Fashion Voyeur

People will stare, make it worth their while.

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cast of models to tell and conceptualise the story of the contemporary woman who refuses to conform to societies outdated expectation.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

Categories: The Archives, The Fashion Closet

Simon Mo SS19 at London Fashion Week

You know when show season rolls around and there’s a handful of designers that you always look forward to seeing?  Well Simon Mo is one of those for me and it’s because he’s a safe bet in many ways.  Mo is a designer who has his feet firmly in the sustainable fashion camp, an eco warrior with style, but there’s always a quirk within each collection, and that’s the thing that draws me in.  I’m all for sustainability and producing more ethical collections, however with so many designers more conscious of where their cotton is sourced now, and where their pieces are made, sometimes the fashion suffers at the hands of the message.

Simon Mo however, does both, really well.  This SS19 collection focusses on the nature and beauty of our world, with significant inspiration taken from the ocean.  It’s a fun, contemporary collection that despite its serious underlying message, manages to remain upbeat.  The nautical inspired collection focuses significantly on the ocean, and the impact of pollution as a direct result of human behaviour.  After seeing viral image “The sewage surfer” of a seahorse clingong tightly onto a q-tip taken by Justin Hofman in 2017, Mo used this as inspiration for his collection and to shine a light on the long term ecological damage caused by using plastics.  It’s a message we’re seeing more and more of in the fashion industry and this season we were all involved in the filming of a BBC documentary as part of the Stacey Dooley Investigates series which seeks to explore the effects of fast fashion.

Growing up on an island country, surrounded by sea, Mo felt a strong sense of personal responsibility and urgency to draw plastic pollution to people’s attention.  In that same vein, using the ocean as a frame of reference Mo initiated research with one of his favourite stories – Sinbad the Sailor. Full of adventure, myth and fantasy, the story tells of a time where gods and human alike revered the power of the ocean.  The collection itself was presented in runway format and maintained that playful edge we’ve come to know and expect from Mo, there’s a definite synonymous style there and it’s an aesthetic I’m a fan of.
Clean lines, obvious shades of blue throughout, references to vintage scuba diving suits in the elongated shoulders and the hats with dipped brims that now seem to be statement pieces throughout Mo’s collections.  SS19 Seas The Day is a collection with more of a purpose than just selling clothes.  In 2018 more designers than ever are recognising a need for change and responsibility.  The fashion industry is responsible for more than we are currently aware of as consumers and for designers to begin to move towards responsibility and sustainability is one big step.  Communicating a message through an ethically sourced and produced collection is another thing entirely.

Mo is a designer with a conscience, and one that I enjoy watching at work.

Pixie