Good Fashion Show AW 2012 by Antonia Parker
Following on the footsteps of other London Fashion Week off-schedule showrooms which focus on ethical fashion, such as Ecoluxe London, The Good Fashion Show was an entirely new, day long event combining a marketplace, talks and an art exhibition during the day with an evening runway show. As someone who is interested in design in relation to sustainability, of course I wanted to check this newcomer out. Unfortunately due to attending other London Fashion Week events earlier in the day, I could only visit the London House, where The Good Fashion Show was taking place in the evening to watch the runway show.
Good Fashion Show AW 2012 Geo Twins by Erica Sharp
Good Fashion Show AW 2012 Beautiful Ensemble by Zarina Liew
Upon arrival I had to pass through a number of stalls placed on the outside corridors which exuded an atmosphere of a craft market or jumble sale – not a very good start. I was also a little disappointed to find the work of brilliant illustrators Erica Sharp and Zarina Liew – whom I first saw in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration – badly curated and placed in a corridor where their beauty was totally drowned out by the style of this building with its town hall feel.
Unlike other on or off-schedule London Fashion Week events, which are mainly open to press and buyers only, The Good Fashion Show Marketplace could be visited by anyone for a £5 entry fee and similarly the general public could buy a £30 ticket for the evening catwalk show. As this was a paid event the organisers felt they had to provide the audience with some form of extra entertainment in between showcasing the clothes. During an almost two-hour affair we were treated to a combination of live acts which included singing by Omar, body bending by contortionist Nina Burri, story telling about the hindu god Shiva followed by classical Indian dancing by Miti Desai, musical sewing by Brazilian performance artist and designer Lisa Simpson, more live music by band Left at the Robot and a screening of the short film and then it was gone made by fashion photographer Claire Pepper.
Good Fashion Show AW 2012 by Deborah Moon
During the evening I thought it was a shame, and rather unfortunate for the designers, that the models walked out one after another with the audience having no guidance as to whose designer’s work they were looking at. I had to do quite a bit of research after the show in order to match up some of the designs I had photographed with their designers. Even worse for the promotion of the designers represented, I could not find many captions on the photo galleries published on The Good Fashion Show’s website and Facebook page post show. Fortunately I did manage to find the designer of my favorite outfit of the evening, which was a fun looking and contemporary knitted two piece designed by Jeni Allison.
Good Fashion Show AW 2012 by Dana Bocai
Another relatively interesting designer on show was Sara Li-Chou Han, who reworks denim and suit pieces from charity shops into more elaborate dresses.
We also saw some minimal designs, such as this dress by Fashion Compassion.
I totally support and love shops such as Beyond Retro and Oxfam Fashion, which were shown at The Good Fashion Show, however a lot of the vintage looks could have been styled in a more interesting way.
Some of the menswear looks were a bit of a better hit with me, featuring baggy trousers and gigantic necklaces made out of reused computer game controls by funky customising brand Red Mutha.
In the spirit of resourcefulness a few of the models showed us how an outfit could be turned into a new one, depending on how you wear it.
The show also covered underwear, showcasing brands such as Who Made Your Pants and In Bloom London.
Good Fashion Show AW 2012 by Love Amelia
Good Fashion Show AW 2012 by Geiko Louve
The last few numbers, like Tuncer Tonun’s basket hand bags and potato sack jackets, were a bit more theatrical and the event closed with a rather pretty bubble wrap dress. Unfortunately, as a whole, The Good Fashion Show did not do much to present green fashion as a platform for forward thinking, really good looking fashion design. I thought this was mainly to the way the show was curated and organised, as really brilliant ethical brands such as Emesha, Outsider Fashion, Henrietta Ludgate or From Somewhere were part of it, but still looked unimpressive because of the way they were presented and the context they were put in.
All photography by Maria Papadimitriou.
Categories ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Antonia Harrowing, ,Antonia Parker, ,Beyond Retro, ,Claire Pepper, ,Classical Indian Dance, ,Cobalt Cafe, ,Dana Bocai, ,Deborah Moon, ,Ecoluxe, ,Erica Sharp, ,Ethical Fashion, ,From Somewhere, ,Geiko Louve, ,Good Fashion Show, ,Henrietta Ludgate, ,illustration, ,In Bloom London, ,Jeni Allison, ,knitwear, ,Left at The Robot, ,Lisa Simpson, ,London Fashion Week, ,London House, ,Love Amelia, ,Maria Papadimitriou, ,menswear, ,Miti Desai, ,Nina Burri, ,Off Schedule, ,Omar, ,Outsider Fashion, ,Oxfam Fashion, ,Red Mutha, ,Sara Li-Chou Han, ,Shiva, ,Sustainable Fashion, ,Tuncer Tonun, ,underwear, ,vintage, ,Who Made Your Pants, ,Zarina Liew
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