Amelia’s Magazine | The Golden Thread Awards at Fashion Week Poland A/W 2011: Colourful Patterns

Jo Cheung_Sofie Gauden Golden Thread AW 2011
Sofie Gauden AW 2011 by Jo Cheung.

Very few Golden Thread designers really embraced colour and pattern. But these ones did.

Natalia Paliy Golden Thread Poland Fashion Week AW 2011 by Michalis Christodoulou
Natalia Paliy AW 2011 by Michalis Christodoulou.

Natalia Paliy
Natalia Paliy Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Natalia Paliy Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Natalia Paliy Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Natalia Paliy Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Natalia Paliy Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Natalia Paliy Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Natalia Paliy Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Natalia Paliy Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Natalia Paliy Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011
Natalia Paliy really set her own pace with a happy tune mashup and an eager parade of smiling models in summery flower prints sent straight down to the end of the catwalk in a phalanx. The styling was bloody awful but the prints were rather lovely underneath it all… who knows if she was responsible for them herself? And was this really Fall/Winter I ask you?!

Domi Grzybek by Hannah Simpson
Domi Grzybek by Hannah Simpson.

Domi Grzybek
Domi Grzybek Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Domi Grzybek Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Domi Grzybek Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Domi Grzybek Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Domi Grzybek Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Domi Grzybek Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Domi Grzybek Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011
Domi Grzybek paraded coral fitted jackets with gold sequin pants, viagra 100mg slouchy 80s influenced numbers with wide shoulders, viagra drop crotch nappy pants, plastic capes and patchwork body con dresses which had the air of Holly Fulton and Christopher Kane some seasons back. I liked the colour palette, but there was a major problem with poor tailoring: badly fitted bodycon dresses are never a good plan.

Katharina Kubiak
Katharina Kubiak Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Katharina Kubiak Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Katharina Kubiak Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Katharina Kubiak Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Katharina Kubiak Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Katharina Kubiak Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Katharina Kubiak Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Katharina Kubiak Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Katharina Kubiak Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Katharina Kubiak Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011
Katharina Kubiak‘s over the top womenswear styling was a total dog’s dinner but her printed mix and match aesthetic worked well on shorts suits for men. I liked them a lot… now she just needs to concentrate on what she does best.

Sofie Gauden Golden Thread AW 2011Jo Cheung
Sofie Gauden AW 2011 by Jo Cheung.

Sofie Gaudaen
Sofie Gaudaen Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Sofie Gaudaen Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Sofie Gaudaen Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Sofie Gaudaen Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Sofie Gaudaen Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Sofie Gaudaen Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011Sofie Gaudaen Golden Thread Fashion Week Poland AW 2011
Sofie Gaudaen ended the evening with a collection of neon rave shamans: barefooted models sporting plenty of feathers and fringing. I loved the colours but it was not the strongest showing of the night to end on…

Categories ,A/W 2011, ,Christopher Kane, ,colour, ,Domi Grzybek, ,Fashion Philosophy Fashion Week Poland, ,Fashion Week Poland, ,Hannah Simpson, ,Holly Fulton, ,Jo Cheung, ,Katharina Kubiak, ,Lodz, ,Natalia Paliy, ,poland, ,Polish, ,Premiere Vision, ,Pret-a-porter, ,print, ,Shamen, ,Sofie Gaudaen, ,Sofie Gauden, ,Stock vodka, ,Szałapot, ,The Golden Thread, ,Złota Nitka

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Amelia’s Magazine | Two Magpies Find: Fragments Exhibition

Most bands have a shelf life, purchase especially the ones who are hyped. Although a review like “The first band in a decade to lay serious claim to the Stone Roses throne” (The Guardian) can put you in good stead when you’re starting out, it can also set you en route to Destination Doomsville, burdening you with a reputation you simply can’t live up to.

British indie rock band Delays have so far managed to fend themselves of this curse. They have gone from strength to strength following the release of their debut album ‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ in 2004 to critical acclaim. Six years on, the four-piece are set to release their forth album, ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel’ produced by Duncan Lewis who worked on their first album.

In a tiny room in the basement of music venue Water Rats in King’s Cross – decorated with blue and white fairy lights, a few old shelves and an enormous abstract painting – I join spiritual front man Greg Gilbert (GG) and down-to-earth drummer Rowley (R) before they take the stage at their sold out London gig to talk about their latest album, town criers and livin’ it up at Glastonbury over lime-flavoured Doritos

How would you describe your new album in three words?
GG: Rustic, organic and psychedelic
R: I don’t like organic, it sounds a bit vegetably
GG: OK then; rustic, psychedelic and melancholic
R: Yeah, that sounds better – I second that emotion
GG: Or we could say “Our. Best. Album” – three words – succinct and to the point

What has inspired your latest album?
GG: Our last album had a lot of orchestral arrangements and there was a real urge between the four of us to strip the sound back and become a four-piece band again. With that in mind we started to go for long drives at night along the New Forest, making music to soundtrack the journey. We built the record from the ground up and it was just a case of being inspired by the environment opposed to any concerns about writing a single. We banned the words ‘single’ and ‘commercial’ from the studio.
R: We used to do it all the time; we would say: “I think this one’s a single”, which makes you approach making music differently. We spent a lot of time in Southampton, reacquainting ourselves with the city and each other again, which does come through on the record. The result is a much more personal and honest sound.

How have you found the audience’s response to the new material so far?
GG: We’ve found that people who wouldn’t have liked our previous stuff have been positive about the new album. They’re responding to the fact that it’s a more personal record – they’re getting from it more from us as individuals then a commodity. So far, the people who have heard our record think it’s the best one.
R: The new tracks are going down just as well as our old stuff. It’s a great feeling when the roar for a new song is as enthusiastic as for an old song, like ‘Long Time Coming’.

How do you think your sound has changed over the years?

GG: The first album sounds like a beach, the second album sounds like a club, the third album sounds like a festival and this album sounds like the forest, with the roots growing underneath the city at night making the buildings shake whilst you’re asleep. The first album is quite delicate because we recorded that before we toured so there was a certain amount of discovery. For the second album we worked with Graham Sutton who is genius producer; he brought a real club edge to the record which had a raw but beautiful precision about it.
R: We wrote the third album with the approach that it would be amazing at a festival; it’s big and bombastic and sounds like you’re playing it to 100,000 people rather then making a record for headphones.
GG: This album’s much more abstract; you can hear this on a beach in Scandinavia at two in the morning with mist flowing in the morning. We were trying to create a record which maintained a mood and an atmosphere which carries you into different surroundings. I think the best records take you to different worlds and that’s what we tried to emulate.
R: It’s not necessarily one genre of music. There’s a certain atmosphere which you can’t quite put your finger on, but it works for late night drives with aerial views over the city.

What’s your proudest achievement to date?
GG: To me it’s the fact that we’re about to release our fourth album and our songs are still playing on the radio. Very few bands get to make four albums so that makes me feel very proud. We’ve been around since 2004 and we’ve managed to sustain and grow our fan base in a way that has been pure because there is no hype now around what we do.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?
R: I’ve been going to Glastonbury for years so to play there was amazing. I was really ill on the day and I came so close to calling the others to say I couldn’t do it, but by the time it came to going on stage I’d never felt so healthy in all my life – Glastonbury has that effect, it wakes you up. There was another time when we played in Mexico City; we were headlining on one of the nights at a festival called ‘Manifest’ and we had no idea how big it was going to be. There were 6,000 people crammed into a wrestling/bullfighting arena all chanting ‘Delays, Delays!”. We were slightly in shock for the first couple of numbers.

Did you have any ridiculous demands on your rider in the early days that you don’t feel embarrassed about fessing up to now?
R: I don’t think our rider has changed much since the start; just the same stuff: vodka, beer, water bottles. In the beginning we did have one thing that we thought would be great to collect, which was to have a picture of the local mayor from every town where we played. The only one we got in the end was from Gloucester where they gave us a picture of the town crier which they also got signed – that was ace!

Now that you have played with your long-term idols the Manic Street Preachers, who would you most like to support?
GG: I always come back to Prince. I’m also pretty obsessed with Scott Walker at the moment – he’s the musician I most admire. I’m not sure how we’d go down with his audience but he’s awesome.
R: It’s still The (Rolling) Stones for me. Apparently we did get an offer to support them in Vienna about three years ago but we were already booked in for a festival in Wales on the same day.
GG: Keith Richards is pretty much top of the tree when it comes to rock and roll. Hopefully the opportunity will come up again…

The Delays release their fourth album ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel on 21st June 2010 on Lookout Mountain Records, preceded by the debut track ‘Unsung’ on 14th June.


Most bands have a shelf life, web especially the ones who are hyped. Although a review like “The first band in a decade to lay serious claim to the Stone Roses throne” (The Guardian) can put you in good stead when you’re starting out, it can also set you en route to Destination Doomsville, burdening you with a reputation you simply can’t live up to.

British indie rock band Delays have so far managed to fend themselves of this curse. They have gone from strength to strength following the release of their debut album ‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ in 2004 to critical acclaim. Six years on, the four-piece are set to release their forth album, ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel’ produced by Duncan Lewis who worked on their first album.

In a tiny room in the basement of music venue Water Rats in King’s Cross – decorated with blue and white fairy lights, a few old shelves and an enormous abstract painting – I join spiritual front man Greg Gilbert (GG) and down-to-earth drummer Rowley (R) before they take the stage at their sold out London gig to talk about their latest album, town criers and livin’ it up at Glastonbury over lime-flavoured Doritos

How would you describe your new album in three words?
GG: Rustic, organic and psychedelic
R: I don’t like organic, it sounds a bit vegetably
GG: OK then; rustic, psychedelic and melancholic
R: Yeah, that sounds better – I second that emotion
GG: Or we could say “Our. Best. Album” – three words – succinct and to the point

What has inspired your latest album?
GG: Our last album had a lot of orchestral arrangements and there was a real urge between the four of us to strip the sound back and become a four-piece band again. With that in mind we started to go for long drives at night along the New Forest, making music to soundtrack the journey. We built the record from the ground up and it was just a case of being inspired by the environment opposed to any concerns about writing a single. We banned the words ‘single’ and ‘commercial’ from the studio.
R: We used to do it all the time; we would say: “I think this one’s a single”, which makes you approach making music differently. We spent a lot of time in Southampton, reacquainting ourselves with the city and each other again, which does come through on the record. The result is a much more personal and honest sound.

How have you found the audience’s response to the new material so far?
GG: We’ve found that people who wouldn’t have liked our previous stuff have been positive about the new album. They’re responding to the fact that it’s a more personal record – they’re getting from it more from us as individuals then a commodity. So far, the people who have heard our record think it’s the best one.
R: The new tracks are going down just as well as our old stuff. It’s a great feeling when the roar for a new song is as enthusiastic as for an old song, like ‘Long Time Coming’.

How do you think your sound has changed over the years?

GG: The first album sounds like a beach, the second album sounds like a club, the third album sounds like a festival and this album sounds like the forest, with the roots growing underneath the city at night making the buildings shake whilst you’re asleep. The first album is quite delicate because we recorded that before we toured so there was a certain amount of discovery. For the second album we worked with Graham Sutton who is genius producer; he brought a real club edge to the record which had a raw but beautiful precision about it.
R: We wrote the third album with the approach that it would be amazing at a festival; it’s big and bombastic and sounds like you’re playing it to 100,000 people rather then making a record for headphones.
GG: This album’s much more abstract; you can hear this on a beach in Scandinavia at two in the morning with mist flowing in the morning. We were trying to create a record which maintained a mood and an atmosphere which carries you into different surroundings. I think the best records take you to different worlds and that’s what we tried to emulate.
R: It’s not necessarily one genre of music. There’s a certain atmosphere which you can’t quite put your finger on, but it works for late night drives with aerial views over the city.

What’s your proudest achievement to date?
GG: To me it’s the fact that we’re about to release our fourth album and our songs are still playing on the radio. Very few bands get to make four albums so that makes me feel very proud. We’ve been around since 2004 and we’ve managed to sustain and grow our fan base in a way that has been pure because there is no hype now around what we do.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?
R: I’ve been going to Glastonbury for years so to play there was amazing. I was really ill on the day and I came so close to calling the others to say I couldn’t do it, but by the time it came to going on stage I’d never felt so healthy in all my life – Glastonbury has that effect, it wakes you up. There was another time when we played in Mexico City; we were headlining on one of the nights at a festival called ‘Manifest’ and we had no idea how big it was going to be. There were 6,000 people crammed into a wrestling/bullfighting arena all chanting ‘Delays, Delays!”. We were slightly in shock for the first couple of numbers.

Did you have any ridiculous demands on your rider in the early days that you don’t feel embarrassed about fessing up to now?
R: I don’t think our rider has changed much since the start; just the same stuff: vodka, beer, water bottles. In the beginning we did have one thing that we thought would be great to collect, which was to have a picture of the local mayor from every town where we played. The only one we got in the end was from Gloucester where they gave us a picture of the town crier which they also got signed – that was ace!

Now that you have played with your long-term idols the Manic Street Preachers, who would you most like to support?
GG: I always come back to Prince. I’m also pretty obsessed with Scott Walker at the moment – he’s the musician I most admire. I’m not sure how we’d go down with his audience but he’s awesome.
R: It’s still The (Rolling) Stones for me. Apparently we did get an offer to support them in Vienna about three years ago but we were already booked in for a festival in Wales on the same day.
GG: Keith Richards is pretty much top of the tree when it comes to rock and roll. Hopefully the opportunity will come up again…

Delays release their fourth album ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel on 21st June 2010 on Lookout Mountain Records, preceded by the debut track ‘Unsung’ on 14th June.


Most bands have a shelf life, healing especially the ones who are hyped. Although a review like: “The first band in a decade to lay serious claim to the Stone Roses throne” (The Guardian) can put you in good stead while you’re starting out, drugs it can also set you en route Destination Doomsville, burdening you with a reputation you simply can’t live up to.

British indie rock band Delays have so far managed to fend themselves of this curse. They have gone from strength to strength following the release of their debut album ‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ in 2004 to critical acclaim. Six years on, the four-piece are set to release their forth album, ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel’ produced by Duncan Lewis who worked on their first album.

In a tiny room in the basement of music venue Water Rats in King’s Cross – decorated with blue and white fairy lights, a few old shelves and an enormous abstract painting – I join spiritual front man Greg Gilbert (GG) and down-to-earth drummer Rowley (R) before they take the stage at their sold out London gig to talk about their latest album, town criers and livin’ it up at Glastonbury over lime-flavoured Doritos

How would you describe your new album in three words?
GG: Rustic, organic and psychedelic
R: I don’t like organic, it sounds a bit vegetably
GG: OK then; rustic, psychedelic and melancholic
R: Yeah, that sounds better – I second that emotion
GG: Or we could say “Our. Best. Album” – three words – succinct and to the point

What has inspired your latest album?
GG: Our last album had a lot of orchestral arrangements and there was a real urge between the four of us to strip the sound back and become a four-piece band again. With that in mind we started to go for long drives at night along the New Forest, making music to soundtrack the journey. We built the record from the ground up and it was just a case of being inspired by the environment opposed to any concerns about writing a single. We banned the words ‘single’ and ‘commercial’ from the studio.
R: We used to do it all the time; we would say: “I think this one’s a single”, which makes you approach making music differently. We spent a lot of time in Southampton, reacquainting ourselves with the city and each other again, which does come through on the record. The result is a much more personal and honest sound.

How have you found the audience’s response to the new material so far?
GG: We’ve found that people who wouldn’t have liked our previous stuff have been positive about the new album. They’re responding to the fact that it’s a more personal record – they’re getting from it more from us as individuals then a commodity. So far, the people who have heard our record think it’s the best one.
R: The new tracks are going down just as well as our old stuff. It’s a great feeling when the roar for a new song is as enthusiastic as for an old song, like ‘Long Time Coming’.

How do you think your sound has changed over the years?

GG: The first album sounds like a beach, the second album sounds like a club, the third album sounds like a festival and this album sounds like the forest, with the roots growing underneath the city at night making the buildings shake whilst you’re asleep. The first album is quite delicate because we recorded that before we toured so there was a certain amount of discovery. For the second album we worked with Graham Sutton who is genius producer; he brought a real club edge to the record which had a raw but beautiful precision about it.
R: We wrote the third album with the approach that it would be amazing at a festival; it’s big and bombastic and sounds like you’re playing it to 100,000 people rather then making a record for headphones.
GG: This album’s much more abstract; you can hear this on a beach in Scandinavia at two in the morning with mist flowing in the morning. We were trying to create a record which maintained a mood and an atmosphere which carries you into different surroundings. I think the best records take you to different worlds and that’s what we tried to emulate.
R: It’s not necessarily one genre of music. There’s a certain atmosphere which you can’t quite put your finger on, but it works for late night drives with aerial views over the city.

What’s your proudest achievement to date?
GG: To me it’s the fact that we’re about to release our fourth album and our songs are still playing on the radio. Very few bands get to make four albums so that makes me feel very proud. We’ve been around since 2004 and we’ve managed to sustain and grow our fan base in a way that has been pure because there is no hype now around what we do.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?
R: I’ve been going to Glastonbury for years so to play there was amazing. I was really ill on the day and I came so close to calling the others to say I couldn’t do it, but by the time it came to going on stage I’d never felt so healthy in all my life – Glastonbury has that effect, it wakes you up. There was another time when we played in Mexico City; we were headlining on one of the nights at a festival called ‘Manifest’ and we had no idea how big it was going to be. There were 6,000 people crammed into a wrestling/bullfighting arena all chanting ‘Delays, Delays!”. We were slightly in shock for the first couple of numbers.

Did you have any ridiculous demands on your rider in the early days that you don’t feel embarrassed about fessing up to now?
R: I don’t think our rider has changed much since the start; just the same stuff: vodka, beer, water bottles. In the beginning we did have one thing that we thought would be great to collect, which was to have a picture of the local mayor from every town where we played. The only one we got in the end was from Gloucester where they gave us a picture of the town crier which they also got signed – that was ace!

Now that you have played with your long-term idols the Manic Street Preachers, who would you most like to support?
GG: I always come back to Prince. I’m also pretty obsessed with Scott Walker at the moment – he’s the musician I most admire. I’m not sure how we’d go down with his audience but he’s awesome.
R: It’s still The (Rolling) Stones for me. Apparently we did get an offer to support them in Vienna about three years ago but we were already booked in for a festival in Wales on the same day.
GG: Keith Richards is pretty much top of the tree when it comes to rock and roll. Hopefully the opportunity will come up again…

Delays release their fourth album ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel on 21st June 2010 on Lookout Mountain Records, preceded by the debut track ‘Unsung’ on 14th June.


Most bands have a shelf life, medical especially the ones who are hyped. Although a review like: “The first band in a decade to lay serious claim to the Stone Roses throne” (The Guardian) can put you in good stead while you’re starting out, cialis 40mg it can also set you en route Destination Doomsville, sildenafil burdening you with a reputation you simply can’t live up to.

British indie rock band Delays have so far managed to fend themselves of this curse. They have gone from strength to strength following the release of their debut album ‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ in 2004 to critical acclaim. Six years on, the four-piece are set to release their forth album, ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel’ produced by Duncan Lewis who worked on their first album.

In a tiny room in the basement of music venue Water Rats in King’s Cross – decorated with blue and white fairy lights, a few old shelves and an enormous abstract painting – I join spiritual front man Greg Gilbert (GG) and down-to-earth drummer Rowley (R) before they take the stage at their sold out London gig to talk about their latest album, town criers and livin’ it up at Glastonbury over lime-flavoured Doritos

How would you describe your new album in three words?
GG: Rustic, organic and psychedelic
R: I don’t like organic, it sounds a bit vegetably
GG: OK then; rustic, psychedelic and melancholic
R: Yeah, that sounds better – I second that emotion
GG: Or we could say “Our. Best. Album” – three words – succinct and to the point

What has inspired your latest album?
GG: Our last album had a lot of orchestral arrangements and there was a real urge between the four of us to strip the sound back and become a four-piece band again. With that in mind we started to go for long drives at night along the New Forest, making music to soundtrack the journey. We built the record from the ground up and it was just a case of being inspired by the environment opposed to any concerns about writing a single. We banned the words ‘single’ and ‘commercial’ from the studio.
R: We used to do it all the time; we would say: “I think this one’s a single”, which makes you approach making music differently. We spent a lot of time in Southampton, reacquainting ourselves with the city and each other again, which does come through on the record. The result is a much more personal and honest sound.

How have you found the audience’s response to the new material so far?
GG: We’ve found that people who wouldn’t have liked our previous stuff have been positive about the new album. They’re responding to the fact that it’s a more personal record – they’re getting from it more from us as individuals then a commodity. So far, the people who have heard our record think it’s the best one.
R: The new tracks are going down just as well as our old stuff. It’s a great feeling when the roar for a new song is as enthusiastic as for an old song, like ‘Long Time Coming’.

How do you think your sound has changed over the years?

GG: The first album sounds like a beach, the second album sounds like a club, the third album sounds like a festival and this album sounds like the forest, with the roots growing underneath the city at night making the buildings shake whilst you’re asleep. The first album is quite delicate because we recorded that before we toured so there was a certain amount of discovery. For the second album we worked with Graham Sutton who is genius producer; he brought a real club edge to the record which had a raw but beautiful precision about it.
R: We wrote the third album with the approach that it would be amazing at a festival; it’s big and bombastic and sounds like you’re playing it to 100,000 people rather then making a record for headphones.
GG: This album’s much more abstract; you can hear this on a beach in Scandinavia at two in the morning with mist flowing in the morning. We were trying to create a record which maintained a mood and an atmosphere which carries you into different surroundings. I think the best records take you to different worlds and that’s what we tried to emulate.
R: It’s not necessarily one genre of music. There’s a certain atmosphere which you can’t quite put your finger on, but it works for late night drives with aerial views over the city.

What’s your proudest achievement to date?
GG: To me it’s the fact that we’re about to release our fourth album and our songs are still playing on the radio. Very few bands get to make four albums so that makes me feel very proud. We’ve been around since 2004 and we’ve managed to sustain and grow our fan base in a way that has been pure because there is no hype now around what we do.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?
R: I’ve been going to Glastonbury for years so to play there was amazing. I was really ill on the day and I came so close to calling the others to say I couldn’t do it, but by the time it came to going on stage I’d never felt so healthy in all my life – Glastonbury has that effect, it wakes you up. There was another time when we played in Mexico City; we were headlining on one of the nights at a festival called ‘Manifest’ and we had no idea how big it was going to be. There were 6,000 people crammed into a wrestling/bullfighting arena all chanting ‘Delays, Delays!”. We were slightly in shock for the first couple of numbers.

Did you have any ridiculous demands on your rider in the early days that you don’t feel embarrassed about fessing up to now?
R: I don’t think our rider has changed much since the start; just the same stuff: vodka, beer, water bottles. In the beginning we did have one thing that we thought would be great to collect, which was to have a picture of the local mayor from every town where we played. The only one we got in the end was from Gloucester where they gave us a picture of the town crier which they also got signed – that was ace!

Now that you have played with your long-term idols the Manic Street Preachers, who would you most like to support?
GG: I always come back to Prince. I’m also pretty obsessed with Scott Walker at the moment – he’s the musician I most admire. I’m not sure how we’d go down with his audience but he’s awesome.
R: It’s still The (Rolling) Stones for me. Apparently we did get an offer to support them in Vienna about three years ago but we were already booked in for a festival in Wales on the same day.
GG: Keith Richards is pretty much top of the tree when it comes to rock and roll. Hopefully the opportunity will come up again…

Delays release their fourth album ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel on 21st June 2010 on Lookout Mountain Records, preceded by the debut track ‘Unsung’ on 14th June.


Most bands have a shelf life, doctor especially the ones who are hyped. Although a review like: “The first band in a decade to lay serious claim to the Stone Roses throne” (The Guardian) can put you in good stead while you’re starting out, it can also set you en route Destination Doomsville, burdening you with a reputation you simply can’t live up to.

British indie rock band Delays have so far managed to fend themselves of this curse. They have gone from strength to strength following the release of their debut album ‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ in 2004 to critical acclaim. Six years on, the four-piece are set to release their forth album, ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel’ produced by Duncan Lewis who worked on their first album.

In a tiny room in the basement of music venue Water Rats in King’s Cross – decorated with blue and white fairy lights, a few old shelves and an enormous abstract painting – I join spiritual front man Greg Gilbert (GG) and down-to-earth drummer Rowley (R) before they take the stage at their sold out London gig to talk about their latest album, town criers and livin’ it up at Glastonbury over lime-flavoured Doritos

How would you describe your new album in three words?
GG: Rustic, organic and psychedelic
R: I don’t like organic, it sounds a bit vegetably
GG: OK then; rustic, psychedelic and melancholic
R: Yeah, that sounds better – I second that emotion
GG: Or we could say “Our. Best. Album” – three words – succinct and to the point

What has inspired your latest album?
GG: Our last album had a lot of orchestral arrangements and there was a real urge between the four of us to strip the sound back and become a four-piece band again. With that in mind we started to go for long drives at night along the New Forest, making music to soundtrack the journey. We built the record from the ground up and it was just a case of being inspired by the environment opposed to any concerns about writing a single. We banned the words ‘single’ and ‘commercial’ from the studio.
R: We used to do it all the time; we would say: “I think this one’s a single”, which makes you approach making music differently. We spent a lot of time in Southampton, reacquainting ourselves with the city and each other again, which does come through on the record. The result is a much more personal and honest sound.

How have you found the audience’s response to the new material so far?
GG: We’ve found that people who wouldn’t have liked our previous stuff have been positive about the new album. They’re responding to the fact that it’s a more personal record – they’re getting from it more from us as individuals then a commodity. So far, the people who have heard our record think it’s the best one.
R: The new tracks are going down just as well as our old stuff. It’s a great feeling when the roar for a new song is as enthusiastic as for an old song, like ‘Long Time Coming’.

How do you think your sound has changed over the years?

GG: The first album sounds like a beach, the second album sounds like a club, the third album sounds like a festival and this album sounds like the forest, with the roots growing underneath the city at night making the buildings shake whilst you’re asleep. The first album is quite delicate because we recorded that before we toured so there was a certain amount of discovery. For the second album we worked with Graham Sutton who is genius producer; he brought a real club edge to the record which had a raw but beautiful precision about it.
R: We wrote the third album with the approach that it would be amazing at a festival; it’s big and bombastic and sounds like you’re playing it to 100,000 people rather then making a record for headphones.
GG: This album’s much more abstract; you can hear this on a beach in Scandinavia at two in the morning with mist flowing in the morning. We were trying to create a record which maintained a mood and an atmosphere which carries you into different surroundings. I think the best records take you to different worlds and that’s what we tried to emulate.
R: It’s not necessarily one genre of music. There’s a certain atmosphere which you can’t quite put your finger on, but it works for late night drives with aerial views over the city.

What’s your proudest achievement to date?
GG: To me it’s the fact that we’re about to release our fourth album and our songs are still playing on the radio. Very few bands get to make four albums so that makes me feel very proud. We’ve been around since 2004 and we’ve managed to sustain and grow our fan base in a way that has been pure because there is no hype now around what we do.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?
R: I’ve been going to Glastonbury for years so to play there was amazing. I was really ill on the day and I came so close to calling the others to say I couldn’t do it, but by the time it came to going on stage I’d never felt so healthy in all my life – Glastonbury has that effect, it wakes you up. There was another time when we played in Mexico City; we were headlining on one of the nights at a festival called ‘Manifest’ and we had no idea how big it was going to be. There were 6,000 people crammed into a wrestling/bullfighting arena all chanting ‘Delays, Delays!”. We were slightly in shock for the first couple of numbers.

Did you have any ridiculous demands on your rider in the early days that you don’t feel embarrassed about fessing up to now?
R: I don’t think our rider has changed much since the start; just the same stuff: vodka, beer, water bottles. In the beginning we did have one thing that we thought would be great to collect, which was to have a picture of the local mayor from every town where we played. The only one we got in the end was from Gloucester where they gave us a picture of the town crier which they also got signed – that was ace!

Now that you have played with your long-term idols the Manic Street Preachers, who would you most like to support?
GG: I always come back to Prince. I’m also pretty obsessed with Scott Walker at the moment – he’s the musician I most admire. I’m not sure how we’d go down with his audience but he’s awesome.
R: It’s still The (Rolling) Stones for me. Apparently we did get an offer to support them in Vienna about three years ago but we were already booked in for a festival in Wales on the same day.
GG: Keith Richards is pretty much top of the tree when it comes to rock and roll. Hopefully the opportunity will come up again…

Delays release their fourth album ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel on 21st June 2010 on Lookout Mountain Records, preceded by the debut track ‘Unsung’ on 14th June.


Most bands have a shelf life, sildenafil especially the ones who are hyped. Although a review like: “The first band in a decade to lay serious claim to the Stone Roses throne” (The Guardian) can put you in good stead while you’re starting out, this site it can also set you en route Destination Doomsville, burdening you with a reputation you simply can’t live up to.

British indie rock band Delays have so far managed to fend themselves of this curse. They have gone from strength to strength following the release of their debut album ‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ in 2004 to critical acclaim. Six years on, the four-piece are set to release their forth album, ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel’ produced by Duncan Lewis who worked on their first album.

In a tiny room in the basement of music venue Water Rats in King’s Cross – decorated with blue and white fairy lights, a few old shelves and an enormous abstract painting – I join spiritual front man Greg Gilbert (GG) and down-to-earth drummer Rowley (R) before they take the stage at their sold out London gig to talk about their latest album, town criers and livin’ it up at Glastonbury over lime-flavoured Doritos

How would you describe your new album in three words?
GG: Rustic, organic and psychedelic
R: I don’t like organic, it sounds a bit vegetably
GG: OK then; rustic, psychedelic and melancholic
R: Yeah, that sounds better – I second that emotion
GG: Or we could say “Our. Best. Album” – three words – succinct and to the point

What has inspired your latest album?
GG: Our last album had a lot of orchestral arrangements and there was a real urge between the four of us to strip the sound back and become a four-piece band again. With that in mind we started to go for long drives at night along the New Forest, making music to soundtrack the journey. We built the record from the ground up and it was just a case of being inspired by the environment opposed to any concerns about writing a single. We banned the words ‘single’ and ‘commercial’ from the studio.
R: We used to do it all the time; we would say: “I think this one’s a single”, which makes you approach making music differently. We spent a lot of time in Southampton, reacquainting ourselves with the city and each other again, which does come through on the record. The result is a much more personal and honest sound.

How have you found the audience’s response to the new material so far?
GG: We’ve found that people who wouldn’t have liked our previous stuff have been positive about the new album. They’re responding to the fact that it’s a more personal record – they’re getting from it more from us as individuals then a commodity. So far, the people who have heard our record think it’s the best one.
R: The new tracks are going down just as well as our old stuff. It’s a great feeling when the roar for a new song is as enthusiastic as for an old song, like ‘Long Time Coming’.

How do you think your sound has changed over the years?

GG: The first album sounds like a beach, the second album sounds like a club, the third album sounds like a festival and this album sounds like the forest, with the roots growing underneath the city at night making the buildings shake whilst you’re asleep. The first album is quite delicate because we recorded that before we toured so there was a certain amount of discovery. For the second album we worked with Graham Sutton who is genius producer; he brought a real club edge to the record which had a raw but beautiful precision about it.
R: We wrote the third album with the approach that it would be amazing at a festival; it’s big and bombastic and sounds like you’re playing it to 100,000 people rather then making a record for headphones.
GG: This album’s much more abstract; you can hear this on a beach in Scandinavia at two in the morning with mist flowing in the morning. We were trying to create a record which maintained a mood and an atmosphere which carries you into different surroundings. I think the best records take you to different worlds and that’s what we tried to emulate.
R: It’s not necessarily one genre of music. There’s a certain atmosphere which you can’t quite put your finger on, but it works for late night drives with aerial views over the city.

What’s your proudest achievement to date?
GG: To me it’s the fact that we’re about to release our fourth album and our songs are still playing on the radio. Very few bands get to make four albums so that makes me feel very proud. We’ve been around since 2004 and we’ve managed to sustain and grow our fan base in a way that has been pure because there is no hype now around what we do.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?
R: I’ve been going to Glastonbury for years so to play there was amazing. I was really ill on the day and I came so close to calling the others to say I couldn’t do it, but by the time it came to going on stage I’d never felt so healthy in all my life – Glastonbury has that effect, it wakes you up. There was another time when we played in Mexico City; we were headlining on one of the nights at a festival called ‘Manifest’ and we had no idea how big it was going to be. There were 6,000 people crammed into a wrestling/bullfighting arena all chanting ‘Delays, Delays!”. We were slightly in shock for the first couple of numbers.

Did you have any ridiculous demands on your rider in the early days that you don’t feel embarrassed about fessing up to now?
R: I don’t think our rider has changed much since the start; just the same stuff: vodka, beer, water bottles. In the beginning we did have one thing that we thought would be great to collect, which was to have a picture of the local mayor from every town where we played. The only one we got in the end was from Gloucester where they gave us a picture of the town crier which they also got signed – that was ace!

Now that you have played with your long-term idols the Manic Street Preachers, who would you most like to support?
GG: I always come back to Prince. I’m also pretty obsessed with Scott Walker at the moment – he’s the musician I most admire. I’m not sure how we’d go down with his audience but he’s awesome.
R: It’s still The (Rolling) Stones for me. Apparently we did get an offer to support them in Vienna about three years ago but we were already booked in for a festival in Wales on the same day.
GG: Keith Richards is pretty much top of the tree when it comes to rock and roll. Hopefully the opportunity will come up again…

Delays release their fourth album ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel on 21st June 2010 on Lookout Mountain Records, preceded by the debut track ‘Unsung’ on 14th June.


Most bands have a shelf life, link especially the ones who are hyped. Although a review like: “The first band in a decade to lay serious claim to the Stone Roses throne” (The Guardian) can put you in good stead while you’re starting out, it can also set you en route Destination Doomsville, burdening you with a reputation you simply can’t live up to.

British indie rock band Delays have so far managed to beat the curse. They have gone from strength to strength following the release of their debut album ‘Faded Seaside Glamour’ in 2004. Six years on, the four-piece are set to release their forth album, ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel’ produced by Duncan Lewis who worked on their first album.

In a tiny room in the basement of music venue Water Rats in King’s Cross – decorated with blue and white fairy lights, a few old shelves and an enormous abstract painting – I join spiritual front man Greg Gilbert (GG) and down-to-earth drummer Rowley (R) before they take the stage at their sold out London gig to talk about their latest album, town criers and livin’ it up at Glastonbury over lime-flavoured Doritos

How would you describe your new album in three words?
GG: Rustic, organic and psychedelic
R: I don’t like organic, it sounds a bit vegetably
GG: OK then; rustic, psychedelic and melancholic
R: Yeah, that sounds better – I second that emotion
GG: Or we could say “Our. Best. Album” – three words – succinct and to the point

What has inspired your latest album?
GG: Our last album had a lot of orchestral arrangements and there was a real urge between the four of us to strip the sound back and become a four-piece band again. With that in mind we started to go for long drives at night along the New Forest, making music to soundtrack the journey. We built the record from the ground up and it was just a case of being inspired by the environment opposed to any concerns about writing a single. We banned the words ‘single’ and ‘commercial’ from the studio.
R: We used to do it all the time; we would say: “I think this one’s a single”, which makes you approach making music differently. We spent a lot of time in Southampton, reacquainting ourselves with the city and each other again, which does come through on the record. The result is a much more personal and honest sound.

How have you found the audience’s response to your new material so far?
GG: We’ve found that people who wouldn’t have liked our previous stuff have been positive about the new album. They’re responding to the fact that it’s a more personal record – they’re getting from it more from us as individuals then a commodity. So far, the people who have heard our record think it’s the best one.
R: The new tracks are going down just as well as our old stuff. It’s a great feeling when the roar for a new song is as enthusiastic as for an old song, like ‘Long Time Coming’.

How do you think your sound has changed over the years?

GG: The first album sounds like a beach, the second album sounds like a club, the third album sounds like a festival and this album sounds like the forest, with the roots growing underneath the city at night making the buildings shake whilst you’re asleep. The first album is quite delicate because we recorded that before we toured so there was a certain amount of discovery. For the second album we worked with Graham Sutton who is genius producer; he brought a real club edge to the record which had a raw but beautiful precision about it.
R: We wrote the third album with the approach that it would be amazing at a festival; it’s big and bombastic and sounds like you’re playing it to 100,000 people rather then making a record for headphones.
GG: This album’s much more abstract; you can hear this on a beach in Scandinavia at two in the morning with mist flowing in the morning. We were trying to create a record which maintained a mood and an atmosphere which carries you into different surroundings. I think the best records take you to different worlds and that’s what we tried to emulate.
R: It’s not necessarily one genre of music. There’s a certain atmosphere which you can’t quite put your finger on, but it works for late night drives with aerial views over the city.

What’s your proudest achievement to date?
GG: To me it’s the fact that we’re about to release our fourth album and our songs are still playing on the radio. Very few bands get to make four albums so that makes me feel very proud. We’ve been around since 2004 and we’ve managed to sustain and grow our fan base in a way that has been pure because there is no hype now around what we do.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?
R: I’ve been going to Glastonbury for years so to play there was amazing. I was really ill on the day and I came so close to calling the others to say I couldn’t do it, but by the time it came to going on stage I’d never felt so healthy in all my life – Glastonbury has that effect, it wakes you up. There was another time when we played in Mexico City; we were headlining on one of the nights at a festival called ‘Manifest’ and we had no idea how big it was going to be. There were 6,000 people crammed into a wrestling/bullfighting arena all chanting ‘Delays, Delays!”. We were slightly in shock for the first couple of numbers.

Did you have any ridiculous demands on your rider in the early days that you don’t feel embarrassed about fessing up to now?
R: I don’t think our rider has changed much since the start; just the same stuff: vodka, beer, water bottles. In the beginning we did have one thing that we thought would be great to collect, which was to have a picture of the local mayor from every town where we played. The only one we got in the end was from Gloucester where they gave us a picture of the town crier which they also got signed – that was ace!

Now that you have played with your long-term idols the Manic Street Preachers, who would you most like to support?
GG: I always come back to Prince. I’m also pretty obsessed with Scott Walker at the moment – he’s the musician I most admire. I’m not sure how we’d go down with his audience but he’s awesome.
R: It’s still The (Rolling) Stones for me. Apparently we did get an offer to support them in Vienna about three years ago but we were already booked in for a festival in Wales on the same day.
GG: Keith Richards is pretty much top of the tree when it comes to rock and roll. Hopefully the opportunity will come up again…

Delays release their fourth album ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel on 21st June 2010 on Lookout Mountain Records, preceded by the debut track ‘Unsung’ on 14th June.


Sweden is a small country but it has produced some big exports. Whether it’s infectious pop, ailment affordable furniture or fashionable, well-priced clothes (take a stab at guessing the brands!), the Swedes know what it takes to satisfy their consumers. Now if we extend these categories to ‘hip young musicians’, you’ll find that they have their bases covered here too.

We first featured Lykke Li back in February 2008 when she was just an emerging artist, relatively fresh to the gig circuit. Since then, she has well and truly established a name for herself amongst the underground and commercial elite of the music scene, building up a set of credentials to leave most of her peers looking on with green-eyed envy.

She released her debut album ‘Youth Novels‘ to critical acclaim in 2008 and has since performed with The Roots and hip hop legend Q-Tip, collaborated with Kayne West and MIA, and currently features on a track called ‘Miss It So Much’ on Roysopp’s latest album. As if that weren’t enough, she also penned the track ‘Possibility’ for the second installment of lovey-dovey vampire Twilight saga ‘New Moon’, gaining herself a healthy teen following in the process.

On the award front, Lykke’s musical talent and fashion sense have not gone unnoticed; she has received nominations for “Best Video” and “Best Female Artist” at the Swedish Grammy Awards and was voted “Best Dressed Woman” at the Swedish Elle Magazine Awards in 2009. Is there an end to this list of fabulousness?? (And she’s only 24!)

Dressed in an oversized black tassled jacket, a short black mini-skirt, bulky black boots and lashings of thick black eye make-up (and with few words), on meeting Lykke, I couldn’t help but feel that she exuded the demeanor of a slightly irked teenager.

I caught up with the Swedish starlet briefly, prior to her set at the Volvo Subject 60 launch party in London last week, for a rather intriguing interview in a drafty stairwell to talk about her international background, performing in front of big crowds and desert island necessities…

So how are you feeling about your set tonight?
Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to do some new songs tonight which I haven’t done before. The sets are also going to be more acoustic so it will be different and quite interesting.

You’ve had a very international upbringing – have you found that this has influenced your music?

I don’t know because I’ve never known any different. I don’t know how I would write music if I only lived in one place. I feel that my music comes more from within – not so much from the outside.

Who are your biggest musical influences to date?
There are just so many. I don’t really listen to a lot of new music. I get really inspired by weird chanting, like Voodoo music. I recently found these field recordings from the 1920s which I’ve been listening to a lot.

What bands currently excite you?
I really enjoy Beach House – the singer has a great voice and their songs are very well written. I am also listening to The Big Pink and a lot too who have an interesting sound. Of course, there’s always Leonard Cohen.

How have you found the transition of playing in big venues compared to small venues?
It’s been fine although I still enjoy playing small venues the most because there’s more of an intimacy you share with your audience.

How do you find playing in front of a UK audience in comparison to a Swedish audience?
It’s kind of crazy because I almost never play in Sweden; it’s so rare. I guess every audience is different but I find that in big cities, people tend to be slightly more reserved – there’s more of an effort that people make to be cool.

What has been your most memorable gig to date?
Last summer there was a festival on an island just outside Holland so we had to take the smallest boat to get there, but it was during severe storms and the water was really rough. Everyone on the boat thought that we were going to die. And then there was the coming back part when we were super drunk in the middle of the night. It was crazy but we had a great time.

Who would you most like to work with?
Leonard Cohen as always.

What’s the best piece of advice you can offer someone starting out?
It’s hard to maintain yourself in this industry. I think the main thing I would say is to be honest and always stay true to yourself. It’s clichéd but it’s true.

What are you most looking forward to this summer?
I’m looking forward to going for a swim in the lakes in Sweden when it’s finished. It’s going to be a long summer for me as I’ll going to be in the studio for most of it. It’s exciting but I can’t sleep anymore because I’m thinking so much – my brain is working all the time.

What three items would you bring with you if you on a desert island?
A hot man, a Swiss army knife and some erotic novels by Anaïs Nin.

I always look forward to the Northumbria University BA fashion degree show for two reasons. One, shop because it’s always effing good – the innovation, pills technique and creativity on display is second to pretty much nobody at Graduate Fashion Week. Secondly, viagra dosage I studied at the university, so this review might seem like a big fat plate of bias – I assure you, though, that it isn’t.

Nestled on the front row in between Style Savage Steve and the ever wonderful Hilary Alexander (who bopped, sketched and scribbled her way through the show) I was a little concerned that my big lens (said the actress to the bishop) might block the view of either of these fashion journalists. Neither said anything though, so I think I got away with it.

Opening the show with an explosion of glam-rock-meets-Elvis-meets-Lady-Gaga, Naomi New presented a very polished micro-collection featuring exaggerated shoulders of leather, spikes and studs, and horse-hair tails. Models strutted back and forth with real sex appeal and the quality of Naomi’s craftsmanship looked, from what I could see, incredible.

The key theme in this year’s show was digital prints, and it’s a testament to the late, great Alexander McQueen’s legacy that this is such a mainstay on graduate catwalks. Faye Chamberlain’s was the most striking of collections, owing to its wild neon prints reminiscent of MIA’s Kala album cover, and blingy embellishment. Short, short dresses with spikey hips challenged the traditional constraints of the female form.

Further print patrons included the work of Sophie Dee and Ludmila Maida. Sophie Dee presented a feminine, playful collection of vibrant prints, micro shorts and bubble skirts, accessorised with childlike objects such as candy floss and helium balloons, harping back to the glory days of the seaside. Ludmila Maida’s collection was a slightly more mature one, with elegant maxi dresses in neon, gathered into sections to create flattering asymmetrical shapes.

Gemma Williamson also hopped on the print train, with her slightly eery collection making use of religious iconography.


Illustration by Gemma Williamson from her graduate work

Menswear was, as always, well represented; one of the few menswear graduates to win the prestigious Gold Award in recent years was a Northumbria student. Sara Wilson set the standard with a mixture of soft tailoring and Japanese influence – loose fitting blazers were teamed with skinny trousers and shorts, while snood-like pieces of material attempted to cover the face, giving each outfit a martial-art feel.

Louise Dickinson’s inspired outfits seemed to draw influence from historical Britain and tradition in general. An oversized Barbour-style jacket here and a triangular-shaped cape printed with a vintage map there made for a intriguing and genuinely unique collection.

But it was Caroline Rowland’s eccentric tailoring that captured my imagination the most. A bit Sebastian Flyte, a bit Dries Van Noten, it was the perfect mix of traditional tailoring and quirky design flair. Ill-fitting gingham shirts (I presume on purpose) were teamed with tucked-in waistcoats and patterned bow ties, while cropped blazers looked great with high-waisted tailored trousers. You can never go wrong with a sock suspender either.

And now for a quick round of some of my favourite womesnwear collections. It’ll have to be a whistle-stop tour because I have 3 other shows to write up and I’m having my hair cut in an hour.

One of my absolute faves was Julie Perry, who combined body-concious all-in-ones with Meccano-style leather creations. These outfits had real sex appeal – not one for the supermarket but definitely for the fierce fashionista who isn’t afraid to show off. Julie’s pieces were architectural in shape and hinted at a little bit of kink.


Illustration by Julie Perry from her graduate work

Holly Farrar’s super sleek collection toyed with masculine tailoring and models had structured shoulders with outfits tapering downwards. Defined v-necklines gave the outfits an overall geometric look and were very sophisticated indeed.


Illustration by Holly Farrar from her graduate work

These gemoetric-slash-linear-slash-structured themes ran through many a collection, executed most effectively by Stephanie Price. Her futuristic collection married materials with aesthetic appeal with flattering shapes – mesh covered body-concious shift dresses had a dazzling effect, as did this dynamic jacket…


Illustrations by Stephanie Price, from her graduate work

Closing the show was Victoria Kirby, who had clearly been selected for her fresh innovation and coutourier-like craftsmanship. Elegant floor sweepers made from silk and velour had the appearance of two dresses in one, cut and merged down the middle. Exaggerating the shoulders and synching in at the waist created beautiful feminine shapes that flattered.


Illustration by Victoria Kirby, from her graduate work

All photography by Matt Bramford

Photograph by Vanya Sacha

Prior to the General Election, about it Amelia’s Magazine interviewed Amisha Ghadiali about her new project Think Act Vote. As the dust settles on the birth of the coalition, this site Amelia’s Magazine caught up with Amisha to find out about the Think Act Vote Poetry competition, how to be involved with the The Future I Choose Anthology (deadline the end of September, what are you waiting for?) and to find out where Think Act Vote will be for the remaining days of summer. (Hint! 13th – 15th August finds Think Act Vote at Vintage at Goodwood, for more details read the interview!)

How did Think Act Vote spend the election night?

The night before we had our amazing Think Act Vote party at The City and Arts Music Project, where we revealed the winner of our poetry competition, with live music from the Delirium Tremens and did a Think Act Vote Photobooth.

On election day, I cast my vote and then had to pack and head to the airport. My brother was graduating from film school at NYU Tisch Asia on the Friday in Singapore so I had to choose between watching the results live or being at the graduation.

I really wanted to go to the election party at the Hub Kings Cross hosted by NEF and Future Gov, and also the Billbored party. They looked really fun. There was no live coverage on the plane!

Showpiece by Beautiful Soul for Think Act Vote: Photograph by Dominic Clarke

What was your desired General Election outcome?

I can’t say I had one that was possible. I was hoping there would be a more inspirational leader in the race. But under the circumstances, I was hoping for a coalition.

Why were you hoping “under the circumstances’ for a coalition?

I don’t know; there wasn’t an ideal choice there for me. I just want a progressive government. I think the real issue is our system. We need parliamentary reform, this should have happened before this election, but hopefully it has shown Westminster that the current system doesn’t work.

I would like to see a system that allows more independent candidates to get into parliament. There is an argument that this will allow too many people from the far right to get into power, but actually we proved in this election that good old fashioned campaigning can keep the far right at bay.

I think it would be exciting for our country if we had more independents, as I think there are a lot of interesting individuals out there that would be interested in standing for parliament but don’t want to join a particular party.

Campaigns Group at Time for Tea. Photograph by Vanya Sacha

As the hung parliament reality dawned, whilst you were in America. Were you able to follow the developments in the Lib-Lab and Lib-Con talks?

It was strange. I wasn’t watching the TV news, so was seeing it all from the internet. I would have liked to experience it here and to have taken in the atmosphere.

From far away it seemed like utter madness, in any project, you plan for different circumstances. So I did find it strange that the Lib Dems hadn’t already decided what they wanted to do if this situation occurred.

What did you think to the press coverage during the General Election Aftermath (I found the ‘squatting’ headlines referring to Gordon Brown particularly unhelpful)?

Again from a distance, it did seem like a country in chaos. That nobody had a clue what to do. But yes I agree referring the Prime Minister as squatting is never going to be helpful!

Photograph by Deepti V. Patel

What were your initial thoughts on the Con-Lib Government?

Surprise, that the Lib Dems had chosen for the country to have a Tory Prime Minister. I would have thought that this would be the last thing they would ever want to happen. But I thought it was interesting that things would have to be passed through such differing views.

As the reality of the cuts loom, have your opinions changed towards the effectiveness of the Coalition Relationship?

I think it is a bit confusing, I don’t feel like Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems have shone through in any way. It does feel more like a Conservative government. I know that we are going through a hard time at the moment with the national deficit and the recession, but they have made some cuts to things that could be really important. For example totally cutting the Sustainable Development Commission and The UK Film Council.

Photograph by Vanya Sacha

Earlier this summer, you attended a Compass Conference – could you describe to Amelia’s Magazine readers the nature of these political events?

There are various political conferences that take place, I have been involved with Compass for the past four years. I used to be on the Compass youth management committee.

Compass was set up by Neal Lawson and is an umbrella organisation for progressive politics, bringing together politicians of all parties, pressure groups, trade unions, think tanks, NGOs, academics, activists, campaigners and individuals. They hold an annual conference every summer to discuss ideas.

There is an opening address in the main hall which this year had Caroline Lucas MP on the panel, and a closing address which had Pam Giddy, POWER 2010, Jon Cruddas MP & Chuka Umunna MP. There was also a Labour Leaders Debate which was quite interesting to see live.

The rest of the day is filled with smaller seminars, covering over 30 topics including Climate Change“>Climate Change, Parliamentary Reform, Tax Justice, The NHS, Feminist Issues and Poverty.

It is an opportunity to think through alternatives to the ways problems are currently being tackled, have open discussions, ask questions and be inspired.

Photograph by Maciej Groman

What are Think Act Vote’s recommendations for making your vote count everday?

It is just about thinking about what is important to you, and finding ways to take action and get your voice heard. Whether that is through supporting campaigns, or thinking twice about what you spend your money on.

If you haven’t yet, a good place to start is by contributing to our book. Ask yourself the question – What is The Future You Choose?
You might just give yourself the answer of what to do next..

You can read some examples and contribute online.

What are Think Act Vote plans for the rest of the summer?

More, more, more. We have been doing Think Act Vote Photobooths, and running around music festivals taking photos and getting people to take part. So we are going to carry this on until the end of September.

Ethical Fashion Green Sunday. Photograph by LUDOVIC DES COGNETS.

Where can you find out about the Photobooth events?

We do these events often, keep your eyes on our facebook page and the events page on the Think Act Vote website. Apart from the festivals, we are planning various other venues around London over the next seven weeks.

We are trying to find interesting venues, like the Union Street Orchard for example.

The release date for the The Future I Choose anthology has been delayed, what were the reasons behind this decision?

We had such a great response and more than enough content to publish the book straight after the election, but thought it made sense to get more people to take part over the summer.

Also we didn’t want to send out the message that you only get a choice in The Future You Choose in the run up to an election, because the whole point of our campaign is that you get that choice every day.


Playsuit by Tara Starlet for Think Act Vote: photograph by Dominic Clarke

Have you been working with new fashion designers since Amelia’s Magazine interviewed you? I see the blog mentions: Nancy Dee and Miksani?

We have been sharing on our site the full stories of the Think Act Vote Refashioned pieces, and in some cases instructions on how to make them.

The designers that took part were Ciel, Ada Zandition, Nancy Dee, Miksani, Junky Styling, TRAIDremade, Beautiful Soul and Tara Starlet. Other designers really wanted to take part but couldn’t at the time as they were out of the country, we might get them to do a little something.

The MA students on the Fashion & The Environment project at London College of Fashion are working on something for us now, which we can’t wait to see!

Photograph by Deepti V. Patel

What does the Think Act Vote campaign mean after the election?

Although inspired by the election, the campaign was never about voting in the election. It is about understanding that everyday we all express the future we choose by how we spend our time, money and energy. It’s about inspiring ourselves and others to live a life that reflects what we actually want from our future when we stop to think about it.

The ‘Vote’ is ours, it is about taking that word away from politicians as something we give to them every four years. About us not being afraid to use political language in our every day lives in a positive way.

I know that having Vote in the campaign name has put many people off it, and even a lot of my friends have thought it was about voting in elections until I explained that.

But I think it is important to be aware that everything we do is political and that every day we make choices that shape our world.

Photograph by Deepti V.Patel

Olivia Sprinkel, Winner of the poetry competition was announced on the night of the Think Act Vote Party, How was this decision made?

The poetry competition was judged by John Bird and Shane Solanki. The shortlist was read out at the party and went down really well.

Even though the competition is over, everyone is still welcome to answer our question – What’s The Future You Choose with a poem. It might end up in our book!

What’s next for Think Act Vote?

We are really excited about Vintage at Goodwood this weekend! We are doing Think Act Vote Refashioned workshops in the sustainability area where you can make your very own Think Act Vote Refashioned Dress. We will also be doing photoshoots, meet us outside our tent after our workshops.

I am also doing a talk in the talk tent on ethical fashion and creative activism.

This weekend (13th – 14th August 2010) finds Think Act Vote participating in Vintage at Goodwood’s, Sustainable Design Workshops. Find the the Think Act Vote team at 11-1 and 3-6 on Friday and between 1-4 adn 4-7 on Saturday and Sunday.
NB: sadly we can’t attend to report on this workshop: read more about why here.

From the Think Act Vote Team:

“It is an invitation for you to take part in Think Act Vote Refashioned. You can make your very own Think Act Vote one off piece and then have it photographed to be in our book, as well as a post online about how you went about your customisation.

You will be in very capable hands as the workshops will be led by Laura Metcalf and Alison Lewis who met on set of a channel 4 television pilot, they have been working together most recently on alterations and repairing vintage clothes at Clerkenwell Vintage Fair in London.”

Amisha Ghadiali will be interviewed by Leonora Oppenheim about Ethical Fashion and Creative Activism at 5pm on Saturday in the Talk Tent. This is an event not to be missed!

What’s the Future You Choose?


Illustrations by Jenny Robins

If you are visiting Windsor this Summer, pharmacy and I really think you should because it’s got everything: Nando’s, drug Wagamama, drugs a Castle – no really, it’s really pretty. Pretend you are posh, or a tourist. If you are posh, pretend to be a tourist, and vice versa. A nice day trip away from the city; a nice daytrip towards the city, but not quite too the city. If you live West.

Anyway, if you are visiting Windsor this Summer, be sure to stop in to the Mill House café and look at the really lovely Fragments exhibition put together by the superstar curatorial team Two Magpies Find. It’s on the left as you walk away from the Castle down Peascod Street, opposite Ben & Jerry’s. The show is up till the end of August.

Ok, this exhibition in question does include a lot of my work, so this is a bit self serving (insider’s perspective, Amelia said) but I don’t want to talk about that too much (although I will mention that the WHOWHATWHEREWHENHOW owl series is available as a limited edition postcard set – I’m only human). I wrote a big thing about me and why I paint birds for their local Beat magazine off the back of Fragments, so please feel free to go read that. I like birds, you like birds, we like birds, I paint birds, fly bird fly, etc.

But seriously, it’s all about the birds, kids. Edward Bawden used to say that the secret to selling paintings was to put cats in them wherever possible. Plenty of art lovers still love cats, that’s still a cliché. But in the last few years, particularly, it seems drawing birds is a strong contender. Just look at the fabulous Jo Cheung and Abi Daker’s birdtastic background for this very website. Birds are so beautiful and varied, they burst with life. There’s a special contained freedom to them that must appeal to the creative soul.


Ali and Anna of Two Magpies Find

“I’m obsessed with birds too!” Ali of TwoMagpiesFind told me soon after we first met. It’s not surprising since she is a Magpie herself, wearing a golden bird-table necklace, echoing the lovely birdhouse illustration advertising their next exhibition theme “Home” (email entries here.) The pair met at the Firestation – a local arts centre where Anna works and Ali volunteers – and plan to expand their gallery work both locally and in other areas. Projects like this are so important, where independent venues work together with creatives to organise events that benefit locals and artists alike. Artists often live a magpie existence, ever courting serendipity. We need to support each other and keep on collaborating and getting involved with small projects. It can make the world of difference.

As well as my varied bird paintings, the show brings together Magpie finds illustrator and publisher Dan Prescott of Lazy Gramaphone, who’s intricate designs are both striking and absorbing, beautifully presented as perfect quality Giclée prints, and painter Zita Saffrette, whose landscapes are so full of light and air you’d think they were backlit. In addition the Magpies have displayed some of their own work –beautifully printed photographs exploring stark white juxtapositions on natural scenes (my favourite is of a wedding dress draped across a field), intricate nature paintings and a really striking screen print of two toy horses blown up to poster size.

The café itself is a stunning space, much bigger and brighter on the inside than you would know from the street. It used to be a Puccino’s and still retains the SHUT HAPPENS door signs (I love them). Multicoloured teapots and vases circle the top of the room, making the whole space seem almost that real-estate oxymoron – cosy yet spacious.

May these birds keep flying high into blue skies, and may all arty birds (of a feather) the land over keep on painting those feathered friends.

Categories ,Abi Daker, ,art, ,Beat Magazine, ,Ben and Jerry’s, ,birds, ,Dan Prescott, ,Edward Bawden, ,Firestation, ,Fragments, ,Home, ,illustration, ,Jenny Robins, ,Jo Cheung, ,Landscapes, ,Lazy Gramaphone, ,Magpies, ,Mill House Café, ,Nandos, ,Two Magpies Find, ,Wagamama, ,WhoWhatWhereWhenNow, ,Windsor, ,Windsor Castle, ,Zita Saffrette

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Amelia’s Magazine | Two Magpies Find: Fragments Exhibition


Illustrations by Jenny Robins

If you are visiting Windsor this Summer, and I really think you should because it’s got everything: Nando’s, Wagamama, a Castle – no really, it’s really pretty. Pretend you are posh, or a tourist. If you are posh, pretend to be a tourist, and vice versa. A nice day trip away from the city; a nice daytrip towards the city, but not quite too the city. If you live West.

Anyway, if you are visiting Windsor this Summer, be sure to stop in to the Mill House café and look at the really lovely Fragments exhibition put together by the superstar curatorial team Two Magpies Find. It’s on the left as you walk away from the Castle down Peascod Street, opposite Ben & Jerry’s. The show is up till the end of August.

Ok, this exhibition in question does include a lot of my work, so this is a bit self serving (insider’s perspective, Amelia said) but I don’t want to talk about that too much (although I will mention that the WHOWHATWHEREWHENHOW owl series is available as a limited edition postcard set – I’m only human). I wrote a big thing about me and why I paint birds for their local Beat magazine off the back of Fragments, so please feel free to go read that. I like birds, you like birds, we like birds, I paint birds, fly bird fly, etc.

But seriously, it’s all about the birds, kids. Edward Bawden used to say that the secret to selling paintings was to put cats in them wherever possible. Plenty of art lovers still love cats, that’s still a cliché. But in the last few years, particularly, it seems drawing birds is a strong contender. Just look at the fabulous Jo Cheung and Abi Daker’s birdtastic background for this very website. Birds are so beautiful and varied, they burst with life. There’s a special contained freedom to them that must appeal to the creative soul.


Ali and Anna of Two Magpies Find

“I’m obsessed with birds too!” Ali of TwoMagpiesFind told me soon after we first met. It’s not surprising since she is a Magpie herself, wearing a golden bird-table necklace, echoing the lovely birdhouse illustration advertising their next exhibition theme “Home” (email entries here.) The pair met at the Firestation – a local arts centre where Anna works and Ali volunteers – and plan to expand their gallery work both locally and in other areas. Projects like this are so important, where independent venues work together with creatives to organise events that benefit locals and artists alike. Artists often live a magpie existence, ever courting serendipity. We need to support each other and keep on collaborating and getting involved with small projects. It can make the world of difference.

As well as my varied bird paintings, the show brings together Magpie finds illustrator and publisher Dan Prescott of Lazy Gramaphone, who’s intricate designs are both striking and absorbing, beautifully presented as perfect quality Giclée prints, and painter Zita Saffrette, whose landscapes are so full of light and air you’d think they were backlit. In addition the Magpies have displayed some of their own work –beautifully printed photographs exploring stark white juxtapositions on natural scenes (my favourite is of a wedding dress draped across a field), intricate nature paintings and a really striking screen print of two toy horses blown up to poster size.

The café itself is a stunning space, much bigger and brighter on the inside than you would know from the street. It used to be a Puccino’s and still retains the SHUT HAPPENS door signs (I love them). Multicoloured teapots and vases circle the top of the room, making the whole space seem almost that real-estate oxymoron – cosy yet spacious.

May these birds keep flying high into blue skies, and may all arty birds (of a feather) the land over keep on painting those feathered friends.



Categories ,Abi Daker, ,art, ,Beat Magazine, ,Ben and Jerry’s, ,birds, ,Dan Prescott, ,Edward Bawden, ,Firestation, ,Fragments, ,Home, ,illustration, ,Jenny Robins, ,Jo Cheung, ,Landscapes, ,Lazy Gramaphone, ,Magpies, ,Mill House Café, ,Nandos, ,Two Magpies Find, ,Wagamama, ,WhoWhatWhereWhenNow, ,Windsor, ,Windsor Castle, ,Zita Saffrette

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011 Presentation Review: Antipodium

FADAwards-the tightrope walker-Florence Melrose by-Barbara-Ana-G
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.

FAD awards SS2011 - abi daker
Dress by Rebecca Glyn-Blanco of Camden School for Girls. Illustration by Abigail Daker.

FADAwards Keep it secret-by-Barbara-Ana-Gomez
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.

FAD-Awards-sketches-Amelias-Magazine-by-kila_kitu
FAD-Awards 2010-Kila Kitu
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.

LFW_FAD_Awards_Abigail_Nottingham
The European Fashion Designer award winning dress from Paul Vasileff and Shahira Bakhoum. Illustrated by Abigail Nottingham.

FADAwards Flower-Rebecca Glyn-Blanco by-Barbara-Ana-G
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.”

FAD awards SS2011 - Adam Preece by Abi Daker
Adam Preece by Abigail Daker.

LFW_FAD_awards Chelsey Ward by Abigail-Nottingham
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.

LFW_FAD_Awards Karmen-Marie Parker by Abigail_Nottingham
Karmen-Marie Parker by Abigail Nottingham.

FAD-Awards-Natalie Goreham by-kila_kitu
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.

FAD junior awards 2010 photo by Amelia Gregory
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-FAD-Awards-2010-Antonia-Parker-Amelias-Magazine-A
Zandra Rhodes by Antonia Parker. I wuv her.

FAD junior awards 2010 photo by Amelia Gregory
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.

FAD junior awards 2010 photo by Amelia Gregory
Karmen-Marie Parker with her winning design shortly before she burst into tears… aw, bless.

FAD junior awards 2010 photo by Amelia Gregory
Andre Augusto: pattern cutting award winner.

FAD junior awards 2010 photo by Amelia Gregory
Research award winner Sarah Kilkenny.

FAD junior awards 2010 photo by Amelia Gregory
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.

FAD junior awards 2010 Shomari Williams photo by Amelia Gregory
Shomari Williams.

FAD junior awards 2010 Emily Rogers photo by Amelia Gregory
Emily Rogers.

FAD junior awards 2010 Charlie Ibouillie photo by Amelia Gregory
Charlie Ibouillie.

FAD junior awards 2010 Sinead Cloonan photo by Amelia Gregory
Sinead Cloonan.

FAD junior awards 2010 European winners photo by Amelia Gregory
FAD junior awards 2010 European winners photo by Amelia Gregory
The winner of the European competition.

FAD junior awards 2010 Rebecca Glyn-Blanco photo by Amelia Gregory
Rebecca Glyn-Blanco.

FAD junior awards 2010 Natalie Goreham photo by Amelia Gregory
Natalie Goreham.

FAD junior awards 2010 Florence Melrose photo by Amelia Gregory
Florence Melrose.

FAD junior awards 2010 Misbah Siddique photo by Amelia Gregory
Misbah Siddique.

FAD junior awards 2010 Zandra Rhodes photo by Amelia Gregory
And another completely gratuitous shot of Zandra because this post isn’t long enough already. Because I WUV HER.

FADAwards-the tightrope walker-Florence Melrose by-Barbara-Ana-G
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.

FAD awards SS2011 - abi daker
Dress by Rebecca Glyn-Blanco of Camden School for Girls. Illustration by Abigail Daker.

FADAwards Keep it secret-by-Barbara-Ana-Gomez
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.

FAD-Awards-sketches-Amelias-Magazine-by-kila_kitu
FAD-Awards 2010-Kila Kitu
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.

LFW_FAD_Awards_Abigail_Nottingham
The European Fashion Designer award winning dress from Paul Vasileff and Shahira Bakhoum. Illustrated by Abigail Nottingham.

FADAwards Flower-Rebecca Glyn-Blanco by-Barbara-Ana-G
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.”

FAD awards SS2011 - Adam Preece by Abi Daker
Adam Preece by Abigail Daker.

LFW_FAD_awards Chelsey Ward by Abigail-Nottingham
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.

LFW_FAD_Awards Karmen-Marie Parker by Abigail_Nottingham
Karmen-Marie Parker by Abigail Nottingham.

FAD-Awards-Natalie Goreham by-kila_kitu
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.

FAD junior awards 2010 photo by Amelia Gregory
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-FAD-Awards-2010-Antonia-Parker-Amelias-Magazine-A
Zandra Rhodes by Antonia Parker. I wuv her.

FAD junior awards 2010 photo by Amelia Gregory
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.

FAD junior awards 2010 photo by Amelia Gregory
Karmen-Marie Parker with her winning design shortly before she burst into tears… aw, bless.

FAD junior awards 2010 photo by Amelia Gregory
Andre Augusto: pattern cutting award winner.

FAD junior awards 2010 photo by Amelia Gregory
Research award winner Sarah Kilkenny.

FAD junior awards 2010 photo by Amelia Gregory
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.

FAD junior awards 2010 Shomari Williams photo by Amelia Gregory
Shomari Williams.

FAD junior awards 2010 Emily Rogers photo by Amelia Gregory
Yashodah Rodgers.

FAD junior awards 2010 Charlie Ibouillie photo by Amelia Gregory
Charlie Ibouillie.

FAD junior awards 2010 Sinead Cloonan photo by Amelia Gregory
Sinead Cloonan.

FAD junior awards 2010 European winners photo by Amelia Gregory
FAD junior awards 2010 European winners photo by Amelia Gregory
The winner of the European competition.

FAD junior awards 2010 Rebecca Glyn-Blanco photo by Amelia Gregory
Rebecca Glyn-Blanco.

FAD junior awards 2010 Natalie Goreham photo by Amelia Gregory
Natalie Goreham.

FAD junior awards 2010 Florence Melrose photo by Amelia Gregory
Florence Melrose.

FAD junior awards 2010 Misbah Siddique photo by Amelia Gregory
Misbah Siddique.

FAD junior awards 2010 Zandra Rhodes photo by Amelia Gregory
And another completely gratuitous shot of Zandra because this post isn’t long enough already. Because I WUV HER.

LFW-Antipodium-Andrea-Peterson
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.

Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Homemade cake: always good. And to think, unhealthy not a cupcake in sight *thank god*

Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

LFW-Antipodium by Jo Cheung
Antipodium by Jo Cheung.

Antipodium by Lisa Stannard
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 SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
LFW-Antipodium-Andrea-Peterson
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 SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
LFW-Antipodium by Paolo-Caravello
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 SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
LFW-Antipodium by Jo Cheung
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 SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Antipodium-by-Lisa-Stannard
Antipodium by Lisa Stannard.

LFW-Antipodium by Jo Cheung
LFW-Antipodium by Jo Cheung
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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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011 Presentation Review: Eun Jeung

Illustration by Jo Cheung

The organised chaos of London Fashion Week has begun (NB: at the time of writing, find it was the end of the second day) and apart from the excitement at spotting various London boutique owners, pills mild celebrities and the increasing chances of seeing a model stumble from the heady heights of unstable shoes. The week is of course, about FASHION.

From the stalwarts of John Rocha and Betty Jackson to the increasing number of designers titled as “ones to watch,” it is a (to put it mildly) a frantic dash from venue to queue to venue to queue and back to the BFC for a quick cuppa before starting all over again. London Fashion Week is an incredibly enjoyable dash to get to all the events in time, but a dash none the less.

On Friday (17th September 2010) Amelia’s Magazine had the pleasure of touching base with Eun Jeong’s S/S 11 static presentation in the alcoves of the Russell Chambers in Covent Garden. The designer’s studio presentation was set amidst the odd jumble of relics frequently obtained during the industrious weeks leading up to London Fashion Week.

The press pack moved hapazadly through the three rooms of the exhibition documenting the clothes positioned on mannikins or the exceptionally pretty seated or standing models who occupied the fringes of the space, within and enclosed by the detritus of the design process.

Illustration by Jo Cheung

One of the presentation rooms consisted entirely of props painted white, which rather effectively set off the crystal-embellished shoes. The white dresses saw a return to the draping with which Eun Jeung won the Fashion Fringe award in 2008.

The main room – whose entrance was achieved after a brisk walk up five flights of stairs – where the models were positioned, produced an eye catching jumpsuit, whose beautifully delicate floral pattern was reminiscent of Future Classics.

The third attic room occupied solely by mannikins included a dress which resonated in its simplicity. The tunic was completed by intricate black beading contrasted with delicate drapes across the breadth of the dress.

Looking at the standard of Eon Jeung’s designs for S/S 2011, it is hard to believe that it was only a few years ago Eun Jeong graduated from THAT Central Saint Martin’s MA.

Illustration by Jo Cheung

During the lead up to the S/S 2011 collections, Amelia’s Magazine heard the rather exciting news that Eun Jeong is also an illustrator – Eun we would love to see your drawings!

Categories ,british fashion council, ,draping, ,Eun Jeong, ,Fashion Fringe, ,floral, ,illustrations, ,Jo Cheung, ,lace, ,London Fashion Week, ,S/S 2011, ,Saint Martins MA, ,SS11

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011 Presentation Review: Lu Flux (reprise)

LFW Holly Fulton by KAYLEIGH BLUCK
Holly Fulton by Kayleigh Bluck.

For S/S 2011 Holly Fulton took inspiration from Joan Collins and 60s cruise wear as her “ladies” went on a fantastical tour of luxury living in all the most chic resorts: Monaco, nurse Egypt, Brazil, Hollywood. If this woman exists in reality she would surely be the most shallow creature on the planet, but such is the way of fashion: it thrives on escapism.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

holly fulton by Michelle Urvall Nyrén
holly fulton by Michelle Urvall Nyrén
Holly Fulton by Michelle Urvall Nyrén.

This was the first Holly Fulton catwalk show I’ve attended, and being a fan I was intrigued to see how her aesthetic has held up in a year when her influence on the high street has been massive – particularly where large jewellery is concerned.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton by Aniela Murphy
Holly Fulton by Aniela Murphy.

The show started strongly with a bright orange cracked paving print blouse atop a tiered fringed pencil skirt before giving way to a look that I would say took as much inspiration from the flared shapes of the 70s as it did the decade before. Yellow skater style flared skirts featured laser cut cocktail patterns. Heels were so high one model was forced to remove hers for the finale.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
LFW Holly Fulton by KAYLEIGH BLUCK
Holly Fulton by Kayleigh Bluck.

Holly is at her strongest when she puts together Aztec, Aboriginal and Memphis School inspired appliques on the front of long panels. Flares, shift dresses and maxi skirts provided ample opportunity for this, accessorised with the usual fabulous necklaces and decorated clutch bags. They were accompanied by suitably luxe big earrings and big hair.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory

The collection only started to falter once towards the end, when Holly sent a few dresses down the runway that seemed obviously tacked on to appease sponsors Swarovski. Goodness knows why she decided to finish on these less polished numbers, instead of interspersing them through the whole show.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton by Aniela Murphy
Holly Fulton by Aniela Murphy.

Like David Koma before her Holly used python, this time in its natural colouring as part of heavily textured patterning so that it was less obvious from afar. Maybe a luxury feel demands some kind of obvious domination over the rest of the world, but I’m not sure I like this new trend towards exotic animal skins. Other than his blip she remains an innovative and individual designer who’s very definitely one step ahead of her imitators.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory

LFW Holly Fulton by KAYLEIGH BLUCK
Holly Fulton by Kayleigh Bluck.

For S/S 2011 Holly Fulton took inspiration from Joan Collins and 60s cruise wear as her “ladies” went on a fantastical tour of luxury living in all the most chic resorts: Monaco, and Egypt, Brazil, Hollywood. If this woman exists in reality she would surely be the most shallow creature on the planet, but such is the way of fashion: it thrives on escapism.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

holly fulton by Michelle Urvall Nyrén
holly fulton by Michelle Urvall Nyrén
Holly Fulton by Michelle Urvall Nyrén.

This was the first Holly Fulton catwalk show I’ve attended, and being a fan I was intrigued to see how her aesthetic has held up in a year when her influence on the high street has been massive – particularly where large jewellery is concerned.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton by Aniela Murphy
Holly Fulton by Aniela Murphy.

The show started strongly with a bright orange cracked paving print blouse atop a tiered fringed pencil skirt before giving way to a look that I would say took as much inspiration from the flared shapes of the 70s as it did the decade before. Yellow skater style flared skirts featured laser cut cocktail patterns. Heels were so high one model was forced to remove hers for the finale.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
LFW Holly Fulton by KAYLEIGH BLUCK
Holly Fulton by Kayleigh Bluck.

Holly is at her strongest when she puts together Aztec, Aboriginal and Memphis School inspired appliques on the front of long panels. Flares, shift dresses and maxi skirts provided ample opportunity for this, accessorised with the usual fabulous necklaces and decorated clutch bags. They were accompanied by suitably luxe big earrings and big hair.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory

The collection only started to falter once towards the end, when Holly sent a few dresses down the runway that seemed obviously tacked on to appease sponsors Swarovski. Goodness knows why she decided to finish on these less polished numbers, instead of interspersing them through the whole show.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton by Aniela Murphy
Holly Fulton by Aniela Murphy.

Like David Koma before her Holly used python, this time in its natural colouring as part of heavily textured patterning so that it was less obvious from afar. Maybe a luxury feel demands some kind of obvious domination over the rest of the world, but I’m not sure I like this new trend towards exotic animal skins. Other than his blip she remains an innovative and individual designer who’s very definitely one step ahead of her imitators.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory

LFW Holly Fulton by KAYLEIGH BLUCK
Holly Fulton by Kayleigh Bluck.

For S/S 2011 Holly Fulton took inspiration from Joan Collins and 60s cruise wear as her “ladies” went on a fantastical tour of luxury living in all the most chic resorts: Monaco, troche Egypt, more about Brazil, Hollywood. If this woman exists in reality she would surely be the most shallow creature on the planet, but such is the way of fashion: it thrives on escapism.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

holly fulton by Michelle Urvall Nyrén
holly fulton by Michelle Urvall Nyrén
Holly Fulton by Michelle Urvall Nyrén.

This was the first Holly Fulton catwalk show I’ve attended, and being a fan I was intrigued to see how her aesthetic has held up in a year when her influence on the high street has been massive – particularly where large jewellery is concerned.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton by Aniela Murphy
Holly Fulton by Aniela Murphy.

The show started strongly with a bright orange cracked paving print blouse atop a tiered fringed pencil skirt before giving way to a look that I would say took as much inspiration from the flared shapes of the 70s as it did the decade before. Yellow skater style flared skirts featured laser cut cocktail patterns. Heels were so high one model was forced to remove hers for the finale.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
LFW Holly Fulton by KAYLEIGH BLUCK
Holly Fulton by Kayleigh Bluck.

Holly is at her strongest when she puts together Aztec, Aboriginal and Memphis School inspired appliques on the front of long panels. Flares, shift dresses and maxi skirts provided ample opportunity for this, accessorised with the usual fabulous necklaces and decorated clutch bags. They were accompanied by suitably luxe big earrings and big hair.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory

The collection only started to falter once towards the end, when Holly sent a few dresses down the runway that seemed obviously tacked on to appease sponsors Swarovski. Goodness knows why she decided to finish on these less polished numbers, instead of interspersing them through the whole show.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Holly Fulton by Aniela Murphy
Holly Fulton by Aniela Murphy.

Like David Koma before her Holly used python, this time in its natural colouring as part of heavily textured patterning so that it was less obvious from afar. Maybe a luxury feel demands some kind of obvious domination over the rest of the world, but I’m not sure I like this new trend towards exotic animal skins (see my David Koma blog for more on this). Other than his blip she remains an innovative and individual designer who’s very definitely one step ahead of her imitators.

Holly Fulton SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory


Illustration by Gemma Randall

I was so excited to see what progressive knitwear label Sibling would produce this season, sildenafil after featuring the brand in our menswear preview, sick that I legged it up the stairs to The Portico Rooms at Somerset House, almost tripping at the top. Such is the effect of scrambling around Somerset House to see labels that you love.

Luckily I escaped any kind of fall or serious injury. Inside the room, a large crowd had all ready formed to see what was on offer from Collection 5. Yet again Sibling had produced a quirky range of witty knits: a selection of sweaters with influences such as punk, Pop Art, and, erm, Tourettes?

Each piece offers a statement to the wearer. Large-scale polka dot patterns featured heavily in this collection, while Pop Art-esque stars appear in different scales. Static mannequins bore eery face masks, which featured a range of expletives. The highlight with Sibling is always the vibrancy of the colours – neon greens last season had this season been replaced with red and shades of blue.


Illustration by Gemma Randall

The show pieces, away from these inspired jazzy numbers, were a collaboration with zany artists Sue Noble and Tim Webster. Black jersey tracksuits had been embroidered with reflective tape to feature such profanities as ‘WANKER’ ‘SOD OFF’, C U Next Tuesday and, my personal favourite, ‘TAKE MY TITS.’ Oh, here we go again, I thought to myself…

Alongside the collection, a film by Alasdair McLellan and styled by Max Pearmain played on loop. This oozed style and featured a scallyish skinhead smoking, larking in the park and generally knocking around insalubrious areas. It was one of the best fashion films I caught this season, by far. Reminiscent of scenes from This Is England, the film was more punk than Pop Art, but it was a delight to watch. Enjoy:

SIBLING C5 film by ALASDAIR McLELLAN from SIBLING LONDON on Vimeo.

Knitwear for men can be quite elitist, with editors salivating over crew neck numbers that lack imagination. But if you’re after something with a little more punch, there ain’t anybody packing it like Sibling.

All photography by Matt Bramford

Illustration by Gemma Randall

I was so excited to see what progressive knitwear label Sibling would produce this season, more about after featuring the brand in our menswear preview, information pills that I legged it up the stairs to The Portico Rooms at Somerset House, view almost tripping at the top. Such is the effect of scrambling around Somerset House to see labels that you love.

Luckily I escaped any kind of fall or serious injury. Inside the room, a large crowd had all ready formed to see what was on offer from Collection 5. Yet again Sibling had produced a quirky range of witty knits: a selection of sweaters with influences such as punk, Pop Art, and, erm, Tourettes?

Each piece offers a statement to the wearer. Large-scale polka dot patterns featured heavily in this collection, while Pop Art-esque stars appear in different scales. Static mannequins bore eery face masks, which featured a range of expletives. The highlight with Sibling is always the vibrancy of the colours – neon greens last season had this season been replaced with red and shades of blue.


Illustration by Gemma Randall

The show pieces, away from these inspired jazzy numbers, were a collaboration with zany artists Sue Noble and Tim Webster. Black jersey tracksuits had been embroidered with reflective tape to feature such profanities as ‘WANKER’ ‘SOD OFF’, C U Next Tuesday and, my personal favourite, ‘TAKE MY TITS.’ Oh, here we go again, I thought to myself…

Alongside the collection, a film by Alasdair McLellan and styled by Max Pearmain played on loop. This oozed style and featured a scallyish skinhead smoking, larking in the park and generally knocking around insalubrious areas. It was one of the best fashion films I caught this season, by far. Reminiscent of scenes from This Is England, the film was more punk than Pop Art, but it was a delight to watch. Enjoy:

SIBLING C5 film by ALASDAIR McLELLAN from SIBLING LONDON on Vimeo.

Knitwear for men can be quite elitist, with editors salivating over crew neck numbers that lack imagination. But if you’re after something with a little more punch, there ain’t anybody packing it like Sibling.

All photography by Matt Bramford


Illustration by Gemma Randall

I was so excited to see what progressive knitwear label Sibling would produce this season, viagra after featuring the brand in our menswear preview, and that I legged it up the stairs to The Portico Rooms at Somerset House, information pills almost tripping at the top. Such is the effect of scrambling around Somerset House to see labels that you love.

Luckily I escaped any kind of fall or serious injury. Inside the room, a large crowd had all ready formed to see what was on offer from Collection 5. Yet again Sibling had produced a quirky range of witty knits: a selection of sweaters with influences such as punk, Pop Art, and, erm, Tourettes?

Each piece offers a statement to the wearer. Large-scale polka dot patterns featured heavily in this collection, while Pop Art-esque stars appear in different scales. Static mannequins bore eery face masks, which featured a range of expletives. The highlight with Sibling is always the vibrancy of the colours – neon greens last season had this season been replaced with red and shades of blue.


Illustration by Gemma Randall

The show pieces, away from these inspired jazzy numbers, were a collaboration with zany artists Sue Noble and Tim Webster. Black jersey tracksuits had been embroidered with reflective tape to feature such profanities as ‘WANKER’ ‘SOD OFF’, C U Next Tuesday and, my personal favourite, ‘TAKE MY TITS.’ Oh, here we go again, I thought to myself…

Alongside the collection, a film by Alasdair McLellan and styled by Max Pearmain played on loop. This oozed style and featured a scallyish skinhead smoking, larking in the park and generally knocking around insalubrious areas. It was one of the best fashion films I caught this season, by far. Reminiscent of scenes from This Is England, the film was more punk than Pop Art, but it was a delight to watch. Enjoy:

SIBLING C5 film by ALASDAIR McLELLAN from SIBLING LONDON on Vimeo.

Knitwear for men can be quite elitist, with editors salivating over crew neck numbers that lack imagination. But if you’re after something with a little more punch, there ain’t anybody packing it like Sibling.

All photography by Matt Bramford


Illustration by Gemma Randall

I was so excited to see what progressive knitwear label Sibling would produce this season, information pills after featuring the brand in our menswear preview, that I legged it up the stairs to the Portico Rooms, almost tripping at the top. Such is the effect of scrambling around Somerset House to see labels that you love.

Luckily I escaped any kind of fall or serious injury. Inside the room, a large crowd had all ready formed to see what was on offer from Collection 5. Yet again Sibling had produced a quirky range of witty knits: a selection of sweaters with influences such as punk, Pop Art, and, erm, Tourettes?

Each piece offers a statement to the wearer. Large-scale polka dot patterns featured heavily in this collection, while Pop Art-esque stars appear in different scales. Static mannequins bore eery face masks, which featured a range of expletives. The highlight with Sibling is always the vibrancy of the colours – neon greens last season had this season been replaced with red and shades of blue.


Illustration by Gemma Randall

The show pieces, away from these inspired jazzy numbers, were a collaboration with zany artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster. Black jersey tracksuits had been embroidered with reflective tape to feature such profanities as ‘WANKER’ ‘SOD OFF’, C U Next Tuesday and, my personal favourite, ‘TAKE MY TITS.’ Oh, here we go again, I thought to myself…

Alongside the collection, a film by Alasdair McLellan and styled by Max Pearmain played on loop. This oozed style and featured a scallyish skinhead smoking, larking in the park and generally knocking around insalubrious areas. It was one of the best fashion films I caught this season, by far. Reminiscent of scenes from This Is England, the film was more punk than Pop Art, but it was a delight to watch. Enjoy:

SIBLING C5 film by ALASDAIR McLELLAN from SIBLING LONDON on Vimeo.

Knitwear for men can be quite elitist, with editors salivating over crew neck numbers that lack imagination. But if you’re after something with a little more punch, there ain’t anybody packing it like Sibling.

All photography by Matt Bramford

For those of us looking for clothes we could really see our butts in next spring, pharm Elliott J Frieze hit the spot. Everything was accessible. Everything was wearable. Minus the blue lipstick.

Looking at the catwalk, I saw city-worker-attends-summer-garden-party. It was all laid-back utility workwear with trench coats, jumpsuits and easy dresses. Luxe-fabric and sexy tailoring were what then brought the elegance and bold femininity to the overall look.

It was a soft attempt to celebrate all that is quintessentially British – tailoring, textiles and all. However, I think a little more Vivienne Westwood Anglo-Oomph would have pulled it all together perfectly. Delicate gingham was used as well as duchess satins and a lot of cotton. But a little more tweed or tartan wouldn’t have gone amiss.

The male models (bless them) were also assigned the blue and white sparkling lipstick. Their wardrobe consisted of quirky, structured waistcoats and embroidered jackets. Everything was tailored well but a care-free feel ran strongly throughout. The clothes were, in a word, fun.

Then, in amongst the funky French house music (which I LOVED) and strange-lipstick action, something very random happened. The lights went down and ‘ooh lala’ beats faded to Doris Day echoing ‘When I Fall in Love’. Her sweet voice silenced the audience until a mysterious lady in head-to-toe satin appeared and sauntered, VERY slowly, up and down the catwalk. Turned out that this strange saunter was none other than actress Anna Popplewell, muse and friend to Frieze. Her smiling blue lips (yes, she too was victimised) appeared for a second time when Frieze stepped onto the catwalk holding her hand to receiving his endless applause. The audience’s reaction was pretty lively. To the point that an excitable man in camel chased Frieze & muse up the catwalk to get a close-up photo.  Now that’s dedication.

I imagine they’d have needed numerous crates of hairspray to prep the models for this show – hair was big. Very big. The towering quiffs and pulled-back tumbling curls added sixties glam and style to a traditional English foundation.

Half of the front row at Elliott J Frieze were occupied by friends and family – a pain to all fashionistas (who were lusting after those front row goodie bags) but, ultimately, a testament to this designer staying true to his roots and his British heritage (with added glamfactor).

I think I could take quite a bit from Frieze for my spring/summer 2011 wardrobe. Powder blues and yellows – definitely. Gingham  – maybe a little. I think I would even try out that ultra-huge hair. But I will never, I repeat, NEVER wear blue lipstick. I think I’ll leave that particular Elliott J Frieze look.

All photography by Jemma Crow

For those of us looking for clothes we could really see our butts in next spring, viagra Elliott J Frieze hit the spot. Everything was accessible. Everything was wearable. Minus the blue lipstick.

Looking at the catwalk, more about I saw city-worker-attends-summer-garden-party. It was all laid-back utility workwear with trench coats, jumpsuits and easy dresses. Luxe-fabric and sexy tailoring were what then brought the elegance and bold femininity to the overall look.

It was a soft attempt to celebrate all that is quintessentially British – tailoring, textiles and all. However, I think a little more Vivienne Westwood Anglo-Oomph would have pulled it all together perfectly. Delicate gingham was used as well as duchess satins and a lot of cotton. But a little more tweed or tartan wouldn’t have gone amiss.

The male models (bless them) were also assigned the blue and white sparkling lipstick. Their wardrobe consisted of quirky, structured waistcoats and embroidered jackets. Everything was tailored well but a care-free feel ran strongly throughout. The clothes were, in a word, fun.

Then, in amongst the funky French house music (which I LOVED) and strange-lipstick action, something very random happened. The lights went down and ‘ooh lala’ beats faded to Doris Day echoing ‘When I Fall in Love’. Her sweet voice silenced the audience until a mysterious lady in head-to-toe satin appeared and sauntered, VERY slowly, up and down the catwalk. Turned out that this strange saunter was none other than actress Anna Popplewell, muse and friend to Frieze. Her smiling blue lips (yes, she too was victimised) appeared for a second time when Frieze stepped onto the catwalk holding her hand to receiving his endless applause. The audience’s reaction was pretty lively. To the point that an excitable man in camel chased Frieze & muse up the catwalk to get a close-up photo.  Now that’s dedication.

I imagine they’d have needed numerous crates of hairspray to prep the models for this show – hair was big. Very big. The towering quiffs and pulled-back tumbling curls added sixties glam and style to a traditional English foundation.

Half of the front row at Elliott J Frieze were occupied by friends and family – a pain to all fashionistas (who were lusting after those front row goodie bags) but, ultimately, a testament to this designer staying true to his roots and his British heritage (with added glamfactor).

I think I could take quite a bit from Frieze for my spring/summer 2011 wardrobe. Powder blues and yellows – definitely. Gingham  – maybe a little. I think I would even try out that ultra-huge hair. But I will never, I repeat, NEVER wear blue lipstick. I think I’ll leave that particular Elliott J Frieze look.

All photography by Jemma Crow

For those of us looking for clothes we could really see our butts in next spring, sildenafil Elliott J Frieze hit the spot. Everything was accessible. Everything was wearable. Minus the blue lipstick.

Looking at the catwalk, price I saw city-worker-attends-summer-garden-party. It was all laid-back utility workwear with trench coats, jumpsuits and easy dresses. Luxe-fabric and sexy tailoring were what then brought the elegance and bold femininity to the overall look.

It was a soft attempt to celebrate all that is quintessentially British – tailoring, textiles and all. However, I think a little more Vivienne Westwood Anglo-Oomph would have pulled it all together perfectly. Delicate gingham was used as well as duchess satins and a lot of cotton. But a little more tweed or tartan wouldn’t have gone amiss.

The male models (bless them) were also assigned the blue and white sparkling lipstick. Their wardrobe consisted of quirky, structured waistcoats and embroidered jackets. Everything was tailored well but a care-free feel ran strongly throughout. The clothes were, in a word, fun.

Then, in amongst the funky French house music (which I LOVED) and strange-lipstick action, something very random happened. The lights went down and ‘ooh lala’ beats faded to Doris Day echoing ‘When I Fall in Love’. Her sweet voice silenced the audience until a mysterious lady in head-to-toe satin appeared and sauntered, VERY slowly, up and down the catwalk. Turned out that this strange saunter was none other than actress Anna Popplewell, muse and friend to Frieze. Her smiling blue lips (yes, she too was victimised) appeared for a second time when Frieze stepped onto the catwalk holding her hand to receiving his endless applause. The audience’s reaction was pretty lively. To the point that an excitable man in camel chased Frieze & muse up the catwalk to get a close-up photo.  Now that’s dedication.

I imagine they’d have needed numerous crates of hairspray to prep the models for this show – hair was big. Very big. The towering quiffs and pulled-back tumbling curls added sixties glam and style to a traditional English foundation.

Half of the front row at Elliott J Frieze were occupied by friends and family – a pain to all fashionistas (who were lusting after those front row goodie bags) but, ultimately, a testament to this designer staying true to his roots and his British heritage (with added glamfactor).

I think I could take quite a bit from Frieze for my spring/summer 2011 wardrobe. Powder blues and yellows – definitely. Gingham  – maybe a little. I think I would even try out that ultra-huge hair. But I will never, I repeat, NEVER wear blue lipstick. I think I’ll leave that particular Elliott J Frieze look.

All photography by Jemma Crow

For those of us looking for clothes we could really see our butts in next spring, nurse Elliott J Frieze hit the spot. Everything was accessible. Everything was wearable. Minus the blue lipstick.

Looking at the catwalk, website like this I saw city-worker-attends-summer-garden-party. It was all laid-back utility workwear with trench coats, jumpsuits and easy dresses. Luxe-fabric and sexy tailoring were what then brought the elegance and bold femininity to the overall look.

It was a soft attempt to celebrate all that is quintessentially British – tailoring, textiles and all. However, I think a little more Vivienne Westwood Anglo-Oomph would have pulled it all together perfectly. Delicate gingham was used as well as duchess satins and a lot of cotton. But a little more tweed or tartan wouldn’t have gone amiss.

The male models (bless them) were also assigned the blue and white sparkling lipstick. Their wardrobe consisted of quirky, structured waistcoats and embroidered jackets. Everything was tailored well but a care-free feel ran strongly throughout. The clothes were, in a word, fun.

Then, in amongst the funky French house music (which I LOVED) and strange-lipstick action, something very random happened. The lights went down and ‘ooh lala’ beats faded to Doris Day echoing ‘When I Fall in Love’. Her sweet voice silenced the audience until a mysterious lady in head-to-toe satin appeared and sauntered, VERY slowly, up and down the catwalk. Turned out that this strange saunter was none other than actress Anna Popplewell, muse and friend to Frieze. Her smiling blue lips (yes, she too was victimised) appeared for a second time when Frieze stepped onto the catwalk holding her hand to receiving his endless applause. The audience’s reaction was pretty lively. To the point that an excitable man in camel chased Frieze & muse up the catwalk to get a close-up photo.  Now that’s dedication.

I imagine they’d have needed numerous crates of hairspray to prep the models for this show – hair was big. Very big. The towering quiffs and pulled-back tumbling curls added sixties glam and style to a traditional English foundation.

Half of the front row at Elliott J Frieze were occupied by friends and family – a pain to all fashionistas (who were lusting after those front row goodie bags) but, ultimately, a testament to this designer staying true to his roots and his British heritage (with added glamfactor).

I think I could take quite a bit from Frieze for my spring/summer 2011 wardrobe. Powder blues and yellows – definitely. Gingham  – maybe a little. I think I would even try out that ultra-huge hair. But I will never, I repeat, NEVER wear blue lipstick. I think I’ll leave that particular Elliott J Frieze look.

All photography by Jemma Crow

Lu-Flux-by-David-Merta
Lu Flux by David Merta.

The Lu Flux presentation was one that suffered slightly from inexperience. On arrival at an upmarket Soho members’ club on Greek Street we were ushered into the back garden where we were left twiddling our thumbs until the presentation started. Fortunately I didn’t accept the offer of an expensive members’ drink from a loitering waitress, ailment and a short time later we were shown into the darkened arches of the chapel.

Lu Flux SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

As we walked through the doorway we remained uncertain of what to do until Lu eagerly ushered everyone into the darkened recesses of the church, what is ed tea served in one corner, and delightful miniature home made fairy cakes in another, all served by ladies in last season’s applique lion dress. I’m not usually a fan of cupcakes but hunger persuaded me to try these ones and they were very yummy and nice, made by Yummy Nice in fact.

LFW-LUFLUX-JOCHEUNG Rob Logan
Rob Logan models Lu Flux, by Jo Cheung.

I immediately spotted my friend Rob, who had been asked to model a very fetching outfit of navy polka dot shirt, green trousers, yellow socks and blue shoes and clearly thought he would get away with it unnoticed by pesky mates such as me who are bound to take the piss (just a tiny bit). He should have known better with me loitering around the fashion world.

Lu Flux SS2011 Rob Logan photo by Amelia Gregory
Lu Flux SS2011 Rob Logan photo by Amelia Gregory
Rob chats with some of the other models and takes a look through the charming illustrated look book.

It was a wonderful setting to show a collection but my heart sank almost immediately. No decent lighting. How then to take good photos? Flash simply never looks as nice in a setting such as this. It’s so so important to consider what you want to achieve from a show or presentation, but aside from introducing buyers and press to your collection it must surely be to ensure that fabulous images find their way out into the universe. It’s not that much to hire decent studio lights and they are a massive boon.

Lu Flux photo by Amelia gregory
Lu Flux photo by Amelia gregory

Lu had staged a delightful little scenario, whereby the models were able to move about and take their turn to be drawn by one of the illustrators who has contributed a lovely updated china plate pattern to her latest collection. Lu described how it features not only herself and her boyfriend but also their dog and various other assorted friends – I thought it found a particularly fetching home on a shorts suit for men. As the live sketches were finished they were hung from a clothes line to be admired by the visitors.

Lu Flux SS2011 photo by Amelia gregory
Lu Flux SS2011 photo by Amelia gregory

Lu Flux creations are wonderfully playful without being too childish and I love the way that she makes the most of the smallest of details. This colourful collection featured gorgeous embroidered pockets, origami inspired folds, looped ribbons and one off appliqued shoes done in collaboration with Green Shoes of Devon.

Lu Flux SS2011 Green Shoes photo by Amelia Gregory
Lu Flux SS2011 Green Shoes photo by Amelia Gregory
Lu Flux SS2011 Green Shoes photo by Amelia Gregory
Lu Flux in collaboration with Green Shoes.

Lu-Flux-shoes-by-David-Merta
Lu Flux by David Merta.

Despite a few teething problems it’s great to see that a few ethical designers are making a real effort to present their collections in an inspiring way that sets them alongside the bigger names of LFW. For it is only when ethical thinking starts to permeate the more mainstream byways of fashion, as standard practice, that things will really start to change for the better.

Lu Flux SS2011 photo by Amelia gregory
A close up of the china plate pattern.

You can read Sally Mumby-Croft’s review of the same presentation here.

Categories ,cupcakes, ,David Merta, ,Devon, ,ethical, ,Green Shoes, ,Jo Cheung, ,lfw, ,London Fashion Week, ,Lu Flux, ,Rob Logan, ,Soho, ,Yummy Nice

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011: What’s Hot… and What’s Not.

jenny robins – blog slam – circus – toast and biscuit – thewedordeadwager sketch at the rag factory male dating humour
LFW SS2011-photo by Amelia Gregory
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Every London Fashion Week has it’s own particular foibles, stomach it’s own idiosyncrasies – and this September was no exception. So I thought I’d write up a little round up of things that will always remind me of this particular fashion week. In no particular order, sickness here goes…

Teabags, check Jelly Bellys and Ferrer Rocher
Why is it that tea companies love to sponsor fashion week so? Qi Teas, Pure Teas, Tea Pigs, Pukka – they were all at it. Is it because tea can be dispensed in a relatively cheap sachet of one and it inherently contains so little calories? That might make sense, but then weigh it up against the copious quantities of smoothie flavour jelly beans, Ferrer Rocher and Elizabeth Shaw choccies that I also managed to collect at the shows. Not that I’m complaining mind you…

The smiley ice-cream man
Anyone who spent any time at Somerset House will surely have encountered the sweetest organic ice-cream vendor from Laverstoke Park Farm. I’m guessing that plenty of people must have sampled his wares because there was only ever one flavour left when I passed by: liquorice. Shouldn’t work, but so did. Try it, honestly, it was the best thing ever.

LFW SS2011 Laverstoke Farm ice cream

The Phoenix Magazine girls
How many times were you offered this new magazine? It seems like it was thrust into my face every time I went to a show. Because we really need another fashion magazine. Oh yes. That’s what the world is really missing right now. Needless to say I haven’t had a moment to look at it. Has anyone else? Information overload!

LFW SS2011

My Palladium Boots
I was sent a pair of Palladiums a few months ago but I didn’t wear them for ages because I thought they were a bit ugly. But as the weather has got colder and I’ve realised I can’t wear my plastic Melissas through the winter I’ve come to realise that I actually like them quite a lot. Not for me high heels, I’m afraid I need sensible shoes for the shows and whilst my Palladiums might not be the most beautiful footwear in the world they carried me through LFW something fab. Thanks Palladium!

LFW SS2011-Palladium Boots

Great weather
Wow! The weather was gorgeous and as any seasoned fashionista will tell you good weather is a real rarity for the September shows when it usually rains like hell. What a fantastic bonus, especially for cyclists like myself.

LFW SS2011 Menswear Omar Kashoura
LFW SS2011 Menswear Jonno Ovans
A Garden Party atmosphere on menswear day.

Getting between the shows on a bike
Surely the only way to do it: totally carbon efficient, fast and healthy. I don’t understand why more people don’t cycle, but at least I persuaded some of my team to join me, and it was great to cycle around London with them like a latter day Red Hand Gang.

The Gimp Lady
Making an appearance in various latex outfits and a blow up wig, as she did last season. But who is beneath? That’s what I’d like to know…

Charlie le Mindu SS2011 Gimp Lady

Disco ball mannequin at On/Off
…taking over from the papercut and deer sculpture of last season.

LFW-onoff-JOCHEUNG disco mannequin
Illustration by Jo Cheung.

Vitamin bloody water – every bloody where.
I’ve drunk so much of this disgusting sugary Coca-Cola product that I think I may even be a convert. Ugh. And to think my favourite kiwi and strawberry combo owes it’s bright pink colour to the colouring provided by purple sweet potato and purple carrot. Utter madness.

LFW SS2011-Vitamin water

Models falling off their shoes.
Everywhere! All the time. On every catwalk. Ridiculous! Your shoes are too high designers: spare a thought for your poor clothes’ horses.

Holly Fulton SS2011 slip up
A model kicks off her shoes at Holly Fulton. She was just one of many who stumbled.

Hanging out with Tatty Devine.
They always cheer me up when I visit the static stands to view next season’s collections. This time I joined them for an end of fashion week party at their Covent Garden shop and then we all went for paella. It was mostest fun.

LFW SS2011 Louise Harries and Harriet Vine
Louise Harries of Prick Your Finger and Harriet Vine of Tatty Devine model the latest collection.

Gorgeous young girls with big hair and pink lips.
Pink lips are the best. If only I looked like this model on her way out of the Paul Costelloe show… sigh.

LFW SS2011-model

Lots of big rings.
I lost track of the amount of shows that featured big finger adornments: time for me to dig out all those silver rings I’ve hidden in drawers. Pile em on, it’s an easy way to update your look.

David Koma SS2011 Ring Mawi
Mawi for David Koma.

Masha Ma SS2011 rings
Masha Ma.

KTZ SS2011 rings
KTZ.

Men in big statement jewellery
Dangly feather earrings, vast chunky necklaces… you name it and the men were wearing it. In spades.

Earring-Menswear-LFW-S-S-2011-Antonia-Parker
Illustration by Antonia Parker.

My ability to get into shows without queuing.
This year my brazen blagging knew no bounds so even when ticketless I managed to sit front row at almost every show. After all it’s the only way to get decent shots if you’re not in the photographer’s pit (and we don’t want the same pics as everyone else). Over ten years in the business means I know who and how to hustle.

LFW SS2011-queue
See this? I don’t do it.

Performances, presentations, shows.
There’s a lot of muddle about what all these actually are so quite often what one presumes is a rolling presentation actually occurs at a specific time not known to the audience. In this way I missed quite a few. Clearly there needs to be more common parlance about what a performance or presentation means.

Babies at the shows.
Eek! Not sure what I think of this! The music can get pretty damn loud you know, and then there are the naked ladies to consider: I wouldn’t mind if they looked anything like what a real woman looks like…

LFW SS2011-baby

Fashion illustration is HOT.
Thanks in no small part, I’m sure, to the wonderful contributions on this very website. Suddenly everyone is running illustration as part of their fashion blog posts, including Fashion Scout – who had a team of illustrators live sketching at the shows. Bodes well for my upcoming book, Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

My fabulous team.
You’ve all been beyond brilliant. Sniff. Here’s just a few of them:

LFW SS2011-Matt Bramford
Matt Bramford: my utterly brilliant fashion editor.

LFW SS2011-Satu Fox and Sally Mumby-Croft
Satu Fox, Sally Mumby-Croft and an Orla Kiely cut out. Guess which is which.

LFW SS2011-Naomi Law and Aniela Murphy
Illustrators Naomi Law and Aniela Murphy.

Categories ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Aniela Murphy, ,Antonia Parker, ,Elizabeth Shaw, ,Fashion Scout, ,Ferrer Rocher, ,Gimp Lady, ,Holly Fulton, ,Jelly Belly, ,Jo Cheung, ,lfw, ,London Fashion Week, ,Masha Ma, ,Mawi. David Koma, ,Naomi Law, ,Paul Costelloe, ,Phoenix Magazine, ,Prick your Finger, ,Pure Teas, ,Qi Teas, ,Red Hand Gang, ,rings, ,Sally Mumby-Croft, ,Somerset House, ,Tatty Devine, ,Tea Pigs, ,Vitamin Water

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011: What’s Hot… and What’s Not.

jenny robins – blog slam – circus – toast and biscuit – thewedordeadwager sketch at the rag factory male dating humour
LFW SS2011-photo by Amelia Gregory
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Every London Fashion Week has it’s own particular foibles, stomach it’s own idiosyncrasies – and this September was no exception. So I thought I’d write up a little round up of things that will always remind me of this particular fashion week. In no particular order, sickness here goes…

Teabags, check Jelly Bellys and Ferrer Rocher
Why is it that tea companies love to sponsor fashion week so? Qi Teas, Pure Teas, Tea Pigs, Pukka – they were all at it. Is it because tea can be dispensed in a relatively cheap sachet of one and it inherently contains so little calories? That might make sense, but then weigh it up against the copious quantities of smoothie flavour jelly beans, Ferrer Rocher and Elizabeth Shaw choccies that I also managed to collect at the shows. Not that I’m complaining mind you…

The smiley ice-cream man
Anyone who spent any time at Somerset House will surely have encountered the sweetest organic ice-cream vendor from Laverstoke Park Farm. I’m guessing that plenty of people must have sampled his wares because there was only ever one flavour left when I passed by: liquorice. Shouldn’t work, but so did. Try it, honestly, it was the best thing ever.

LFW SS2011 Laverstoke Farm ice cream

The Phoenix Magazine girls
How many times were you offered this new magazine? It seems like it was thrust into my face every time I went to a show. Because we really need another fashion magazine. Oh yes. That’s what the world is really missing right now. Needless to say I haven’t had a moment to look at it. Has anyone else? Information overload!

LFW SS2011

My Palladium Boots
I was sent a pair of Palladiums a few months ago but I didn’t wear them for ages because I thought they were a bit ugly. But as the weather has got colder and I’ve realised I can’t wear my plastic Melissas through the winter I’ve come to realise that I actually like them quite a lot. Not for me high heels, I’m afraid I need sensible shoes for the shows and whilst my Palladiums might not be the most beautiful footwear in the world they carried me through LFW something fab. Thanks Palladium!

LFW SS2011-Palladium Boots

Great weather
Wow! The weather was gorgeous and as any seasoned fashionista will tell you good weather is a real rarity for the September shows when it usually rains like hell. What a fantastic bonus, especially for cyclists like myself.

LFW SS2011 Menswear Omar Kashoura
LFW SS2011 Menswear Jonno Ovans
A Garden Party atmosphere on menswear day.

Getting between the shows on a bike
Surely the only way to do it: totally carbon efficient, fast and healthy. I don’t understand why more people don’t cycle, but at least I persuaded some of my team to join me, and it was great to cycle around London with them like a latter day Red Hand Gang.

The Gimp Lady
Making an appearance in various latex outfits and a blow up wig, as she did last season. But who is beneath? That’s what I’d like to know…

Charlie le Mindu SS2011 Gimp Lady

Disco ball mannequin at On/Off
…taking over from the papercut and deer sculpture of last season.

LFW-onoff-JOCHEUNG disco mannequin
Illustration by Jo Cheung.

Vitamin bloody water – every bloody where.
I’ve drunk so much of this disgusting sugary Coca-Cola product that I think I may even be a convert. Ugh. And to think my favourite kiwi and strawberry combo owes it’s bright pink colour to the colouring provided by purple sweet potato and purple carrot. Utter madness.

LFW SS2011-Vitamin water

Models falling off their shoes.
Everywhere! All the time. On every catwalk. Ridiculous! Your shoes are too high designers: spare a thought for your poor clothes’ horses.

Holly Fulton SS2011 slip up
A model kicks off her shoes at Holly Fulton. She was just one of many who stumbled.

Hanging out with Tatty Devine.
They always cheer me up when I visit the static stands to view next season’s collections. This time I joined them for an end of fashion week party at their Covent Garden shop and then we all went for paella. It was mostest fun.

LFW SS2011 Louise Harries and Harriet Vine
Louise Harries of Prick Your Finger and Harriet Vine of Tatty Devine model the latest collection.

Gorgeous young girls with big hair and pink lips.
Pink lips are the best. If only I looked like this model on her way out of the Paul Costelloe show… sigh.

LFW SS2011-model

Lots of big rings.
I lost track of the amount of shows that featured big finger adornments: time for me to dig out all those silver rings I’ve hidden in drawers. Pile em on, it’s an easy way to update your look.

David Koma SS2011 Ring Mawi
Mawi for David Koma.

Masha Ma SS2011 rings
Masha Ma.

KTZ SS2011 rings
KTZ.

Men in big statement jewellery
Dangly feather earrings, vast chunky necklaces… you name it and the men were wearing it. In spades.

Earring-Menswear-LFW-S-S-2011-Antonia-Parker
Illustration by Antonia Parker.

My ability to get into shows without queuing.
This year my brazen blagging knew no bounds so even when ticketless I managed to sit front row at almost every show. After all it’s the only way to get decent shots if you’re not in the photographer’s pit (and we don’t want the same pics as everyone else). Over ten years in the business means I know who and how to hustle.

LFW SS2011-queue
See this? I don’t do it.

Performances, presentations, shows.
There’s a lot of muddle about what all these actually are so quite often what one presumes is a rolling presentation actually occurs at a specific time not known to the audience. In this way I missed quite a few. Clearly there needs to be more common parlance about what a performance or presentation means.

Babies at the shows.
Eek! Not sure what I think of this! The music can get pretty damn loud you know, and then there are the naked ladies to consider: I wouldn’t mind if they looked anything like what a real woman looks like…

LFW SS2011-baby

Fashion illustration is HOT.
Thanks in no small part, I’m sure, to the wonderful contributions on this very website. Suddenly everyone is running illustration as part of their fashion blog posts, including Fashion Scout – who had a team of illustrators live sketching at the shows. Bodes well for my upcoming book, Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

My fabulous team.
You’ve all been beyond brilliant. Sniff. Here’s just a few of them:

LFW SS2011-Matt Bramford
Matt Bramford: my utterly brilliant fashion editor.

LFW SS2011-Satu Fox and Sally Mumby-Croft
Satu Fox, Sally Mumby-Croft and an Orla Kiely cut out. Guess which is which.

LFW SS2011-Naomi Law and Aniela Murphy
Illustrators Naomi Law and Aniela Murphy.

Categories ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Aniela Murphy, ,Antonia Parker, ,Elizabeth Shaw, ,Fashion Scout, ,Ferrer Rocher, ,Gimp Lady, ,Holly Fulton, ,Jelly Belly, ,Jo Cheung, ,lfw, ,London Fashion Week, ,Masha Ma, ,Mawi. David Koma, ,Naomi Law, ,Paul Costelloe, ,Phoenix Magazine, ,Prick your Finger, ,Pure Teas, ,Qi Teas, ,Red Hand Gang, ,rings, ,Sally Mumby-Croft, ,Somerset House, ,Tatty Devine, ,Tea Pigs, ,Vitamin Water

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week A/W 2011 Menswear Day Catwalk Review: KTZ (by Matt)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Gabby Young at Selfridges, physician illustrated by Sam Parr

The ‘Supermarket Sarah’ pop-up shop opened last month in Selfridges stationery department, viagra 60mg I attended Friday’s opening night to check it out. Press, pharmacy designers and shoppers celebrated the opening with Campari cocktails whilst enjoying an energetic acoustic set from Gabby Young.

Back in December 2009 I visited Poke Design Studios at The Biscuit Factory for Supermarket Sarah’s Christmas Extravaganza, on behalf of Amelia’s. A year on and Sarah has had wide press coverage, and has celebrity followers such as; Lily Allen, Lindsay Lohan, Tinie Tempah and La Roux. ‘Supermarket’ Sarah Bagner seems, however, unphased by all the attention and continues to do what she does best; sourcing an eclectic mix of quirky vintage finds and indie crafts, and displaying her discoveries in an inspiring and creative way. Starting out in her home in Portobello, Sarah would beautifully arrange her own walls with items to buy and serve customers tea and cakes. The launch of her website expanded her work outside of her living room and has allowed her to exhibit in a variety of locations. Using the website, customers can browse through the items displayed on real walls as part of styled stories.


Illustration by Madi Illustrates

The retro-inspired Selfridges store layout holds shelves of vintage china trinkets, playful plastic jewellery and quirky gifts and accessories, all organized into the walls four sections; Super Stuff, New Designers, Vintage and Gallery where Sarah presents a designer she admires. Currently the Gallery space presents the work of Eley Kishimoto. The collection of printed accessories include; iPhone covers, textiles, limited edition screen printed books, and even a skateboard.

Sarah’s hand-picked selection of designers are given the opportunity to have items displayed in the Supermarket-style ‘gallery’. Carefully thought out curation and styling mean each piece compliments each other, contributing to the personal nature of the ‘Supermarket Sarah’ shopping experience. It was great to see the interactivity at play between customer and product; this interactivity is also achieved on the Supermarket Sarah online platform.


Illustration by Danni Bradford

My favourite pieces included; cross stitch badges from Ma Magasin, Mell Elliot’s Lady Gaga paper doll and Strawberry Creme Nouveau‘s rubber moulded biscuit brooches. John Booth’s eccentric bag charms, Nick White fake tattoos, Katy Leigh‘s painted egg cups, and YCN‘s ‘Light up your mood’ light switch stickers, all also deserve a mention. And other great designers involved include Tatty Devine, Patternity, Donna Wilson, Lynn Hatzius, Swedish Blonde Design and Rina Donnersmarck.

Bringing a sense of Portobello Market to London’s central shopping location. ‘Supermarket Sarah’ at Selfridges gives tourists a sense of what the London vintage and craft scene is all about. Congratulations to all involved!


Gabby Young at Selfridges, approved illustrated by Sam Parr

The ‘Supermarket Sarah’ pop-up shop opened last month in Selfridges stationery department, information pills I attended Friday’s opening night to check it out. Press, designers and shoppers celebrated the opening with Campari cocktails whilst enjoying an energetic acoustic set from Gabby Young.

Back in December 2009 I visited Poke Design Studios at The Biscuit Factory for Supermarket Sarah’s Christmas Extravaganza, on behalf of Amelia’s. A year on and Sarah has had wide press coverage, and has celebrity followers such as; Lily Allen, Lindsay Lohan, Tinie Tempah and La Roux. ‘Supermarket’ Sarah Bagner seems, however, unphased by all the attention and continues to do what she does best; sourcing an eclectic mix of quirky vintage finds and indie crafts, and displaying her discoveries in an inspiring and creative way. Starting out in her home in Portobello, Sarah would beautifully arrange her own walls with items to buy and serve customers tea and cakes. The launch of her website expanded her work outside of her living room and has allowed her to exhibit in a variety of locations. Using the website, customers can browse through the items displayed on real walls as part of styled stories.


Illustration by Madi Illustrates

The retro-inspired Selfridges store layout holds shelves of vintage china trinkets, playful plastic jewellery and quirky gifts and accessories, all organized into the walls four sections; Super Stuff, New Designers, Vintage and Gallery where Sarah presents a designer she admires. Currently the Gallery space presents the work of Eley Kishimoto. The collection of printed accessories include; iPhone covers, textiles, limited edition screen printed books, and even a skateboard.

Sarah’s hand-picked selection of designers are given the opportunity to have items displayed in the Supermarket-style ‘gallery’. Carefully thought out curation and styling mean each piece compliments each other, contributing to the personal nature of the ‘Supermarket Sarah’ shopping experience. It was great to see the interactivity at play between customer and product; this interactivity is also achieved on the Supermarket Sarah online platform.


Illustration by Danni Bradford

My favourite pieces included; cross stitch badges from Ma Magasin, Mell Elliot’s Lady Gaga paper doll and Strawberry Creme Nouveau‘s rubber moulded biscuit brooches. John Booth’s eccentric bag charms, Nick White fake tattoos, Katy Leigh‘s painted egg cups, and YCN‘s ‘Light up your mood’ light switch stickers, all also deserve a mention. And other great designers involved include Tatty Devine, Patternity, Donna Wilson, Lynn Hatzius, Swedish Blonde Design and Rina Donnersmarck.


All photographs by Ester Kneen

Bringing a sense of Portobello Market to London’s central shopping location. ‘Supermarket Sarah’ at Selfridges gives tourists a sense of what the London vintage and craft scene is all about. Congratulations to all involved!


Illustration by Jo Cheung

So after a rollercoaster six days, clinic Menswear Day and London Fashion Week drew to a close with hip-store Kokon To Zai’s label, KTZ, and what would be my final show of this season. I absolutely loved what they did last season, and I couldn’t wait to see what they’d come up with next.


All photography by Matt Bramford

A heavily policed front row meant me and illustrator Gareth took seats on the second, but I managed to get on the end so that my pictures would make it look like I was Frowing all along. I was bloody exhausted and feeling very sorry for myself, and I couldn’t help but wish that they’d just get on with it and stop papping people wearing pig masks. My legs wobbled and I struggled to keep my eyes open, but when the music started and the first look appeared, I quickly forgot my woes.


Illustration by June Chanpoomidole


Illustration by Thomas Leadbetter

Memphis-inspired fashion? I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. A pumpin’ soundtrack blasted from the PA system as gorgeous models (more women than men, but who cares?) sashayed up and down the length of the BFC tent. Stripes were a plenty on figure-hugging dresses with sweetheart necklines that feature extra flaps in that Pop Art/Memphis splatter pattern. Vibrant primary colours made black dresses playful: such a sophisticated, considered collection expertly styled by wonder-styilst Anna Trevelyan.

A whole load of other influences filtered into this power collection – the womenswear referenced power dressing from the 1980s (think Dynasty) and Mondrian’s prints; the menswear also digging up the eighties with (faux!) fur lapels and broad shoulders.


Illustration by Abby Wright

I have to admit, I did prefer the womenswear – it was far more wearable for fashion-forward ladies and it oozed sex appeal with dresses cut above the knee and details in all the right places to emphasise the curves. The menswear featured striped balaclavas topped with pom-poms, acrylic brooches which referenced the womenswear, over-sized imposing puffa jackets and graphic-print trousers. But it’ll be the womenswear that cements Kokontozai’s place as one of London’s hottest design duos.


Illustration by Lesley Barnes

Huge orb-like creations were worn on wrists, picking out patterns from lapels. And, oh, the cuts! Dynamic pieces of fabric were layered onto classic tailored pieces to give them a seriously sexy aesthetic. This was a collection that was playful but sophisticated at the same – a really difficult challenge to pull off.


Illustration by Valerie Pezeron

I loved EVERYTHING about it. I can’t put it into words, so just have a look at the pictures. Oh, and read Amelia’s more comprehensive and articulate review here!

You can see more from Jo Cheung, June Chanpoomidole, Abby Wright and Lesley Barnes in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration!

Categories ,Abby Wright, ,ACOFI, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Anna Trevelyan, ,BFC, ,Dynasty, ,Faux Fur, ,Jo Cheung, ,June Chanpoomidole, ,Kokon To Zai, ,KTZ, ,Lesley Barnes, ,lfw, ,London Fashion Week, ,Memphis, ,menswear, ,Mondrian, ,Pop Art, ,Primary, ,Somerset House, ,Thomas Leadbetter, ,Valerie Pezeron

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week A/W 2011 Presentation Review: Craig Lawrence


Illustration by Jo Cheung

Presentations are funny things; done badly they can leave you feeling a bit underwhelmed, case but done well they can be even more effective than a big catwalk show. Craig Lawrence’s A/W 2011 presentation fell into the latter category for me; a series of presentations meant that there was plenty of room to find a seat, this but still impressive front row faces like Susie Bubble and Fred Butler. A voiceover narrated the details of each outfit which really shed a lot of light on the intricacies of the designs that might have been lost on me otherwise; like garments being turned inside out to expose filigree textures beneath the surface.


Photography by Katie Antoniou

The shoes were also real show-stoppers, medical the result of a collaboration between Craig and Crisian & McCaffrey, featuring killer heels and knitted panels. The colours of the collection were inspired by the night; dark blues, purples and navy blues; a brilliant alternative to the blacks and greys autumn/winter collections often resort to. Craig’s alternative textiles like cellophane and Kyototex give a shimmery finish to evening wear, whilst knitted tights worn underneath sheer knits created striking, layered patterns. Some pieces were made up of large circles and stripes woven into the fabric, subtle details which only really showed up in the texture of the garments.


Illustration by Jo Cheung


In striking contrast to the dark clothes, the models’ eyes were accentuated with a neon orange stripe on each eyelid; in keeping with the ‘brights’ make-up trend. Statement tights were also omnipresent in the LFW crowd and Craig’s offerings imply they’re going nowhere.

When the presentation finished, Craig didn’t seem to be making an appearance, until his mum left her place on the front row to drag him out to much applause. He certainly deserves it for pioneering a totally innovative approach to textiles and knitwear which has made him a firm fixture on the London fashion scene.

You can see more of Jo Cheung’s work in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

Categories ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Craig Lawrence, ,Fred Butler, ,Jo Cheung, ,knitwear, ,LFW A/W 2011, ,Presentation, ,Susie Bubble

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