in.fashion

show. fashion.

So there we are. Today London Fashion Week opens its doors, unfortunately not to the public but there are so many sources of information that I’m sure we will all know soon enough what to wear and not to wear in Autumn/ Winter 09. For those who will go you can find the latest schedule for the shows on the London Fashion Show website. For those who would love to go but don’t know if it’s worth it without tickets…it IS worth it. You may be lucky enough to spot a few faces well known through the press plus there is so much going on that just inhaling a bit of the atmosphere is exciting. Otherwise just read up on the many blogs and in magazines what is going on.
Now, what is the fuss all about? London Fashion Week is a showcase of ready to wear collections. For those who don’t know, yes, it is what it says. You can wear it. Those really extravagant shows are called haute couture but I won’t go into detail on these now. Maybe another time…
The London Fashion Week is actually financed and organised by the British Fashion Council who celebrates its 25th birthday this year.
Each designer who wants to show their collections can apply to do so. Some designers choose to only exhibit for various reasons. I guess the budget plays an important role in this decision; such shows are expensive and not necessarily lucrative, at least not in the short run. But there are many awards and sponsorships a designer may be accredited with. If you want to find out more on these you can look it all up on the London Fashion Week Website and their links.
So, what are we looking forward to this week? The show I am excited about is that of Kinder Aggugini who will be showing for the first time even though he is actually an already established designer; just this time he will show his very own label.
Danielle Scutt has won a catwalk sponsorship by New Gen / Topshop and her show will be dangerously exciting. I like that she seems to be quite provocative and uses lots of creative ways of print on the fabrics.
Another one is Christopher Kane who is no doubt an amazing shooting star at the age of 26 he is very young and so gifted. His designs are homage to every woman which gained him the New Designer of the Year Award in 2008. He is showing his collection for the fourth time.
There are so many this list could go on and on, in a week’s time we will see how it all went and discover the true stars of this season’s shows.
Let’s talk the important things. What do we do with what we see? Most people will not be able to afford a new Christopher Kane dress I presume so let’s find out if there are some clues on how to make the whole fashion theatre work for us.
The things we can use as inspiration for our daily wardrobe are for example colours. Look what colour schemes are used at the shows and find some items for you to be up date. What about the silhouettes? Check what shape the models in their dresses have. Are they hourglass with wide shoulders and hips or pretty straight? Another factor that can inspire you…The details is my favourite. You will find tights like last year in all colours or corsages attached to everything, the make-up is so amazing sometimes and very important too. Bags will be seen as well as all sorts of accessories. How do they wear the belts? Make your own little mood board with pieces of pictures you find and put together your favourite looks. If you can’t find items to put a look a look together don’t worry. It won’t be long until the high street shops will pick up on the stuff they have seen at the shows and deliver you the best of it at affordable prices. That’s why the shows are well in advance before the season starts. But you can be the trendsetter if you keep your eyes open plus not all styles will be translated into high street wear so you’ll have your unique style.
Parallel to the London Fashion Week is one event that I believe does not receive as much attention as it should. I am talking about the Ethetica Exhibition. This is an exhibition of labels which make it their priority to produce and trade ethical fashion. Especially recently there was a stir in the fashion industry about cruel conditions in sweat shops where the clothes we wear may be produced and more and more labels give more transparency on their production stream so we know what we wear. I think we all should be conscious of the long journey every garment makes before it arrives in the shops and consider those people who contribute to its beauty. We know it does not stop after the design process but continues through production and shipping and of course the material must be sourced before starting it all. More details on the Estethica can be found again on the London Fashion Week website. This event, too, is not open to the general public but there are many sources to get informed. There is a great blog about ethical style http://ethicalstyle.com .

Tags: christopher kane, danielle scutt, fashion, kinder aggugini, london fashion week, style