If fashion critic Cathy Horyn accused designers of fewer and fewer attempts on the catwalks to evoke emotion, Ashish’s Autumn/Winter 2014 show was an exception to the new rule. As we left Tate Modern, my friend and I commented how happy the show had made us feel. “That’s how fashion should be,” she said. Romantic ... Read more
The invitation to Ashish's Autumn/Winter 2013 show at London Fashion Week showed an image of workers on a construction site. Sometimes fashion show invitations act as a sneak peek into the collection, and sometimes they're completely abstract, but the photo on Ashish's invitation was as far from catwalk glamour as you could imagine. Or so ... Read more
Korean-born designer Eudon Choi turned to Russian folklore for the inspiration for his Autumn/Winter 2013 collection, mysteriously titled Varykino. Playful folkloric elements such as peasant blouses, vivacious oversized babushkas by milliner Piers Atkinson, and wide calf-length skirts were toned down by sombre black leather and heavy brocade. Several black ensembles were festooned with a mix ... Read more
Fyodor Golan was the first show I attended at London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2013. Designers Fyodor Podgorny and Golan Frydman described their collection as a coming-of-age story inspired by Luis Buñuel's cult 1967 film Belle de jour, starring Catherine Deneuve. The Belle de jour inspiration was largely unrecognisable because the intricate pieces full of contrasts ... Read more
The next London Fashion Week, showing collections for Autumn/Winter 2013, begins on Friday. What do you need if you're attending fashion week as a journalist? 1. Bright, stylish notebook (Lanvin, £40) for jotting down first drafts of show reviews and overheard conversations about how wearing your jacket over the shoulders makes you look like a ... Read more