LFW Diary SS11 Highlights: Somerset House Exhibition

During LFW I love nothing more than having a root around the exhibition space in Somerset House to discover new and exciting designers, with this season being no exception. The first great designer I stumbled upon is Ioannis Dimitrousis whose first foray into womenswear (after previously producing several collections of menswear since graduating from LCF in 2005) is exceptional, utilising knitting techniques to create modern, sculptural and highly sophisticated dresses.

In the Haynes PR room I found Cecilia Mary Robson, whose garments I was drawn to instantly due to the beautiful silks and dressing-up-box colours. Another new designer on my SS11 wish list!

A brand I love more and more each season is Eudon Choi for their pared down colour palettes, clean lines and superior cutting skills and high-quality fabrics. I love the exhibitions and press days more than the shows (in some respects) as you always get to really examine the pieces up close and also meet the talent behind the brands. Check out one of the designers, the lovely Kate who sweetly held pieces up for me to snap in the pic below, right. My favourite garment from SS11 would have to be the black and beige wrap-round mini skirt a few pics down.

Is always good to gush and I absolutely ADORE these Camilla Skovgaard shoes in collaboration with Eudon Choi.

A firm favourite of mine is Georgia Hardinge who simply never fails to disappoint. I adore the variety of textures in her SS11 collection and absolutely love the ruffling and folding techniques, which see her moving away from the intense structure we saw last season, still experimenting with the form, creating an amazing silhouette. I've simply got to get myself the yellow dress, although might be a bit short on me...

Each season I'm always curious to see what J Smith Esquire will do and this season he has introduced the Mr Smith collection which features a variety of leather hats slashed with such precision that they come flat packed and look impeccable, which is rare for an - albeit high end - baseball cap.

Also in the Haynes PR room I found a couple of garments by Elliot Atkinson that I loved. Check out the beautiful grey and pink floral platforms below and also a black lace shirt complete with metallic points on the collar. Very Dallas!

Yet more beautiful shoes from the footwear legend, Nicholas Kirkwood.

With a soft spot for milliner Piers Atkinson's outlandish headwear I am always super-excited to see what he comes up with next and this time round I loved the 'Hollywood' look and really appreciated the sophisticated turn the collection has taken, making it a little less kitsch, but just as eye-catching.

I didn't think much of the manners, but I rather liked the wares on display from leather label, Rae Jones - especially the shoes which came in a variety of different colourways.

AW10 Press Days: Part Two

Two weeks ago I visited the IPR/ House of Gods press days in Shoreditch and also stopped by the A Number of Names office. Apolgies for the delay in writing this up... Hamburg and Easter and life in general kinda got in the way a little bit, but I'm back with a vengeance!!

As always I loved Auds beautiful graphic jewellery who I feel are possibly better than Tatty Devine... who obviously do retro kitsch to a tee, but Auds offers something simpler, and in its own way occupies a different space within the jewellery market. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

I loved the new AW10 collection by Yang Du. Once again his collection didn't fail to excite most of my senses, featuring the most fabulous prints and cartoon type characters throughout. A new designer I discovered is that of Eudon Choi, whose beautiful and striking (in an understated kind of way) military themed collection made me want to casually slip out in one of the coats, but alas it would have been too obvious, and perhaps more importantly I'm no thief!

I loved almost of all of the glasses in the new Prism collection, and I couldn't have stumbled upon them at a better time as I'm finally getting around to buying a pair of glasses, even though my eyes were confirmed as being on their way out a good six months ago now... whoops! Typically Firetrap and Lee Jeans offered more of the same, which wasn't at all a bad thing. Infact for particular brands such as these, it works in their favour as they do what they do best, and at least you always know what to expect and where you stand. What I did especially like about Lee was the way they had decorated their section of the showspace. It instantly screamed Jasper Johns... not sure he'd be too happy about that, mind.

A designer whom for me was another new discovery was Kate Moross. Whilst I've obviously heard of her, i've never before had the pleasure of seeing her clothes up close and personal before, and I was SO impressed. I especially loved her super simple perspex jewellery, and as for the floral batwing jumper, boy do I want it bad!

 

***

The A Number of Names press day was also really cool, and all of the staff were so lovely which SO makes a difference.

I have a memory a bit like a sieve so I can't remember what this cool streetwear brand were called but I absolutely loved the stars and stripes bow-tie, which I can now reveal is by NYthing. I've got to get my boyfriend one!

I absolutely loved the jewellery and coloured Zippos by Ambush, and especially loved the starred paper on the display stand. Whilst the picture of the skateboard deck looks totally out of place, its there to sincerely illustrate the best press gift I have ever received in my life... an Icecream skateboard, which is now taking pride of place in my front room - so amazing! Thank you Annoushka!