red Bull Catwalk Studio, ,Red Bull Music Academy, ,Secret Danger Sister, ,Somerset House, ,Sushi, ,Twisted, ,Zaiba Jabbar

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