Goodone - London Fashion Week -Estethica London Fashion Week

I enjoyed talking to Goodone founder Nin Castle at London fashion week last Tuesday.

It was at the end of the day and we had been wanting to find the Anatomy stand in the Ethethica zone of the LFW exhibition and literally stubbled upon the Goodone stand.

I discovered that Nin had studied Textiles at Brighton College of Technology, the same place as me except I studied Graphic design.

She graduated in 2002 and has been a true pioneer in sustainable fashion since. Basing her degree show collection on the sustainable textile concept she got little or no support from her tutors, more to do with the fact that this quest was new and previously unexplored territory Nin tactfully said. Through shear determination and persistence she sourced suppliers of recycled fabric for her collection and fashion brand that has followed.

This seasons collection has a sporty feel, is body conscious, modern and very flattering to the female form creating a sexy silhouette. What is impressive is it is a cool brand, the fact that it is ethical makes one question why can't more fashion retailers do this.

Goodone proves that there has to be absolutely no compromise on style to be ethical.

check out www.goodone.co.uk

Sia Dimitriadi - London Fashion Week

I met Sia Dimitriadi on the first day of London Fashion Week and was immediately drawn to her stand. The pretty ruffles and flounce with frills create an alluring feminine silhouette which is very eye catching.

I discovered that she is based in Nicosia in Cyprus and has a studio of seamstresses busy beavering away creating her designs to order.

Sia launched her label in 2006 and is impressively a self- taught designer.

The collection is girlie but with a grown up and knowing sophistication.

At first glance and if you didn't take the time to look properly you could be forgiven for thinking Sia's collection was for lingerie market. Infact as Nick and I were chatting to her two Italian Lingerie buyers sped past stopping for a moment to give her their card!!

Sia uses mostly silk to create her designs of gorgeous frothy, flouncy, frilly and very feminine clothes.

Her winter collection is black and her summer collection pastels.

I went back to see Sia on the Tuesday of London fashion week with my colleague Nick Lodge a web site designer to see whether she needed any help defining her brand more effectively on the web. We will be putting some concepts together for her to look at and see how it goes from there. We believe she has a great look that if styled and photographed with a more everyday edge can really go places. watch this space.

Sia's summer colours

Sia at London Fashion week February 2010

MILAN - fashion week aw 10, day 3, 02/26/10

More MFW voguistas on vogue.it.

MILAN - fashion week aw 10, day 2, 02/25/10

More MFW voguistas on vogue.it.

Georgia Hardinge at LFW

These two hard working girls Sara and Saskia are in Paris at the moment with Georgia Hardinge having done the week in London. The piece they are standing next to got a lot of media attention. check out www.georgiahardinge.blogspot.com for more info - her web site is under reconstruction at the moment. A sexy and innovative collection.

London Fashion week - Fiona Paxton Accessories

Fiona Paxton's accessories caught my eye to be honest because of the way one of her team had styled herself wearing a piece with a simple stripy T shirt.

I thought this looked really accessible and easy to wear as an everyday item. I like this contrast, it looks cool.

Fiona Paxton trained at the Royal College of Art in 1992 and launched this collection in 2008 after many years gained working in the fashion industry.

www.fiona-paxton.com

MILAN - chantal, fashion week aw 10, day 1, 02/24/10

To see more of my shots, visit vogue.it.

The Beautiful City of London

These are quick snaps I took, there are lots more interesting side roads to explore. The weekend is quiet in the City so it is an ideal place to do a shoot. However for obvious security reasons commercial companies need to get authorization from the local authority. The juxtaposition of old and new is great and shows how the city and London has evolved.

Leadenhall market (photo below) in the city was used in the harry Potter films regularly.

Location Ideas in London - City of London near bank Station

Before I show case some of the designers we saw on Tuesday at LFW I will do a feature on 'location ideas for fashion shoots'.

One of my students has just finished an internship with Mathew Williamson and wants to do her final project (a brand campaign) on his AW 2010 collection show cased this week at LFW. She loved working for him and had an amazing time this week. She watched his show then went to the after show party at the Ivy rubbing shoulders with Twiggy, Sienna Millar and many other icons of fashion. She had worked really hard with the rest of the team and clearly Mathew Williamson knows how to look after his staff. They had a brilliant time.

Mathew Williamson's new collection is one of his most sophisticated and grown up to date. Gone is the Boho look that made his name. Designers need to develop and evolve if they are to maintain their slot at the top.

I suggested that the City of London would be a good location for a shoot. It epitomizes London.

The MW label is very much British brand and like Burberry it is something to be proud of.

The mix of historical and Modern architecture, the wide street and interesting sky lines all make the City a very interesting place visually.

I have used The Savoy, The Portman hotel (modern Art Deco) and The Hyde Park, which have some great suites with good light and depth of field. Generally the management is reluctant to let the hotel lobby or reception area be used because it is such a busy area which is a shame as these areas can be the most interesting.

Here is the Threadneedle hotel I stayed in last week owned by the Eton Group of hotels situated near bank station in the City. It used to be a Victorian bank and was redeveloped into a 5 star hotel by CA Design who incidentally are working on a new hotel in Berners street to be called very originally The Berners! opposite The Sanderson hotel in London.

I loved this dome which let in lots of light.

The reception though lovely is a bit cluttered and would be a problem because of this.

Generally if you are going to use a quiet area off the main reception the hotel if you pay are accommodating.

I will take a look at the City of London streets near Bank Tube next...... watch this space

LONDON - fashion week aw 10, day 4, 02/22/10

My days & nights at LFW on my visual diary.

London Fashion Week - Day 4

I went to London Fashion Week again yesterday with my colleague Nik Lodge a Fashion web site designer.

The rain didn't dampen our enthusiasm for all things fashion where we met new and established designers. Finding the people we wanted to meet was somewhat of a challenge we travailed through the various maze like labyrinth of blocks and corridors that make up the exhibition spaces of Somerset House. We wanted to talk to Anatomy in space 54 and it took us all day to work out where that was and then discovered we had walked past it twice during the day! It wasn't only us that found the lay out confusing many of the exhibitors had said that buyers had also found it a difficult venue to navigate.

We were given Champagne and canapes in the estethica section of the exhibition ( sponsored by Monsoon) where Harold Tilman and environment Minister Dan Morris made a presentation praising the work of the ethical group of designers and pledging continued support from the government and the British Fashion Council.

Ethethica is about providing retailers with a choice and the continued success of this scheme is that more and more retailers and media are making the choice and show case ethical fashion when the product is right.

What people want is great style and clothes that make them look great. None of the designers we met in Ethethica wanted to preach about ethical choices. Their aim is to provide great fashion that as a bonus makes us feel good as well as look good with out compromising on style and quality.

We saw everyone from shoe and bag designer Patrick Cox and Hat designer Stephen Jones to as I said the Estethica group of designers and also main stream emerging brands.

We saw so many designers that I will have to edit down those I feature here to the one we felt were the best of the bunch, not an easy job.........

MARC by MARC JACOBS HILLIER HOBO Color: Raw Sugar

MARC by MARC JACOBS HILLIER HOBO

Color: Raw Sugar

Measures 14 x 14 x 4 inches

SOLD OUT

Special Limited Edition Color ~ Hard to find!

LONDON - fashion week aw 10, day 3, 02/21/10

lfwdaily.com
Check my pictures from the 3 first days of LFW on my visual diary.

VOGUE.IT

Breaking news! I've just been asked by soon-to-be-launched vogue.it to cover next Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks for them. I have never experienced FW in Milan before so it can't wait to see what I will find.

Feb. 24 - March 1: Milan Fashion Week
Feb. 26: vogue.it launch party
Feb. 27: book signing at Milano Libri, Via Verdi 2, from 6PM
March 2: London
March 3-11: Paris Fashion Week
March 12: London, book signing at Foyles, Charing Cross Road, from 5PM