Wear the line: Key Fashion Trend AW09

Autumn heralds the new Body Con, Body Con(tour). The look has finally evolved away from its Herve Leger carnation. Its focus has shifted so that it is no longer fixated around figure hugging apparel alone. Garments are still form fitting, but they now incorporate  lines that trace the contours of the body, changing in thickness and direction so that they literally map the frame.

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Top row from left to right: Julien Macdonald, Ann-Sofie Back, Christopher Kane. Middle row from left to right: Vivienne Westwood, Topshop Unique, Giles. Bottom row from left to right: Richard Nicoll, Krystof Strozyna, Josh Goot.

Edith

London Fashion Week: Print trends for AW09

Prints have been very prominent on the catwalks. Most London designers are taking their cues from nature or science fiction and the resulting patterns can be divided into two very clear trends. Winter florals and space Odyssey.

Winter Florals: Anything (or any flower) goes here. Large, small, soft, bold, bright or subtle.

Top row from left to right: Peter Jensen, Betty Jackson, Edrem. Middle row from left to right: Future Classics, Paul Smith, Kinder Aggugini. Bottom row from left to right: Avsh Alom Gur, Luella and Ossie Clark.

Space Odyssey: Think sci-fi graphic designs predominantly in reds and greys.

Top row from left to right: Marios Schwab, Danielle Scutt, Giles. Bottom row from left to right: Richard Nicoll, William Tempest, Topshop Unique

Edith

London Fashion Week: Surprise trends

It’s only day 3 but already we’ve been thrown some trend curve balls.

Merkin embellishment:

Fancy hoods:

Fat black:

Scorched prints:

But which of these micro movements do you think will continue their reign on the catwalks to become a fully fledged trend?

Edith

Kate Moss for Topshop. Cock right off!

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say what I think many of you are thinking…

Kate Moss’s collections for Tophop are SHIT. Especially the latest one which launched yesterday. They aren’t even collections (and I am qualified to say that because I studied fashion design at uni, so ner!). Just random clothes hung together, a bit like a nice charity shop that just happens to have several of each item (perhaps because they chanced on some dead-stock you think to yourself?). There is no concept, no obvious colour palettes, little in the way of repeat details, and the fabrics, well, to be fair, they are what to be expected for that price point. It is just a mish-mash of clothes that you have a vague recollection of seeing the supermodel wearing at some point over the past few years.

What we (and Philip Green) need to remember is that, just because you have the ability to make anything look good, some style, and you can make Jo Public willing to sell their Gran just to own the latest shoite you were pictured in, this does not mean you should be heralded as a designer. I mean, my sis has this knack of making any old polyester market tat look fantastic, but I wouldn’t recommend for one second that Harold Tillman hand over the keys to Jaeger design studio and say ‘there you go luv, knock yourself out!’.

I do understand what Sir Philip Green was thinking (my Nan would say he was just seeing pound signs in front of his eyes and *tut*). But the fact that these ‘collections’ are based on what Moss herself has worn and not what she wants to wear in the future illustrates my point beautifully. She has no credible talent in this area. No vision. Arguably, she is able to recognise a good thing when she sees it, she does have an eye and could be an excellent stylist. But she is not a designer. Kate’s collections are reminiscent of what Topshop was doing years ago, you know, when it was dirt cheap, safe and a bit rubbish (but the high street was limited back then so we had no choice but to go there for our ‘Friday night on the tiles’ outfit). Well, people, this is no longer the case, So I beg you, I URGE you in fact. STOP THIS MADNESS! Don’t buy this pathetic excuse for a collection, and lets restore Ms Moss to her rightful position in society: The beautiful, crack-lovin (allegedly) laydee that we all know and *heart*.

Edith

Images from the fashion police