LFW Diary SS12: Christopher Raeburn

 

 

 

 

PACHACUTI for the prize (written for SIX Magazine)

Image courtesy of Pachacuti

Accessories brand add trophy to their collection
A few weeks back one of SIX's favourite accessories brands, Pachacuti took home the (greatly deserved) prize in the fashion and accessories category at the 6th annual Observer Ethical Awards - dubbed the UK’s ‘Green Oscars’ - held on June 9th at London’s Victoria + Albert Museum.

The awards recognise the work of individuals and organisations across 12 S+E categories covering everything from fashion to businesses, blogs and campaigners. One of the most hotly contested awards, the fashion and accessories category sponsored by Vogue featured some pioneering designers and this year's other finalists were Christopher Raeburn, who deftly recycles re-appropriates parachute silk into catwalk couture and French company Veja, who make beautiful shoes from organic cotton and tree-tap rubber.
Read the full article here.

Brand Of The Week: Kana Tojo

Images throughout courtesy of Kana Tojo/ LCF and Catwalking. The above and first block below are photographed by Sean Michael. All further imagery is photographed by Christopher Moore.

Hailing from Japan, womenswear designer Kana Tojo was one of the stand-out designers from the recent LCF Class of 2011 showcase. Having completed a design placement with S+E designer Christopher Raeburn in her final year, sustainability has become a focal point for this burgeoning young designer.

Themed around Reincarnation, Tojo’s striking AW11 collection interpreted her starting point through recycling, breathing a new lease of life into discarded and outworn materials. Clearly inspired by Raeburn’s re-appropriating of decommissioned military fabrics and parachute silk, Tojo innovatively styled her collection to reflect the ‘rugged’ mood often seen in an ‘orphan’s way of wearing clothes’ – reminding me of a chicer Oliver Twist.

Generally inspired by artists and photographers, Tojo’s AW11 offering is inspired by the drawings of an ‘Unreal World’, by Dutch graphic designer M.C Escher. Reflected through the intricate twisting and layering of her pieces, Tojo’s colour palette is a combination of rich blues, reds and burnt oranges neutralised by luxurious camel tones and pastel greys.

Aesthetically epitomising this summer’s popular nomadic trend, lots of headdresses and wraps were present, with beautiful swathes of luxurious silks, velvets and thick cottons cocooning the body. Tied together and cinched with rivets and leather laces, longer laces featured heavily, cleverly used in many guises, most noticeably as fringing when tied through a concession of metal eyelets.

Footwear consisted of primitive flat leather Roman type sandals, tied together with the same leather laces that feature so heavily throughout the collection. The twist came where the models feet had been bound in flourescent carrier bags first, further enhancing the ‘living in the elements’ vision that accompanied this bold collection.

Utilising recycled and reworked materials to their fullest potential, Tojo triumphs using the most random discarded fragments for a new purpose, such as mens canvas sneakers reborn as epaulettes. Setting us the challenge of working out which redundant garments and accessories have been employed for what, Tojo plays to her strengths and displays her superior skill at breathing a new lease of life into the most unwearable of garments.

Read my write-up of the catwalk show to refresh your memory.

LFW Diary AW11: Christopher Raeburn

A mainstay on the Esthetica exhibitor list British ethical designer Christopher Raeburn cleverly fuses innovation in fabric technology with garment re-appropriation and a passion for military heritage. Of the AW11 collection titled Blast Raeburn says; "So much of Blast has been inspired by our research into the original garments, their fabric technology and development. Each piece pays tribute to the objective of the original item - weather protection, camouflage, speed or warmth - and injects a new life and striking functionality through our complete redesign."

Divided into three capsule collections; Remade, Lightweight and British, Raeburn once again demonstrates why he is a pioneer of ethical fashion. Key pieces include trademark parachute hoodies and jackets, pop-out parkas and new pieces such as a faux-fur lined Inuit jacket made with Swedish wool from the 40’s.

Remade is the heart of Raeburn’s brand, expertly showcasing his technical attributes for reconstructing vintage military fabrics sourced throughout Europe. With an extremely limited 50 pieces available worldwide, the emphasis is on quality and luxury. Lightweight is a bold, playful capsule collection, which mainly consists of Raeburn’s exceedingly popular parachute range – updated for AW11 with the new Blast print. Lastly, British is an exciting new addition to the Raeburn brand, seeing the designer work solely with dead-stock from a new British-made fabric each season. Launching for AW11 with West Yorkshire’s Hainsworth Melton wool, British perfectly reflects Raeburn’s eponymous brand's holistic approach to design, highlighting his dedication to British provenance and production.

Newgen sponsorship winners for AW11 announced

The year has almost come full circle, and today marks the last offical announcement on the British fashion calendar, allowing us fashion enthusiasts, journalists and bloggers alike to start planning our pre-LFW coverage. No fewer than 18 of London's premiere and upcoming designers have been awarded BFC/ NEWGEN sponsorship for AW11, with many familiar faces returning for another season.

Catwalk sponsorship: David Koma, Holly Fulton, Louise Gray, Mary Katrantzou and Michael van der Ham.
Presentation sponsorship: Christopher Raeburn, Craig Lawrence, JS Lee, JW Anderson (film presentation) and Nasir Mazhar.
Installation sponsorship: Dominic Jones and Jordan Askill.
Exhibition sponsorship: Chau Har Lee, Christopher Raeburn, Craig Lawrence, David Koma, Dominic Jones, Fannie Schiavoni, Felicity Brown, Heikki Salonen, Holly Fulton, Jordan Askill, JS Lee, JW Anderson, Louise Gray, Mary Katrantzou, Michael van der Ham, Nasir Mazhar, Thomas Tait and Yang Du.

LFW Diary SS11 Highlights: NEWGEN Exhibition

Each season I greatly look forward to visiting the Topshop/NEWGEN area due to the wealth of talent that is represented, with SS11 being the best I've seen to date. With each designer granted their own little white beach hut come shed situated on the terrace, both myself and some of the designers I spoke to loved the fact that you could enter stand-alone spaces that they could really make their own.

One of my favourite experimental designers is Louise Gray, due to her fearless combination of knitwear and kitsch. A renowned hoarder (a woman after my own heart), Gray's designs are a melting pot of ideas and inspirations, making something altogether unique.  

 

Another designer whom I greatly admire for her individuality is Holly Fulton who I feel has revolutionised Art Deco inspired jewellery, utilising lazer-cut perspex to great effect, translating her eyecatching prints and illustrations to fabric seamlessly. I particlularly like Fulton as she is not afraid to experiment with colour.

 Another designer whom I greatly admire is Fannie Schiavoni who I think produces the most unique pieces of costume jewellery which look simply stunning in photoshoots.

 

 I loved these Grazia puppy balloons that made appearances throughout LFW - hilarious.

A long term favourite, I was really excited to see Yang Du's presentation space, which was brimming with colour and kitsch print and emblems which never fail to remind me of my youth.

 

Peter Pilotto is yet another firm favourite who always triumphs in his quest to make beautiful garments that women love to wear - yet another designer who is on my wishlist.  

 

A designer I was not fasmiliar with until I wondered through the exhibition, I absolutely loved Felicity Brown's pieces, especially as the fringing and tie-dye really summed up the aesthetic for SS11.

  My favourite ethical designer, Christopher Raeburn was also representing another inspired collection created from re-appropriated military and parachute fabric.

 

AW10 Press Days: Part Nine

There seem to be way too many good press days this season - in comparison to last - but I'm guessing that this may just be because I didn't attend as many as I'd have liked back in November. Anyhow I've been going to so many that I'm failing to report back fast enough so get used to more photographs and less words, which may well be music to your ears.

At Bryan Morel PR I loved the colours and sophisticated cuts from Maria Grachvogel, and I have to say publicly that the lunch spread was wonderful:

Naturally, as you'd expect John Rocha's collection was a cracker! Close-up I loved the quality that shone through with all of the fabrics weighing a tonne.

I thoroughly enjoyed the chic silhouettes, digital prints, and of course Swarovski crystal numbers present in the Osman collection.

Mostly as a reminder to self, I've included this cute bear face bum bag from Mango... will be used in a shoot very soon!

At Iroquois PR I only took a couple of noteworthy snaps. First up was is one of favourite ethical designers - Lu Flux.

Another firm favourite, held in high regard by everyone (I'm taking into account that if a designer is BFC/ Newgen backed then they should be considered 'good stock' by the fashion pack) is Christopher Raeburn, whom as we all know by now uses re-appropriated military fabrics and parachute material.

Truly great brands were on display at the H PR press day - a land I had not had the pleasure of visiting before!

I love these playful garments designed by Elizabeth Lau, which will be going in my forthcoming clown shoot.

I loved this woven suede and leather laptop case.

One of my new favourite brands discovered at the press days is Paul and Joe Sister. I loved the cuts, the textures and also the prints.

Tba was another new brand, whose collection I was pleasantly suprised with.

Paul and Joe's collection was also lovely and the floral blazer in particular caught my attention.