Amelia’s Magazine | Pam Hogg: London Fashion Week S/S 2014 Catwalk Review

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by xplusyequals

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by xplusyequals

We waited for almost an hour outside Freemasons’ Hall due to the usual buzz which surrounded the Pam Hogg S/S 2014 catwalk show at Fashion Scout during London Fashion Week. The rain came and went a few times – the opening and closing umbrellas not quite sheltering the fashionable kids queuing – but as ever it was worth the wait! Once inside, I squeezed tightly in between a lot of other keen bloggers at the photographers’ end and we all laughed and joked, merrily cooperating with each other in working out our collective positioning for optimum shots. Those in the front rows near us also seemed to be in great spirits, a few of them refreshingly slouching in their chairs and sporting messed up hair, torn jeans and casual wear.

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

The show titled ‘Future Past: War & Peace: Past Future’ was presented in different sections, sometimes with gaps so long between them we thought it was over at least twice before the actual end. First came World War II nurses gradually merging into latex clad ones and then transforming into beauties wearing the trademark Pam Hogg geometrical catsuits with wonderful bird themed and floral headpieces added on top. I absolutely adored the theatrical interlude ballet performance of a Little-Bo-Peep-esque ballerina who was full of the joy of life, immediately followed by a trembling, slowly walking black bride holding a crutch. In this show full of contradictions between life and death I found it entertaining that the final characters should be scantily dressed ladies in folded tulle. What a delightful experience!

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by Lynne Datson

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by Lynne Datson

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by Antonia Parker

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Antonia Parker

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by Antonia Parker

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by Lizzie Donegan at New Good Studio

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by Lizzie Donegan at New Good Studio

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by Yelena Bryksenkova

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by Yelena Bryksenkova

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by Scott W Mason

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by Scott W Mason

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by Dom & Ink

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 by Dom & Ink

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014 Catwalk photo by Maria Papadimitriou

Pam Hogg S/S 2014. All photography by Maria Papadimitriou.

Categories ,Antonia Parker, ,ballet, ,Catsuits, ,Death, ,Dom & Ink, ,Fashion Scout, ,florals, ,Freemasons’ Hall, ,Future Past: War & Peace: Past Future, ,headpieces, ,Latex, ,Lizzie Donegan, ,London Fashion Week, ,Lynne Datson, ,Maria Papadimitriou, ,New Good Studio, ,Nurses, ,Pam Hogg, ,S/S 2014, ,Theatrical, ,World War II, ,xplusyequals, ,Yelena Bryksenkova

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011 Catwalk Review: Ashley Isham


Paul Costelloe S/S 2011, illness illustrated by Natsuki Otani

So the circus has begun, adiposity the Big Top (the BFC Marquee) is up surrounded by bizarrely dressed clowns, this and trapeze artists swing from the roof of Somerset House. Okay, that last one isn’t true, but you get the picture!

I haven’t had a bloody chance to write anything yet, and Amelia has beaten me to it with a review of fashion week S/S 2011′s opener – Paul Costelloe. But, while I have the chance, I thought I’d throw my tuppence worth in, too.
 
For the past six years, Paul Costelloe has had the rather unenviable task of opening the proceedings. I arrived super early, as I always do – I woke up actually asking if Santa had been, I was so excited I presumed it must be Christmas. Anyway, I joined the queue for Costelloe, in which the mean age must have been approximately 68. It was a crimplene snake. These lovely old dears were desperate to get inside (I suppose you can never be too careful, especially in this chilly weather) and, rather unfashionably, we were ushered inside on time.


 
Now I am familiar with Costelloe’s work, but the relationship between his collections and his audience totally and uttrerly baffles me. One by one, the first models of S/S 2011 strutted down the catwalk wearing fresh, well cut and contemporary clothes. So why do grannies in knits flock to see this? I got chatting to two gorgeous old dears who, with their enthusiastic clapping and cheering, almost threatened to steal my attention from the show. They thought every frock was ‘bloody gorgeous’ and cries of ‘Oooh, that’s STUNNING’ were heard from all sides.


My two lovely ladies, on the right during the finale


illustrated by Natsuki Otani

The show itself was a treat from start to finish, for a number of reasons. The styling was great, with bright red lipstick, back-combed hair piled atop models heads (a look Costelloe is famed for) and the soundtrack was summery and fun, featuring Eliza Doolittle’s recent hit Pack Up.

The clothes were wonderful, featuring contemporary curves with emphasis on waists, oversized bows and playful graphic prints. Such fun. I particularly like everything about this following model and her outfit, whose face and hair do reminded me of Evangelista in naughty George Michael’s Too Funky video.
 

The show, however, had the most bizarre ending. Six awkward looking blokes dressed to the nines in suits cautiously eased their way up the catwalk. They all looked alike and I instantly guessed that they were brothers. It turns out Mr Costelloe isnt just good at fashion, he also is a dab hand and breeding too. If you’ve already read Amelia’s review, then apologies, but SIX SONS! Bloody hell! SIX SONS! Imagine. My dad has four and went grey in his thirties. I can only imagine that Paul Costelloe is a devout Catholic or didn’t have a television at home. How does he find the time to produce such an exciting and polished collection with this sextet? Lord knows.

I’m with Amelia on the menswear – I probably wouldn’t wear it and it’s a long way away from the masses of creative talent we’ll see on menswear day next week. But, if his collections develop like his womenswear has over the seasons, I’m sure I’ll be changing my mind pretty swiftly!


Paul Costelloe menswear, illustrated to look far better than it was, by Natsuki Otani


Paul Costelloe S/S 2011, patient illustrated by Natsuki Otani

So the circus has begun, the Big Top (the BFC Marquee) is up surrounded by bizarrely dressed clowns, and trapeze artists swing from the roof of Somerset House. Okay, that last one isn’t true, but you get the picture!

I haven’t had a bloody chance to write anything yet, and Amelia has beaten me to it with a review of fashion week S/S 2011′s opener – Paul Costelloe. But, while I have the chance, I thought I’d throw my tuppence worth in, too.
 
For the past six years, Paul Costelloe has had the rather unenviable task of opening the proceedings. I arrived super early, as I always do – I woke up actually asking if Santa had been, I was so excited I presumed it must be Christmas. Anyway, I joined the queue for Costelloe, in which the mean age must have been approximately 68. It was a crimplene snake. These lovely old dears were desperate to get inside (I suppose you can never be too careful, especially in this chilly weather) and, rather unfashionably, we were ushered inside on time.


 
Now I am familiar with Costelloe’s work, but the relationship between his collections and his audience totally and uttrerly baffles me. One by one, the first models of S/S 2011 strutted down the catwalk wearing fresh, well cut and contemporary clothes. So why do grannies in knits flock to see this? I got chatting to two gorgeous old dears who, with their enthusiastic clapping and cheering, almost threatened to steal my attention from the show. They thought every frock was ‘bloody gorgeous’ and cries of ‘Oooh, that’s STUNNING’ were heard from all sides.


My two lovely ladies, on the right during the finale


illustrated by Natsuki Otani

The show itself was a treat from start to finish, for a number of reasons. The styling was great, with bright red lipstick, back-combed hair piled atop models heads (a look Costelloe is famed for) and the soundtrack was summery and fun, featuring Eliza Doolittle’s recent hit Pack Up.

The clothes were wonderful, featuring contemporary curves with emphasis on waists, oversized bows and playful graphic prints. Such fun. I particularly like everything about this following model and her outfit, whose face and hair do reminded me of Evangelista in naughty George Michael’s Too Funky video.
 

The show, however, had the most bizarre ending. Six awkward looking blokes dressed to the nines in suits cautiously eased their way up the catwalk. They all looked alike and I instantly guessed that they were brothers. It turns out Mr Costelloe isnt just good at fashion, he also is a dab hand and breeding too. If you’ve already read Amelia’s review, then apologies, but SIX SONS! Bloody hell! SIX SONS! Imagine. My dad has four and went grey in his thirties. I can only imagine that Paul Costelloe is a devout Catholic or didn’t have a television at home. How does he find the time to produce such an exciting and polished collection with this sextet? Lord knows.

I’m with Amelia on the menswear – I probably wouldn’t wear it and it’s a long way away from the masses of creative talent we’ll see on menswear day next week. But, if his collections develop like his womenswear has over the seasons, I’m sure I’ll be changing my mind pretty swiftly!


Paul Costelloe menswear, illustrated to look far better than it was, by Natsuki Otani


Ashley Isham S/S 2011, more about illustrated by Zarina Liew

Late afternoon it was the turn of Ashley Isham to display his wares for S/S 2011 at the On|Off venue, this web Victoria House. Amelia had beaten me there by bike (natch) and so I made my way in and joined the back of the queue. Amelia tried to persuade me to push to the front (by text) but I’m the world’s biggest scaredy cat at fashion week and so stayed where I was. On this occasion, it actually didn’t matter – I shoved my way to get a good standing spot, from where I could take pics. As I did I noticed a fashion palaver going on at the first corner of the horse-shaped catwalk. The paps were in a frenzy to capture a shot of somebody who I could only see from the back, and who was wearing a ridiculous cap that I can only describe as a disco-themed tribute to the Pontiff’s zucchetto. It turns out it was Paloma Faith.

As somebody minced down the catwalk explaining that Ashley was desperate to start and was getting bored (we were already running over half an hour late) the team soon sprang into action to get the show on its way.


Illustration by Zarina Liew

Ashley Isham is famed for his red-carpet dresses that many a celebrity is fond of. I hadn’t actually seen one of his shows before, but I was totally impressed. With so much doom and gloom and many of the designers playing it safe and producing muted, basic collections, thank heavens for Ashley Isham. Camp is an understatement with these fabulous headpieces, over-embellished frocks, glitter, sparkles, crystals, feathers, ruffles, beads and jewels. Now I know where Strictly Come Dancing gets its ideas from.

With a disco soundtrack including Wham! and The Hues Corporation, I was left desperate to grab one of the models and pay homage to Saturday Night Fever with a jazzy disco waltz.

I have no idea how to write about this collection without banging on about how wonderfully camp it was. Where to start? Well, key themes were bare shoulders, maxi-length floor sweepers, fishtail hems, silky fabrics and as much haberdashery-shop-hoard you can throw on something without actually going blind. Isham’s numbers ooze sex appeal and he’s clearly a fan of the female form. These dresses are made to emphasise the top half and the waist, and body-conscience is always key.

Wonderful headpieces constructed of artificial flowers made models look extremely exotic, and they were by far my favourite thing in the show.

I’m really struggling here. I love it, but I’m lost for words. It was utterly bonkers. You can see it all in the pictures anyway.

Colours and patterns were a bit all over the place, and while I wouldn’t want to knock this collection, if I had to I’d say it wouldn’t hurt to be a little more coherent. But when frocks make these alien-like creatures we call models look sexy, who cares?

Photographs: Matt Bramford

Categories ,Ashley Isham, ,Blow PR, ,body-conscious, ,disco, ,Fishtail, ,headpieces, ,London Fashion Week, ,onoff, ,paloma faith, ,Rock the boat don’t rock the boat baby, ,S/S 2011, ,The Hues Corporation, ,Wham!, ,Womenswear

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011 Exhibition Review: Headonism

Frieze showcases a collection of pastel coloured trenches at London Fashion Week off schedule at Vauxhall Fashion Scout.

Illustration of Piers Atkinson by Kellie Black

The Headonism exhibition is hidden in the Embankment Galleries on the lower ground floor of Somerset house, order behind the BFC tent. I’ve been down there twice, once on Thursday and once yesterday – and both times it seemed very under attended. Actually, all the exhibitions around the scrum of the registration area seem very quiet but they are all well worth a look, even if it is just to take a closer look at some of the collections as I did upstairs for Louise Amstrup.

Curated by milliner extraordinaire Stephen Jones, the Headonism exhibition is all about the hats and is the only section of London Fashion Week exclusively catering to the headwear market. There are only five exhibitors: J Smith, Little Shilpa, Noel Stewart, Piers Atkinson and Soren Bach, but the difference between the stands is remarkable. Disappointingly, the Soren Bach stand has no one looking after it, nor does Little Shilpa – merely a book to leave details in.

The only exhibitor to have put any real effort into their display is Piers Atkinson…but more on him later. The importance of showcasing your wares appropriately at London Fashion Week is shockingly something that many have left to the last minute. Read Katie Antoniou’s post on all the exhibitions to find out who did it well this year.

Illustration of J Smith Esquire by Kellie Black

We were lucky enough to interview two of the exhibitors prior to the show, the first was J Smith Esquire. His exhibit is immediately to your right as you enter the exhibition, displaying his most recent foray into the high street market with a Mister Smith display of flat pack hats in colourful cut out leather. He told us about the collection: ‘Mister Smith is designed to be robust, accessible, affordable millinery with high design values, so everyone can have a J Smith Esquire hat’.

Photograph from Mister Smith collection by Florence Massey

Mixing together the ready-to-wear and couture, J Smiths talent shines with his main collections, the most recent entitled ‘Illuminated’ is sure to be as highly impressive as his previous efforts. The new collection promises to be VERY eclectic, ‘(it’s) inspired by vintage Italian fashion papers to create a modern-day Edwardian couture, and yes, expect a very colourful collection!’

Illustration of Little Shilpa by Yelena Bryksenkova

Little Shilpa’s stand is on each side as you exit the exhibition space, and displays an array of great headpieces, necklaces and hats. His work is crazy, but in a good way. The designs are definitely not for the wallflowers among us, something crystalised by his naming Bjork as a dream customer!

With an Indian heritage it is unsurprising to hear that the inspiration for his Headonism show picks up on this , ‘the pieces were inspired from Bombay and London, there was an obvious juxtaposition of the 2 cities …all the pieces were specially created for Headonism as it was my first formal showing in London hence a sort of introduction to my inspirations’.

Photograph of J Shilpa by Florence Massey

Little Shilpa agrees with Piers Atkinson’s very true comment that millinery has finally become more about having fun rather than the obligatory weddings and funerals, ‘working out of India it has always been about fun and design’. Long may that continue!

Talking of Piers Atkinson and the move away from wedding/funeral hats his stand is fantastic. More of an exploded flower stall mixed with Hollywood clichés and mini people, I spent a-g-e-s peering at every single one of his creations. With lots of green felt, and miniature people Atkinson definitely taps into the fun side of millinery and his collection is so good: silly, energetic and vibrant. Spilling with colours and quirks, the Hollywood sign features heavily, as do clashing flowers and little gold spikes. If you want a break from the oh so serious fashion upstairs at BFC, pop down to Atkinson’s stand for a giggle.

Illustration of Piers Atkinson by Kellie Black

Photograph of Piers Atkinson by Florence Massey

Categories ,british fashion council, ,couture, ,Embankment Galleries, ,exhibition, ,fashion, ,hats, ,Headonism, ,headpieces, ,J Smith Esquire, ,Kellie Black, ,Little Shilpa, ,London Fashion Week, ,millinery, ,mister smith, ,piers atkinson, ,review, ,Somerset House, ,Stephen Jones, ,Yelena, ,Yelena Bryksenkova

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Amelia’s Magazine | Fashion Philosophy Fashion Week Poland Off Out Of Schedule A/W 2011 in Łódź: Marcin Podsiadło

Marcin-Podsiadlo-by-Victoria-Haynes
Marcin Podsiad?o by Victoria Haynes.

One feature of the Off Out Of Schedule shows at Fashion Week Poland was that no one checked tickets on the door and there was no one to usher in guests, what is ed meaning that seating was a free for all. I was a little late getting to this show as I’d been upstairs to check out the fashion photography exhibition (more on that later as I discovered some very good stuff) so I had to stand in a poor position, a bit exasperating when you’ve come all the way from London and it turns out that a good position is critical to capture the collection adequately. Marcin Podsiad?o showed black fabric geometric headpieces that completely dominated the all black outfits, meaning that in fact I couldn’t really tell you much about them. Far more successful, as styling goes, were the black blocked lips.

Marcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia Gregory

I am sure there were some lovely and very wearable shapes in this show, but in general I always struggle with all black collections, especially when they are shown in such low lighting levels that it’s nearly impossible to make out any detail. I was most interested to discover that Marcin Podsiad?o studied at the University of the Creative Arts and I think he’s actually based in the UK. I wonder if he was roaming the corridors when I taught there?

Marcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia GregoryMarcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia GregoryMarcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia GregoryMarcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia GregoryMarcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia GregoryMarcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia GregoryMarcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia GregoryMarcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia GregoryMarcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia GregoryMarcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia GregoryMarcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia GregoryMarcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia GregoryMarcin Podsiadlo Off Out ?ód? Fashion Week AW 2011 photography by Amelia Gregory
Marcin Podsiad?o A/W 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Categories ,black, ,geometric, ,headpieces, ,Marcin Podsiadło, ,Not Just a Label, ,Off Out Of Schedule, ,UCA, ,University of the Creative Arts, ,Victoria Haynes

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