The Tightrope Walker – an illustration of a dress designed by Florence Melrose, medications illustrated by Barbara Ana Gomez.
I’m a bit rubbish when it actually comes to checking what’s what during fashion week – I will generally go to most things that I’m invited to on the grounds that if someone has bothered to invite me then I should generally return the honour by actually turning up. Not so most magazine editors I might add – many was the time that I would swan into a fashion show under the guise of Katie Grand at The Face. She never went, information pills and yours truly got the golden tickets.
Dress by Rebecca Glyn-Blanco of Camden School for Girls. Illustration by Abigail Daker.
Keep it Secret – illustration of a dress by Sinead Cloonan from City & Islington College by Barbara Ana Gomez.
And as I’ve already mentioned I don’t do queues – not in Tescos, buy and certainly not during fashion week. To this end my heart sank as I rounded the corner to Freemasons’ Hall and found a line of people streaming down the street. What was this FAD awards malarkey anyway? Heading to the front of the queue I waggled my ticket at an unknown PR person and hoped for the best, so was somewhat surprised to be informed in hushed tones that I was a VIP and could go straight on through. Upstairs in one of the many architecturally fabulous chambers, Matt and I sipped on sweet fizzy stuff as we tried to figure out what this was all about.
Dress by Emily Rogers of Salford City College as illustrated by Kila Kitu.
Apparently we’ve been very supportive of FAD in the past, and once I’d looked up our previous coverage it did suddenly all ring a bell. But I wasn’t quite prepared for the sheer unadulterated upbeat joy of this event. Right in the thick of a hectic fashion week it’s a true testament to the achievement of this organisation that I could sit through yet another long catwalk show and come out the other end beaming with goodwill.
The European Fashion Designer award winning dress from Paul Vasileff and Shahira Bakhoum. Illustrated by Abigail Nottingham.
Rebecca Glyn-Blanco by Barbara Ana Gomez.
Just to recap quickly, FAD stands for Fashion Awareness Direct and it is a charity that aims to empower young people – as the brochure says “Fashion is a great way to connect with young people from different backgrounds, to give them confidence and raise their aspirations for the future.”
Adam Preece by Abigail Daker.
Chelsey Ward by Abigail Nottingham.
Last year we covered the undergraduates awards show, but this year we were in for a much younger treat: the FAD Junior Awards showcased the designs of finalists chosen from 130 teenagers aged 16-19. Yes dear reader, you may well have to keep pinching yourself as you take a look through the images. I know I did, and I was sitting right there when they paraded past. Created over the course of five days at the University of East London with the help of an experienced team of tutors, the outfits put together by these young designers would put many graduates to shame.
Karmen-Marie Parker by Abigail Nottingham.
Natalie Goreham by Kila Kitu.
To start off the evening’s events previous winner Prash Muraleetharan took to the stage with a bit of confident advice, endearingly delivered. “It’s what you do with this moment which determines a winner…. so get upstairs and network,” he advised, somewhat sagely. At the end he winked. And I’m sure he winked at me. Blimey… what a charmer… it’s quite hard to countenance that Prash must still be a teenager, and yet he already runs his own fashion label with a website and everything.
Prash Muraleetharan dispels his words of wisdom at the start of the ceremony. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
After the catwalk show we had speeches from the sleek Susan Aubrey-Cound of M&S and Helen Carter of UEL, followed by the prizegiving by the extremely fabulous Zandra Rhodes, who is *the cutest* when she smiles! The winners and their parents looked so overwhelmed it really did warm the cockles of my jaded fashionista heart.
Zandra Rhodes by Antonia Parker. I wuv her.
Paul Vasileff and Shahira Bakhoum of Milan step up first to take the prize for the European Fashion Designer Competition, which was the culmination of a two year project.
Karmen-Marie Parker with her winning design shortly before she burst into tears… aw, bless.
Andre Augusto: pattern cutting award winner.
Research award winner Sarah Kilkenny.
17 year old David Short – the first boy to become overall winner and a proper little fashionista in the making.
Within this blog you’ll find my favourite pieces to hit the runway – and just remember, they were all designed and made by 16-19 year olds. Quite astonishing I’m sure you’ll agree.
Shomari Williams.
Emily Rogers.
Charlie Ibouillie.
Sinead Cloonan.
The winner of the European competition.
Rebecca Glyn-Blanco.
Natalie Goreham.
Florence Melrose.
Misbah Siddique.
And another completely gratuitous shot of Zandra because this post isn’t long enough already. Because I WUV HER.
The Tightrope Walker – an illustration of a dress designed by Florence Melrose, ed illustrated by Barbara Ana Gomez.
I’m a bit rubbish when it actually comes to checking what’s what during fashion week – I will generally go to most things that I’m invited to on the grounds that if someone has bothered to invite me then I should generally return the honour by actually turning up. Not so most magazine editors I might add – many was the time that I would swan into a fashion show under the guise of Katie Grand at The Face. She never went, information pills and yours truly got the golden tickets.
Dress by Rebecca Glyn-Blanco of Camden School for Girls. Illustration by Abigail Daker.
Keep it Secret – illustration of a dress by Sinead Cloonan from City & Islington College by Barbara Ana Gomez.
And as I’ve already mentioned I don’t do queues – not in Tescos, and certainly not during fashion week. To this end my heart sank as I rounded the corner to Freemasons’ Hall and found a line of people streaming down the street. What was this FAD awards malarkey anyway? Heading to the front of the queue I waggled my ticket at an unknown PR person and hoped for the best, so was somewhat surprised to be informed in hushed tones that I was a VIP and could go straight on through. Upstairs in one of the many architecturally fabulous chambers, Matt and I sipped on sweet fizzy stuff as we tried to figure out what this was all about.
Dress by Yashodah Rodgers as illustrated by Kila Kitu.
Apparently we’ve been very supportive of FAD in the past, and once I’d looked up our previous coverage it did suddenly all ring a bell. But I wasn’t quite prepared for the sheer unadulterated upbeat joy of this event. Right in the thick of a hectic fashion week it’s a true testament to the achievement of this organisation that I could sit through yet another long catwalk show and come out the other end beaming with goodwill.
The European Fashion Designer award winning dress from Paul Vasileff and Shahira Bakhoum. Illustrated by Abigail Nottingham.
Rebecca Glyn-Blanco by Barbara Ana Gomez.
Just to recap quickly, FAD stands for Fashion Awareness Direct and it is a charity that aims to empower young people – as the brochure says “Fashion is a great way to connect with young people from different backgrounds, to give them confidence and raise their aspirations for the future.”
Adam Preece by Abigail Daker.
Chelsey Ward by Abigail Nottingham.
Last year we covered the undergraduates awards show, but this year we were in for a much younger treat: the FAD Junior Awards showcased the designs of finalists chosen from 130 teenagers aged 16-19. Yes dear reader, you may well have to keep pinching yourself as you take a look through the images. I know I did, and I was sitting right there when they paraded past. Created over the course of five days at the University of East London with the help of an experienced team of tutors, the outfits put together by these young designers would put many graduates to shame.
Karmen-Marie Parker by Abigail Nottingham.
Natalie Goreham by Kila Kitu.
To start off the evening’s events previous winner Prash Muraleetharan took to the stage with a bit of confident advice, endearingly delivered. “It’s what you do with this moment which determines a winner…. so get upstairs and network,” he advised, somewhat sagely. At the end he winked. And I’m sure he winked at me. Blimey… what a charmer… it’s quite hard to countenance that Prash must still be a teenager, and yet he already runs his own fashion label with a website and everything.
Prash Muraleetharan dispels his words of wisdom at the start of the ceremony. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
After the V&A inspired catwalk show we had speeches from the sleek Susan Aubrey-Cound of M&S and Lucy Jones of UEL, followed by the prizegiving by the extremely fabulous Zandra Rhodes, who is *the cutest* when she smiles! The winners and their parents looked so overwhelmed it really did warm the cockles of my jaded fashionista heart.
Zandra Rhodes by Antonia Parker. I wuv her.
Paul Vasileff and Shahira Bakhoum of Milan step up first to take the prize for the European Fashion Designer Competition, which was the culmination of a two year project.
Karmen-Marie Parker with her winning design shortly before she burst into tears… aw, bless.
Andre Augusto: pattern cutting award winner.
Research award winner Sarah Kilkenny.
17 year old David Short – the first boy to become overall winner and a proper little fashionista in the making.
Within this blog you’ll find my favourite pieces to hit the runway – and just remember, they were all designed and made by 16-19 year olds. Quite astonishing I’m sure you’ll agree.
Shomari Williams.
Yashodah Rodgers.
Charlie Ibouillie.
Sinead Cloonan.
The winner of the European competition.
Rebecca Glyn-Blanco.
Natalie Goreham.
Florence Melrose.
Misbah Siddique.
And another completely gratuitous shot of Zandra because this post isn’t long enough already. Because I WUV HER.
Antipodium by Andrea Peterson.
Antipodium was a shop that used to stock Amelia’s Magazine many a moon ago… run by Ozzies, stuff it has always championed Ozzie design. and apparently cake. At the Antipodium show at the Portico Rooms, visit Somerset House we were served up some delicious delicacies from down under.
Homemade cake: always good. And to think, unhealthy not a cupcake in sight *thank god*
All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Antipodium by Jo Cheung.
Antipodium by Lisa Stannard.
Antipodium the label grew out of the boutique as it found itself home to all sorts of creative types. Owner Ashe Peacock launched the brand in 2006 with former intern Geoffrey J. Finch, and since then it seems they’ve been quietly growing something of a reputation for its easy going style – a result of their down-to-earth Australian background.
Antipodium by Andrea Peterson.
For S/S 2011 Antipodium took the “brutalist beauty of the Barbican hothouse as a starting point” – possibly the reason for the backdrop of huge potted plants. Filtered through the steamy social mores of the 1970s all sorts of scurrilous goings-on were imagined in the nooks and crannies of this iconic building.
Antipodium by Paolo Caravello.
In reality this meant a cleanly classic collection spiced up with great little details, shown on a range of young models who had obviously been instructed to act louche. This for me is where models fail – they’re too young to be convincing, to act anything other than the most basic of parts. But this didn’t distract from my enjoyment of the hugely successful collection – after all I didn’t read the accompanying bumpf until just now.
Antipodium by Jo Cheung.
Wearing a muted colour palette of mossy greens, khaki, pale blue, aubergine, dusky pink and fawn the models paraded to the music of two DJs hidden in the corner. Stand outs were the clever use of fabrics and detailing; waffly knitwear, silky shirting, the subtle A shape in the back of a man’s beautifully cut coat. But best of all had to be the prints: commissioned from Australian born (of course) New York artist Craig Redman, these featured double-take patterns: oversized limbs, bespectacled butterflies and strange blooms. Can you tell I trained as a printed textile designer? Always the colour and patterns for me… Fabulous stuff.
Antipodium by Lisa Stannard.
Antipodium by Jo Cheung.
Categories ,1970s, ,Andrea Peterson, ,Antipodium, ,Ashe Peacock, ,Australian, ,barbican, ,Cake, ,Craig Redman, ,Geoffrey J. Finch, ,Jo Cheung, ,Lisa Stannard, ,Paolo Caravello, ,Portico Rooms, ,Somerset House
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