Style Bubble

It's not dirty laundry...

No this isn't somebody hanging up laundry in an odd and arbitrary way but actually the Haider Ackermann exhibition at the Villa Noailles.  Yes, I should be so lucky as to stumble upong a shipwreck on a beach with a ton of Haider Ackerman jerseys, coats, jackets and dresses strung up and intertwined with rope...      

The pleating on thie skirt was particularly mesmerising...

It's no wonder they closed off the exhibition for the closing party at the Villa... to prevent drunken me stumbling in here and grabbing a soft jersey cardi for warmth...

   

Icky icky ick...

To continue the 'Out of Context' theme of today's posts.... and to do a complete schizo 180 from tasteful 40's influenced coats to.... um.... well.... behold this Just Cavalli jacket which I spied in the new issue of Elle UK.  Of course this passed me by when the SS08 shows were going on because I do tend to strike off Roberto Cavalli and Just Cavalli from my 'Catwalking Pics-check out' list.  Sorry, I've just never been a fan of the rather orange faced Cavalli (tangerine or clementine?) and whilst I'm all about being open minded, there's only so much one can be enthusiastic about.

Well I'll just slap myself for that because looking at this jacket, and trust me, it's not because it's being aided by the strange pairing of it with an Avsh Alom Gur dress and plaited hair nor is the background helping it along.... I am purely just looking at the jacket... the strong lines, the block colours, the wicked shapes they're all creating... oh crap, I'm actually....quite liking it?!?

Now I know it's my love of the the ever present 'WTF' factor that is making me like this.  I'm also thinking of cliched phrases such as 'it's so wrong, it's right', only you can cross out the first word and replace it with 'messed-up/tacky/loud' and the second word with 'brilliant/fantastic/hilarious'.  Lots of joyful words there....

I'm just reaaaally thinking and this could be the Friday High Feeling, that this jacket with the right bit of toning down or 'effed-up' messy outfits (whichever way you prefer...), it's actually quite a nifty statement piece...

So conclusion.... there just aren't that many designers for me to pour hate on, and seeing as this blog was never about pouring hate, that makes it a pretty easy job for me.    

Where is my friend called Evie Belle?

The last thing that I'd want for Style Bubble is for it to be categorised and boxed up.  I don't exclusively write about the 'too-cool-for-school-Nylon/Ruush' labels, the 'girly-pretty-chouette-Lula' labels or the 'edgy-avant-garde'.  At the end of the day, I'd like to think there's a context for everything and the next post will be even prove this point even more...

For now though, it's time for a bit of Evie Belle.  First off, I love that the name of the label is derived from the TV show House of Elliot which a reader recommended I watch after my revelation for ALL costume dramas (yes...even the really shit ones...).  The lady behind Evie Belle, Sarah Hicks is focused on getting beautiful tailoring and finishing on her garments.  That 't' word is such a fundamental stalwart in the craft of fashion and so many choose to discard it or ignore it.  Perhaps that's what makes looking at Evie Belle's AW08-9 collection a little uneasy from the perspective of a fashion brat who is constantly exposed to every sort of conceptual fashion under the sun with a lot of 'stuff' going on, that we might not be happy with something as simple (and simultaneously difficult...) as a beautifully well-made coat with fine finishing and little details. 

Having seen the collection in person and proceeding to procuring some Evie Belle for myself, something like a great coat does become a whole lot more important.  Sarah pointed out the materials which she sources mainly from Italy and Scotland and said she's very very picky with fabrics which comes into play when you start touching the stuff.  The variety of collars, the way the sleeves are shaped and the linings...the sort of details that men like the Sart picks up on are all well executed here...

Quite simply, images don't do Evie Belle justice but you can just about make out where she got her inspiration from for the AW08-9 'Lost in the Forest' collection, using textures like mohair and mottled prints, sharp and wispy sillhouettes in blues, greys and blacky greens.  Yes, it is jolly early to be harping on about winter but I'm up for being prepared...

The little coat I picked out from one of her previous collections features a signature pleated collar that can be adjusted with a drawstring.  It's a coat fit enough to be worn on its' own really (Sarah is a fan of the coat-dress...) and like I said before, I've probably taken it out of context a little but hopefully Evie Belle (I really now wish I knew a real live Evie Belle...) doesn't mind...

Another Friday Fantasy

A question that I should have asked myself when I shamelessly went celeb pic hunting after the Met Costume Institute Gala (ONE celeb outfit event a year is not too indulgent me thinks...) and found nothing too awe-inspiring despite the unbounded theme people were given to play with, is what would I have worn?  A reader asked it instead.

Given that it is a Friday and I am being whisked out of London to the coast for the weekend, I feel it's ok to dream a little, think and fantasise.  A cliched interpretation of a comic superhero would never do, even the most cultish superheroes and that said, I'm not remotely comic-savvy.  So I guess it's down to the rickety old imagination then.  She is a combination of a dreamcaster, Grecian muse, celestial being and water nymph with powers that are subtly worked but strongly felt.  The soft hued, rose-tinted way in which Patricia Kitten Braden from Breakfast on Pluto saw things and the way Clarence H White photographed his surroundings is how this 'superbeing' sees things.

It takes a combination that can't be exactified and methodically put together....a composite of....Jan Minitau's SS07 ruffled creations that envelope the body, Jan Minitau's super platform shoes that need to be striped in soft pastels, Natasha Lawes' jewelled half masks (she also made the butterfly mask which adorned my face for the Fashion156 shoot...) with white dust covering the other side of the face, a clash between Karin Schoenberger's lace circular backpieces and Peter Bertsch's moulded shaped plastic wings and delicate Bebaroque 'Mrs Feather' stockings...

Oh, and Goldfrapp's Utopia in mind when donning all of the above...

Now I'm going to be away with the fairies and return on Sunday hopefully all in one piece...

Alternative Picnic Attire

Going to Hyères wasn't just about encountering new designers in the competition because I was lucky enough to share a chateau with a few extremely talented really REALLY young American designers that had come all the way from New York and San Francisco to see what the hell this Hyères thing is all about.  So seeing as I've gotten drunk with them, clubbed with them and laughed hard over Disney credit cards (don't ask...), it seemed apt to get down to the nitty gritty and check out their work. 

First up, Douglas Reker whose work I actually saw back in Miami during the Arts of Fashion Debut Series, showcasing new American designers.  His website is up now and his debut collection, the 'Picnic Collection' is showcased better by his lookbook than the flurry of a catwalk show.  Taking the woven surface of a picnic basket and the seamless qualities of a picnic blanket, Reker has conjured up sillhouettes that rely on folding and overlapping and incorporate a subtle picnic imagery of flora and fauna.  I plan many picnic outings but now I'll definitely have Douglas' collection in mind...

He has told me he's slowly working on his new collection 'Ting Things' and perhaps some selling points will be in order soon... (you'll have to contact Douglas directly and see what he can do for your picnic needs...he's as nice as they come!)

Still, it's a bit of a delight starting off with the very first roots of a designer and seeing the progress...      

It's all about Skin and Bones

A little late in the game as the exhibition has been on since the 24th April but Skin and Bones, an exhibition curated by MOCA, which I talked about yonks ago last year is finally making its final pitstop at the Embankment Galleries at Somerset House here in London and it's here to stay until the 10th August 2008.  Of course I was peeved that we had to wait so long but grateful that it made its way over here as it is indeed very well curated.  The link between fashion and architecture and the design approaches that certain fashion designers have very decisively taken or even subconsciously so are well highlighted here. 

The exhibition itself is very well organised, starting off with the roots and foundations of this link between fashion and architecture in the 1980's, and then thematically classifying different structures, techniques and functions seen in both buildings and clothes... shelter, geometry, structural skin, volume, deconstruction, wrapping, pleating, printing, draping, folding, weaving, cantilevers and suspension.  The conclusion of it all is that throughout the exhibition, whilst linking techniques can be seen in both fashion and architecture, they remain separate fields, influencing each other quietly but that finally, we are seeing a synthesis between the two, leaving it open ended as to whether we will see both fashion and archictured blur with each other. 

I left with my own conclusions that a) I don't know nearly enough about architecture and b) I haven't seen enough of the world... 

Then the fashion itself combined designers and designs that I was very familiar with and expected and also some unexpected names that I was probably more floored by.  You have the Watanabe, Yamamoto, the CdG, the Miyake, McQueen, Chalayan, Elbaz etc but a lot of archive pieces by Isabel Toledo and Nanni Strada and a Yoshiki Hishinuma that probably counts as a household name in Japan yet this was the first time I had encountered him. 

Definitely one not to miss for Londoners or tourists passing by... 

Lazy Ones... NOT

I try not to keep my head up in the clouds too much by talking about designers that are quite blatantly inaccessible but nonetheless aspirational/inspirational so posting about Des Moines makes a bit of a change.  This is probably old news to some and of course if you’re a Brick Lane addict, you’ll probably be no stranger to the shop The Lazy Ones on 102 Sclater  Street, stocking a selection of vintage for guys and gals, illustrated tees, shoes and bags and womenswear label Des Moines, designed by Nat Colom.  They can claim Kate Moss, Alexa Chung, Camille Bidault-Waddington, Jarvis Cocker, Gemma Ward, Matthew Williamson, Eugenia Volodina and many others as past visitors... (eclectic array non?).   An even stronger presence for Des Moines which some of you will know about is of course them being stocked in the Bazaar section (lower floor) of Topshop Oxford Circus.  Can I be honest and say I haven’t walked into Topshop for over three months and so my Bazaar knowledge has gone down the drain... to think I used to spend my uni days there scouring for non-Topshop pieces that would look a little not of the norm...

Des Moines is a perfect example of the ‘low street’ I talked about, labels that aren’t household names, independent and aren’t out of reach price-wise.  £30-£80 is all it takes to get some of Des Moines sweet sweet dresses.... with an eye for fabric choices, colour combos and being able to design unthreatening yet interesting dresses, Nat has tapped into an appealing and accessible niche.  Actually, it was Nat modelling her own designs on the Lazy Ones blog that really made the designs more alluring for me as she seems to heighten the dresses and make them look more multi-dimensional.  i.e., you can wear them in a pretty-pretty way or you can mess it up a little.  Also, it’s clear Diego Tellez and Nat Colom (joint owners of The Lazy Ones) are having a whale of a time running their shop and the label and that translates to the dresses which exactly what they are: affordable fun that don’t  have any haughty aspirations.  Hopefully their online store is on its way soon so that Des Moines will be even more accessible. 

C'est Moi!

Well... the pics are up on the new issue of Fashion156 for the 'Fashion on the Internet' theme (the one time where I of course could be seen modelling...) and by god am I pleased that I'm not making the clothes look horrendous and that... shock shock horror horror...I'm beaming from how chuffed I am with the results of the shoot... not much more to be said, credits can be found on the site and thanks to the Fashion156 team once again... 

Denim and leather working?!? What is the world coming to...

What with all the SS08 denim shenanigans (vintage style natty jackets, acid wash, frayed denim and the lik...) going on, you'd think I'd be more forgiving with leather and denim, a combo that isn't exactly eyebrow-raising.  It's just that.... there's a cheesy connonation I can't quite shake off that no amount of 'WTF/OTT-ness' can solve.  In particular, brown leather and dark dark denim is a bit troublesome, an example of 'middle of the road' quirkiness.  Like a dad who decides to wear a dark denim blazer with leather lapels in a bid to look hip again whilst buying a vintage Jaguar and wanting to divorce his family.  There's a certain cringe factor that I can't bear....

I probably haven't explained myself correctly but it's a gut feeling cringe feeling so probably only those that feel the same way would get it.  However, there's a silver lining out of all this because Kevin Geddes' debut capsule collection for My-Wardrobe.com just might make me throw away said opinion. Dark denim, leather and even a print thrown in for good measure and it all bloody works.   

Kevin Geddes, a Coventry University graduate won My Wardrobe's Design Incubator competition by submitting designs for a six piece high summer 2008 capsule collection and after beating of two other finalists in a judging panel with the likes of Hilary Alexander, his collection has now come to fruition and yet again, another platform for REALLY up and coming designers emerges.

It's the right amount of tightness and structure that probably makes this all come together as well as the interesting use of printed leather fabrics, chiffon and starched denims. I'm not quite understanding why I'm not getting my usual cringey stomach pit cheese alert feeling when I see dark denim and leather... but whatever it is, it's working for me...

Revenge is sweet...

I guess this is what you get when you borrow from the boyf because although he was bemused enough, he did proceed to don my Ann Demeulemeester cream biker jacket and wear it rather well.... too well one might say. 

Granted, it is a little oversized on me which I kind of like but in the context with his particular outift...the snugger fit works... 

Ok, it's a trade, he gets the Ann D jacket on weekdays and I get his People's Market blazer AND Hurwundeki black bomber jacket on the weekends...a fair deal, I'd say...   

Finding Purple

I must say, it is rather shaming that it wasn't until I landed in Stockholm that the name Carin Wester was even known to me and I learnt a whole host of other labels too.  Lesson learnt.  The interweb isn't everything and I can't know about everything under the sun by sitting in my London hovel... let's just say a lot of travelling will be done over the year to further enhance my fashion sponging skills...

But back to Carin Wester, it took the lookbook for the SS08 'The Purple of Mogador' collection to really impel me to say that the collection is a beauty.  Mogador is both the Morrocan city and a reference to the black alchemist Amogador who set out to create the colour that is purple (goddamnit, why did I think it was just a simple case of red and blue mixed together...).  The city acts as a melting point for both North African and Western influences and very subtly (thankfully so), that same fusion is seen in Wester's collection.  Linens and silks that are essential in extreme heat are used in familiar cardigans and hoodies.  The loose fit is key and prints are used sparingly and effectively, especially in the case of the floral dress which has a beautiful (but grudgingly 'sexy') back. 

The menswear blurs a bit with the womenswear and the two mesh well together...

Listening to Susie Bubble Stutter

>> Will any Londoners have a slot free in their Thursday evening schedules?  Hmm... perhaps not but if you are about the Regent Street area, do pop into the Apple Store and hear Guy Hipwell, founder and editor of Fashion156.com and Elliot Sainsbury, their brilliant blogger and also my humble self give a presentation about ....surprise surprise... 'Fashion on the Internet'.  How do we source info?  What the heck is this blogging malarky all about?  All that plus me going 'Umm...errr... well...this is my blog.... and err... do you like Chupa Chups?' 

Fun and games...all fun and games...

It's on at 7pm, Thurs 8th at the Regent Street Apple Store if you're at all interested...