Musings and Memoirs Of A Fashionista

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

London Fashion Week - February 2011

This season's LFW has been particularly exciting for me due to the fact that it has brought about some new experiences: for the first time I visited some of the exclusive and High End Designer Exhibitions and Fashion Shows at Somerset House and Vauxhall Fashion Scout!

This opportunity arose because my mentor and the Managing Director (Ola Shobowale) of the Fashion Company that I sporadically work with (Untold Design CIC) kindly invited me to accompany him and another Industry friend on Monday and he "hooked me up" with one of the press passes that our PR person got for the team! Super cool, huh?

Somerset House can arguably be described as the Fashionista's "Mecca" so I was completely elated to be able to have uninhibited access to all areas.

I was warned though, that LFW was strictly for "serious fashionistas", this meant having no qualms about rushing around for the entire day from one show to the next laden with multiple goody bags, minimal bathroom trips and very little food as time was simply not afforded to us for such luxuries - I was informed! (A suggestion I made to stop off to quickly grab some soup from Pret a Manger was so sternly frowned upon, I quickly learned never to make such a suggestion again!)

The day began in the afternoon at Somerset House with viewings of some High End Designer Exhibitions:

Ann Louise Landelius

Camilla Skovgaard

Coat envy: Anne Valerie Hash

Shoes glorious shoes!

I absolutely fell in love this bag!! Designer: J.JS Lee.
I swiftly came to the conclusion that I need this bag in my life!

Holly Fulton: This top weighed about as much as I do!! Beautiful, however.

After this, we moved on, just a few minutes walk down the road to the Strand Palace Hotel for the Fashion Maverick event which is a compilation of mini Fashion Shows from emerging designers.

Here's one of my favourites from this event - Knitwear and Jewellery Designer Susana Bettencourt:

Then it was time to move onto my personal highlight of the day - my first High End Designer Fashion Show - Todd Lynn.

The most unfortunate (and typical!!)thing happened right at the opening of the show - my camera battery died! I did make attempts to take pictures on my iPhone, but this proved to be futile as they were not of very good quality. But to describe the most promininent features of his designs, they are: strong, structured, sharp, peaked/pointed shoulders, very high collars and a masculine "feel" to both the female and male collections. Leather and fur dominated the catwalk in mainly red, black and slate grey colours.

The next stop was Vauxhall Fashion Scout to view very ample offerings of Designers Bumni Koko and Samantha Cole.

Bunmi Koko's Show- Kaleidescopia was fun, fast-paced and punchy with bright lights and bursting with colour and the models were adequately fierce!
There was an abundance of striking hues and sharp lines.

Bunmi Koko is definitely one to watch - a talented designer indeed:

The Designer herself: Bunmi Koko

Proud: She literally skipped down the catwalk to cheering crowds, elated at her acheivement, and so she should be!

[Images courtesy of Photographer, Rob Sheppard - http://www.catwalk-capture.com]

Wednesday, 19 January 2011

Catching up and catching my breath: I'm a Stylist in the making - Fashion's Finest Renaissance

Well, it certainly has been a long while since I’ve posted anything and some would say that I am void of excuses for this! But in my defence, my life has been nothing short of hectic over the past few months! I have simply struggled to redeem time!

But amidst the mania, there has been progress and productive moments: I am pleased to share that I have begun to build my portfolio as an aspiring Stylist!

So, I figured, it would be a good idea to put together a mini series to share some snippets over the next couple of weeks and give a summary of what I have worked on thus far.

Well let’s start with the most recent - Fashion’s Finest Renaissance!

Fashion’s Finest Renaissance is a two part series of Fashion Shows, one which took place on Sunday 16th at Jewel Bar, Covent Garden and the other due to take place on the 30th.

These events are founded on the concept of creating a platform for aspiring Fashion Designers to showcase their collections.

To my delight, I was asked to come on board and be the Head Stylist for both shows by the CEO, Sola Oyebade of Mahogany International - the enterprise that produces these events.

This entailed more work than I actually anticipated (I didn’t just rock up on the day and do my thang – oh no!) Leading up to the event, I was responsible for directly liaising with at MUAs and hair stylists to discuss the hair and make-up concepts, sourcing and liaising with models, contacting the designers, getting resources and other logistics! It really was hands on! A little overwhelming and stressful too, at times, as I already have a full time job so it actually felt as though I was working two jobs!

But with all that said, I am glad of the experience as I am sure it will prove to be invaluable, so no complaints. Also as this is now the fourth show that I've worked on, the stress levels were a little lower and I'm now finding that I'm "coming into my own"!

On the actual day of the show, I co-ordinated the entire production from backstage, as well as styling and had the pleasure of working with some fantastic designers, models and MUAs.

The end result was a well attended, well turned out success and I received really positive feedback. Phew!

Until next week, when it all starts again!

Here is some of the backstage action:

Styling one of the models in an AAMAA Couture garment.

Blue creation: securing a dress by designer TINA LOBONDI

Queuing the models for the runway

Myself with one of my favourite Designers of African Printed garments: Toyosi Moby [left], the mastermind behind the aforementioned AAMAA COUTURE. A model (Samantha Watson-centre) dons one of her creations.

Models in chiffon dresses also by KAMONDI COUTURE , the designers stand on the far left and right.

Perks of the job: the gorgeous, chiselled-featured duo Jayson and Jason sport two ME CLOTHING aviator jackets by Designer Adam Benjamin

Looking the business: the models await their turn on the runway in tailored shirts and suits by KAMONDI COUTURE

Fruit of my labour

Fierce!

Thursday, 9 September 2010

Vogue Fashion's Night Out 2010

If the above title brings a wave of clueless intrigue, I have only one question for you: where on earth have you been?!

Vogue Fashion’s Night Out is the huge, glittering and glamorous fashion event/shopping spree/display involving London’s popular retailers, boutiques and fashion houses.

It spans across the next couple of days and the globe!

The concept as quoted by Vogue is a “London spectacle and celebration of retail”.

It started off in London last night and like most fashionistas I was highly expectant of and enthused about tottering around the high streets and indulging in the diverse grandeur frivolity, particularly from the High-End Retailers.

There was a plethora of things to experience, as promised. Ranging from mini Fashion Shows, to make-overs, to fashion talks, free manicures, free cocktails!

However, due to time constraints and the lack of the ability to transport my body from one store to the next within a nano-second, disappointingly I only managed to visit 6 stores.

Here's what I discovered on my travels:

My friend and I kicked off our galavanting in River Island, Where we were delighted to find...

My friend Lillian taking full advantage of the free Martinis!

..a free Martini Cocktail Bar!

House of Fraser appeared to "pull out the stops" as their celebration was compounded with the launch of the Biba brand, so shoppers were treated to a rather polished mini Fashion Show...