OK, its hot and its payday week. What better reason do you need than to go buy some amazing summer fashion? I've got a reason: sample sales. The five best possible sample sales EVER in my humble opinion are on this week in London.
UPDATE:... TODAY 10am-7pm....Zadig and Voltaire at 182 Westbourne Grove, W11 2RH
Here they are:
MCQUEEN
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN: Tues 29th May (12-9pm), 30th May (10am- 9pm), 31st May (10am-9pm) and 1st June (10am-8pm) at TheWestminster Rooms, The Old Sessions House, 22 Clerkenwell Green, EC1R 0NA
KANE
CHRISTOPHER KANE: 31st May at The Mercer Street Studios, WC2E 9QE with prices starting at £5.
ERDEM
ERDEM: Tues 29 May (9am-8pm) & Wed 30th May (9am-6pm) at Future Gallery, Covent Garden. AW11 & previous seasons + accessories
J.W
J.W ANDERSON: June 1, 5-9pm, 73-75 Shacklewell Lane, Studio A007, E8. Cash only.
Oh and one for luck:
JOSEPH:
Tues 29th May (10am-9pm) and Weds 30th May (10am-8pm) at The Music Rooms 29, South Molton Lane- Alaia, Lanvin, Balenciaga, Givenchy, Celine and more at 80% off!!!!
It's been another busy week in the fashion world, so before we head off to enjoy our three day Bank Holiday weekend, here's the round-up of all the need to know news from the past seven days...
It's the start of the month which means a flurry of new covers are coming in ready for our enjoyment. Kate Moss (who was apparently drinking at The Groucho until 7am this morning-what a woman) is the incarnation of Versace's modern mermaid on the cover of British Vogue's Gold issue. She was shot by Mert and Marcus, complete with very fat rope (previously seen in a Beckham shot) and underwater-esque background. It's the stuff fashion dreams are made of.
Kate Moss on the cover of June's Vogue (image from Vogue.co.uk)
Meanwhile, iD have two particularly genius covers amongst the eight on offer for the Summer 'Lights, Camera, Action' issue. Julia Restoin Roitfeld is not the first woman to show her bump on a magazine cover but this interpretation of the genre is rather kookier than usual- with Julia clutching a teddy and wearing sexy lingerie in a sumptuous boudoir.
Another cover shows newly appointed Dior designer Raf Simons sheltering from the camera beneath a selection of flowers. The image seems just right for the moment, the flowers symbolising Dior prettiness while the grey and Raf's slightly hidden face hint at the newness and rethinking which is surely to come at the label. There's an accompanying interview where Raf talks about his final Jil Sander collection and what motivates him as a designer. The issue is available next week on the iD site and at shops soon after.
Helena Bonham Carter is having a bit of a moment this month. She has modelled some totally beautiful McQueen and Westwood gowns for Harper's Bazaar's June issue... Here's a Behind the Scenes video from the shoot...
Daniel Radcliffe, with whom Bonham-Carter worked on the Harry Potter films, has interviewed her for, er, Interview. Well it's more of a conversation really, with insights into the lives of both actors. They cover everything from the pressure of having an amazing family to Helena having to audition to be in her quasi-husband (they're only not married because of 'laziness' she says) Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd musical to wearing odd shoes to the Golden Globes. My girl crush on Helena Bonham Carter continues.
Helena Bonham Carter styled by Katie Grand, photographed by Peter Lindbergh (from www.interviewmagazine.com)
All 19 Vogue International editors came together this week to launch their new Health Initiative which will mean that they endeavor to only use healthy models (i.e ones who aren't suffering from an eating disorder) who are over the age of 16 on their pages. Alex Shulman writes in her Editor's Letter that 'as one of the fashion industry's most powerful voices, Vogue has a unique opportunity to engage with relevant issues where we feel we can make a difference'. As the FashEd pointed out in a tweet yesterday, we really hope this excellent policy extends to celebrities as well as models. I wrote more about this issue a few weeks ago. Bravo to Vogue for taking a stand.
Excitement is building for Monday night's Met Gala which will open the much anticipated 'Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations' exhibition. Of course, US Vogue is leading the build-up by looking back at galas in years gone by. First up, Andre Leon Talley, the magazine's rather awesome Editor-at-Large, has chosen his top 10 outfits. He seems to have a predilection for black taffeta and frou frou fairytale given his choices. We're excited to see how Miuccia Prada will play the red carpet celebrity dressing next week. Her AW12 collections showed a serious trouser moment so maybe Mr Leon Talley will be disappointed on the big ballgown front.
Andre's favourites: Rihanna in Dolce and Gabbana in 2009
Andre's favourites: Doutzen Kroes in Zac Posen in 2010 (images from vogue.com)
And in case you haven't been invited, Vogue has given us a peek of how our invite would look if we were on the list. For this year's exhibition, they've nodded to Schiaparelli's association with Surrealism with a lip design. I love the image used on the invite for 2010's 'American Woman'.
Will we get in if we print this out and put on some Prada? (image from vogue.com)
The invite to 2010's 'American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity' (image from Vogue.com)
Australian Fashion Week has been taking place in Sydney this week. We've been enjoying Susie Bubble's posts which are a brilliant mixture of catwalk reports and snippets for getting to know the Australian fashion scene. A We Are Handsome swimming costume is top of my summer shopping list so I was very pleased when this image from their show pinged into my inbox.
Speaking of fashion weeks, street style favourite Anna Dello Russo has become the latest H&M collaborator. Fans of the Vogue Nippon editor will get the chance to emulate her style with a selection of blingtastic accessories. There'll be more on this next week on the blog but it's rather fascinating that it was a stylist/ editor whose look seemed the most relevant to H&M to bring to the masses, rather than another big name designer. The range is out on October 4th, just after fashion month ends
Anna Dello Russo modelling some pieces from her collection (image from telegraph.co.uk)
There was a glimmer of hope in the continuing race to save Aquascutum this week as it emerged that exclusive talks were underway to sell the business to Hong Kong based YGM Trading. Unfortunately this doesn't provide much hope for those who were left out of work after the Corby factory was shut. There are separate talks being held to sell that asset. If the brand loses its Made in Britain element, it will be a great shame.
Ellen Von Unwerth and Claudia Schiffer at Guess's 30th Birthday bash (image from THE LOVE magazine's twitter)
The Sunday Times' annual Rich List was released last weekend. It helps confirm what we already know from the trickle of news and figures which we see each week... luxury is still booming but retail is a hard environment. Mulberry owner Christina Ong rose 53 places to 61, but Britain's biggest retail magnate, Phillip Green lost £900 million of his fortune last year, ouch.
Karl Lagerfeld has been brought in to redesign the exterior of the Hotel Metropole in Monte Carlo. Reaffirming that he is a man of many talents, in case there was any doubt. To whet our appetite for the unveiling of the first phase in July, Lagerfeld has released some frescos starring his favourite male model Baptiste Giabconi...
Inspiration for the new Hotel Metropole (image from telegraph.co.uk)
Manish Arora has mysteriously ended his thus far successful tenure at Paco Rabanne it was revealed today. The label had become relevant trend wise as well as gaining attention thanks to Lady Gaga wearing some pieces at the MTV awards in 2011.'Revisiting the Paco Rabanne fashion was a very enriching experience and an exceptional artistic and human adventure. I am, today, happy to have accomplished the mission I was trusted with in order to cast this iconic brand back into the spotlight', Arora told WWD.
We leave you with a gorgeous backstage video from Alexander McQueen's AW12 show... Happy Weekend!
One of the many oddities of working in fashion is that we get two chances to talk about trends. For Spring/Summer 2012, the first chance came in September/ October last year when designers were showing their collections for the forthcoming season, which is NOW. Meaning that the time has come to revisit and properly embrace what we saw seven months ago by actually buying into what we fell in love with on the catwalks - whether it's the designer real deal or the high street's interpretation.
As is the FEAL way, we told you what you'd be buying now as soon as we spotted it on the catwalk but that was a long time ago. We thought that you might like to look back at our first thoughts on SS12 now that we can all get in on the action...
This trend was so huge we did two posts on it . Unsurprisingly, it's all over the high street. Our favourite is Jaeger Boutique's bright white, ribbon waisted dress. This would see you through all manner of Summer pursuits, just don't go rolling in the grass.
Print is still huge. Florals are a classic but if you want to be exactly on the SS12 pulse then a silky paisley or tropical jungle print are the ones to go for...
This one was never going to be easy to translate - who has time to encrust their spine with pearls each morning or carry about clusters of coral to work a trend? Nods to sea life with watery colours, embellishments and rope details seems like the most sensible way to channel the SS12 mermaid fantasy. Unless you have a fancy dress party coming up, in which case, go all out.
Pearls backstage at Chanel (from http://somethingfrench.tumblr.com/)
Alexander McQueen SS12- coral encrusted mermaids (catwalking.com)
A quick scout of the shops this weekend threw up plenty of evidence that crop tops are a trend pretty much every high street store has plumped for. We shared 8-minute abs with you at the time but really, who is actually ready for this? If you're not a 15 year old gymnast then maybe proceed with caution e.g a looser crop top worn over a high waist skirt/ short or under a skinny vest.
Two of the biggest colours for SS12. I am brightening up today in a Peeps colour jumper. The combination of the two, like wearing your very own seaside horizon, was done most brilliantly by Jonathan Saunders.
London Fashion Week is just about over for another season- it's Menswear day tomorrow. The FashEd and I are back at our desks, drinking our first decent cup of tea for days AND chatting about what we need to tell you about AW12. We've got lots up our sleeves, but one of my personal fashion week obsessions has been The Red Dress.
I'm not going to say anything stupid like 'the LRD is the new LBD' but I definitely feel like a red dress might be an important part of our wardrobe next Autumn. These are my stand out red dresses from LFW AW12... from the brightest scarlett through to the most sumptuous dark blood.
Overblown peonies at Jonathan Saunders
Sheer with leather trim at Christopher Kane
Typewriters, flowers... and more at Mary Katrantzou
