I found this video on YouTube of a quick interview with Julien MacDonald, who’s catwalk show was set in an English Country Garden but reflected ‘under the sea’ materials and colour schemes. Vivienne Westwood also comments about coming back to England for more fashion shows – check out the video and the transcript below:
This is “Scuba Chic” – the latest in the catwalk designs. Set in an English country garden background JUlian MacDonald has revealed his latest spring/summer collection – Underwater Love.
The Welsh Designer said he got his inspiration for the designs from a deep sea diving trip to the Red Sea.
“Well all of a sudden I was diving underneath the ocean with tanks on my bank and basically I really love and got inspired by scuba suits – the suits you wear when you go diving.”
His underwater theme is shown in his bright colours, wet suit designs and outfits designed on fish scales.
“The clothes are expensive but if you got St. Tropez you want to wear very ‘expensive’ colours. The colours are very intense. There are intense reds, washed out pinks and white. White really is the new black of fashion.”
Keen to get a first glimpse of next season’s style were former spice girl Gerry Halliwell, Girls Aloud singers Sarah Harding and Nichola Roberts.
Following on with an English theme was the doyen of fashion Vivien Westwood, choosing her colours to reflect the English weather. She says she may make London Fashion Week a permenent fixture:
“I might come back to England as more and more designers are coming back to England you see.. And it makes a difference who’s there as well.”
We know now from London Fashion Week (and for quite some time before that) that the fashion world has a recyclable nature. It has always baffled me that I saw my mother in skinny jeans, high waist trousers, bee-eye sunglasses and the occasional quiff in her hair. And all those times I saw her, I repeatedly thought to myself that she needed some fashion guidance.
But I was wrong and mum – I’m sorry!!
Although she may not have been wearing them at the peak of their fashionable days, they were pieces that, in her eyes, were timeless – pieces that have been and will be resurrected for years to come. The question of course lies in 1) Who decides when these items come back, and 2) Why do I all of a sudden long for a heavily shouldered blazer when I didn’t about a month ago?
My investigation led me to the Wikipedia article for one James Laver. James laver was a museum curator at the Victoria & Albert as well as a pioneering fashion historian. Although he was not directly involved with the museum’s fashion exhibitions, he had an interest in dating images accurately through the clothing depicted within. He believed patterns of economic and social factors where what developed fashion tastes. So “Laver’s Law” was born, which sought to explain the fashion cycle and the general taste to a timeline. It was first published in 1937 and went as follows –
Indecent – 10 years before its time
Shameless – 5 years before its time
Daring – 1 year before its time
Smart – ‘Current Fashion’
Dowdy – 1 year after its time
Hideous – 10 years after its time
Ridiculous – 20 years after its time
Amusing – 30 years after its time
Quaint – 50 years after its time
Charming – 70 years after its time
Romantic – 100 years after its time
Beautiful – 150 years after its time
Does it work? Seems to – 70 years since the shoulder pads first appeared in Dior’s clothing, they are once again “charming”.
Canadian designer Mark Fast is not an unfamiliar name to most fashionistas. His signature tight knit dresses are a constant edition to articles in Vogue, Grazia, Glamour and more. Although his designs have previously been associated with thin, slender figures, he’s broken that mold this year at LFW, where his team of stylists decided to tackle the ‘too thin’-catwalk-model stereotype. They hired 3 sizes 12-14 models in their London Fashion Week catwalk show yesterday.
This is not just a publicity stunt – Mark Fast is involved in “All Walks beyond the Catwalk,” a fashion initiative that endeavors to change the perception of industry standards for young designers and the somewhat elitist vision of beauty within the fashion industry. It was created by Caryn Franklin who works with designers early in their careers to “break the mold of what is seen on the runway.” Models include women ages 18-65 and in sizes 8-16.
Supporters include British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman, who attended the All Walks beyond the Catwalk launch party and is infamous for her strong opinions on size zero garments. Her opinions were made clear to designers when a photo shoot with established star models resulted in them struggling to fit into the clothing in their studios.
