Hermione de Paula by June Chanpoomidole.
Waiting in the crush outside the venue for the Hermione De Paula show I bumped into my old friend Xerxes (well, viagra buy he’s not old, approved he’s very young actually, but I met him when he was a lot younger) nonchalantly lounging his tall willowy self against a pillar. I haven’t really spoken to him in many years; I guess our paths must have diverged at some point. We had time for a few moments catch up before his attention was diverted by some other trendy young things and it turns out he’s engaged! Yet another young ‘un getting married, a fact which makes me very happy. So many people of my age and older seem to have skipped this stage of life and then discovered it’s too late to have some of those things they really wanted, like a family. Maybe those a decade younger have seen how miserable some of their older single friends are and gone “uh-uh, I ain’t fallin’ into that trap, life sure looks easier with someone at my side. Maybe I will get settled in my twenties.”
This isn’t Xerxes, this is fashion editor Matt Bramford in the crush with me outside the show.
Of course, Xerxes is not on facebook, so like a few other refusniks I have no idea what he is up to. One thing you can’t fault facebook for is the way that it allows you to easily keep up with what out-of-date friends are up to, or even what up-to-date-but-I-never-get-a-chance-to-see friends are up to. But Xerxes knew what I do because he reads all my Amelia’s Magazine emailouts (subscribe on the left hand side of any page on my website). I forget that so many people follow my life, either via twitter, or my emailout, or facebook. Xerxes is now a consultant to lifestyle brands, that fancy well paid job that I always thought I’d do given that I have, ooh, six years of running a cult magazine with an impeccable pedigree in a wide range of cultural niches under my belt, but hey I’m still waiting for those phonecalls. He’s helping Gucci to make more money out of being sustainable. Nice work if you can get it, though I’m not sure how entirely ethical that could be in reality.
I then got pulled into a small booth hastily set up in an alcove by the All Walks Beyond the Catwalk Campaign to get more curvy women into fashion. A large cutout letter was planted in my hand and a photograph taken before I had so much as a chance to check me lippy. Apparently the pics will go up on the website but I have no idea when or where. Ironically enough, posing right next to a crush of skinny young fashion things, I felt too exposed to take my coat off and flaunt my definitely curvy figure with any amount of glee. But I do admire Mark Fast and all those fashion designers who have chosen to make clothes for larger models (i.e. normal sized women) for whilst I may love some of the looks presented on rake thin lasses, I think that curvy ladies are waaaaaay sexier – and well clothed sexy ladies are to be encouraged at every turn.
Hermione de Paula by June Chanpoomidole.
Hermione De Paula. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
This was Hermione de Paula’s fourth show at London Fashion Week. Apparently her first was inspired by a character from that saucy mid 90s film, Showgirls: I remember going to see that in a Swindon cinema complex with my dad (my parents lived nearby for awhile when I was at college, okay?) and being highly embarrassed by all the graphic sex scenes. For this show, entitled Polly Crystalline, Hermione explored the idea of trapped femininity, using extreme shapes to emphasise “tits and hips” together with beautiful prints inspired by the forms of ice crystals, and the girls took to the catwalk at a fair old lick as you’ll see from my photos.
Hermione de Paula by June Chanpoomidole.
Hermione De Paula. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
This confident collection was a radical break in style from most other shows I saw during fashion week, the resulting outfits presenting a kind of babydoll meets goth rocker look, all wonderfully styled with severely bobbed wigs in pastel shades of grey, pink, baby blue and yellow, and large handheld lock and keys. The plastic corsets and apron dresses may not have been practical for everyday wear but there was plenty here to lust over, including the flouncy tailored tops and jackets in both Hermione’s signature black and white crystalline print and a more traditional rose design. Even the lizard like shoulder-frilled dresses were very obviously wearable.
When Hermione popped out to take her bow at the end she looked utterly adorable, if far less glamourous than in the press shot on her website. (I want one of those. Make me look glamourous someone!) I think this lady will go far.
Categories ,All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, ,Curvy Models, ,film, ,Freemasons’ Hall, ,Hermione de Paula, ,June Champoomidole, ,London Fashion Week, ,Mark Fast, ,Showgirls, ,Swindon
Similar Posts:
- London Fashion Week Autumn/ Winter 2010 Catwalk Review: Hermione de Paula
- London Fashion Week S/S 2011 Catwalk Review: Hermoine de Paula
- Designer Spotlight: Hermione de Paula
- London Fashion Week A/W 2010 Catwalk Review: Welsh Designer Collective
- London Fashion Week A/W 2011 Menswear Day Catwalk Review: KTZ (by Matt)