LONDON FASHION AW13 DAY 2: THE LFF DIARIES

LFF's day two of London Fashion Week was more of a relaxed affair; continue reading after the jump for a sneak preview of the Mawi AW13 collection, The Carlotta Actis Barone Fashion Scout show and to hear about my trip to the The Apartment- a creative hub for fashion bloggers during London Fashion Week.

My first port of call for LFW day 2 was to pay a visit to luxury British accessories brand Bobelle London, whose head office is rather conveniently based in Somerset House. As you may know, I'm a handbag-kinda-girl and Bobelle's offering is simply dreamy. So much so, I've decided to dedicate a whole post to the brand which will be published in the next couple of weeks. To give you a taster of what's to come, here's one of my favourite designs spotted on Saturday, the wonderfully British Crown Clutch. Bobelle manufacture all their designs in Britain and this clutch is even made with GB suede which is such a rareity these days. Pure homegrown luxury.

After my visit to the Bobelle HQ, I caught up with my blogger friend Annie and we headed to a creative hub for bloggers based in Covent Garden, know as The Apartment. The Apartment is the brain child of super-blogger AbiMarvel, and is the go-to hangout for all the top bloggers attending London Fashion Week. Stepping inside the apartment is like stepping into every blogger's fantasyland, with wifi, yummy treats, hair styling by John Frieda, make up by Rimmel, and a fashion cupboard stocked with Russell and Bromley, Forever 21 and Next to name a few. After eating some delicious cupcakes at the RewardStyle brunch I was my hair styled into a top knot by the amazing John Frieda team. The result was amazing- I felt like Audrey Hepburn!

Then it was time to head to the Fashion Scout Carlotta Actis Barone show at Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden. This was an off-schedule show, which basically means it is on the main London Fashion Week schedule. I really enjoy seeing these shows, as they can often be more daring and off-the-wall than what's happening over at Somerset House. Carlotta Actis Barone's show was a flirty, sexy affair, with lots of sheer pleating and mesh panelling used to peek-a-boo effect.

From what I've been seeing at London Fashion Week, monochrome looks set to continue to be huge news in AW13 and barone focussed on this colour palette using solely black and white in the collection.

On the FROW was London based fine artist and Fashion Scout veteran, Pandemonia, who dresses head to toe in latex. I have to say I absolutely love seeing Pandemonia at London Fashion Week, she adds a bonkers brilliance to FROW aplenty and it does amuse me to think she'll never actually wear the designs she's seeing (unless they are re-fashioned in latex).

 The show was full of youthful, urban designs that whilst not suit my style, would look amazing on a hot young bodied R'n'B artist like bad girl Ri-Ri (who happened to be in town that evening for the launch of her collection with River Island).  

What I really loved about the show was seeing designer Carlotta take a bow in one of her own designs, looking fabulous. Sometimes when you see designers send models down the catwalks in truly bonkers creations, it seems ironic when they take a bow dressed head to toe in black non-descript fashions. Which is why I find it refreshing when designers show full commitment to their brands by wearing their own looks.

After the show, my blogger BFF Katie and I did some street style snaps round Covent Garden. I loved Katie's off-duty photographer look that she was rocking, how cool is her Topshop Kapow sweater?

I went for a classic 'me' look for my second day at Fashion Week, wearing my favourite Next trench. I love the contrast beatween a neutral classic and colourful on-trend pieces, so I paired it with my Rianna Phillips Varro clutch bag again (pre-order yours here), a neon Forever21 jumper, and jewels from New Look.

After our street style session, I headed back to Somerset House to have a browse round the showrooms, where brands display their AW13 styles for buyers and press. If you're looking for some serious sparkle in your life, then feast your eyes on Mawi's second line of clutch bags, re-fashioned in new ultra covetable pastel and bold red glitter colourways for AW13.

Mawi's AW13 jewellery offering sees lots of emerald green and ruby red jewels set in rose gold, yellow gold and gunmetal tone metals. Add them to your AW13 wishlists now ladies!

After my trip round the show rooms my platform heels were giving my inner calves some serious strain, so it was time to head home.

The final LFW installment to come tomorrow! LFF X