Fashion Voyeur

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Categories: The Fashion Closet

Matty Bovan FW19 at London Fashion Week

Five short months have slipped by and we’re right back in the thick of Fashion Month.  We can pretty much all but disregard New York now, what was once a beacon of hope for the Fash Pack is now a beeline for commercialism.  We might see the odd glimmer of brilliance, this season it was from Tom Ford as he dug deep into his archives for inspiration but really London is where Fashion Month truly begins.

Day one held promise, real promise in fact.  First on the agenda was Bora Aksu and his army of whimsical space fairies; a very hard act to follow and an uber strong opening act.  Bringing up the rear however was Matty Bovan.  Known for his eclectic style pallette; his FW19 show came with a back story that hooked me in from the word go, or to be more precise, from the words: In Uncertain Times, This Is A Sure Thing!  Let me explain…..

In late Autumn last year, a letter slipped through the mailbox of Matty Bovan’s front door, addressed to his deceased grandma. He opened it to find an odd claim, promising to becalm the nerves of recipients with the sale of warehouse furniture.  Unsettled by its rhetoric he photocopied the last eight words. At the 11th hour, he had alighted upon a title for his Fall/Winter 2019 collection: In Uncertain Times, This Is A Sure Thing!  The strange act of contacting the deceased, and the sheer tenacity of further suggesting the purchase of a Draylon three-piece suite might solve all woes felt too irresistible to resist.  Had the fabric of British civilisation come to this?  “I mean,” he sighs now, “how creepy?”

Already, sinister thoughts had been afoot.  Germinating through Matty’s mind while assembling the rich, strange, dark, tempestuous and even occasionally – whisper it – pretty collection was a flavour of wilful witchiness. (Exactly my style – you were thinking it too right Voyeurs?!)  He spent six months researching the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612, obsessively reading about the Lancastrian massacre against mysticism.  He became consumed by folklore and myth.  “Really a lot of this stuff is just about healing and ritual, stuff that has been twisted and spun to try and control people.  Folk traditions are quite bizarre but there’s documentation of them actually happening.”  In the end, it came down to the idea of what constitutes modern magic.  “This is just a way of thinking about the past, the present and the future. I’m sceptical about magic, of course, which in many ways makes it all the more fascinating.”

Could this be the reason Liberty of London reached out to him in October, just as he was finishing his knitwear, the cornerstone of any Matty Bovan collection as we know it, inviting him to visit the Liberty Fabric archives,  where he subsequently selected their Tana Lawn pattern, scaling up the tiny graphics to find the wizardry and magic in the colour blend, while turning the collection into an exploration of Englishness, as divined through his unique eye, moving the colloquialisms into a new stratosphere.  Waxed fabrics have been etched with nails, leaving random impressions.  The ballgowns of Spring/Summer had mutated into polymorphous shapes, cut against the leg, into the hip, bolstered with tulle and foam padding.  His significant print this season?  The unmistakably English dragon.  I mean how fabulous is that?

A Liberty Fabric print blouse, in four different colourways, with shoulder frilling and an Edwardian neckline is almost quintessentially Helena Bonham Carter in its Englishness.  “This is the sort of thing most people start designing,” he says.  “For me, it’s a kind of an extremity.”  He might send it down the catwalk back to front. “It works as a jacket, too.” His sense of playfulness and anarchy remains undimmed. A waxed kilt comes at what he calls “schoolteacher length.”  Where others like to test the limits of their design eccentricity, Matty began prevaricating on the possibilities of his hitherto unseen conservatism.

When he sat down to talk about the headwear, made by Stephen Jones for COACH X Matty Bovan, this season featuring Coach Signature tapestry fabric, he used the phrase “hats through the ages” to creative director Katie Grand and peerless milliner Stephen Jones.  “That made everybody laugh.”  Until it made sense.  Katie Hillier has fashioned collectable outsized keyrings for the collection, as well as hair scrunchies and bows in Liberty Fabric prints.  And trust me Voyeurs, scrunchies are big news again this season and beyond.

There is a message in everything in this collection, one print from the knits is taken from the impression of a grit-bin found in Manchester.  A local wood-turner has made jewellery from chair spindles and bracelets which were worn as armlets by the models including current supermodel Adwoa Aboah, this particular craft continues into talismans which were held by the models and shaped by Matty’s mother.  If ever there was a collection to come out of something so pure, this is it.

The collection is based on heritage and that much is clear, however Bovan’s kooky spirit shines through and none of that eclectic edge we’ve come to know, love and expect has been diminished.  Every single look is planned in it’s entirety from the headwear to the accessories making Matty something of a connoisseur when it comes to creativity.  The shoes were a collaborative affair, having been planned with everyone’s favourite nineties shoemaker Gina.  Gina for COACH x Matty Bovan footwear also features Coach Signature fabric, as well as GINA for Matty Bovan footwear in clumpy sludge fake snakeskin, cappuccino-coloured stack lace-ups, and the fabric of a thigh boot looking something like a luxurious diesel slick.

There aren’t many designers who can pull together a collection, a show, associated collaborations and a full-scale set piece to create an immersive atmosphere based on just eight words.  Matty Bovan I salute you.  This was one of the best.

Pixie

 

Categories: The Archives, The Fashion Closet

Jayne Pierson SS19 at London Fashion Week

This season Jayne Pierson showed her Spring Summer 2019 Collection ‘Because de Change’ as part of the British Fashion Council’s London Fashion Week at the Conde Nast College of Fashion and Design.  Known for her art driven collections, for SS19, Pierson literally took the canvas to the body and let the art do the talking.

As with every season, this runway show told a story, award winning designer Pierson used a diverse cast of models to tell and conceptualise the story of the contemporary woman who refuses to conform to societies outdated expectation.  Pierson seeks to redefine what it means to be a woman who has her own aspirations and what it means to fulfil them.

The woman who wears Jayne Pierson is complicated, just like the designer herself.  Her stream of consciousness is sublimated with her seemingly random set of doodles and scribbles on her garments but these actually seek to convey her most inner self.  Her deepest thoughts and feelings are displayed and valued as contemporary art.  She wears these garments as an armour to empower and celebrate herself, ourselves and our sublime differences.

Because de Change explores the recent criminalisation of hate crimes based on sexuality, disability, race, religion and gender and serves as a platform to talk more widely about consent, harassment, hate crime and the abuses of privacy and trust.  Digital prints for SS19 are historic but surprisingly topical looking at very current and political subject matter such as up-skirting, religious iconography, motherhood, the gender pay gap, and size-ism.

Pierson is known for pushing the boundaries and taking conversation into her collections, as a lot of designers are now doing.  This season we’ve seen Teatum Jones take their round table discussion to the mainstream accompanied by a presentation for SS19 with similar topics up for discussion.  More and more designers are using their roles to bring the discussion to #MeToo, #TimesUp or discrimination and it’s becoming more widely accepted that this is now just a part of the fashion industry.

The Because de Change Collection is inspired by organic shapes created with perfect symmetry and balance.  The silhouettes in this collection are crafted in the spirit of luxury and pay homage to re-appropriation and the cultural process of reclaiming artefacts.  Luxury takes on a brutal harmony, exploring and reabsorbing subcultural styles and commodification.

Jayne Pierson creates directional, luxury womenswear that redefines the female form in empowering and uncompromising garments in leather pleating, luxe woven fabrics, future print, silks and draped leathers. Juxtaposing innovative material directions with avant-garde details inspired by a warped sense of history and intangible glitches in space and time, where historical references get confused and hybrids emerge, the collection encompasses high-end details and signature premium finishes.  Because de Change SS19 integrates hand-painted leathers with engineered historic digital prints and woven painted fabrics. Delicate hand embroidered tulle, mesh and lace, silk jersey and lace lingerie contrast with structured architectural silhouettes. Colours are bright yellow, teal blue, lamb nappas and a pop of primary red leathers.

More over, Pierson bucks the fashion industry norm when it comes to models and puts together a diverse cast every season – and that’s what was on everyone’s lips as the vestibule emptied out after this show.

Pixie

Categories: The Fashion Closet

Tata Naka SS19 at London Fashion Week

To showcase their Spring Summer 2019 collection, Tata Naka designers Tamara and Natasha Surgulaze chose Dartmouth House as the most fitting setting for their Roman inspired pieces.  The design due were influenced by Roman and greek statues and Roman Emperors Augustus, Tiberius and Titus in particular.

They also drew inspiration from the clothing worn by Roman soldiers; draping togas and tunics along with heavy pleating which represents the pteruges which were worn by greek and Roman warriors.  It’s a strong collection which works well in its rotation presentation format and is complimented by opulent surroundings and a soundtrack provided by a solitary guitar player in the corner of the room.

When Brian and I arrive at the presentation we hustle to the front to avoid catching our own reflections in the huge mirror in any of our photographs, the first thing we notice is how poor the lighting is.  On the plus side however, because of the presentation format we’re able to take advantage of an editorial set up and catch an outfit change too.

The pieces are beautiful, prints include hand drawings of Roman busts, these have been replicated and drawn in a classical style and coloured in Tata Naka’s signature, bespoke style.  There are also marble and leopard prints throughout the collection on uber light fabrics including silks, linen, lurex and jacquards meaning the drape fits the style perfectly.

Symbols associated with ancient Greek mythology such as Gorgoneion and Griffins are also woven into the collection.  Lifted from the armour of Roman and Greek warriors these ancient symbols provide the imagery for antique gold embroidered appliques, ornamental needlework in which pieces of fabric in different shapes and patterns have been sewn together to form the pattern.

For SS19 there’s also a capsule collection of jewellery in collaboration with Angela Puttini in Capri featuring enamel drawings of Tata Naka prints in black gold with natural pearls and coloured stones.  It really is a beautiful collection, it’s just a shame the lighting wasn’t great otherwise these pictures could have been fantastic.  All of these images were taken on an iPhone 8 Plus kindly loaned to me by Three UK for the duration of London Fashion Week.

Pixie

Categories: The Archives, The Fashion Closet

Fyodor Golan SS19 at London Fashion Week

Fyodor Golan is a house that manufactures fragile silhouettes with great quality, with a youthful look.  My very best but least eloquent way of putting it, is that they are the best at creating a niche something for everyone, which other people are creating poorly for a target audience only.  With me?  No, I thought I’d lost you.  You’ll need some imagery to see what I mean.  The house  produced its SS19 collection Lost & Found which showed at the BFC showspace at London Fashion Week this season and I was lucky enough to have a front row seat – literally the best place to take you on a guided tour of this epic collection.

“Sporty survivalism guided us through the understanding of water as the source and a symbol of progression.  Castaway elements found on beaches, from seashells and pearls to plastic waste, influences fabrications and detailing”  FYODOR GOLAN

Models took to the runway like a tribe of ocean warriors, real, sustainable pearls are used as a feature detail throughout the collection in their raw form and inspiration was taken from painter Jamie Adams in some of the collaged pieces used.  80’s shapes appeared on the runway in the form of puffball skirts, elongated shoulders, peplum minis and wingback skirts, something that makes me nostalgic every time they come back around and I’ll definitely be embracing those shapes next season.

This season Fyodor Golan collaborated with SEGA’s Sonic The Hedgehog with a focus on the earlier pixelated imagery which adds another nostalgic touch to the collection using cyan blue, cerulean, cobalt and fuchsia to highlight tones and texture throughout to great effect.  Looking throughout the collection there were so many standout pieces for me in terms of editorial, including the first look out the gate and a dramatic wing flare skirt with blue and white chevron stripes that I’d literally book for a shoot tomorrow.

“Working with SEGA using the early Sonic (The Hedgehog) made perfect sense to our Lost & Found collection.  We wanted to explore Sonic’s iconic look into items that would feel like your favourite childhood pyjamas contemporarily reimagined.”

The set itself was sculpted from flowers and abandoned fishing nets to emulate coral covered driftwood, Fyodor Golan are another design team to have teamed up with the charity Plastic Oceans UK in order to help reverse the damaging impact the fashion industry has on the oceans, or at the very least to support ocean clean up and the repurposing of waste found in our oceans.

Lost & Found is a co-ed collection meaning that it was shown on both men and women, and garments were designed with neither a male nor female body in mind.  All shirts and sportswear produced within the collection is also completely gender unbiased so there’s no male or female section when ordering from the brand.  This athleisure, I could easily see it appealing to the male and female fashion market and anyone identifying anywhere inbetween, I mean that white suit on the right?  I’m already dreaming of how I’d style that up.

So, to refer back to my earlier statement, you see highstreet brands who target a very small portion of it’s already limited audience, then they make something, poorly.  For example, New Look make a leopard print skirt, they take a classic pattern which appeals to about 70% of its audience and then make it into a very, very young shape which further cuts its audience.  They then make a poor fabric choice, usually something textured, either shiny, or “feely” like cheap velour, and then overlock it meaning that it’s prone to ruching and it effects the way the garment then hangs.  Every choice narrows down the audience in a negative way.  Fyodor Golan do the opposite.  They take a youthful idea and make it appeal to a majority market.  It’s refreshing and the quality of each piece is just perfection, it’s a rare find in fashion.

This one set the bar high for me, it helped that I arrived fresh off a plane from Mahon and was greeted by a team of smiling PRs, something pretty rare in fashion, and everyone I was sat with was really, really lovely.  Day one of London Fashion Week, I’m calling this one a 10.

Pixie

Categories: The Archives, The Fashion Closet

TEATUM JONES SS19 ROUND TABLE NOT RUNWAY AT LONDON FASHION WEEK

For their SS19 collection ‘Global Womanhood Part Two, 16 Days Of Activism’ shown at London Fashion Week, designers Catherine Teatum and Rob Jones have partnered with YouTube, Google and the British Fashion Council in support of United Nations Women.  In a move away from the regulation runway show, the designers behind the label Teatum Jones have created a presentation to highlight the collection itself, accompanied by a powerful round table discussion.

Teatum Jones SS19 LFW Fashion Voyeur Blog Round table not Runway three models posing separately in pieces from the spring summer collection

The first of its kind, the Teatum Jones led ROUND TABLE not RUNWAY discussion has been recorded and features a panel of industry experts including:

  • Caryn Franklin MBE – Fashion commentator, Journalist and Professor of Diversity
  • Claudia Croft – 10 Magazine – Deputy Editor & Fashion Features Director
  • Felicity Haywood – Model, Activist, Campaigner
    Lotte Anderson – Art Director, i-D magazine ‘Future Females’
  • Lucy Banks – Google / You Tube – Head of Content and Brand Partnerships across EMEA
    Marai Larasi – Executive Director of Imkaan
    Munroe Bergdorf – Model, Activist, Campaigner
  • Simran Randhawa – @ Gal-Dem – Politics Editor, i-D magazine ‘Future Females’
  • Sophie Matthews – British Fashion Council – Head of Media & Retail Partnerships
  • Tamara Cincik – Fashion Roundtable – Founder and CEO

“The SS19 collection has been inspired by the interviews we’ve had over the last six months with activists and campaigners.  From our research and interviews we conducted in relation to 16 Days of Activism, we have extracted the most powerful messages and literally woven them into a body of textiles, such as; “I DEFINE MYSELF” and “I OWN MY STORY.”  Recognised for our textile development, we wanted to present a collection of bold, vibrant and unapologetic textiles that speak louder than previous seasons and reflect the courage and determination in the voices we’ve listened to throughout this season.”  Designers Catherine Teatum and Rob Jones.

Teatum Jones SS19 LFW Fashion Voyeur Blog Round table not Runway three models posing separately in pieces from the spring summer collection

I was invited to an intimate gathering at London Fashion Week at a private members club on Greek Street to take in the new collection and chat to Fashion Commentator Caryn Franklin MBE about just how important this whole discussion is to the fashion industry as a whole.

The collection itself is strong and vibrant, the hand painted Love Floral print takes centre stage in flame burnt orange, mustard yellow and royal blue with contrasting textures.  The sequins used in the collection have been repurposed from past season sponsored water bottles and old stock jumpers have been used throughout this SS19 collection.

Teatum Jones SS19 LFW Fashion Voyeur Blog Round table not Runway three models posing separately in pieces from the spring summer collection

There are hints at the struggles that women are facing in today’s political climate and this is discussed in the short film which accompanies the collection, the sports tape strapping used throughout which cinches and pulls, almost dragging and tightening the clothes on the body in a way to express those hurdles faced by women today.  It’s a politically rich collection, made more uncompromising by the strong message in the ROUND TABLE not RUNWAY film screened alongside the presentation.  The film is being made available for public consumption on YouTube and if you have an interest in fashion, sustainable fashion, political fashion or feminist issues and how they’re represented by the fashion industry today, then it’s an absolute must watch as it’s spearheaded by some of the most influential activists in the industry.

In terms of the fashion itself, it’s typical Teatum Jones, it’s beautifully crafted for the female form echoing batik print, elegant cuts, elongated sleeve detailing and proportions that seem to add height without any effort at all.  The fashion most definitely hasn’t been diluted in order for the brand and its associates to deliver a strong message about how fashion can play a part in the protection, unification, inclusion and equality of women and girls

Pixie

Pixie Tenenbaum Editor's signature with fashion illustration graphic