London Fashion Week gears up for September 2009 – The pressure is already building for Spring /Summer collections to be ready for what could be a make or break show. Leading fashion retailers understand that despite the downturn there is a group that are hard core customers and who will always shop for new and exciting clothes. Regularly refreshing window displays with new content is just one of the ways that retailers can continue to attract buying customers.

Provisional dates for London Fashion Week are 18th – 22nd September and the venue is Somerset House off the Strand, a truly beautiful setting that will complement the vibrant fashions on the catwalk.

Following New York Fashion Week and ahead of Milan and Paris fashion weeks, the London Fashion Week is a biannual event that is a must-see for the fashion industry. Trade and Press jostle for positions to both enjoy and discover the latest innovations and fashions that will adorn top fashion stores or disappear with barely a trace.

Organised by the British Fashion Council, London Fashion Week is the premier event for British designers looking to promote their designs to a worldwide audience. Various schemes are in place to financially support the brightest young talents to enable the best to exhibit on a level catwalk with the world’s leading fashion houses.

BFC New Generation is a scheme that is sponsored by Top Shop and supports young designers exhibiting during London Fashion Week. Estethica is sponsored by Monsoon and supports collections that are based on ethical, or ecological, or organic principles. Fashion Forward is sponsored by Westfield London and supports British designers who have already made their mark during London Fashion Week. It is a scheme that has helped several of the UK’s top designers get established.

People wishing to attend specific catwalk shows outside of Trade and Press can do so at the discretion of individual designers. During the week, more than 200 British and international fashion and accessory designers will be exhibiting work which will have been kept under wraps right up until the day of the show.

Following London Fashion Week is London Fashion Weekend which is an extremely popular event where anyone who loves clothes and haute couture can get up close and personal with top fashion labels and buy clothes for slimmed down prices. During the event, fashion and beauty experts are on hand to give advice.

Let me take you on a quick tour to view some of the exhibits at London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010

Purrfect – Clements Ribeiro SS10 showcase in the Portico Rooms

“What’s New Pussycat?” played in the background whilst Clements Ribeiro’s models posed in classic black & white embellished with cat motifs for a feline inspired theme. Skirts and dresses were knee length whilst the bubble style shorts were short. Smedley Sea Island cotton joined the signature Scottish cashmere and French silks for this season. Soft pinks, yellows and blues added a touch of colour; stripes were prominent and the prints used were leopard or a swirl of pink, blue & yellow cats.  Black organza fans with zips as stems were inspired by Japanese landscape washes and looked stunning against white silk gazar and faille.  Zips also appeared on the cat motifs to give a hard edge and to accentuate their eyes – making you aware that this quietly purring sexy kitty can also show her claws.

Heads up on the Mad Hatters!

Piers Atkinson had “Sex on the Brain” for his SS10 theme. He went bananas on some of his designs: “Andi” – banana felt hat with glitter detail; “Josephine”- leather with antique banana ornaments; “Andrew Logan for Piers Atkinson” – glittered pillbox with mirrored banana; banana headband with dolly.

J Smith Esquire’s SS10 collection titled “Light” included a glamorous and dishevelled creation called “ostrich” made of a boa wig with a sliver encrusted neck corset. “Light” was inspired by shipwrecked treasures and beachcombed relics.

Little Shilpa’s creations fuses the two worlds of Mumbai and London together, with references from the London Underground , Bombay markets and maddening traffic jams (both cities). One design is of a giant blue bow festooned with multi coloured bangles. Another mixes military tassels with Maharaja Ornamentation.

Stephen Jones’s “ABC” SS10 collection is inspired by Art, Beauty & Commerce. The art of Japan, the beauty of France and the commerce of America. Designs include: “Sayoko”- pleated straw hat; “Ayumi” – origami crin flower; “Hideka” – cellophane straw coolie with veil and leather flowers, “Je ne sais quoi” –straw and satin bicorne with rose; “Soixante-neuf” – jersey and straw rose pillbox. No prizes for guessing the countries.

Head over heels in love with the shoes:

This is Sonya Parenti’s debut collection and as she loves the dreamlike erotic essence of Noir films from the fifties, her SS10 collection can be described as dark and sexy.

One of the Newgen winners this year is Michael Lewis whose SS10 collection was inspired by:  Early Kenzo, Russian fairytales (especially Baboushka) and Ray Caeser.

All the way from Iceland is the shoe company Kron. Their SS10 collection sees a mix of colours; suede and leather; frills and bows; chunky high heels all put together to make an eye catching shoe. Maybe not sexy, but definitely girly and fun.

It’s what’s underneath that counts in the Lingerie Boudoir.

Miss Lala Presents went all cute with polka dots and bows in stretchy satin.

Dirty Pretty Things went pretty in pink, but dirty in the bondage mask

And Buttress & Snatch went all soft and feminine with this pure silk, satin and tulle negligee trimmed with vintage velvet flowers.

Handbags at Dawn

Antoni & Alison SS10 collection went all glamorous and Hollywood for their famous screen tests theme.

The handbag label Rocio wanted “to create a collection of handbags that would return fashion to the arts”. These handbags are handmade from the finest sustainable acacia softwood and come embellished in gemstones, fine leathers, crystals and pearls. You certainly don’t want to hide these handbags in the back of your wardrobe.

Tamara Fogle makes bags out of antique textile such as German flour sacks, Hungarian grain sacks, military tents, sailcloth, Welsh blankets and French mattress ticking. The below bags are made of German flour sacks (date range 1830-1940’s) trimmed in chocolate brown Italian leather. The writing which is different on every sack (and so makes each bag unique) states the farmer’s name.

Ready or not, here comes the Ready- to-Wear:

Sass & Bide SS10 ready-to-wear is a collection of gold and silver embellishments on black and off white pieces. Styles included swing tops, caged dresses, gold harem pants and long low fronted pinafore dresses.

Reem’s SS10 vintage collection is called “Bubble and Squeak” – mixing volume and crumble layers; silks and chiffons with punky leather and studs.

Bodyamr’s SS10 collection was inspired by the clean lines of early ready- to- wear American Fashion and the colour palette of peaches, coral, aqua, silver and gold was inspired by David Hockney’s Beverly Hills pool series. Silk jersey, silk satin and liquid chiffon create fluidity in the clothes.

MFP- MariaFrancescaPepe’s SS10 collection is named “Bathing Beauties”.  The choice of fabrics used create the illusion of sea and sand : moiré- with its rippled appearance so similar to the ripples in  wet sand, silk jersey – with its fluidity for movement of water and silky jacquards reflecting light on water. Fins decorate one dress and hat whilst pieces of brass jewellery are moulded in to pleats and coated in metallic blues and greens to represent ripples in water.

Aladdin’s Cave of treasures in the jewellery

Sam Ubhi has an eclectic mixture of designs and material due to taking inspiration when visiting different countries.

Nicholas King’s collection cleverly takes beads, sequins, watch faces and other creative pieces, then “preserves” them in clear resin to make chunky cuffs and necklaces. You’ll never lose a bead again!

Leju use a special Amazonian seed known as vegetable ivory as a sustainable alternative to elephant ivory. Rich colours are created by staining and dying the seed with natural plant extract and oils. This season’s collection is called “Goddess” with warmer metals of 24kt gold and copper brought in to give a softer feminine feel.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. Take a break because next stop is Estethica!- the ethical part of London Fashion Week

For help on personal shopping in London and image consultancy visit frumpy to funky’s website www.frumpytofunky.com

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