Best offer of the month

BUY luxury, buy quality, buy something that will become an iconic piece in your wardrobe – from Miuccia’s Prada’s chandelier dresses, to Jil Sander’s raw and ripped chiffon, to Dolce’s knickers or McQueen’s metallic snakeskin marvels, to Lanvin’s most beautiful dresses ever, to Peter Pilotto’s prints, to Burberry’s trench dresses, if you buy one thing for spring/summer, make it a big story. If the recession isn’t letting up yet, buy one thing and the thrill will last.

If hemlines are to be believed as the rule of all things financial, though, things are certainly looking up – skirts are creeping up the thigh and bottom-revealing bloomers, henceforth known as hotpantaloons, first appeared in New York and bred across the fashion cities fast.

While there was a touch of sparkle in the front row of every single show, it’s a trend that is built to last and whether you wear it on your tights, on lamé socks with high heels, around your neck, woven into your chiffon evening gowns or tied to your handbag, a little bit of glitter always does a girl good. Shoes are still big statements but heels are coming down too; kitten heels have even been mentioned and so have clogs (Chanel, Celine, Louis Vuitton).

The big story for summer though, is nudity – the vast majority of shows opened with nude, ice-cream colours, making cut and drapery the big style statements as opposed to eye-popping colours. Where last summer we obsessed about colour blocking, next will be about subtleties of tone: nude with peach with washed out nutmeg, or grey with icy blue. A general lack of clothing will be approved of too – your underwear must look its best next summer because if it’s not on show it’s not worth wearing – only to be covered by swathes of knotted and ruffled sheer chiffon – and a touch of lace will keep things interesting (Stella McCartney, Fendi).

White is always a trend for summer, but 2010 is expecting a full washout – bleached cotton came tailored and masculine or bulging and ruffled. And if you want colour, make it a check (Christopher Kane, Louis Vuitton).

So what to buy, if you will be shopping? Party dresses – lots of them, to be worn day and night: with interesting (and forgiving) folds around the hip for added shape. A jumpsuit – single shouldered or strapless if you dare. Loose trousers that taper to the ankle, preferably in silk. Bring shoes down a level or two, and if you venture from the washed out palette, make it a bold, tribal or ethnic print (Dries Van Noten). A trench coat, long or short (or turned into a party dress at Burberry). A belt – skinny ribbons or wide leather versions; the waist intends to allow you to show off your curves next summer. And if your curves are that good, swimwear is teeny weeny as can be.

And everybody’s new favourite model? Australian model Abbey Lee Kershaw appeared in all the key shows, surely with plenty of ad campaigns to follow. Certainly no recession hangover for her.

Next February’s London Fashion Week is already off to a flying start with the recent announcement by Christopher Bailey, Designer of the Year 2009, that Burberry will once again be joining the hometown schedule for the autumn/winter 2010/11 season.

Burberry will be joined by other returnees including Matthew Williamson, Antonio Berardi,Pringle of Scotland and Jonathan Saunders, together with established British labels such as Vivienne Westwood , Paul Smith,Betty Jackson, Margaret Howell,Nicole Farhi, John Rocha, Jasper Conran and Julien Macdonald.

he BFC NewGen scheme, sponsored by Topshop, meanwhile, will feature nineteen emerging fashion designer businesses. NewGen, established in 1993, is one of the world’s most recognised talent ID projects and has launched the careers of many acknowledged British designers, including Alexander McQueen, Boudicca, Giles Deacon, Williamson and Saunders and, more recently, Christopher Kane, Richard Nicoll, Erdemand Marios Schwab, who continue to show at LFW.

For the autumn/winter 10/11 season, Mark Fast,Mary Katrantzou, Meadham Kirchhoff and Peter Pilotto, will all once again show on the NewGen catwalk, while presentation sponsorship goes to Holly Fulton, Louise Gray, Maria Francesca Pepe, Sykes; and exhibition sponsorship to Atalanta Weller, Christopher Raeburn, Craig Lawrence, David Koma, Dominic Jones, Fannie Schiavoni, Holly Fulton, KTZ, Louise Gray, LP.BG, Maria Francesca Pepe, Mark Fast, Mary Katrantzou, Michael Lewis, Michael Van der Ham, Natascha Stolle, Peter Pilotto and Sykes.

The NewGen Men line-up, meanwhile, sponsored by Topman, will feature new recipients, Christopher Shannon and J W Anderson, who will join the two inaugural designers, Carolyn Massey and James Long.

London Fashion Week will be held at its new official HQ, at Somerset House, The Strand, Friday, 19th February – Tuesday, 23rd February, with Menswear Day on Wednesday, February 24th.

Photo by: fashionising.com

pub H&M Jimmy Choo 2009

Madonna for Louis Vuitton A/W 2009, courtesy of Louis Vuitton

Madonna in New Vuitton Ads (WWD)
“Marc Jacobs was so pleased with this spring’s Louis Vuitton campaign featuring Madonna and he was eager to do an encore.  But he want very quickly and want something  different,’ related Antoine Arnault, Vuitton’s communication director.”

Plus-size fashion: style for the fuller figure (Telegraph)
“On Sunday night, as the British soul singer Adele commanded the stage at the Hollywood Bowl, her faultless appearance in a form-fitting, black, silk taffeta, box- pleated cocktail gown was yet another style triumph for fashion’s new generation of plus-size heroines.”

New Bangladesh textile protests (BBC)
“Thousands of textile laborer in Bangladesh have clashed with police for a third consecutive day in a protest over pay and conditions.”

West End to capitalise on London Fashion Week fever (Drapers)
“For Fashion retailers at London’s West End will host a High Street Fashion Week in early September to promote shopping in the capital  to London Fashion Week.”

Chanel’s Barnstormer, it was a real barnstormer in the Grand Palais, with a set inspired by Marie Antoinette’s peasant-y playground Le Petit Trianon, that featured a giant haystack and barn, of course branded with a huge Chanel logo. Taking it all in were Prince, Claudia Schiffer, and Clémence Poésy. The show began with a crowing rooster, and surprise guest Lily Allen and her band popped out of the floor to play her hit “Not Fair, Heidi Mount was the first girl out. Though she didn’t read the set as the backyard of Versailles but rather her native Utah. Oh, and she got to hold a real live pig. There was holding and more when Freja Beha Erichsen and Lara Stone went for the proverbial roll in the hay with Lagerfeld darling Baptiste Giabiconi. No one was allowed to use their iPhones or BlackBerrys, so they had to save all their hoedown humor for later. UPDATE: We’ve got the whole show up. Click here to take in the countryside couture.

Some trends are easy to identify because they come at you all at once, like ultra-mega-platforms and leather leggings. But other trends mark eras. They’re usually the ones that sneak up on you. Take knits: Word that up-and-coming London designer Mark Fast would be designing a range for Topshop arrived on the same day this week it was announced that H&M would be collaborating with the legendary Sonia Rykiel.

Together, it amounted to a ratification of the emerging interest in knitwear dressing. Rykiel, of course, essentially invented sweater dressing. Fast, on the other hand, is one of several young designers giving knits a major rethink. Rodarte and Ohne Titel are among that same group. Fast’s super-sexy knit dresses are closer in spirit to vintage Hervé Léger bandage dresses than they are to Rykiel’s striped jumpers. (He’d probably die before he made a cardigan.) But as far apart as the two designers may be aesthetically, their work starts with the same length of yarn.

Why the sudden passion for knits? We posed the question to Louise Goldin, whose eponymous line is based on knits she drapes and pleats like fabric. This season, she also debuted her capsule collection for old-school cashmere brand Ballantyne, where she’s now creative director. (Here’s one look pictured at left.) “Why anyone else gets into knits, I can’t say, because I got into it by accident,” Goldin explained. “When I started school, I was encouraged to explore knits because working with them, you can learn about everything. Draping, patternmaking, textile development.” Goldin continued that she’s not trying to replace Ballantyne’s traditionalist approach with anything too avant-garde—at least not for now. “Before I do anything else, I want to play with the brand’s blends, and their knitting techniques,” she noted. “That is the key difference. When you’re working with a knit, you’re the one creating the fabric. You start from scratch.”