LFW Diary AW11: Felicity Brown

A designer whom I’d heard great things about last season through Fashion East’s talent platform; Felicity Brown is certainly ‘one to watch’. Her inaugural collection for SS11 featured a plethora of hand-dyed silks and ruffled dresses, inspired by Japanese origami, Bedouin women, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s paintings of showy girls in disheveled, provoking dresses, as well as her own study of flowers – creating an overtly feminine collection with layering at its core.

Repeating her signature design aesthetic for AW11, the NEWGEN sponsored designer really caught my eye during LFW, incorporating what looked to be subtle tribal prints to great effect. First spotted during her Royal College of Art graduate show – from which the collection was selected to be exhibited at Sotheby’s of London - Brown went on to design for Alberta Ferretti, Loewe, Mulberry and Lanvin before setting up her own label based in Brick Lane. Highly influenced by tribal designs from around the world, Brown told Vogue.com: “I like looking at tribal costumes from all over the world and the way tribes mark themselves. I find that much more fascinating than minimal tailoring. I made each individual piece that forms each dress separately. At the last minute I smashed it all together and that was it.”

Scrapbook: Julie Verhoeven

I've been a fan of Verhoeven for around a decade; since I began pouring over the pages of cult magazines such as Dazed, witnessing first-hand Verhoeven bringing illustration back to editorial. Initially I was attracted by her love of bright colour and whimsical illustration, which routinely depicted wide-eyed, pouty waifs. Several school and college art projects were inspired by her - with me producing large scale paintings of my favourite pieces (pictured above). Having worked with a plethora of world renowned brands (Louis Vuitton, Mulberry, Peter Jensen, V&A, Sky, Self Service, Versace, Sketch, Numero, Gibo, Selfridges, Loewe and H&M to name but a few), to my mind Verhoeven is the most commercially successful illustrator of her generation.

British Fashion Awards

*From left to right: Naomi Campbell, Nicola Formichetti and Lara Stone

Last night in the splendor of the newly re-opened Savoy Hotel the British Fashion Council hosted the 2010 British Fashion Awards. The 12 awards were presented to:

EMERGING TALENT AWARD – ACCESSORIES: Husam El Odeh
EMERGING TALENT AWARD - READY TO WEAR: Meadham Kirchhoff
DESIGNER BRAND: Mulberry
MODEL: Lara Stone
ACCESSORY DESIGNER: Nicholas Kirkwood
MENSWEAR DESIGNER: Patrick Grant for E. Tautz
BFC OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FASHION DESIGN: Lee Alexander McQueen
BRITISH STYLE: Alexa Chung
ISABELLA BLOW AWARD FOR FASHION CREATOR: Nicola Formichetti
DESIGNER OF THE YEAR: Phoebe Philo for Celine
SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD: Naomi Campbell
DIGITAL INNOVATION AWARD: Burberry

*From left to right: Emma Hill of Mulberry, Meadham Kirchhoff and Phoebe Philo

I'm particularly happy that Phoebe Philo won designer of the year for Celine as she is one of my favourite designers whom I've loved since she worked under Stella McCartney at Chloe in the late '90s. Also pleased to see Formichetti pick up a gong.
*Images throughout courtesy of Billa Baldwin

LFW Diary SS11 Highlights: Mulberry

For me there is almost nothing to say about the Mulberry SS11 collection. For many years Mulberry has been my most lusted-after-label due to its sheer simplicity and ability to exude luxury in an understated and elegant way as opposed to gaudy brands such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton, who insist on scribbling initials or logos all over their products like an only child with megalomaniac tendencies. Mulberry is iconic, classic, timeless and most brilliant of all – it’s quintessentially British.

Between you and me I have always wanted the classic wardrobe staple that is the Bayswater bag, although it has recently been usurped by the much trendier Alexa in my ‘grown-up wardrobe wishlist’. Anyway, whilst I a)work in fashion and b)could probably afford it, for some reason I’ve never let myself indulge and am instead saving that treat for my 25th birthday, as both a celebration of my upcoming quarter-Century, but also as a pat on the back for actually ‘earning it’.

As expected, greatness was the lasting message that emanated from the brand’s SS11 offering. As always it was all about the minor details and one I loved most of all was the unabashed red-head celebration that showed every model cast in all her auburn glory. With giant pink blooms taking over the catwalk, themes were the film Grey Gardens and Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel The Secret Garden, which informed the block colour palette and set the tone of the show. With kookily illustrated paper dolls propping up the catwalk and bunny’s making a comeback - look no further than the LFW tote bag - I’m planning to go into hibernation until the first daisies and daffodils arrive and maybe I’ll have saved enough pennies for my spring slice of Mulberry delight.

Mulberry set to launch bag collection inspired by Alexa Chung

All images courtesy of Mulberry.

Anyone who knows me well knows that Mulberry is my favourite label, or at least the label I lust after most. I'm so looking forward to the day that I can finally afford my very own Bayswater bag, although now I'm having to rethink the style choice after seeing these bad boys.

With a fresh twist on the classic Bayswater bag, the Alexa, is for me the epitome of preppy cool and I WANT IT!!!! Look at all the fab colours... (There are more but these are my favourites.)

All Alexa bags pictured are priced at £695.