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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2012 Catwalk Review: Basso & Brooke

Basso & Brooke SS 2012 London Fashion Week - by Joana Faria

Basso & Brooke S/S 2012 illustrated by Joana Faria

There is no queuing for me at the Basso & Brooke show – I’m late, store having been seduced by ice-cream and pretty dresses at the Orla Kiely presentation and everyone has already been seated. So it’s fine luck that I found an unoccupied seat in the front row. As is usual at London Fashion Week, salve a celeb or two will make an entrance just before the show is about to commence and a riot of photographers will swoon in and blind bystanders with their imperious flashes.

Ana Araujo at Basso & Brooke SS 12 London Fashion Week by Akeela Bhattay

Ana Araujo

Basso & Brooke SS 2012 London Fashion Week by Akeela Bhattay

Being naturally curious I want to know who it is as well. Later on I’ll discover the celebrity to be Ana Araujo, ed but meanwhile I snap a photo of her, tell she looks gorgeous when she smiles and rush back to my seat to await the start of the show.

Basso & Brooke by Gilly Rochester LFW SS 2012

Basso & Brooke S/S 2012 Illustrated by Gilly Rochester

An energetic beat silences the audience and the fantastic elliptical light display comes alive and dances to the rhythm building a dynamic ambience and giving the illusion of stars sparkling in the night sky. I’m hoping there aren’t any epileptics in the audience when the lights stand still and serene, welcoming an explosion of colour and print onto the stark white stage.

LFW SS12 Basso and Brooke by Kristina Vasiljeva

Basso & Brooke S/S 2012 illustrated by Kristina Vasiljeva

Basso & Brooke SS 2012 London Fashion Week by Akeela Bhattay

Basso & Brooke SS 2012 London Fashion Week - by Joana Faria

Basso & Brook S/S 2012 illustrated by Joana Faria

Colour and print have become synonymous with the Basso & Brooke brand and both designers are very much aware of this. So wanting to break away from the prison that had become symmetry and precision, Bruno Basso and Chris Brooke journeyed to bring digital print alive again, by disrupting the status quo of digital print. What transpired was a ‘Tropical Constructivism’.

Basso & Brooke SS 2012 London Fashion Week by Akeela Bhattay

Vibrant tropical images married with angular lines and sharp structures cloak the fluid cloth of each softly, but perfectly structured garment; short dresses, shirt dresses, maxi dresses and what appears to be a ‘salwar kameez-esque’ dress and skinny trouser outfit. One of my favourites is a shorts and jacket ensemble accessorised with cool retro shades. The hair is styled or rather, anti-styled in a straggly ‘I have better things to do’ pony tail, a distinct contrast to the conspicuous collection. I also love the accessorising (by Borba) of a few key outfits with what appears to be a cluster of karabiners and key-ring clips. Brilliant.

Basso & Brooke by Gilly Rochester LFW SS 2012

Basso & Brooke S/S 2012 illustrated by Gilly Rochester

If putting clashing colours and prints together to form gorgeous wearable clothes wasn’t hard enough, Basso & Brooke challenged themselves with the idea of evolving patterns, so that each new piece in the collection bore the seed of the next. Impressive much? I think so.

Basso & Brooke SS 2012 London Fashion Week by Akeela Bhattay

All photography by Akeela Bhattay

As the show comes to an end and the design duo take to the catwalk, there is reverberating applause. Thoroughly deserved, I think.

You can watch the show here.

Written by Akeela Bhattay on Wednesday September 21st, 2011 8:05 am

Categories ,Akeela Bhattay, ,Ana Araujo, ,Basso & Brooke, ,Borba, ,british fashion council, ,Bruno Basso, ,catwalk show, ,Chris Brooke, ,designer, ,Digital Print, ,fashion, ,GHD, ,Gilly Rochester, ,Goodley PR, ,Images, ,Joana Faria, ,Kristina Vasiljeva, ,lfw, ,London Fashion Week, ,Mac, ,Multi-print, ,Multicolour, ,Photographs, ,Pioneers, ,Report, ,review, ,S/S 2012, ,soundtrack, ,spring, ,SS 12, ,summer, ,The Old Sorting Office, ,Tropical Constructivism

Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2012 Catwalk Review: Basso & Brooke

Basso & Brooke SS 2012 London Fashion Week - by Joana Faria

Basso & Brooke S/S 2012 illustrated by Joana Faria

Ana Araujo at Basso & Brooke SS 12 London Fashion Week by Akeela Bhattay

Ana Araujo

Basso & Brooke SS 2012 London Fashion Week by Akeela Bhattay

Basso & Brooke by Gilly Rochester LFW SS 2012

Basso & Brooke S/S 2012 Illustrated by Gilly Rochester

LFW SS12 Basso and Brooke by Kristina Vasiljeva

Basso & Brooke S/S 2012 illustrated by Kristina Vasiljeva

Basso & Brooke SS 2012 London Fashion Week by Akeela Bhattay

Basso & Brooke SS 2012 London Fashion Week - by Joana Faria

Basso & Brook S/S 2012 illustrated by Joana Faria

Basso & Brooke SS 2012 London Fashion Week by Akeela Bhattay

Basso & Brooke by Gilly Rochester LFW SS 2012

Basso & Brooke S/S 2012 illustrated by Gilly Rochester

Basso & Brooke SS 2012 London Fashion Week by Akeela Bhattay

All photography by Akeela Bhattay

As the show comes to an end and the design duo take to the catwalk, there is reverberating applause. Thoroughly deserved, I think.

You can watch the show here.

Written by Akeela Bhattay on Wednesday September 21st, 2011 8:05 am

Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week A/W 2011 Catwalk Review: Georgia Hardinge

Georgia Hardinge by Kiran Patel

Recipient of the VFS Merit Award, pill Gerogia Hardinge is far more than the Ones to Watch designer she was last season. Her first stand alone collection drew the likes of fashion press favourite Nicola Roberts and packed out the Freemason’s Hall venue. Another committed member of the digital prints parade, story her prints have always fascinated me, cialis 40mg using unusual patterns as the starting point for her patterns: fossils and sculptures of the Versailles have both been inspirations. This February, Hardinge sent monochrome skeletal prints down the runway played out on leggings, tight half-sleeve dresses and body-con tops. Inspired by the dark, and sometimes disturbing photography of Joel Peter Witkin, the concept of death, destruction and disfiguration was emphasised on streamlined silhouettes and her signature structural pieces.

Georgia Hardinge A/W 2011. Photography by Amelia Gregory.

The second half of the show was a little lighter, due to the injection of bone white, buttermilk, brown and dusky peach leathers or suede. A particular favourite fo me was a dark brown playsuit with centre detailing and a little nipped in waist. Hardinge cleverly used the robust leather so that she could engineer it to do what she wanted. Pleats, folds, and stiff overlapping layers on sleeves, legs and bodies were key in adding volume to otherwise clean, simple and effortless pieces. Since last season, there is a clear progression in Hardinge’s style, with the designer confident to present a collection that was more paired down (basic colours, restrained detailing) than that which she presented as one of the Ones to Watch.

Georgia Hardinge A/W 2011. Photography by Amelia Gregory.

Written by Florence Massey on Wednesday March 2nd, 2011 4:41 pm

Categories ,Digital Print, ,Georgia Hardinge, ,Hardinge, ,Illustrating Rain, ,Kiran Patel, ,london, ,S/S 2011, ,Skeletal Print

Amelia’s Magazine | KTZ: London Fashion Week A/W 2012 Catwalk Review

KTZ A/W 2012 by Lorna Leigh Harrington

Regular readers of my London Fashion Week reviews (Hi mum, sorry I haven’t called, been busy) will know that I absolutely adore KTZ. If I could only choose one show to see each season it would probably be this – so it was disappointing that both myself and Amelia hadn’t received any tickets this time. The show had been moved from its regular spot on menswear day to fit in with the womenswear schedule – a move not so surprising considering the KTZ womenswear is usually what gets people talking. This also might explain the lack of tickets – but it was thanks to fashion superhero Lida over at The First To Know that I managed to get in.

All photography by Matt Bramford

Inside, it was already approaching capacity with barely enough room to swing a Canon zoom lens. I managed to perch on the end of a row – one cheek on, one cheek off – as the aisles began to fill up also. Now I don’t want to get above my station but I’ve seen some really, really bad fashion etiquette this season. It seems there are more and more people desperate to take photographs, with people standing up in all rows to try and secure a less blurry shot. It makes for a messy looking show, with some people even resorting to lying on the floor. I dread to think what kind of immoral images they take of the poor models.

KTZ A/W 2012 by Warren Clarke

I had just enough time to scan the crowds for celebrities before the show began – I think there was a member of The Saturdays (I could be wrong) who looked like she’d been getting ready since 2004. The lights fell, the infamous eardrum-bursting music began and this season’s KTZ extravaganza opened with a monochrome all-plaid number. I hadn’t had time to survey any show notes in part because I was trying to work out whether Girl From The Saturdays was actually from The Saturdays – and sometimes this makes the show more interesting, when you have no idea what to expect. This opening number featured a loose-fitting jacket in heavy tartan fabric, embellished with silver pearls and worn over matching layers – herringbone and smaller tartans – all brought together at the waist with a deep belt featuring ‘KTZ’ in metal.

The tartans kept a-coming, and I would even be so brave to suggest that tartan might be a trend, if people still really worry about things like that. Gorgeous plaid in bright yellow and rich red appeared, styled similarly in Yohji Yamamoto-esque coats with askew proportions and leather and gold accessories. A little bit punk, a little bit New Romantic (styled with flat, shapeless caps) and a LOT of fun.

On the bottom half, tartans came on pleated skirts – sexier than kilts, cut much higher above the knee. Digital-print skirts carrying constellations almost went unnoticed amongst such vibrant fabrics.

As usual there was a huge element of mystery to this collection – as it progressed, models wore huge capes printed with ambiguous religious symbols and monk-like hoods that managed to be sexy and scary at the same time. This section of the show would most certainly have had Dan Brown soaked.

The offerings for fellas seemed a lot stronger this year and the relationship between menswear and womenswear was the most married I’ve seen from KTZ so far. Tartan caps and puffa jackets carried fur trims, large scarves with said symbols were worn across the chest, and hooded cassocks had a surprisingly masculine effect.

The finale brought a few unusual pieces that came as a bit of a surprise – it made the collection seem a little incoherent, but this is KTZ and they can be as incoherent as they bloody like for all I care – leave orderly collections to the Jasper Conrans of fashion, I say. Pinstripe New Romantic-proportioned blazers were embellished with hundreds and thousands of shimmering stars for the gents; for women this treatment appeared on a body-conscious one-piece. A black cropped-sleeve dress, covered completely in black jewels, brought gasps from the guests on my bench.

Reviewing my photographs, I haven’t even mentioned the Versace-esque printed dress with Baroque and tartan fused together perfectly in print, OR the Chanel-esque twinset and baggy sweater. Oh! It was wonderfully exhausting as always, and a massive relief to see that, even in an age of austerity, KTZ will continue to invite us (ahem) into their weird and wonderful dreams.

Written by Matt Bramford on Monday February 27th, 2012 11:45 am

Categories ,A/W 2012, ,AW12, ,BFC, ,catwalk, ,chanel, ,Constellations, ,Digital Print, ,Kokontozai, ,KTZ, ,lfw, ,Lida, ,London Fashion Week, ,Lorna Leigh Harrington, ,Matt Bramford, ,menswear, ,New Romantics, ,Pinstripe, ,Plaid, ,review, ,Show Space, ,Somerset House, ,Tartan, ,The First To Know, ,Versace, ,Warren Clarke, ,Womenswear, ,Yohji Yamamoto

Amelia’s Magazine | Graduate Fashion Week 2010: Bournemouth

Illustrated by Katie Harvey

Rachael Browne’s take on little girl dressing opened Bournemouth’s catwalk with a collection adorned in a riotous array of colour and print. From the marble swirl tops and matching socks to the dresses adorned with animal illustrations.

It was glorious, reminding one of the joy to be had with clothes.

There appears to be no escaping the digital print this season, but Mariya Shulga showed there was still room for maneuver with her collection adorned with bricks. Design perhaps for the girl that needs to make a quick get away… The necklaces referencing the iron walls we city dwellers all too often find ourselves surrounded by.

Illustrated by Abi Daker

Is this a first? A kids collection at GFW? Anna Tiesen’s choice was a welcomed surprise with its innovative and joyful catwalk presentation.

Katie Harvey

Rather than subject the audience to children acting as models, they cartwheeled, skipped, held hands and cycled down the catwalk showcasing a rather lovely collection celebrating the joy of being a child.

Roxanne Newton’s perspex geometretic necklaces a nod to the Holly Fulton’s A/W 2010 Collection. The laser cutting evident on the skirts combined with the bold prints was fantastic, producing a rather lovely silhouette.

Lottie McLaughlin collection was inspired by time’s imposition on our lives – so beautifully caricatured by Lewis Carroll’s White Rabbit and his ticking clock, perpetually counting down time, marking the moments lost forever. The weight of time is wonderfully reinvented in this strong collection where the detris of time hangs over the shoulders of the models.

Illustrated by Abi Daker

Emily Sharp’s collection continued the graphic print trend in her fantastically striking monochrome 3 dimensional garments.

Inspired by Tchaikovsky’s Ballet: The Nutcracker’s set design to the costumes Sharp took the typically sweet image of the ballet from the tutus to the mountain of sweets and transformed it into the tight rolls of fabric that strode down the catwalk.

Emma Graham’s first collection made stark the lack of designers experimenting with found materials. A dirty dystopic selection of garments perhaps encouraged by the types of materials found by the designer. The detailing on the clothes and the juxaposition of clothes was ingenious, it was however a shame to see fur on the catwalk whether recycled or not.

Photographs by Sally Mumby-Croft

Written by Sally Mumby-Croft on Thursday June 10th, 2010 8:11 am

Categories ,Anna Tiesen, ,bournemouth, ,Digital Print, ,Emily Sharp, ,Emma Graham, ,GFW, ,Graduate Fashion Week 2010, ,Laser Cutting, ,Lottie McLaughlin, ,Mariya Shulga, ,Rachel Browne, ,Roxanne Newman

Amelia’s Magazine | Fashion Philosophy Fashion Week Poland S/S 2012 in Łódź: Custo Barcelona

Custo Barcelona S/S 2012 by Novemto Komo.

Custo Barcelona has not registered massively on my radar beyond a vague knowledge that it’s a super colourful brand, but I must confess that the Custo Barcelona show, which opened the main schedule at Fashion Week Poland, was a fabulously fun affair. It was indeed a riot of pattern and colour, but according to my esteemed international colleagues this season it was far more restrained than usual.

Custo Barcelona Fashion Week Poland SS 2012-photography by Amelia Gregory

Custo Barcelona S/S 2012. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Male and female models marched out two by two in matching outfits before breaking out alone. The collection featured a multitude of different fabrics layered on top of each other, and covered every possible summer garment, from sexy cutout patchwork bikinis to suiting and hoodies.

Custo Barcelona Fashion Week Poland SS 2012-photography by Amelia Gregory

Shoes for women were particularly spectacular with spiked heels like the ridged back of a Stegosaurus, a touch echoed on the sides of swimsuits. The collection featured darling purse belts slung over hips and amazing digital prints that were hard to determine but possibly featured horses’ eyes encrusted with sequins. Embellishment abounded.

Custo Barcelona Fashion Week Poland SS 2012-photography by Amelia Gregory

I’ve always been partial to a bit of bright and lairy menswear so I particularly enjoyed some of the fab Custo Barcelona suits, with crazy metallic stripes and amazing sunburst patterns.

Custo Barcelona Fashion Week Poland SS 2012-photography by Amelia Gregory

Later on designer Custodio Dalmau himself joined us for a meal in a Polish restaurant. God only knows what he made of the outlandish behaviour of some of the international crew, letting off steam after a long day at the shows.

Custo Barcelona Fashion Week Poland SS 2012-photography by Amelia Gregory

Custodio Dalmau of Custo Barcelona. All photography by Amelia Gregory.