Fashion Voyeur

People will stare, make it worth their while.

Categories: Fashion, Models

John Herrera SS18 at London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week‘s SS18 season is already weighing in as a heavyweight against New York Fashion Week’s decreasing flyweight.  NYFW was once the matriarch of Fashion Month, a beacon held aloft for the lesser three to aspire to.  Well those days are long gone, since the division of Fashion Month and The Big Four as a whole, New York Fashion Week has become the diluted and less aspirational sister to the European Three, and Vancouver Fashion Week is hot on its heels.

Back to London and we’re on day 2 with John Herrera’s Amanda collection for SS18.  Herrera launched his brand just two years ago when he was chosen to participate in the British Council and British Fashion Council’s International Fashion Showcase, keen fashionistas will remember that he went on to win at the London Emerging Designer Awards at Somerset House, showcasing his Agila collection at MBFW in Tokyo.  That’s a whirlwind career for a designer who set up his namesake label just two short years ago.

Last season Herrera put together a presentation of looks on the runway for Fashion Scout, his first runway show.  This season he’s back and he’s upped the ante with Armada; a 30 piece collection of digitally printed haute couture fashion, designed to turn heads.  Building on Agila for FW17, Herrera was inspired by the accidental discovery of the Philippine Islands by the Spanish; Diogo Ribiero’s World Map from 1529 set the pace for Spring Summer 2018’s prints and the linear fabric manipulation techniques.  All pretty spectacular when you see it in real life.

Models walked the runway complete with a strong beauty look of whited out faces with burgundy or black lips topped with bag veils fashioned from voile and tied at the neck adding a gothic opulence to the show.  Shapes were stronger this season, if Herrera carved out his niche in FW17, he’s closer to perfecting it in SS18.  Wing tipped shoulders and cinched in waists were the stalwarts within the collection, with a ruffle frilled Little Red Riding Hood-esque cape that defied these shapes to become the stand out piece in the collection.

The show was fluid and told a story, if you’ve followed Herrera’s career to date you’ll know that he employs women from challenged upbringings and communities and has produced a work ethic that’s unrivalled.  He’s a designer who cares about the origins of his collection and how it makes its way on to the runway as final pieces.  The Armada collection features a nod to the Spanish monarchy with regal ruff necklines and hourglass body shapes with a touch of fetishism brought in.

Herrera’s second mainline runway show at London Fashion Week definitely upped the drama and proved that he’s more than a presentation designer.  With 30 key looks produced in the last six months between seasons, I can’t wait to see what Herrera brings us for FW18 in February.

Pixie xo

Categories: Fashion, Uncategorized

Giles Deacon Says Bonjour to Paris

As LCM draws to a close and Paris Couture Week begins, Fashion Bloggers and Editors alike feel a flurry of excitement at the prospect of what’s to come.  Couture week usually brings with it a bombshell; some kind of shock announcement that leaves the fashion world reeling and this season is no different.  Last year Jean-Paul Gaultier announced he would be halting his Ready To Wear line to concentrate on what he does best – Haute Couture; and this year is the turn of Brit Giles Deacon to announce the very same intention.

“We want to focus on what we do well, and maximise the success of the red carpet and private client work we’ve been doing over the past four years. We want to be the go-to business for super special daywear and eveningwear, to focus on what we are known for, and what our customers want from us,” – Giles Deacon

With Couture, the process harks back to the early days of Fashion Week when collections were shown months in advance of production allowing time for orders and bespoke creations however with the fast pace of fashion today, this is no longer the case.  With many celebri-guests arriving at Fashion Week runway shows wearing the collection before it’s even been shown, there’s a demand that now outstrips supply.  Case in point: the monogrammed Burberry poncho.

With Insta-fashion now dictating microtrends in between seasons, it’s hard for designers to create a collection shown only twice per year covering two seasons and so Couture is a natural choice for designers who want to get back to their roots, to the real reason they joined this business, for the fashion and the beautiful, beautiful couture.

Couture is where the big bucks are but it’s not quite as simple as knocking up a garment and banking the profits, there are a lot of hoops to jump through to become a certified couturier.  If you fit the requirements, then it’s a hugely profitable place to be, with a lot of potential repeat business.

Couture is something Giles does well, with his signature dark gothic glamour, you can spot a Giles creation on a red carpet at 100 paces for it’s dramatic flair and shock value.  Wearing Giles’ couture guarantees column inches in the worlds fashion press and as we know, in fashion, that’s never a bad thing.  A favourite of Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, it takes a certain calibre of client to wear Giles’ couture.

Giles’ couture collection will retail between £3,000 and £5,000 for a bespoke creation and £50,000 to £70,000 for red-carpet couture – not bad work if you can get it, right?

So dear Voyeurs, hang on to your Giles Deacon RTW creations, I have my favourite gothic victoriana blouse from FW15 which just got elevated to prized possession status.

Pixie x

Follow @pixietenenbaum