London Fashion Week: A Round Up From Alex Cummins, Junior Brand Manager ...

Monday, February 28, 2011

Wow, what a week! I always get so much more excited by the Autumn Winter collections than the Spring Summer ones, as there are always a few really dark, dangerous, surreal collections that appeal to me, so I was delighted to be invited to a smattering of shows that showcased a real celebration of individuality ...

Kristian Aadnevik

The wonderfully named Black Metal collection was a delicious mixture of leather, metal and feathers that, teamed with the biting cold but beautiful open-air setting of the Old Naval Club in St James Square and heavy rock music, demonstrated a cracking return to the international fashion stage for Versace protege Kristian Aadnevik.




The beautiful make-up was headed up by Illamasqua freelancer Kristina Theodoris, who blocked out the eye brows and focused on heavy, goth-inspired eyes. What were the key Illamasqua products she used? "Powder Eye Shadow in 'Gimp' and 'Lestat' blended out over the Medium Pencil in 'Sophie' for ultra matt black eyes," She tells me, "with no mascara."

Skin was pale, yet with a certain luminosity and hint of baby pink on the cheeks, with a soft lip colour pressed in to the mouth, to keep the focus purely on the eyes.




Thanks to Luisa Voia blog for the backstage shot and Christopher Dadey for the other images.


KRISTIAN AADVENIK A/W 2011-12 from KRISTIAN AADNEVIK on Vimeo.

 
Casette Playa

In the words of Monty Python, "and now for something completely different"...

Colour was the order of the day over at Casette Playa, with designer Carri Munden getting psychedelic with prints and playing a pumping track of grime, dubstep and hip hop as the models graced the catwalk for her MEN show, the quirky show spoke volumes about Carri's individualism and sense of fun. You can watch the show here.

Our make-up artists Sally Rose and Gavin Pickle had a great time supporting lead make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench with gilding the models head to toe with our Liquid Metal in 'Solstice'! Other models had vibrant hair courtesy of the lovely Charlie le Mindu [who is also setting the fashion world alight with his clothing designs as well as his spectacular hair designs... Lady Gaga's pieces in her monsters ball tour? Yep - that was Charlie]





Ziad Ghanem

This was a cracking show for pure theatrics and a stellar guest list including Boy George, Daniel Lismore, the lovely Munroe Bergdorf and just about every other mover and shaker on the London night-time scene. The fusion of eccentric models, floating fabrics and interesting prints [plus a fantastic soundtrack that took in everything from classical to 90s New York house] has made this one of the most talked about shows of the week.

I am going to let the pictures do the talking ... and on a side note, if anyone happens to own/ ordered the beautiful lilac A Line dress, I'm happy to take it off your hands for free, how generous of me ;-)











A Child of the Jago

Our Joint MD Joe Corre's other venture is the menswear label A Child of the Jago, who debuted their AW2011 collection at The Village Underground. Of course, Illamasqua provided the make-up for the boys, who Barnzley [one half of the design team with Joe] wanted to look like "anarchistic rebels, swines and bandits".

National Make-up Artist for Illamasqua Francesco lo Cascio headed up the team that also included Illamasqua artists Clare Lille and Helen Roche, and created a mixture of natural looks and more glossy eyed, seriously smoky eyes.




"I buffed out Medium Pencil in 'Sophie' all around the eye. The creaminess of the formula allows for manipulation with a brush much more easily that harder pencils. On top of that, some of the boys had matt finishes with Powder Eye shadow in 'Lestat' and 'Drama' whilst others had a glossier finish, achieved using Intense Lipgloss in 'Repulse' and some even had a reddier tinge with Intense Lipgloss in 'Femme'. The look was simple, as it had to look smudged and undone, so after creating the eye look, we smudged at it with our fingers to make it look more worn in."

At the end of a long, eventful week I think my feelings are pretty much summed up in Francesco's T Shirt below ...

London College of Fashion and Amnesty Installation...

You may have wondered where all of that used and unwanted make-up that was collected from Illamasqua’s Amnesty had gone…

Illamasqua are now working with the London College of Fashion to create something truly unique as a representation of the success of the Amnesty campaign.    Each day the students of LCF will be creating and evolving Illamasqua creatures as an Installation and Set from the products collected from the Amnesty. These characters will then walk up and down the streets of Soho as a moving Installation.



To catch a preview of this inspiring and inventive installation, head down to the pop up shop over the next week at No.8 Kingley Street, W1 - the venue for this unique piece of art.



These ‘creatures’ will be handing out cards to an exclusive 15% offer to be redeemed at the Beak street store only…so pop down to receive your card!

March of the Penguins... and Friends

Saturday, February 26, 2011
Exquisite!!

This is the word I would use to describe Charlotte Taylor's new Autumn/Winter 11/12 collection. Beautiful prints in mood-altering colours, bold contrasts and snippets of African, English heritage and Hungarian Gypsy inspiration.This is the third season from Charlotte Taylor and it is focused on the beautifully brave prints. Old favorites from previous collections have carried over in new colour ways. Penguins and robots are now joined by new friends - lobsters, ants and elephants. The colours are pleasing to the eye and mix soft with bright.There are huge printed scarfs - the size of duvets!! Classic silk blouses and shirts that I am yearning to own - Will make the prefect addition to my growing 'work wear' wardrobe (More on that in a later post). But they have a timeless elegance, but with quirky prints brings them bang up to date, and of course the CT headscarf is back in a big way. I am very pleased about this as I have been rocking mine recently to keep my ears warm in this lovely spring weather.The styling of this shoot is just perfect I really like the play of classical elegance in contrast to the unusual prints.

And if beautiful clothes wasn't enough... There is also a limited edition wallpaper which is to die for!! Imagine an army of penguins lining your bath room walls. I am not allowed to decorate my abode but I am tempted to buy some rolls just for when I can!I hope you love this new collection as much as I do - I will be saving to add to my head scarf some friends to keep it company in my wardrobe!

Enjoy!
Fashion Fantasist xx

Color Collision...Illamasqua's US exclusive Spring collection!

Thursday, February 24, 2011
Featuring boldly clashing intense colour for looks that are fresh, vibrant and daring…we introduce Color Collision…an exclusive US collection for our retail partner Sephora



Warm  tones smash against sky blues and cool lilacs, allowing for audacious colour combinations and textures that provide contrast and defy the status quo. 


This stunning collection consists of three unique colour stories, and includes the world-wide debut of the Nail Varnish in Gamma, an electric neon orange. 


“I love the drama that is created by pairing warm and cool tones,” says Daniel Busuttil, Illamasqua International Make-Up Artist, “Blood red lips with soft peach cheeks, or neon orange nails with cool lilac eyes are modern and striking. It’s so brazen and the mismatch of colors makes this look so arresting.”



     Warm Story

Warm peach and soft pink tones sit against neon oranges, in a color story that is as luscious as it is feminine…

Powder Eye Shadow in Shiver, $20
Powder Eye Shadow in Heroine, $20
Intense Lipgloss in Mistress, $20
Lipstick in Obey, $22

Lipstick in Obey


Cream Blusher in Rude, $24

 Cream Blusher in Rude


False Lashes in #21, $16



Nail Varnish in Gamma, (EXCLUSIVE), $14

Nail Varnish in Gamma - thank you to Edita of Allyoudesire for this beautiful swatch

The Nail Varnish in Gamma has been revealed exclusively for Sephora to feature as part of the Color Collision collection!



Cool Story

From glacial to intense, this color story captures the icy coolness of sky blues and lilacs, touched with a vivid pink …


 Powder Eye Shadow in Anja, $20
Powder Eye Shadow in Creep, $20
Intense Lipgloss in Fierce, $20
Lipstick in Liv, $22
Cream Blusher in Laid,  $24
False Lashes in #13, $16
Nail Varnish in Load, $14







Dangerous Red Story

Intense and seductive, accents of true blood red create a striking counterpoint …

Intense Lipgloss in Succubus, $20

Intense Lipgloss in Succubus

Lipstick in Sangers, $22


Lipstick in Sangers

Nail Varnish in Throb, $14







The Illamasqua Color Collision Spring Collection is available exclusively in the United States at select Sephora locations and on Sephora.com, click here to visit

Crazy in Love with Amour Fou

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
I am super proud of Charlie Critchley Crozier - The Bristol Designer behind Amour Fou as she is a part of an off schedule London Fashion Week show that happened this evening. Unfortunately I couldn't go as I am now a working girl but here are a few sneak peaks and a little on what Charlie has said about the collections (She has shown 2!!!)What is the inspiration behind the collection?
Well I will be showcasing two collection, I've been asked to show the fantasy range again as it went down so well at Rockstyle and London would like a little splash of magic to spice up the evening. I've added an extra 4 new designs to the fantasy set. Two enchanted princess dresses expressing the little girl inside all of us. The are both inspired by the fairytale Cinderella as I have made them with a raw cut edge showing that even beauty can have jagged edges and doesn't always need to be perfect. It's nice seeing the collection on a different set of models and seeing how the dress adapts and changes with a different face and figure.My second collection came from a project I started in College and from my obsession with the planets and star system, I used to gaze at the stars before going to bed at night and sometimes wish on a shooting star for my dreams to come true.......I've been pretty lucky so far that every wish has come to fruition.My new starlight collection has at least 4,000 sequins, rhinestones and crystals. It's a sparkly, shimmery, dazzling collection for ladies who like to shine when they walk into a room. The collection has nearly every style from evening gowns, prom dresses, 60's mini, 1920's flapper, lingerie and a piece from my new summer project, bespoke swimwear. I want to show London my versatility and my ambition to create just about anything so long as it fills my Amour Fou theatrical style.How did you get involved in LFW and what is the event?
I was asked to take part in the closing party show by Julian Bennett after the success of Bristol Rockstyle. The event is being held at Amika on Kensington High Street on the 23rd of Feb to a host of celebrities and guest the likes of Bond Girl and star of Prince of Persia and Titans- Gemma Artherton for Enzoani, Jamelia , Denise Van Outen, TV Gladiators Jenny Pacey and Wayne Gordon, Jayne Aston and John Adeleye to take to the catwalk.

The evening will be covered by top photographers, OK magazine and Fashion TV. (Wow I will be looking out for the photographs!!)There will be three designers in total and I have been asked to show my two collections last. The other designers are fantastic. Enzoani Couture's designs take my breath away and they have a Men's designer Terence Trout.

I found out whilst in the midst of getting ready for Fashion at Bath Show so I have had to use some from the Bath collection due to time limit but I'm saving a few special dresses for the Bath show that the Miss Willertons will be wearing and have been created just for them.........I really couldn't imagine another model wearing them. I even have my ballet dancer back again for the Bath section.
What have you been up2 since finding out?
Since being asked to do LFW I won't lie, the nerves did kick in! But I've had to put the butterflies on hold and get to work. I've been expanding the two collections so I can cater for all types of people with a variety of styles. I'm hoping to go for the wow factor and that involves an outrageous amount of sequins and weeks of hand stitching. Attention to details was on the fore front of my mind throughout. I want to show London that Bristol has some raw talent out there, it may not be their usual cup of tea but who knows they just might like the taste of Amour Fou!I am so excited to see the final Show pictures and I hope Charlie had a wonderful time tonight!!!!!!

Even though I didn't go to LFW this season I have some lovely posts lined up...

Best Wishes
Fashion Fantasist xxx