ISSA SPRING/SUMMER 2013: The Garden of Eden

Posted on by

 

The Issa woman journeys to the romantic setting of the Garden of Eden for Spring Summer 2013. One of Kate Middleton’s favourite brands, the collection brimming with bright colours, bold natural prints and feminine dresses which offers her dreamy outfits to while away those leisurely balmy evenings in. Prints have been inspired by the all-encompassing tropical leaves and plants, dotted with dazzling, colourful flowers and exotic fruits, thanks to afternoons of endless sunshine. Spot the prowling tigers and birds flying overhead; a whimsical twist to Issa’s classic and flattering shapes.

Echoing the purity of the setting, come a series of long, languid chiffon and satin dresses. Playful knitwear dresses, which are key this season, feature in jacquards of bright neon colours with extravagant floral embroidery, dusted across halter necklines and hems. Vivid brights continue into coquettish eyelet cotton voile dresses and weave front dresses.

Slip into a vibrant, exotic leaf printed pyjama suit for a stroll through paradise, for the epitome of sleek chic. Iconic dresses remain in the collection, transformed this season by asymmetric draping and fold details which disappear into the waist band with the flattering fit the Issa woman has come to expect.

 

Never one to shy away from a love story, SS13 delivers a collection for the Issa woman to seduce in. The bright orange and pink hued party dresses, are ideal for cocktails at sunset. We see a dramatic turn after sun down, as she slips into a polished black halter or a beautiful embroidered cocktail dress and becomes truly irresistible.

Londoner’s Life 40 – Overheard by Phil Ryan

Posted on by

Well another week in this great city of London. And another stealthily garnered piece of minutiae of the wonderful inner world so many people inhabit. My wide open ears are now so finely attuned to this stuff I have to concentrate to turn them off! Happily I get to grab my pieces between meetings and things when I am often on my own and can really concentrate. So here’s my usual sharp intake of breath one liner I grabbed outside Bank Tube station. Sharply suited man in designer shades loudly into mobile phone: “For christ’s sake Toby it’s a fucking gibbon. Deal with it”. Huh???????
However this week’s standout winner was the five tourists from Spain (they had Bright red jackets with Espana printed on them) and they were having coffee and cake with a tour guide and obvious Language teacher in The Crypt at St Martins in the Field Café. I was sitting virtually in front of them as the tables were shoved together so I could watch as well from behind my paper.
Young Language guy “Yes its silly isn’t it it’s written as Leciester Square (he enunciates liesester slowly and sharply) but it’s pronounced as Lester” Sharp faced woman “But why?” Young Language guy “I think it’s something to do with the french” The Spanish people muttered to each other sounding puzzled. Sharp faced woman’s friend “Oh so the french people wrote in English then” Young Language guy” Oh er no its more the way they influenced the way we pronounce things. We have lots of french words er like we say cul-de-sac for a dead-end for instance” Sharp faced woman “Why not just say dead-end?” Young language guy “ Er I don’t know we just do” Sharp faced woman’s friend “ We enjoy to speak the English but we worry about these strange words. What is paedophile?” (she carefully pronounced each phrase turning it into peed O feel) Young Language guy “Ohh um where did you hear that?” Sharp faced Spanish woman’s friend “It was on our free paper this morning it had a picture of a priest is he famous?” Young language guy “Ah no he’s um not famous er it means” he took ages to speak again “Um he’s not very nice towards children” Sharp faced woman “How do you mean this not very nice does he shout at them please to explain” The whole group looked at him with interested expressions. Young language guy “No he um holds them er too close and often without clothing” He was struggling now and the expressions on their faces were a picture. Sharp face woman suddenly brightly “Who of us wants more how do we say scones”
I didn’t get what happened next but they left. I bet they didn’t try out any new words that day!

Theatre Review by Phil Ryan of Trash by Tom Hunt at the Space East London

Posted on by

Trash by Tom Hunt directed by Kim Moakes
Produced by LittleBerry Productions

A strong ensemble piece with a slightly frantic pace the audience seemed delighted at this witty and cleverly written piece. The subject matter was well chosen and quite competently explored. A difficult ask of a director, the very large cast (and I think the cast was a little too large) Kim Moakes delivered a bold and amusing vision of a student house with an alternative twist.
Despite the rather unwieldy size of the cast there were some standout performances. These included the nicely laconic Noor Dillan-Night ably and cleverly channelling a wannabe urban revolutionary and excellent and strong physical comedy from Adeline Waybey who perfectly captured the bawdy street persona of wild child freagan Vikki. A special mention is Alexis Coward who delivered a wonderful other wordly performance as Curly Kat, brilliantly inhabiting a child-like modern hippy girl who at times appeared to be in a world of her own.
At the risk of repetition the piece did struggle at times due to the large 12 strong cast with certain parts highly confusing as so much was going on. Plus the acoustic properties of the space itself made certain sections quite overpowering. But that said much of the audience seemed to enjoy the slightly muddled and noisy interactions. And my belief is when a full capacity audience are laughing constantly and uproaringly the play must be doing something right. With elements of high farce the piece was both entertaining and funny to watch. Finally I was very heartened at the broad age range of the audience demonstrating that LittleBerry productions can deliver a mainstream piece of theatre and should go from strength to strength.

Definitely one to watch.

Phil Ryan 16th September 2012

Back Stage at Moschino Cheap and Chic!

Posted on by

This evening i was lucky enough to be working back stage at Moschino Cheap and Chic show in. The show was held in a dilapidated fashionable building in Central London.

After much hanging around, herding models to the right place and helping myself to the free sandwiches I got a good look at the new collection.

My first impression was that is was classic Moschino, fun, quirky but not something i would necessarily wear. However as the models tried on the outfits and everything came together I fell in love with each look Moschino had created, elegant with a edge and not taking themselves too seriously.

The vibe was 60’s 70’s with bold prints, pineapple shaped bags with matching pineapple earring. Super flares matched with heavy coloured wedges and mini dresses matched with trainers.

The colour pallet worked perfectly and the prints harmonised together to create something truly exiting to look at.

My favourite pieces which (if i save up for long enough) will be in my wardrobe will be the platform wedges which came in orange, black, green and purple. Me and the other dressers decided these were “sensible shoes” what with being wedges and therefore worth the purchase! A great clutch caught my eye which had the appearance of being a notebook.

The star of the show was the Creative Director Rossella Jardini who looked show stopping elegant and sophisticated back stage, chatting to the press, posing with a cigarette in her mouth and generally being fabulous.

The show was very well received and after our dressers duties were performed we got to try some of the delicious cocktails on offer at the after party and keep an eye our for celebrities such as Kerry Brook and Pixie Lott who were mingling about.

Overall Moschino Cheap and Chic had a laid back atmosphere, everyone was friendly and had a great time and the show was undoubtedly a success. Looking forward to when the collections hit the shops!!!

London Fashion Week Review of Day 1 and Exhibition

Posted on by

 

My first challenge of London Fashion Week this year was making it through the cobbled court yard in 6 inch heels, without an embarrassing trip in front of the many photographers at the entrance. This was my first Fashion Week and I was excited, if a little nervous and not knowing at all what to expect…

After picking up my press pass,and feeling a little more confident now, and hoping I could pass for someone of at least vague importance I started my exploration of the exhibits around Somerset house. There was a wide range of designers to ogle at, from from Milliner Steve Jones famous and intriguing hat designs to Julian Hakes Mojito shoe, which i fell in love with at first sight. Hakes, originally an architect stumbled across the smooth and modern design which only supports the heel and ball of the foot . Definitely a shoe for the future!

As a fashion design student myself I was especially interested in the work of the NEWGEN designers who collections Topshop sponsors and in the past  have included Alexander Mcqueen and Mary Katrantzou. All the designers work was innovative and inspiring. My personal favorite being Lucus Nascimento textured dresses.  Definitely all designers to watch out for in the next few years.

Another designer that caught my eye was Felicity Brown who creates hand printed and hand dyed womens couture wear. The pieces were beautifully made and reminiscent of an underwater coral theme. The designer who graduated from Royal College of Art with a 1st class honours in Textiles, creates elegant clothing has a distinct style and a exiting approach to textiles.

I was also a fan of Paper London’s clean and modern designs. Their sharp collection has strong silhouettes and their new collection feature material made from recycled materials such as rubber and plastic.

The exhibitions are defiantly worth a look and show case some of the best jewelry, hat and clothing designers of today

One of the best things I felt about London Fashion Week is the street style and amazing outfits sported by the industry models, press and designer. From the truly bizarre to the elegant its truly the place to express your individual style and Somerset House becomes a catwalk in itself.

 

Sophie Estelle

 

UGG Australia For London Fashion Week

Posted on by

Shoes glorious shoes. Who cares what they look like? Well, everyone actually. UGG Australia the makers of the shoes that are the most comfortable IN THE WORLD have branched out into different styles. I went to see their AW13 collection at Handpicked Media’s One Aldwych Hotel suite.

Alex showed my the collection. I was incredibly impressed. UGGs have not always been thought of as fashionable but even the most discerning fashionista would find something to love in the new collection.  I love the knee-high blue boots below. I was also got a pair of gorgeous ankle boots. Check out Callum from Handpicked Media’s photo below. . They are so comfy and stylish. Top marks for UGGS.

The boots are very well made. The materials are gorgeous and the designs are on trend but also timeless. With winter coming in I might even buy myself some new winter boots. I love the lining inside the boots. Guaranteed to keep you warm.

Sure Maximum Protection statue blogger challenge

Posted on by

Sure Maximum Protection has revealed that out of 640 official statues in the UK, only a measly 15 per cent of them represent women!

So they invited me to take part in a bloggers challenge. They asked me to put creative skills to the test to customise the ultimate female statue.

Years ago I won a number of art competitions and have always loved drawing. I have been too busy to keep this up and also never really did paint. I have always been creative though so I took the kit that was sent to me and got to work.

I immediately made a few mistakes but managed to recover well. I am annoyed at myself for allowing my creative skills to get rusty but I just decide to paint away and go where the artistic mood took me.

In the end I have a futuristic female statue. My statue has traits that I love in my fellow women: elegant, strong, caring, ambitious, smart, fashionable, individuality.

 

She’s different and cool.. She’s not perfect (blame her creator) but she carries it well and is all the better for it. She has kick-ass red lipstick and smile. What else could she possible need?

 

 

SASS & BIDE SS13 makes strong return to the London Catwalk

Posted on by

 

 

SPRING/ SUMMER 2013

 

LOVESHADY

 

Sass & Bide returned to London Fashion Week after a year’s hiatus with an explosion of intricate seed beading, fluro dipped shells, contrast binds and flickers of diamante & metal form a rich tapestry of geometric detailing

The  LOVESHADY collection explores an ethereal union of gender; a romantic journey where every masculine notion finds counterbalance & softness in femininity. Silhouettes are sharp & honest and contrast the soft flow of ethereal silks, while a monochromatic palette finds fever in hot hues & metallic accents.

 

 

 

This season’s VIP front row included;

Mosshart/  Twiggy /  Poppy Delevigne  / Kelly Rowland  /  Lara Bohinc /  Miquita Oliver /  Dionne Bromfield/  Leah Wood /  Quentin Jones  /   Peaches Geldof  / Jazzy de Lisser  /  Sara Brajovic  /  Tom Hooper  / Willia Keswick  /  Portia Freeman /  Francesca Versace  / Jess Mills   /  Shingai Shoniwa/  Jasmine Guinness/    Lliana Bird