Into The Woods

After a frankly exhausting month of being M.I.A. and neglecting this humble blog in a terrible way, I have returned with much to tell. For a while now I have been getting up at 6am and returning home at 8pm as part of a lengthy process of putting together the latest issue for Fashion156 – The Headwear Issue. 

I have had the pleasure of contributing to near enough every section of this magazine so it’s like my baby! From picture research to locating street styles to writing the blurbs, a feature and even uploading each component before it goes live – it was a whirlwind and hilariously stressful. But there are worse things to do then write about hats and go on shoots with attractive young men who are more than willing to model the last-minute handmade headpieces you’ve just created. What am i on about? Just another ad hoc task for a creative intern. With the help of one of my best friends, Catherine, who swooped in last minute as my assistant (an assistant with her own assistant? Oh yes) the shoot ran smoothly. The majority of headbands below were actually made by her fair hand and modelled on my not so fair head.

The theme: Headwear. Beyond that, it was a play it by ear day which soon turned into a midsummer night’s dream affair with lilac smoke and floral garlands in a perfectly autumnal setting, dressing with pieces from Liberty to Acne.  All accompanied by a team of not very Shakespearean scousers, lead by photographer Mark Shearwood, who created some gorgeous shots. The end results? Look no further:

P.S. The model with the thicker eyebrows is Sasha, photographer David Bailey's son!

Beyond this, my days consisted of insane amounts of blogging, research and anaylsis to help put together the new issue which can be found in all its glory at fashion156.com.

In other news, I’ve barely had time to breathe. Contributing blogs here and there (yet not here here, I must apologize) and writing a lengthy ol’ article for Who’s Jack December issue, my fingers are worn out. However, you don’t care about that! So never fear, with much in the pipeline, I’ll be getting my camera out of its dusty case and going in search of adventure.

Until then.
C. x

London Fashion Week 2011: Ashish

Last week’s guest style editor for ASOS online and fellow lover of all things sequined, flamboyant London based Ashish Gupta was sure to brighten up my over cast Saturday morning and he didn’t disappoint.

Despite his SS11 collection providing an amalgamation of cowboys and Indians by way of a southern Californian pit stop, his 2012 ensemble looked likely to take a more enchanting approach as he revealed his collection would channel holiday romances and far off places. However, his SS12 collection, entitled ‘Le Jardin d’Ashish’ actually took a more green fingered angle as models paraded the runway in a profusion of sequined blooms.

With the tag line “She may be floral but she’s not flowery”, we were right to expect bags of attitude from this outlandish collection. With enough colour to satisfy any artist’s palette, the designs screamed summer. The shapes were simple but lavishly coated in pearly sequins acting as a backdrop to vibrant yellow sunflowers reminiscent of Van Gogh. The garish florals did not stop there as clashes of rich, oriental red poppies on leopard print adorned the short hemlines and slim cut trousers whilst the very wall of the garden made its appearance on several redbrick garments. With real daisies apparently growing out of the chunky military style boots, long, relaxed side plaits and straw fedoras accessorized the collection to great effect, running with the garden theme until the very last details.

FROW Paloma Faith outside show space and inside with Liz jones, fashion journalist and one of my inspirations