LFW Diary AW12: Kirsty Ward

A designer whose bold silhouettes, originality and statement jewellery I adore is Kirsty Ward who is set to debut her AW12 collection during Paris Fashion Week.

Staying true to the signature aesthetic that fans and press alike have come to love over the past three seasons, Ward has opted for clean lines, minimalist shapes and defined structures, incorporating tabards and apron fronts; adding an additional layer and extra length to dresses, skirts and shorts.

Utilising a simple and modest colour palette of grey, white and black, greens and pinks are carefully placed – primarily in the form of embellishment – to inject some soul into the most clinical of Ward’s collections to date.

Doubling up as a blank canvas on which to promote Ward’s intricate and ornate jewellery garments embody a collection of two halves and a master-class in the art of balancing restraint with indulgence.

Working with print for the first season the results are breathtaking, further establishing Ward as an all-round designer who greatly deserves the many accolades and plaudits she has garnered since founding her eponymous label in 2010.

Oversized abstract images dominate, seeing fabric detailing and prints of instantly recognisable jewellery components emblazoning silk vests and tunics. Once more Ward has renewed her ongoing collaboration with Swarovski Crystallized Elements to fuse her fashion and jewellery design skills, embellishing often overlooked functional areas such as fastenings and arm holes through to the front panels of dresses.

A designer whose collections I look forward to seeing each season, Ward embodies the three keys to great design; bold cut, defined structure and powerful embellishment – this year’s graduates should take note.

Images throughout courtesy of Kirsty Ward:
Photography: Martin Zahringer
Styling: Victoria Sekrier (Fashion Ed at SIX Magazine)
Hair: Banksy
Make up: Natilie Piacun
Model: Olga @ Profile

LFW Diary SS12: Kirsty Ward

A designer I met last season at Vauxhall Fashion Scout, Kirsty Ward’s exhibition space at Somerset House in September was neatly tucked towards the end of the main exhibition at an adjacent stand to her boyfriend’s, David Longshaw.

Reworking and building upon her full debut collection, SS12 sees Ward explore her fascination with sheer fabrics further, incorporating more of her eye-catching jewellery directly into her designs as rather weighty embellishments.

Working with neon and neoprene, the collection features suspended layers of blue organza cut-out and joined with delicate brass chains, a plethora of metal hooks and rivets galore. Incorporating body-con lingerie into her repertoire for the inaugural time (in collaboration with underwear label Mint Siren), Ward’s SS12 offering evokes a sensual mood and silhouette harking back to the 1960s.

Combining the aesthetics of sport and luxury, Ward’s beautiful garments are definitely on the experimental side, in the sense that there is no way you can blend into the crowd in one of her quirky signature designs.

Collaborating with Swarovski, larger-than-life necklaces feature heavily as do a multitude of coloured chains casually draped over cotton dresses and sheer tops.

Brand Of The Week: David Longshaw

A designer who has been on my radar since my first foray into fashion journalism whilst at Amelia’s Magazine, I have followed the career of David Longshaw eagerly - especially in recent seasons - coveting the wonderful accessories made in conjunction with his girlfriend and incidentally SIX Magazine favorite, Kirsty Ward for the past two seasons.

An esteemed illustrator having won the Colin Barnes Drawing Prize in 2005, Longshaw has an unrivalled talent for creating individualist characters that centre in his own narrative stories. Sponsored by Swarovski Elements garments are sculptural, colourful and in short, match Longshaw’s signature to a tee. Longshaw’s work is witty, imaginative, thought-provoking and above all; beautiful. For the first time AW11 sees the designer collaborate on a capsule footwear collection with footwear designer Heather Blake.

The AW11 collection is inspired by the following shirt story:
‘Seriously Rose, I can’t bloody believe it here, they’ve stuck me in the middle of sodding nowhere with these religious nuts who expect me to go to church with them and sit shitting cross stitching by the fire ‘of an eve.’ What do they think it is, the bloody 15thCentury?’ They don’t drink and they don’t f****ing swear. There’s no one my age I’ve met other than one or two who are destined to die virgins unless one of them changes sex and their parents force them in to an arranged marriage to procreate more dull, wierd looking bastards! ‘Don’t even get me started on the sodding birds! It’s supposed to be quiet in the countryside, but every morning at 5am all I get is bloody tweet, tweet, tweet; they even tap on the window- I thought it was someone at the front door at first. It’s a nightmare when you’ve got a hangover. I managed to smuggle in some booze but I’m running low.’ Tora, a wayward girl, gets sent to live with her tea-total, religious, cross stitching, aunt and uncle in the middle of nowhere, to try get her on the straight and narrow. She takes a soft toy named Frank with her, which has a pet shoe and a love of whisky.

Having fallen in love with Longshaw’s forthcoming AW11 collection at the Iroquois press day back in April, I can’t wait to see what VOGUE.com’s ‘Designer to Watch 2011’ and ELLE’s ‘Rising star of 2011’ will have in store

SIX minutes WITH Kirsty Ward (written for SIX Magazine)

Image courtesy of Kirsty Ward

First entering the consciousness of fashion editors throughout London with her beautiful monochromatic Saint Martins MA collection back in 2008, Kirsty Ward has gone from strength to strength, honing her signature aesthetic for combining oversized jewellery with bold structure. Working with a plethora of contrasting fabrics from waxed cotton to streams of silk, complimented by hinge and rivet detailing, Ward is certainly not your average designer, earning her place as one of the most exciting young designers working in London today. SIX Magazine caught up with the busy designer to get a glimpse into her world.
Congratulations on the successful launch of your eponymous brand. Founded just last year, you’ve already been lauded as ‘one to watch’ and ‘a rising star’ by fashion heavyweights such as Elle, Vogue.com and Selfridges. Has this incredible response to your work taken you by surprise?
The support I have received so far has been great, there’s still so much more to achieve though. In terms of compromise, there’s always a balance you need to get right so your label can still be directional, yet sellable. This is something I’m trying to fine tune each season!
Read the rest of the interview here.

LFW Diary AW11: Kirsty Ward

A designer I was really looking forward to seeing at Blow PR's Ones To Watch on the inaugural day of LFW, I was sad to have missed seeing the hotly tipped Kirsty Ward make her mark on the international fashion stage. Unluckily I queued too late and didn't get into the show, but luckily Ward also exhibited with Vauxhall Fashion Scout, where I managed to meet her and obtain a close-up of her inspired AW11 collection a couple of days later.

As dramatic, unique and groundbreaking as I'd hoped, Ward's designs are a vision of sculptured brilliance, breathtakingly playing on the structure of the silhouette, harnessing a clear penchant for boned, textured clothing, that was also highly visible in her debut. Having graduated from an MA in womenswear at CSM a couple of years ago, Ward was instantly whisked off to Italy to join Alberta Feretti’s design team, where she stayed for a year and a half. After founding her eponymous label in 2010, Ward has gone from strength to strength designing jewellery for David Longshaw’s AW10 collection and of course debuting with her own SS11 collection last September.

Focusing on her striking and complex costume jewellery, Ward uses this as the starting point for her fashion collections, taking inspiration for AW11 from images of both funny women and chairs. A designer’s designer, Ward loves to make garments that she would want to wear herself, which for me is the benchmark of a true designer – reflecting your own taste and aesthetic being paramount. With a muted earth colour palette of black ash, snow and lava shades, I’m thoroughly impressed with Ward’s collection, emphatically proving to up-and-coming designers that unique practices are the way forward if you want to achieve this kind of maga-watt result.