London Fashion Week: Highlights pt.1

Sass & Bide S/S ’11 at the Royal Opera House

While I have attended a few Fashion shows in the past, I’ve always wanted to have the complete Fashion Week experience. Well this season I was thrilled to have the rare and enormous opportunity to go to most of the on-schedule shows, go backstage to see the mayhem before the glitz, meet several of my fashion gods in the flesh, and go to the A-list parties (which, admittedly, I was perfectly happy to leave after 15 minutes). There’s no thrill quite like the dimming of the lights and the first beat of the music at a fashion week show! Here’s the start of my roundup:

THE SHOWS: Matthew Williamson, House of Holland, Mulberry, Sass & Bide, Julien Macdonald, Charles Anastase, Michael van der Ham, Maria Grachvogel, PPQ, Topshop Unique, Twenty8Twelve, Emilio de la Morena and more.

THE HIGHLIGHTS (the moments that made LFW a wondrous affair):

Julien Macdonald S/S ’11

Sensory immersion. Last season it was Topshop Unique’s autumnal camping frolic, this season Julien Macdonald’s feminine boudoir. The gilded 17th Century Banqueting Hall, the peach and rose cocktails, the sultry tones of ‘Summertime’ and the Jo Malone rose scent being spritzed into the air beforehand all set the mood for the frothy, feminine looks to follow.

Matthew Williamson at the Battersea Power Station

Locales to take one’s breath away. From Princess Margaret’s apartment at Kensington Palace (Acne) to the iconic Battersea Power Station (Matthew Williamson), from the Royal Opera House (Sass & Bide and Nicole Farhi) to St James’ Palace (Sustainable Fashion)… it was all about the show-stopping locations this season.

Charles Anastase S/S ’11

The return of feminine clothes women actually want to wear. From Charles Anastase’s sweet Parisian girls to Mary Katrantzou’s breathtaking prints, there was a marked shift to soft femininity and wearability.

THE LOWLIGHTS (because it’s not all beautiful dresses and front-row glamour):

The ramp of death (as it affectionately became known) at the otherwise beautiful Topshop showspace. Clearly designed by a man (no woman would make hundreds of other women walk several stories up a ramp in 5″ heels. Enough said).

Entry tantrums. I was constantly astonished by bad behaviour and the lengths to which some people would go to gain entry to the hot ticket shows. If you don’t have a ticket, no amount of ‘I should be on the list!!’ or ‘don’t you know who I am?!’ will get you past those guards. It’s only a fashion show – please don’t lose your dignity over it.

Fashion starvation. Everything they say about there being no food / time to eat at Fashion Week is entirely true! When whizzing between back to back shows, there is literally no time to locate, let alone consume, food. By the time the shows end, all one can think about is inhaling a ginormous plate of carbs, drunk teenager-style.

What do you make of Fashion Week?

Love, Miss B xx