Chanel Joan Elkayam Archives

On the final day of London Fashion Week, usually the pace slows a little, you can start to relax, maybe even venture outside of the BFC and shop a little. Definitely not the case for the past two seasons, in fact these past two seasons I think the final day has been one of my favourites. I’ve been in great company, seen some awesome shows with some powerful messages, and had fun. See in the past London Fashion Week was frantic, it lost the fun, and in the last two seasons, it got a little bit of that fun vibe back.

So often when it gets to final day you’ve overdone what’s known as the ‘treadmill’, it’s when you schlep in and out of the BFC via the same entrance and exit on a loop over and over again for shows. There’s only so much time you can spend in the showrooms, on Day 1 they’re shiny and new and everything is amazing, but by Day 3 you know it all off by heart. So, when the opportunity arises to go offsite, quite often you just grab it, regardless of what it is, because you want off that damn treadmill.

Day 5 provided me with such an opportunity, a fashion designer and I guess, sort of a friend of mine, Chanel Joan Elkayam was holding an on schedule, but off site runway show in Camden on a February day that could have easily been mistaken for June. Counting Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Tweedy amongst her personal Fash Pack despite her mere 21 years, I was intrigued.

There’s so much to observe about this particular show and designer and none of it is about the clothes. First of all the show ran so late, we sat on the front row waiting for an hour for the show to start and in that time we watched as we waited, Chanel is a really interesting character. Yes she’s a fashion designer and a huge amount of money and preparation went into what was undeniably a huge show for her, her first on schedule show at London Fashion Week and rounding off the big four for her making her the youngest ever designer to show on schedule at New York, London, Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks – a huge achievement for a woman of her age. But here’s the thing, she wants you to notice the woman, not necessarily the clothes, and that’s unlike any fashion designer I have ever come across, ever. I mean sure, they might say it, but this one means it.

Kate Grant on the runway for Chanel Joan Elkayam FW19 at London Fashion Week Fashion Voyeur Blog by Pixie Tenenbaum

Solo model on the runway for Chanel Joan Elkayam FW19 at London Fashion Week Fashion Voyeur Blog by Pixie Tenenbaum

Cerys Wrigley Scott model on the runway for Chanel Joan Elkayam FW19 at London Fashion Week Fashion Voyeur Blog by Pixie Tenenbaum

Trust me, we had the time to watch, to observe and to listen to what was going on around us in that unintentionally long break before the show. Chanel Joan Elkayam as a brand has always been about female empowerment, from her first collection La Sola Rosa, through to this I Don’t Follow I Lead collection. Elkayam believes in the power of an independent woman with a sovereign mind, her press statement reads that she believes strongly in the empowerment of women, that the Chanel Joan Elkayam woman is fearless and unstoppable, powerful and completely comfortable within her own body.

Ceci Zhang & Ava child model on the runway for Chanel Joan Elkayam FW19 at London Fashion Week Fashion Voyeur Blog by Pixie Tenenbaum

It’s not often you get the chance to play sleuth at a show, or really dig into exactly what the message or methodology is when it comes to fashion because designers are so very different and relatively inaccessible. With Chanel, you get the impression that the message is the driving force, not the collection, rather that the collection is the tool in which to deliver the message. Her campaign for FW19, I Don’t Follow I Lead, is borne out of a need to shed conformation and constraint and to lead, as we were meant to. Listening and watching, I genuinely get the impression that Chanel Joan Elkayam wants the world to sit up and take notice of women; all women, no matter what colour, shape, size or origin story.

Her choice of models for the show is inspired and reads like a roster for representation and diversity; transgender model and activist Munroe Bergdorf opened the show, followed by Kate Grant and a full line up of black, Asian and white models including a child model paired up in a matching outfit for the final walk. There were older models represented on the Chanel Joan Elkayam runway and it definitely felt that representation was the strongest message of all. Could this be a pivotal moment for London Fashion Week? Probably not, but something tells me that this woman knows that her message is every bit as important as her product, maybe even more so in this particular case, and that’s exactly her point here.

Pixie

London Fashion Week is always exciting, it’s a hotbed for fresh talent and in terms of ‘The Big Four’, it’s the one we look to for micro trend inspiration. It’s a great place for spotting emerging design talent and the FW17 season saw several designers make their debut, a few of whom stand out for all the right reasons. Jessie Western showed their first runway collection this season to huge success and another young designer to break the mound is Chanel Joan Elkayam.

Elkayam has been on my radar for a little while now, she’s an interesting girl and I’ve followed her career to date with curiosity after she contacted me a couple of years back. Elkayam has an impressive CV and a list of awards and accolades as long as the train on her finale gown. Whenever I read about her, I’m always curious to find out more. The reason I’m so interested in her is that she’s just 19 years old. Yes Voyeurs you read that right, this is a fully fledged fashion designer who not only creates her own collections, but produces her own elaborate shows, all at the tender age of 19.

Elkayam is a Womenswear student studying at Central St. Martin’s, she’s been around on the tradeshow scene for a little while now but in 2016 the girl blew up in a big way. Major players started to take notice, she was invited to show at Paris Fashion Week for FW16 and in doing so, became the youngest designer to show a couture collection during Fashion Month. Since then, she’s shown at New York Fashion Week for SS17 and spoken at several conferences about women in business. She may be just 19 years old but the girl is a powerhouse; at the 2016 New York Fashion Awards, Elkayam was awarded the ‘International Designer of the Year’ by industry professionals.

Her FW17 collection, La Sola Rosa was a story of Love and loss. Inspired by poet Vera Brittain who was given a single red rose by her fiancé at the train station on their last day together during World War 1. Elkayam sought to portray raw beauty, emotion, power and romantic sensuality though her collection and did this with drama and flair.

Guests took their seats and the lights were dimmed before the show began. Models walked the runway with a strong Dolce Vita inspired beauty look reminiscent of Dolce & Gabbana’s Sicilian princesses, a timeless red lip and a single red rose to compliment Elkayam’s debut accessory line. A largely monochrome palette with flashes of red and tapestry brocade, the collection showcased the female form using traditional shapes with a focus on the waist using leather waspies to cinch and create an hourglass shape.

When you’re watching a show with as many looks, comprising both a fashion collection and an accessories line, it’s hard to remember that Elkayam is still in her first year at Central St Martin’s. Detailing throughout the collection is uniform and exquisite, her eye for detail is mature well beyond her years and whilst the shapes are simple, Elkayam clearly knows where her strengths lie.

Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing how Elkayam’s career progresses, with preparations already underway for SS18, I’ll be back on the frow in September so keep it here Voyeurs and remember the name Chanel Joan Elkayam, you’ll be hearing it a lot more….

Pixie xo