FE Friend Sofia Bak Reports From The Trenches at LONDON Fashion Week: Day 1 of LFW

Text, Sofia Bak

Images Sourced by Vivian Kelly. from designscene.net

Up like bullet at 7, throw on Lako Bukia, Onna Ehrlich-Bell and mom’s black vintage Zorro hat. Running late for the 9am show…as always…lovely new assistant Anna Komolova saves a seat…Antoni & Alison wake everyone up with loud crazy music and a concept to switch your brain into gear…loved 1 dress…out on the street to shoot for Vogue Italia…street style photographers outnumber possible models…I finally find 1…10 more want to shoot her…mostly ended up shooting other street stylers all day…but felt like I got shot more than I shot them…it’s the blue dip dyed hair. Speaking of which…the only street style trend I’m seeing so far is coloured hair…seemed like practically everyone had a splash of colour this season. Took a break with tea & cake at Orla Kiely presentation where models were showing off outfits at a 50′s style dance…did they book the ones who could dance or teach them? Beautiful, romantic…oooh macaroons! Run in at the last minute for (friend) Francesca Marotta debut show, stunned by the Italian widows, bloody tears, great acting skills on the models and lace…lace…lace. Turned away with a seated ticket for Bora Aksu show. Weird. How did they manage to organise that?! Brilliant casting at Felder Felder, lovely to see my girl from Kiev Fashion Days - Alla Kostromichova opening...great prints and new knits. Love. Watched another brilliant fashion film by Ada Zanditon. Found incredible footwear architect Julian Hakes at the exhibitions…shot man in a latex woman: Pandemonia…dying by the time Jena Theo show rolled in…but loved every piece. Would buy 99% of it…it’s like they thought…what does Sofia like to wear…baggy black tops and skinny jeans it is.

Now hating my life because all I want to do is pass out but I have 468 photos and 98 e-mails to go through (99 by the time I finished this…damn now it’s 101). And you always ask me if I’m LOOKING FORWARD to fashion week and if I’m going to any PARTIES. This is just day 1…in a NUTSHELL!

The Tibi Spring/Summer 2012 Collection Show at Lincoln Center

Text, Carey Reed Zamarriego

Images of Front Row and two Runway Looks, CRZ

Individual Runway Looks, from Vogue UK

“I think women should dress in a way that’s effortless but never lazy,” Amy Smilovic, the American designer behind the Tibi label has said. Naming the ladies of Charlie’s Angels as the epitome of chic style, Tibi strives to provide pieces that take the effort out of creating laidback, modern looks. A feat that’s easier said, than done. I know I toiled away in front of the mirror the morning of the show agonizing over my outfit and trying to piece together an effortless, yet contemporary. In the end, I settled on a billowy red and white striped tank, navy boyfriend cardigan, gray skinny jeans and black booties. However, when placed under the bright lights of the runway show, my cool, collected appearance quickly began to melt.

Diagonally across from me though, were three ladies who seemed to beam in the heat of the show lights and represented the crisp, effortless modern style of Tibi to a T.

Socialite and part-time reality TV star, Olivia Palermo sat flanked by a male companion on one side and TV actress Sophia Bush (One Tree Hill). On the other side of Bush was Emma Roberts, tween actress (Nancy Drew) Julia Roberts’ niece. Olivia looked fresh and classic in an oversized gauzy cream blouse, a skirt so short it disappeared when she was seated, and animal-print pumps. Sofia opted for a strapless rouge leather dress, paired with a python clutch and Emma was decked out in a deep shade of plum.

The show began with a series of shorts, pants and tops in cream and pale hues of pink, green and blue, exuding Tibi’s effortless chicness. Next, there were pops of color with mustard and outfits pairing royal blue and black. Different textiles played off one another, some more successful than others. I didn’t really care for the short-sleeved leather tops, which awkwardly flared out at the models’ waists. There were several textured pieces: an eyelet black ‘nude-illusions’ dress and shorts, and several dresses that looked like they had been pressed with prints. Well-constructed, wide legged trousers and long cargo skirts were paired with sleek, feminine tops and represented Smilovic’s desire that “a woman should dress in contradictions – youthful and sophisticated, masculine and feminine, bold and muted colors.”

The show closed with a series of tops, shorts; and my personal favorite, a strapless, pocketed genie jumpsuit, which all had the same delicate white Asian flower print atop an emerald green and black background. The look was possibly inspired by Smilovic’s time spent living in Hong Kong. My other favorites included a strapless dress in mustard and Tibi’s gauzy halter neck dresses in baby blue and cream, all of which would easily roll up and travel nicely in a bag to the island for a day on the beach and transition, with heels, for an evening out.

Trends for spring/summer:

Return to long, cargo-style skirts

Wide-legged trousers

Royal blue and black; mustard and cream; slate blue and blush

Trends for fall (as seen in the crowd):

60’s styles a-la Mad Men

70’s boho chic: large, floppy velvety hats, oversized clutches, bellbottoms and hair left long, wavy and parted in the center.

80’s preppie style a-la any John Hughes film from the time

To view the collection and for more information on the Tibi brand, visit www.tibi.com

If you’re in NYC, drop into their  SoHo Location, at  120 Wooster Street, to browse.

Carey is the Editorial Director for (W)anderlust Writing. To see more of her work and current project, visit:

wanderlustwriting.com

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Fashion Iconoclasts Have Their Day: Libertine and Custo Barcelona

Text, Vivian Kelly

“Just do your own thing”. How often have you heard this phrase? How often do you actually follow that advice?

Too risky, right? Yes and no. Two designers continue to do just that and THIS is a great season for them. They are [drumroll] – Johnson Hartig for Libertine and Custo Dalmau for Custo Barcelona.

Just for fun, I BING’d the definition for “libertine”.

According to wikipedia, “A libertine is one devoid of most moral restraints, which are seen as unnecessary or undesirable, especially one who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behavior sanctified by the larger society. Libertines, also known as rakes, placed value on physical pleasures, meaning those experienced through the five senses.”

In other words, don’t worry about what society thinks. Johnson has it right, and the young trustafarians who wear his clothes to go clubbing probably get a kick our of wearing a tee-shirt or skirt that says “Tax the Rich More” [ie themselves, or Mom and Dad]. As far as trends go, Johnson always does wonderful fitted coats which could be interpreted as “ladylike” and his bold navy, black and white stripes hit the “obvious print” trend going on this week at the New York shows.

Custo Dalau did what he always did – wild prints, mixing and matching unlikely textures for both his men’s and women’s designs. Sometimes it does get a bit excessive [as in a too bulky- too many furs and tweeds] but not this time. The 3-D effect he achieved was interesting and innovative, but we had to wait until the end of the show to have  look. Normally, a collection this lengthy might be a bit of a yawn but that was definitely not the case here. The Fashion List’s R. Scott French and I loved the clothes and the music. His Iphone4 enabled him to immediately download two of the songs we loved, “Filthy Love” and “Icons of Summer”. I had to wait until I got back to the room to do it on my MacBook Pro. No matter, the clothes more than made up for that.

Group 1 was called “DUAL” and covered the casual look, and was primarily about graphics. My favorite from this set was the men’s black and white lambskin leather sweater jacket in a harlequin print. This is the sort of piece a woman would “borrow” from her boyfriend or husband and “forget” to give him back.

Group #2 was called “Kaleidoscopio” and as you can guess, was a composite of geometrics stitched together from a variety of fabrics based on raffia, cotton and silk. As at Christian Siriano, there were muted colors [beige, brown and ochre] contrasted with vibrant ones [coral pink and acid green].

The most interesting grouping though, came at the end. “Mirame” featured those special occasion pieces for guys and girls who don’t have a problem with making an impression when they walk into the room. After some  discussion, Fashion Tribes’ mens’ editor, Mark Behnke and I agreed that these looks would play well in Rome, where it’s one’s duty to stand out and more, scratch that – MOST –  is better. Mark was obsessed with a bronze men’s look which I’ll search-out once all of the show images are available. I’m sure it’s great, but when I attend a Custo show, I prefer to sit back and enjoy the experience; the details come later.

The only drawback to the  3-D fabrics is that they are tough to photograph, [I gave-up after a few fails]. Nonetheless, I’m sure that these colorful pieces made a sufficient impression for editors and buyers to carve-out time in their busy schedule to take another look and to order them for fashion editorials and stores, respectively.

A big “bravo!” to Custo Dalmau this season.