LFW Diary AW11: Eun Jeong

In the heart of the famed Covent Garden Piazza for the second season in a row, the 2008 Fashion Fringe Award winner, Eun Jeong held her AW11 showcase with breathtaking results. As we waited for the second showing to start late on Friday afternoon, guests were more than happy to examine our Kipling and Cosmetic á la Carte goody bags whilst absent-mindedly tapping our feet to a variety of delightful speakeasy tunes which really set the scene and gave me instant visions of the latter years of the hot new HBO drama Boardwalk Empire. It was a pleasure to see the talented and serenely beautiful Iraina Mancini (of former pop group Mancini fame), manning the decks, and as we went to school together it was lovely to catch up after the show and hear all about her hot new band and plans for 2011 – all I can say is watch this space!

As the lights dimmed and the show began, we were treated to an artful collision of Jeong's modern and timeless aesthetic, emphatically displaying the designer's love of her craft – evident in her intuitive fabric choices and refusal to stray from her signature draping. Taking 30's tailoring and embellishment as her inspiration, Jeong deftly discovered ways of resurrecting the classic minimal silhouette, which originally came to international prominence with stars of the silver screen such as Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford wearing minimalist fashion in Hollywood.

Iraina Mancini

With an emphasis on neck lines and sexy structured bodices, Jeong's garments embodied a sense of empowerment rarely seen in a designer so young. Beautifully crafted intricate airy pleating combined with an unexpected injection of colour in the form of striking Art Deco prints created a look just as relevant in the 30's as it is today, some 80 years later. Simply blocked base colours of nude, beige and black were cleverly mixed with vintage gold and cold grey shades to create an air of elegant and youthful femininity. Offering a variety of textures and an assortment of skirt lengths to rival any high spec prêt-a-porter collection, Jeong perfectly encapsulates the spirit of 30's tailoring with this bankruptcy inducing collection, appealing to the modern working woman.

A genuinely great show and an amazing collection, I loved the little details such as lace and embroidered underskirts, hip bustles and who could forget the beautiful linear print that featured on the invitation and heavily throughout the collection – most noticeably on printed colour pop silk scarves worn in the models’ hair. Accessorizing with super-skinny belts and an assortment of black knee-high boots from Dune, it was little touches such as vintage inspired leather driving gloves by Sermoneta that really offset Jeong's period designs. Soft curls by Lock On Ego added to the drama as did seductive and smoky eyes by Cosmetic á La Carte. All in all, an incredible display of staggering attention to detail and genuine raw talent making this one of my top three shows of the season.

'Rankin Live' private view @ The Old Truman Brewery- 30th July

Earlier in the week I had the great pleasure of being on the guest list for the private view of Rankin Live at the Truman Brewery , E1. Needless to say for the entire week I was beside myself with excitement as I am obviously a MASSIVE fan of Rankin’s work, so much so that I spent the evening people watching as I didn’t feel I quite had enough time to pour over the hundreds of iconic images on display from Rankin’s extensive back catalogue.

Upon entering the exhibition space I was met with several huge warehouse sized rooms which were all painted white (as you’d expect) and were covered with a variety of Rankin’s best portraits. Trying to explain the vastness of the exhibition seems fruitless as the scale was unimaginable however suffice to say that 600 of his most famed photographs were on show, which is staggering as this does not include the images from Rankin live which are yet to be created and added to this monumental project... Just incase its still not clear how large the space is; it took about ten minutes after entering to wander around the maze of beautiful images and locate the place where it all happens; the bar!!

Once alcohol had been located and myself and my friends reunited, it was a great and rare opportunity to be in a room with hundreds of cool art kids and trendy fashion types simultaneously. After an impromptu reunion with an old friend, the gorgeous Iraina Mancini, everyone seemed to be heading away from the bar area towards the main exhibition room. As we moved closer I could see that a small stage had been set up complete with a microphone and a chair so I waited to see what would happen along with everyone else. A few minutes later out popped the man of the hour himself, John ‘Rankin’ Waddell and introduced his 12 year old son Lyle to the stage. Rather randomly Lyle began to sing acoustic covers of his favourite songs in what was obviously his natural singing voice; a rather sexy raspy sound (if I may say that about a 12 year old boy).

At first I must admit I was dubious to say the least as I don’t think anyone was expecting to listen to Rankin JR’s music that evening, but after a couple of songs everyone (myself included) got rather into it and the whole thing was very endearing for both proud father and son. A favourite was when he sang a song he’d penned himself which really showed his outlandish personality and was quite frankly hilarious. Between swear words and wistful observations (none of which have stayed with me due to prolonged beer consumption that evening), he came across as much older, wiser and cynical than his years and I feel that he is definitely a personality to watch out for in the future.

When the music ceased (due to Lyle’s loss of voice) Rankin popped back on stage to literally thank us for coming and that was that. The crowd dispersed and you could see the famed Tuuli (Rankin’s favourite subject and wife) congratulating Lyle and it was a really unexpected tender family moment that was lovely to see- and interestingly I think others must have felt similarly about the series of events as everyone kept a respectful distance.

With the main attraction over I threw myself into the party and spotted a few celebrities in attendance such Erin O’Connor, Nathalie Press, Sadie Frost, Amber Rose and a very dapper Jefferson Hack. The rest of the evening was a merry affair spent chatting with strangers and having a really great time. It was the kind of evening that you only get when you throw a bunch of crazy creative types together at let’s face it; one of the world’s premiere celebrity fashion photographer’s parties.

Among the great people I befriended were Levi, flanked by two lovely ladies (see below) - one of which unknown to me I would meet again a month later at the Junky Styling book launch (you’ll notice I am yet to write about this as I’m still struggling to find the words to describe just how dull a launch that was...) The other lovely lady (pictured below) was entertaining a few of us by balancing a pineapple within her hair, and the louder we laughed the more interest we attracted and let’s just say there weren’t enough pineapples to go around. Before you ask, I have NO idea where the pineapples came from! See below for other shots of the crowd...Before I left (one of the last to go I’m afraid) I made sure to grab a copy of Ranked which was an exhibition catalogue, come Rankin fountain of knowledge which was published exclusively to accompany this great exhibition. I would highly recommend visiting to all and if you haven’t applied to take part in Rankin live: Get involved!
Rankin Live is showing at the Truman Brewery, Brick Lane until 18 September.
Logo courtesy of Rankin Live website.