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May 24 2013

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14 posts tagged "Fashion East"

Selfridges’ Bright Young Things

Selfridges has announced the latest round of designers for its Bright Young Things initiative, a project it launched last year (with emerging designers Simone Rocha, Kirsty Ward, and Alex Noble in the mix) to support young designers in London. This year’s 15 Bright Young Things include womenswear designers Maarten van der Horst (the recent Central Saint Martins grad who made a big splash at Fashion East with his Hawaiian prints), Alice Lee, Adam Andrascik, Sorcha O’Raghallaigh (who has worked with Lady Gaga and Nicola Formichetti), and MASC; menswear designers Shaun Samson, Astrid Andersen, William Richard Green, and Alex Mattson; and accessories designers Oliver Ruuger and T. lipop. The group also includes photographers, graphic illustrators, interior designers, and prop makers.

As part of the program, which launches today and runs through the end of February, the designers will get to showcase their work in the retailer’s Oxford Street or Duke Street windows, and their collections will be for sale on Selfridges.com and in three pop-up shops.

Photo: Alessandro Viero / GoRunway.com

The Latest From London

Some arena-playing rock bands travel less than young London’s designers. Those blessed by the British Fashion Council as part of the roving London Showrooms coterie have been on a whistle-stop world tour of late, hitting Paris, Hong Kong, L.A., and now, finally, New York, where they set up shop this morning to show their Spring wares to U.S.-based editors and buyers. To judge from the group assembled—including James Long, Thomas Tait, J.W. Anderson, Holly Fulton, Louise Gray, Marios Schwab, and milliner Nasir Mazhar—the journey may have tired them, but it didn’t dampen their enthusiasm. Almost every designer queried revealed he or she had picked up international stockists along the way; among the city’s reigning favorites, Long and Anderson drew the most attention, but even the youngest in the crowd can now boast increased U.S. visibility. Central Saint Martins grad Simone Rocha, who showed her first solo outing this Spring after a few seasons under the umbrella of Fashion East, now sells her vintage-lace dresses, fluoro tulle sheer layering skirts, and plastic raincoats at Opening Ceremony. Craig Lawrence, a 2011 NEWGEN winner who showed loose-weave knits and cropped, elasticized jumpers, is at several Henry Beguelin locations. Interested buyers were swarming, suggesting more reach is at hand for many present.

New categories and techniques were on display, too. Jeweler and sculptor Jordan Askill introduced pieces with ethical amethyst, sourced from a mine in Zambia, which he worked into silver pieces with his trademark swallows (below left). (A giant swallow cuff, which opened to reveal a hidden compartment, blurred the line between his two pursuits.) Also in the new collection were his first fine-jewelry pieces, with tiny diamonds surrounding a faceted, hand-carved swallow pendant. Holly Fulton had begun working with mother-of-pearl for accessories and real seashells for statement-making jackets; the trick, she confided, is finding shells of uniform shape. Tait, whose finely wrought, voluminous pieces suggest Couture shapes, had a surprising new footwear collaboration: a set of crisscrossed trainers he designed with Nike. (He was wearing a pair himself, as was a model; he had no plans to produce them, he revealed, but persistent interest on the part of buyers may change all that.) And Sibling’s Cozette McCreery was on hand to show off her knitwear label’s first official women’s line, Sister by Sibling. Women had been ordering small men’s sizes for so long, she said, that she and her co-designers, Sid Bryan and Joe Bates, decided finally to cut and knit for them. They were cropped neon and sequin leopard tops (left) and two complementary, sweatshirt-style sweaters emblazoned with the words LOVE and HATE. They’d sold, she said, about evenly, though she expected more interest in LOVE. Call it a knitted insight into the human race.

Photos: Courtesy of Sibling; Courtesy of Jordan Askill

The Men Of MAN

Menswear hit the catwalk in London today for LFW’s dedicated MAN by Topman day. For those of you who weren’t able to make it to the U.K., Style.com is exclusively debuting three short films from Fashion East and Hidden Agency showcasing the Spring ’12 collections by designers Shaun Samson, Matthew Miller, and Martine Rose. And check back tomorrow for more on the best of London menswear.

Shaun Samson
Samson looked to California and the early-nineties surf/grunge culture for both the video and his collection. In the film, the long-haired surfer boy, clad in Samson’s Mexican blanket print clothes, is on his way to his utopia: the beach, of course.

Continue Reading “The Men Of MAN” »

Fashion East’s Lulu Kennedy On How To Make It—And Her Picks For The Ones Who Will

Finding new talent can be a little like falling in love. Just ask Fashion East‘s Lulu Kennedy. “Sometimes it can be like love at first sight, but more often than not, they’re a ‘grower,’ ” says the founder of London’s talent showcase with ten years and a “greatest hits” collection, Lulu & Co, to its credit. “Often you see things that are not presented very well, are half-finished or shot badly on a digital camera, but I’m always prepared to wait if someone looks like they will be amazing in a year or so.”

Kennedy has launched the careers of many of London’s hottest names—Richard Nicoll, Jonathan Saunders, Gareth Pugh, Louise Gray, Marios Schwab, Roksanda Ilincic, Meadham Kirchhoff, Michael van der Ham, and on and on—so who better to give a little good advice on how to make the fashion grade?

“What I first tell designers is that you can’t do it alone,” says Kennedy. “Having a great team around you is the most important thing. And if you come across a brilliant intern, do whatever it takes to hold on to them; they could be the person you really rely on in a few years’ time.

“Secondly, find the right backer. Creative people aren’t always good at all the backend stuff, so finding a great business partner is essential.

“And get organized. Do a list of everything you need to do. As it gets frantic nearer the show, that list will only get longer and longer as you cross things off. There are no short cuts; if you want to have a lasting career in fashion, you really do have to put the hours in.” Continue Reading “Fashion East’s Lulu Kennedy On How To Make It—And Her Picks For The Ones Who Will” »

Lulu Kennedy’s Perfect Ten

For a decade now, Lulu Kennedy’s Fashion East has incubated some impressive talent: Gareth Pugh, Marios Schwab, Richard Nicoll, Roksanda Ilincic, and Henry Holland have all come through the one-time raver’s runway training ground. Kennedy commemorated the milestone Thursday night with a raucous launch party at Harvey Nichols for Lulu & Co—a capsule collection by ten of her designer discoveries, each of whom culled one standout dress from Fashion East’s memorable archives for the occasion.

The collection, which will be available at last night’s party locale, got a test run on the designers’ boldfaced friends. Kennedy modeled Jonathan Saunders; Holland paired up with Pixie Geldof; Nicoll outfitted Josephine de la Baume; and Poppy Delevingne poured herself into Gareth Pugh. Kennedy, quizzed on the past decade’s highlights, had trouble stopping at just one. “When Gareth’s ‘lit up’ dress came down the runway at the Electric Ballroom…and when Aggy opened Henry Holland’s show in leather hot pants, with the crowd going nuts…and then, of course, when Victoria Beckham actually turned up at my show.”

At the after-party at Glo Glo’s, Lulu & Co’s designers presented Kennedy with the evening’s anniversary present, a patchwork quilt of fabric from each designer stitched together by Louise Gray. “Somehow, I can’t imagine sleeping in it,” Kennedy said. “I think it will be framed and hung up for all to see at Fashion East. That just seems right.”

Photo: Courtesy of Lulu & Co