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Amelia’s Magazine | MOSCHINO: London Collections: Men S/S 2015 Catwalk Review

Moschino S/S 2015 by Krister Selin

Moschino was the hottest ticket during London Collections: Men, and the 300-strong queue outside Lindley Hall was testament to that. Inside, the wall had been branded with a huge Moschino decal; cameras whirled above our heads on enormous tripods. The noise was deafening. Everybody seemed a bit sexier and they all had Moschino french fries iPhone cases.

My naivety, and inability to attend fashion weeks other than London-based ones, meant that I felt like I had been transported to a Versace show in Milan in the 1990s. My absolute favourite kind of fashion is trashy Italian fashion – the style of unashamed glamour that the Italians do so well, introduced in the 1980s and infamous in the 1990s. It brought us supermodels, leather chaps on the runway and more ghetto gold than you can shake a stick at. So when I found out that Moschino were to show at London Collections: Men, in our great city for the first time, I knew I’d bend over backwards to get in. Luckily I didn’t have to do that.

Moschino S/S 2015 by Krister Selin

Nobody seemed to be getting in from outside, and as I stood next to a woman dressed head-to-toe in that ridiculous, brilliant McDonald’s inspired ensemble, I envisaged a mass scrum and hours of waiting. I was surprised the show began a mere 20 minutes late. What happened after this is a bit of a blur, the atmosphere was so electric that I think I may have blacked out from excitement at one point.

All photography by Matt Bramford

Dishy models that must have been shipped in from Italy, or perhaps paradise, strode out to the sounds of a 1990s playlist. The first section turned soft drinks and pop culture into suits, t-shirts and swimwear. Then came brightly coloured tops, sweatshirts and bikinis emblazoned with enormous Moschino type.

Chanel 2.55 knock offs with gold Moschino letters replacing the interlocking C’s eveloped one model (above), one of my favourite looks from this show.

Next, on the World Cup bandwagon and a 1990s tip, models wore prints that were happy hardcore smiley faces featuring international flags. More 90s ephemera came in the form of oversized sweatshirts, nylon bomber jackets and black mesh pieces, with a yellow tailcoat tuxedo thrown in for good measure, naturally.

Then came a sort of homage to a range of luxury fashion houses – a mock Louis Vuitton monogram print appeared on jackets and trousers, the LVs replaced with serif Ms. A ‘Fauxchino‘ motif, added to my wishlist, looked so trashy that it could have been bought from a seaside market.

Want to dress like an Hermès carrier bag? Well now you can with Moschino‘s bright orange denim jacket and jeans with black Moschino logo strips. If Hermès isn’t your bag, perhaps a Versace-esque black and gold suit will suffice?

Rhinestone dollar signs and logo sweaters completed this collection:

I love the shocking, shameless abuse of other designer brands to glorious end. That’s a somewhat difficult sentence to type amidst outrageous alleged cases of high street copycats and even fashion powerhouses ripping off London designers, but Jeremy Scott and the label pull off the plagiarism with such panache that nobody seems to bat an eyelid. This blatant disregard for intellectual property has been at the heart of the brand since Franco Moschino launched his eponymous label in 1983. And, if this collection is anything to go by, Scott is without doubt the best person to take the Moschino crown. I’m praying he brings his army of merry men and women back next year.

Written by Matt Bramford on Friday June 27th, 2014 11:18 am

Categories ,1990s, ,catwalk, ,fashion, ,Gucci, ,Hermés, ,Italian, ,Jeremy Scott, ,LCM, ,LCMSS2015, ,Lindley Hall, ,London Collections Men, ,Louis Vuitton, ,menswear, ,Monogram, ,Moschino, ,pop culture, ,review, ,SS15, ,Swimwear, ,Versace, ,Womenswear

Amelia’s Magazine | Grace Kelly: Style Icon

As a movie star-turned-princess, approved Grace Kelly’s fashion choices were always well-documented by the media in her lifetime, and it’s no surprise that the new exhibition of her wardrobe at the Victoria and Albert Museum has been eagerly anticipated by fashion-lovers.

The show – which is actually fairly small and tightly-edited – includes pieces from Kelly’s Hollywood career, as well as her later role as Princess of Monaco. Alongside the film posters are the costumes she wore in films like High Society, To Catch a Thief and Rear Window. The most interesting thing is the insight the show gives into Kelly’s ‘real’ style. She popularised a seemingly effortless, elegant, immaculate look, but the stories behind some of her wardrobe choices show a surprisingly low-maintenance, pragmatic attitude: a floral dress she wore to visit her future husband, Prince Rainier of Monaco, turns out to be the only uncrumpled thing she had in her suitcase, and it came from an easy-to-sew patternbook. As well as the many, many gorgeous red-carpet dresses, the exhibition shows how she assembled a stylish wardrobe. “I just buy clothes when they catch my eye and I wear them for years,” Kelly said. She wore her favourites until they wore out: displayed on its own, her famous leather Hermes bag – renamed in her honour after she was photographed holding it to conceal her pregnancy in 1956 – is scuffed from years of use. Similarly, she took the same embroidered evening bag to multiple red-carpet events, and the dress she wore to collect her Oscar was originally created by costume guru Edith Head for a movie she was in the previous year.

Later, when she became Princess Grace, she wore Givenchy, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent. Another thing that comes as a surprise is how modern some of the pieces are. Imagining Grace Kelly conjures her trademark white gloves or the full-skirted dresses she wore in many of her movies, but as some of the displays of outfits from the 1960s and 1970s show, she adapted her style over the years without giving up on fashion. She wore a YSL Mondrian dress to a children’s party, and accessorised to maximise on every occasion, as the collections of jewels, sunglasses, handbags and shoes show.

The clothes in the exhibition are teamed throughout with memorabilia, quotes and film clips. The photographs of Princess Grace wearing fabulous outfit after outfit are a valuable part of the displays, but it’s almost a shame they’re so small. In those pictures, Kelly always looks poised, and glamorous in a subtle, regal way (even before she was a princess). Some of the magic is lost in viewing her wardrobe – as fabulous as it is – on stiff, headless mannequins, in the museum’s dimly-lit glass cabinets. It just goes to show that the secret of why Grace Kelly was such a style icon is about more than the clothes. And it’s pleasing to know that even a woman with such an impossibly glamorous lifestyle would never chuck out her favourite handbag.

Grace Kelly: Style Icon, open until 26 September 2010 at the V&A Museum, London
Admission £6 (£4 concessions)

Written by Amelie Skoda on Friday April 23rd, 2010 10:37 am

Categories ,Balenciaga, ,Grace Kelly, ,Hermés, ,High Society, ,Hollywood, ,Monaco, ,Princess, ,Rear Window, ,To Catch A Thief, ,va, ,victoria and albert museum, ,YSL, ,Yves Saint Laurent

Amelia’s Magazine | NKOYO Silk Scarves: an interview with illustrator and print designer Alice Nyong

NKOYO by Alice Nyong.

When contributing illustrator Alice Nyong got in touch to tell me about her beautiful new printed scarf range, I had to know more… here she offers invaluable advice about setting up a label, keeping production in the UK, and best ways to wear your scarf.

nkoyo preciousstones portrait

What is the inspiration behind your new NKOYO silk scarf collection and how or where did you research the imagery?
I’d say the inspiration for the scarves is twofold, firstly, I love the traditional format of silk scarves, which I’ve always been drawn to. I love the configuration used by classic designers such as Versace, Balmain and Hermes; the use of symmetry and how your work changes so much once it’s mirrored, and then again once it’s worn always appealed to me. Secondly I’m influenced by the world around me. I grew up in london, but my mum always had a really lush and green garden, so the contrasts of those two aesthetic environments really inspired me. I love nature and the natural beauty found within it, so that informs a lot of my designs. As far as researching images, I tend to draw from real life, or photographs I’ve taken myself. I trawled through loads of old national geographic magazines for my more nature-rich designs such as the precious stones or under the sea.

NKOYO Scarves
How long has it taken you to set up the label and what has been the hardest part?
It’s been a real growing process. I started designing in October last year, and made a little online shop of my first samples, all finished by me at that time. I then realised I had to improve the way they were being made, and size them so that the designs translated correctly on the wearer. I worked with two different suppliers to get the silk and the production just right, and I’m only recently feeling totally happy with it. It’s been different for me coming from a graphics background, I was naive, and I’ve learnt as I’ve gone along. They’ve been stocked in Luna & Curious since the beginning of this year, which is great. I’d say the hardest part is the patience you have to have. With pure illustration, there is more of an immediate result, but theres a lot of waiting with what I do now. But I find the end result way more fulfilling.

NKOYO Scarves
Self portrait.

NKOYO Scarves
What has been the most rewarding part of working on the collection?
Seeing it worn on someone is so rewarding for me. I also really enjoyed seeing them through the prism of another artist when my friend, and great photographer, Alma Haser shot the lookbook images. They brought another element to my work, which was amazing. Although I enjoy running a business, and all that comes with; it doesn’t always come naturally to me, but I think picking colours, and imagining how a design is going to look on a woman does. I feel very proud of myself for the collection I’ve made.

nkoyo underthesea
NKOYO Scarves
The scarves are ethically made in the UK – how did you source production and why is it important to you to make things locally?
I started off talking to fellow young designers, and asking for advice on where to have the silk printed. I quickly became aware that so many scarves are made abroad in an unethical manner to keep costs down, and that I’d have to be in direct competition with them. So as much as I need the support of the customer that wants to buy good British design, the good British manufacturers need my support. It’s also important to me to have someone on the end of a phone or a train journey away, to talk to about how my final product will be. From a wider viewpoint, after all the work I put into my designs, I want them only to be a thing of positivity, I don’t want myself or the customer to be left with a bad taste in their mouth when considering where the product has been made.

NKOYO Scarves
How do you recommend that the different sizes of scarf are worn?
I think the great thing with scarves is they are so versatile. Recently the 90x90cm braids scarf was styled as a top for an editorial, which looked amazing. Normally I’d wear that one folded in a triangle around the neck, to show off the design at the back. I also love turbans, they suit all hair types. The long scarf comes in either 165cm x 14cm or 130cm x 30cm, so theres a few different ways to wear. I love to see either worn with a collared shirt in a pussy bow style, which I think brightens up a quite formal look. Or twisted around the head. The thicker long scarf is also great hung loosely, as the design is quite bold.

NKOYO Scarves
Where is your studio and what does it look like on a busy day at work?
I have a studio space at home in North London, which I really like. Its all focussed around a large desk and a large desktop mac. I do like to spread out, and work on quite a big scale; Drawing on A4 paper or anything smaller gives me mild anxiety. After a busy day, there’ll be a lot of pieces of paper with frantic lists and doodles, and I have a lot of magazines piled up around me, but nothing too manic. I think I’m similar to a lot of creatives, when I say I like my space how I like it. Nobody move the mess.

NKOYO Scarves
Why do you think that scarves are enjoying such a renaissance at the moment?
I think it’s because they are a blank canvas. The wearer can be daring in a much more accessible way, and there are very few outfits that don’t benefit from the addition of a scarf. There are some great artists out there, who are experimenting with the medium, and having fun with it. With promotion from shops like Liberty, they are also a very luxurious item, I think people want to spend their money wisely in this climate, and although it sounds corny, you do get a piece of art and something wearable at the same time.

NKOYO Scarves
What other projects are you working on now?
I am always working on freelance illustration and graphics projects. Soon I hope to collaborate with some friends who are starting a menswear label called heresy. As well as illustration, I really like writing, and have a writing website that I try to update as often as I can. Its a little more acerbic than my designs would suggest I suppose, but I love it. I want to write short stories when I have the time.

NKOYO Scarves
See more on the NKOYO website: www.nkoyo.co.uk or check out illustrations on http://alicenyong.com

NKOYO Scarves

Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday June 26th, 2012 10:32 am

Categories ,Alice Nyong, ,Alma Haser, ,Balmain, ,ethical, ,heresy, ,Hermés, ,illustration, ,Local, ,Luna & Curious, ,Luna and Curious, ,print, ,Silk Scarf, ,sustainable, ,Versace

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