Trend: London Fashion Weekend

Yesterday I visited the Vodafone London Fashion Weekend with a friend. After having an epic journey back to London, with delayed trains and a mish-mash of tube lines, I finally made it. It was definitely worth the effort.
We had booked to 2:30pm catwalk show that showed an arrangement of trends curated by Hilary Alexander including designers such as Issa London, Jasper Conran, Hermione de Paula and Meadham Kirchhoff. Many of the looks included headbands from Her Curious Nature, of which I wanted to purchase everything from!
The show had 4 sets: Graphic Art, Urban Lifestyle, Eastern Promise and Dolls House. As there were 12 looks for each set, I'm just going to speak about my favourites.
Graphic Art:
2 great dresses from David Koma. The electric blue was the perfect balance of in-your-face and subtle. You knew it was there, but it wasn't too shocking. The folded layered skirts were cute but serious and the mesh detail on the second dress added a bit of a grunge feeling to the look.

David Koma Blue and White Dresses

Urban Lifestyle:
The first two outfits for this set were from a student at Bath Spa University (Stephanie Kitchen). They were both listed as 'Hi-Tech cycling outfit'. I favoured the first one, maybe because the model had a Barclays Hire Bike accompanying her down the catwalk but who knows. If I cycled, I would definitely do it in this outfit. It was kind of like a Parka coat, with reflective strips on without looking geeky! Who knows, in a few years time these may be everywhere!

Stephanie Kitchen Design

Jasper Conran Double Denim and
Hermione de Paula Ladybird set

Next, there was a fantastic ensemble from Jasper Conran, reminiscent of my childhood in the 90s. Double denim? Yes please. Matching mini skirt and jacket, this was my guilty pleasure of the show. The white applique detail gave it a western feel. Although I would probably never wear this out, it is probably something I would want anyway.

Green Levi's and Blue Trench

Possibly my favourite look of the day was the blue trench coat and green Levi's jeans with purple hat and black bow tie. I have a thing for hats and bow ties and this was just a dream come true, as it was different but classic.

Eastern Promise: The opening look to this set was insanely beautiful. If I had anywhere to wear this, I would have made sure to acquire it! A stunning Issa London gown and head-dress by Her Curious Nature. Both were detailed to the max, be it in print or in headwear content! The head-dress was full on flowers and gems, just exquisite.

Issa dress, Her Curious Nature Head-dress

My next favourite look of this set, my picture didn't turn out for, but I have to talk about it anyway. This was a matching top and trouser set from Hermione de Paula. The print was Ladybirds, but the colours were not what you expected. There were flashes of green, but mostly metallic beiges and dim golds. This is what stood out to me. (For a little look, the outfit is in the same picture as the Jasper Conran double denim above.)
Dolls House:
We all know pastel and ice cream shades are a staple for spring/summer arrangements, but this set included a few Mad Men inspired looks as well as modern twists.
A lovely pink rose strapless dress from Topshop was teamed with a shocking pink rose headband from Victoria Grant and some fuschia shoes from Irregular Choice. I just loved this look for it's great use of different shades of bright pinks whilst not being too 'out there'.

Pink Arrangement for Dolls House

The closing look consisted of a dress, blouse and knee-boots all from Meadham Kirchhoff. It was crazy but so cool. The shape of the dress reminded me of Mad Men- how you ask? The shape is clearly padded/structured in some way, and in the 50s, dresses were made with padding to give women an hourglass figure. Okay so this is over exaggerated but I'm still loving it.

Meadham Kirchhoff

Also, Vodafone customers got a free limited edition Nails Inc. nail polish in 'Vodafone Red.' This excited me greatly.

 So that's that! There were so many amazing and wearable looks but I'd be here all night if I went through each one. I hope you enjoy them, Sorry for the poor pictures- that's what I get for using my iPhone!

LCF Street Casting

London College of Fashion are looking for males and females to model in their Graduate BA Catwalk show on 7th June.

You'll get to be in the show, get paid to do it, and get a DVD and catwalk shots of yourself.

LCF have said in their blog and Facebook event:

"We love individuality, we love image, we love uniqueness, we just want to see more of it on the catwalk – we know the industry is changing but we’re not willing to wait – our students are the fashion industry of tomorrow. We say homogeneous catwalks are for the faint hearted.
Personality and attitude are central to the way our graduates create their collections and we know that by holding a street casting we will find people who can help communicate their vision. We will create a catwalk that is alive and reflects how much London College of Fashion loves fashion and loves the people that make it happen."

Criteria: Over 18 years old, at least 5ft9", and a UK Size 12 or under.

Must be available between 9:00am and 2:00pm on 21st May and all day Tuesday 7th June 2011.

Register by emailing your NAME, AGE, HEIGHT, DRESS SIZE and CONTACT INFO with a HEAD SHOT to love@fashion.arts.ac.uk

The selection process begins with the emails, and you will be told by 14th May if you've made it through.

(Only registrations which have all the required information will be considered)

For more details, visit:

http://blogs.fashion.arts.ac.uk/snapshot/2011/04/27/lcf-loves-you-street-casting/

So, what are you waiting for?

Get to it!