LFW Diary SS12: Zoë Jordan

 

For the first time, this season I got to see first-hand the beauty and grace that go into a Zoë Jordan collection. Luckily for me the theme for SS12 was right up my street, making this one of my favourite catwalks of the season. Produced by My Beautiful Fashion and held in the Old Sorting Office, models sashayed down the catwalk in a beautiful array of underrated and glamorous looks, straight from a 1930s novel.

 

Honing the laid-back elegance of the era, an atmosphere of glamour was palpable juxtaposed with pared down interwar aesthetics. Think dark smoking clubs and speakeasies, punting and lawn cricket.
With garments wittily named after English country estates such as Althorp, Chatsworth and Blenheim I really loved the grandeur and allure of the romantic garments displayed.

 

 Playing homage to Edith Boverie Beale also known as ‘Little Edie’ in Grey Gardens, the overall look is ‘society girl with an unusual twist’. Styled to perfection by Karen Clarkson, the looks were kooky in a heritage kind of way, with lots of sunglasses (made by Andy Wolf for Zoë Jordan), printed headscarves and delightful layered combinations.

In my mind’s eye, models were reminiscent of Jordan Baker, a golf player in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby, where curly hair ruled the day and cashmere cable knits casually slung over shoulders were de rigueur.

 

With a beautiful new print created especially for SS12, signature garments featured dramatic dragonflies in neon hues. Luxurious tones such as cream, gold, coral, olive and dusty pink dominated, insinuating hazy summer nights.

Overtly feminine as you’d expect from the 1930s, silhouettes are classically tailored, seeing flowing silk and chiffon shirts teamed with wardrobe staples such as the Hardwick tweed jacket, a Jordan signature smoking jacket and cute cropped Bantry shorts. Sexy and figure-hugging shift dresses will be best-sellers as will the plethora of antique lace tea dresses and smocks.

Romantic, ethereal and very much on my SS12 wardrobe wish list!

LFW Diary SS12: Corrie Nielsen

All photographs courtesy of Christopher Dadey

Produced by My Beautiful Fashion and held in the Old Sorting Office in New Oxford Street, Corrie Nielsen's show held all the drama and suspense of theatre. With haunting music and a slightly Oriental sound, Neilsen dipped into a dark Victorian mood for SS12, playing on duplicity by pulling the collection into modernity and incorporating a present day Japanese twist. Entitled ‘Arbiter Elegantiarum’; a judge on authority in matters of taste, Nielsen's models walked super slowly down the catwalk as if under some sort of spell.

One of my favourites, Oscar Wilde's gothic novel, The Picture Of Dorian Gray serves as inspiration with the designer exploring abstract concepts of influence, embracing the late 19th Century men's tailored dress, deftly fusing it with a contemporary Japanese aesthetic demonstrated most notably in kimono-style wrap jackets.

Staying true to her signature brand aesthetic, SS12 demonstrated Nielsen's grand folded structures and meticulous pleating creating an expanse of architectural shapes executed in great swathes of sumptuous fabric. With origami-style pleating on the back and sleeves of form fitting jackets, there were many wearable pieces peppered throughout the collection. Fragments of fresh chartreuse are scattered throughout the restrained colour palette mixed with whites and creams. Furthering the drama of the collection, shoes by United Nude created yet another layer of mystery.

Displaying an altogether well considered, superbly designed and perfectly finished collection it is hard to believe that this is only Nielsen's second collection, proving that she is most certainly one to watch each and every season. I certainly can't wait for the next instalment of Nielsen's fashion theatre.