MY MARNI AT H&M SHOPPING LIST

It seems like just yesterday that I was blogging about the Marni H&M annoucement, when in fact it was way back in November. Now the big day is just one week away, and I'm very over-excited to see the collection in the flesh (or fabric if you like). In preparation I've booked the day off work, sharpened my elbows and compiled a shopping list of my favourite pieces. Wish me luck....

View the full collection and campaign over at Look.co.uk.

SS12 COLOUR TREND: YELLOW

A major colour trend for SS12 is yellow. As seen on the Derek Lam SS12 catwalk, nothing says spring time like a zingy pop of citrus in your new season wardrobe. I'd love to own Derek Lam's buttercup yellow a-line dress in picture 2, it simply is the perfect frock for summer. Alternatively if you're not brave enough to wear the trend head-to-toe then you can add a flash of daffodil yellow to your look with a pair of bright sandals or a colourful earring.

This trend is an instant mood-enhancer too, just like the gorgeous spring sunshine we're experiencing in the UK at the moment, a pop of sunshine in your outfit can lift your look and spirits. Here's my pick of the best yellow buys to add a shot of the trend to your SS12 your wardrobe.....

1. Cacharel printed cotton pants, theoutnet.com, £148.50.
2. Erdem Yanne printed front cardigan, Matches, £480.00.
3. Marni sunflower clip earrings, netaporter.com, £250.
4. Vinnie flatforms, ASOS, £40.00.
5. Marc by Marc Jacobs brass and yellow glass crystal studs, net-a-porter.com, £40.
6. Premium coloured pony shopper, ASOS, £44.00. 
7. Speckle T-shirt mini dress, Topshop, £25.00.
 8.Joey yellow necklace, Kurt Geiger, £50.00.  

INBAR SPECTOR'S OTHERWORDLY AW12 LONDON FASHION WEEK SHOW

Inbar Spector's AW12 London Fashion Week show combined theatre, tulle and jewelled head pieces for a vision that was completely out of this world. Waiting outside the Vauxhall Fashion Scout show on Monday morning for my fellow blogger companion, the lovely Katie from Style and Then Some, I had an inkling this was not your average show when a guest arrived dressed head-to-toe in a latex gimp suit.


The show began with a laser-cut leather catsuit with a volumious tulle uppers that were part Lady Gaga, part circus clown  (unsuprisingly circus clowns were cited as one of Spector's influeces for the collection). Then came several looks that combined tulle with corseted pinstripe tailoring, which were less successful in impact. The incredible, frothy, dresses that followed in a saccherine-sweet colour palette of powder pink, washed-out-violet and mint green were the real successes of the show for me, the concertina gravity-defying dress in picture 5 was an incredible feat of design.


Watching the show, Inbar's vision brought to mind some of Alexander McQueen's final collections; the hair teased into animalistic horns was very Origin of the Species and the volumious, gravity-defying shapes had a definite touch of the McQueen about them.  Another success was the exotic jewelled head-pieces created by Lara Jensen especially for Spector's show; both beautiful and disturbing as they obscured the models face's for an otherwordly effect.


I left the show with the feeling Inbar Spector will be a future face to watch in the world of fashion, her collections may lack wearability, (unless your Lady Gaga in which case they're ideal for your weekly supermarket shop) but they are undeniably fantastical.

MY LONDON FASHION WEEK INSTAGRAM PICTURES

Find me on instagram @lafashionfolie.

My very pretty Clements Ribeiro ticket

The magic pass!

Clements Ribeiro in action

Inbar Spector show at Vauxhall Fashion Scout

Incredible Holly Fulton clutch inlaid with mother of pearl

Holly Fulton's aquatic prints

Alexandra Schulman is not impressed

Sophie Hulme's winning collection

LFW Daily and (free!) latte break in the press lounge

Killer Swarovski Atelier necklace

The Mac make-up pit stop in the press lounge

Spots & stripes in my outfit

SOPHIE HULME'S TRICERA-TOP AW12 LONDON FASHION WEEK PRESENTATION

Sophie Hulme's AW12 presentation was my first LFW port of call at Somerset House this morning. If you haven't discovered Sophie Hulme yet, there's a real buzz around her in the fashion world at the moment; Hulme's hardwear-heavy handbags are toted by many a fashion editor, regulary featured in Vogue and are sells-out in Selfridges. But today's presentation proved that Hulme doesn't just do accessories, she also does clothing, and very well at that.

When my invite for the presentation arrived decorated with t-rex motifts, I knew I was in for a treat. But whilst the dinosaur motifs were prevalent throughout the whole of Hulme's AW12 collection (and in the portico room where a giant gold t-rex towered above the catwalk), there was nothing prehistoric about these looks.

In front of a crowd that included Suzie Bubble and my-wardrobe.com's buying and merchandising director Luisa de Paula, with refreshments of Bloody Marys and bacon sandwiches on offer, Hulme showed a pitch-perfect collection. Dinosaur motifs were seen in most of the looks, from gold necklaces through to belt buckles and fairisle knits. Even more spectaculary, Hulme had created her own dinosaur motif 'lace' that decorated blouses, shift dresses and even covered a parka- very cool indeed.

The outerwear on display in the collection was pretty fabulous too, well-cut mannish coats and parkas looked cosy and wearable and came complete with fashionista must-have; contrast sleeves. The colour palette of dove grey, black and navy may have been classic, but contrasted against the gold dinosaurs with pops of fuschia pink, it looked fresh and new.


Looking at these pictures you may be suprised to know that this was Sophie Hulme's first on-schedule LFW show, but with the cute-yet-chic dinosaur theme contrasted against some classic designs, Sophie Hulme made London Fashion Week look like a walk in the (Jurassic) park.

Bloody Marys and bacon sandwiches were on offer for delicate press and buyers!

The Sophie Hulme t-rex

There's dinosaurs knitted into the design of this jumper!

The dino-lace parka

MY LONDON FASHION WEEK STREET STYLE LOOK

If any of your were wondering what I opted to wear for my first day of London Fashion Week, then here's some pictures of my look.

I ran out of time to take any pictures myself, so I was quite lucky that a lovely lady from the French newspaper, L'Express, asked for my picture in the courtyard of Somerset House.

I'll be honest, this isn't the best picture ever taken of me (I definitely need to perfect my street style pose for future; I don't have a double chin in real-life, honest) but I love the L'Express write-up (including link to my blog...) and the fabulous second picture of the closer details.

I'm wearing my favourite Topshop contrast sleeve trench, New Look courts, Zara tote & red blazer, Thomas Sabo watch & ring and a Forever 21 necklace. 

KINDER AGGUGINI'S AW12 LONDON FASHION WEEK SHOW

My second show of the day was Kinder Aggugini at Somerset House, where I was lucky enough to find myself standing opposite Alexandra Schulman on the FROW (let's just say, watching the editor of Vogue's real-time reactions to a fashion show = priceless). This was a show that attracted the celebs as well as the fashion glitterati, Jameela Jamil, Sunday Girl and Dionne Bromfield all added some celebrity glamour to the FROW.

British Vogue editor Alexandra Schulman (in blue) on the FROW

And much to the delight of the younger crowd, Kinder Aggugini presented a playful, fun collection to a hip-hop, poppy soundtrack that matched the tongue-in-cheek mood of the show.

The first half of the show saw models sashaying down the catwalk in cute little dresses, shirts and skirts printed with cowboy photographs drawn from 18th century wallpapers. These were fun, playful looks then any young girl would love to model; I overhead Dionne Bromfield's stylists agreeing these were outfits they could really see her wearing.


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Style.com

The second half of the show was more glamourous; full length sheer dresses decorated with glittering gold patterns overlaid polka-dot slips, in an interesting take on the cocktail gown. On the flipside, it is true to say that there was nothing ground-breaking or new about the show, as stated by Aggugini's own press release that read:

'The work of celebrated artists and artisans, represented as my own. There is no collaboration, just pure theft'

But who cares about a little petty theft when it looks this fun to wear- looking as good as an Aggugini girl can never be a crime.

CLEMENTS RIBEIRO AW12 LONDON FASHION WEEK SHOW

This morning I was lucky enough to get my hands on a ticket for the AW12 Clements Ribeiro show at the opulent Goldsmiths' Hall.

And what better way to pop the cherry of a London Fashion Week first-timer than with a show that was attended by fashion royality including Hilary Alexander, Liberty London Girl, Hamish Bowles, Paula Reed and Alexandra Schulman to name but a few ? (And that's not even mentioning Millie Mackintosh from Made in Chelsea..)
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The FROW at Clements Ribeiro- Grazia's fashion editor Paula Reed in green.

And the fashion-pack looked suitably impressed with husband and wife design partnership Suzanne Clements and Inacio Ribeiro's AW12 collection.

The show started with models strutting down the catwalk in Cossack-inspired embroidered shifts to a booming rock and roll soundtrack (although the booming part could have been because I'd cleverly positioned myself right in front of the show speakers). A signature of the Clements Ribeiro label is to combine materials, colours and prints in unexpected and innovative ways, and the AW12 collection showcased this skill; traditional Plaid and Cossack-inspired embroidery were pared with modern geometric knits and and leather.


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Style.com

The colour palette was also bold and unexpected- who would have thought combining hot pink, maroon, cerulean blue and chocolate brown in one outfit would work? And yet at the artful hands of Clements Ribeiro, it did.


Shapes were long and lean, and the flesh on display was sparse; leggings were worn under skirts and dresses for a demure look. This was an elegant, well-thought out collection that showcased the skill and talents of the Clements Ribeiro partnership.


Although my photos of the show were not so good from where I was standing, I did record this video of the fashion magic in action:

Untitled from Sophie Green on Vimeo.

ZARA'S FAB FLORAL SS12 COLLECTION

If you were a fan of Erdem's fresh florals on their SS12 catwalk, then you're sure to love Zara's new season collection. Dense and ditsy floral prints decorate blazers, shirts and pants, adding a fresh breath of spring air to the collection. There's also fab leather totes that have a designer feel for a desirable pricetag. To update your SS12 wardrobe in an instant, I recommend investing in a pair of printed floral trousers that will look just as good with a slouchy grey marl tee as with a crisp white shirt. Blooming lovely!

Shop the new collection as it arrives at Zara.com.

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK: PRABAL GURUNG AW12

Whilst drooling over the New York Fashion week shows on Style.com this afternoon, I fell in love at first sight with Prabal Gurung's AW12 collection. I have to admit, Gurung is not a designer that has crossed my fashion radar before, but here was a pitch-perfect collection with look after wearable look that would fit effortlessly into my wardrobe.  

Hell and heaven was the inspiration behind the show that started with models dressed head-to-toe in pure black and culminated in angelic gold and white cocktail dresses gilded with metallics and delicately embellished with beads.

What really impressed me about Gurung's show was the wearability of all the looks; the iridescent sleeve coat (look 1) and the blue silk skater skirt with embellished charcoal sweater (look 2) are effortlessly cool and will easily work in the modern girl's wardrobe. Here's hoping iridescent sleeves hit the high street come AW, I'm head over heels in love!

RIVER ISLAND'S SS12 COLLECTION WOWS!

When these snaps of River Island's SS12 collection pinged into my inbox courtesy of Look magazine, I got pretty excited. Whilst it's fun to fantasy shop designer collections, it's even more exciting when you can actually buy the pieces you are coveting in campaigns. River Island have got plenty of SS12 trends covered here, vibrant prints, futuristic metallics, Versace-inspired bling, 1920s style flapper dresses (very Gucci SS12) and lots of sweetly stylish lace. Personally I've got my eye on the oversized yellow tote, which looks super-luxe for a high street holdall. Hot foot it to River Island quick to get yours before it goes...

 

To view the full collection head to Look.co.uk.