This season, that's not all there is from Spijkers en Spijkers

The Spijkers en Spijkers sisters took a step forward this season, by launching their AW 12 collection at the Freemasons on the Vauxhall Fashion Scout schedule.

There is a very good reason for this. They brought a most definite confidence and rightly so with every aspect of their runway time this season (down to sending the models head high down the catwalk to a cover of Is That All There Is by Christina).

It is no secret that last season, I gave them a rather scathing review. And I am so pleased to eat my words this season, because their love for the 20's has matured into something great. The 40's it would seem.

The collection entitled "Birds of Paradise", has some quite obvious references in the feathers used and actual bird embroidery, and less so in the bold colour palette. In fact the dresses contrasts of blacks up against these bold colours could be a different interpretation to what we saw from Mark Fast back in SS11 concept wise (his birds being stripped of their colour by acid rain).

The styling and collection I know are not to everyone's taste, but they are certainly to mine, and so I hope to see more of this fantastic progression from the twins next season!

Ziad Ghanem - The Show for the Rest of Us

I was really excited about Ziad Ghanem's show after the amazing spectacle's he has put on in previous seasons. With the lineup being several blocks long last season, I was sure to get there early and stake my place in my favourite spot. I looked around as the room filled. What I love most about Ziad shows, is that they are for everyone. He celebrates all measures of real life beauty in all of it's freakish glory.


I could feel the show was about to begin. At shows like this the lights almost feel hotter and a sort of pressure builds and you can feel something bubbling under the surface...


CRASH! AHHHHH!!! HELP!!!! BANG!!! SMASH!!!


I would have thought it was part of the show but the lights hadn't yet been dimmed. My eyes tore to the photographers pit in which all photographers were in a free fall domino like tumble off the meter high platform! Tripods and camera's crashing to the ground. It always looks and feels like such a delicate balance of bodies and equipment - precariously perched on a needlepoint. My over sized bottom once almost caused a similar catastrophe so once I saw that everyone was ok (but for a few bruises) I thanked bejeezus that it wasn't me who did it. "Girl from Pandora's Thoughts Big Ass Knocks Over 50 Camera Crew While Bending to Pick up Her Pen - 10 Hospitalised.  Bring Back Size Zero!"


I immediately called Mel who's response was "Oh my god what equipment was damaged?? Please don't say any Canon 5d Mach II's...." Typical of her to ask after the camera's before the people! 


The lights dimmed - I chucked my phone and got ready...

First to come out were my favourite married art duo the Battenberg-Cartwright's. I adore their story and their work and their love for each other. So many people marry for what they feel are traditional reasons and do it in a traditional way and it ends up a loveless disaster. These two have something else.... Maybe this couple who got married for art should start giving some lessons! Anyway, they looked amazing with red eye makeup and large bushells of flowers in their hair. He in a cropped white tailored jacket and draped bottom half and her in a gorgeous pink gown.


I love a man skirt, but this was the best I have ever seen. Fold upon fold upon fold of layered white cotton tied with a pink sash. It was unbelievably masculine despite the feminine influence. My favourite piece was a long sheer dress with vertical ruffles which perfectly followed and accentuated the curves of the female form. I would normally insert some sort of self deprecating remark that it wouldn't look as good on me as it did on the model but Ziad designs for all shapes and sizes so I have hope that it would!

          

A stunning girl in a long white dressed veiled in a piece of black netting, it was so innocent and delicate to watch. 

Streets full of lace, a corseted jesus, a haunting mime like white faced figure who tiptoed down the catwalk arms outstretched. A caped figure who poured paint down themselves from somewhere hidden. A delightful beauty in PVC and a voluminous baby doll dress made from miles of fabric skipped along, opened her umbrella to a shower of rose petals! It was unbelievable.... 

                           

Ghanem's young niece stole the show in true diva style. Chin in the air, she was the most confident of a VERY confident bunch! You go girl! You too Ziad. Another amazing season... Thanks so much for having me...

Temperatures rise at Fashion Mode - Part 1 Carlotta Actis Barone

Pandora's Thoughts have a long and slightly sentimental history with Fashion Mode. We have been watching these three designers grow since their first LFW show for SS 2011, now nurtured into full bloom by Creative Director Andrea Abraham. So of course, it goes without saying we were filled with excitement to come back for another season of shooting the new collections.

This season we've had the pleasure of a sneak peek at Carlotta Actis Barone's collection when we were invited to shoot the Behind the scenes images at her Look Book shoot, and then enter the dragon's den by coming backstage at Vauxhall Fashion Scout to shoot the show preparation.
So this Fashion Week we thought we'd be watching the show as ever, grinning like doting parents at their kid's graduation, but that perhaps the goosebumps from the surprise of the collection would be gone.

We were wrong.

They were on top form once again, the concepts were flawless and the collections bigger than ever before (literally about 15 looks for each designer).

Carlotta Actis Barone...

Carlotta takes her inspiration this season from the protest against illegal prostitution. Looking at enforced prostitution vs prostitution by choice. Her in depth research spans Geishas, Victorian Brothels and French Boudoir, all of which is very apparent in her collection.

I loved the fact that given the concept has such serious and sometimes said "sombre"  connotations, it has a very distinct use of bright colours. This really shows the research of the Geisha, while also reminding us - Hello! this is a spring summer collection!

An interesting addition were silk ropes added to some garments to give shape in the right places, but also to represent being bound and restrained.

 

The existing following of Carlotta won't be disappointed to hear that her signature tights are still featuring in the collection. This season new fonts and colours give a twist to what we have previously seen from her.

The final piece, and a surprise for us as it was still in production at the time of the Look Book shoot was a wedding dress. Silk, lace and completed with a veil. A stunning piece which managed to sit perfectly, not only with the rest of her collection, but also with her concept.
The choice to put a wedding dress within a collection inspired by prostitution I initially felt was quite a brave decision, however now I think it is a great reflection of the desire she has to convey her message and make it just as important as every other part of the creative process.

For me, Carlotta's SS 11 collection is still my firm favourite, however this is just my personal taste. Whether a fan of this Italian designer or just discovering her for the first time, it is quite clear that she will be turning heads with her clothes for some time to come.

For the rest of the Fashion Mode reviews see James Hillman in Part Two and Florian Jayet and our round up in Part Three!

The Mechanical Failure of A La Disposition

We felt that the title of A La Disposition's ss 2012 collection was fairly apt in that all the cogs were there, but they were either slightly out of place, or a crucial pin was missing which would have made Daniel Kinne & Lynda Cohen's invention work a bit better or perhaps with a bit more cohesion.

I liked the concept, using controlled proportions and expansive volume to express defiance in an age of restraint. From a photoraphy perspective the clothes were great to shoot as they were bold and different, giving us a nudge to capture all the angles.

However, I'm not sure of the execution. The "expansive volume" was very well constructed, and in some colours would look fantastic, but on shimmering purple and mustard yellow looked more fancy dress than just fancy. The proportions and silhouettes though were thought provoking in artistic terms.

Jordanna and I both felt the best part for us were the stockings and the hair (braided into necklaces), simply put: we loved them. Still, although the stockings held up nicely on the models, they could never have held up an entire collection.

 

We loved some of the ready to wear pieces as separates, as they do really work, it is just that some of the colours and shapes weren't exactly to our tastes when put all together. This duo may not have had the pin that clicked everything into place for us and our Spring to Summer of 2012, but it is very clear that the talent and potential is there so we'll certainly be back next season.

Misty from What Misty Wore sure enjoyed it!

Temperatures rise at Fashion Mode - Part 3 Florian Jayet

Florian Jayet for me it couldn't be clearer this season will be a truly great designer. There should be a sign above his head saying "Watch out, because you won't see me coming". Each season I've found him an interesting one to watch, but this season was a shock to the system (not to mention I would wear all of it).

His new spring summer collection is based on the japanese myth of the Yūrei; ghosts of those who have been murdered and come back to seek revenge on their killer in order to be released from purgatory and reach heaven.

In addition to the fact Jordanna & I are complete suckers for all things mythological (well, Pandora's Thoughts, like that wasn't obvious...), the powerful execution of this tale was consistent in everything about it.

The collection itself, which true to the Yūrei has white flowing through it, sat well with Florian's unique tailoring, perfectly cut to encase a womanly and sleek silhouette. This white ran through into the floral pieces, so intricately made the flowers could have been picked from some far off land just the night before.

 

High waisted, accentuated shoulders, draping used to created an air of mystery and provoke a curiosity about the body underneath. Not too revealing, but dazzlingly sexy.

 

 The fierce models embodied the mythology. Lingering at the top of the catwalk before floating down it (which in those shoes could become an urban legend itself), penetrating anyone who dared make eye contact with an intensely doomed gaze.

The distressed hair and the surreal make-up only added to it with haunting eyes, bloodthirsty lips and hair from beyond the grave created by hair stylist Richard from Toni & Guy .

 

Amazing jewelry, including some ghostly feminine head pieces and a particular metal chain garter which the masochist in me lusted over immediately.

Oh, and lest I forget, the shoes, to die for (inclusive of unique carving to remind you that you have died for them!).

Florian Jayet was up there with my favourites of the week, and for me up there with some big names. He has here a collection of the perfect balance between the darkness and light in a woman, and for this I will be looking out for him gracing the BFC at some point in the future.

"Aw shucks"

And so....

The collections were yet another step forward for Fashion Mode as whole, and showcased new skills and a progression of ideas from all three designers.

And if you don't believe me, you can ask the few hundred other people, who crammed themselves into the Freemasons Hall, despite the lack of air conditioning and people melting from the heat around their feet, just to get a glimpse of the cuff of a shirt or the trim of a dress.

These three bring it with them every single time - the spectacle of an atmospheric Lagerfeld-esque extraordinaire! And it gives me a shiver down my spine in anticipation of great things to come.