london – Aesthetic Contradiction

Black and Gold
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A lighter look for …
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How to stay cool …
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Sunkissed Field
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Birthday shopping in black …
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Surreal home
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We kicked off the season with a familiar face, Jaime Wei Huang. I always enjoy her designs and the air of utilitarianism that ties together all her collections.

This time though, there was an unexpected and captivating dark edge to the signature apronesque silhouettes. Straps and leather tassels hung down, accentuating the models movement.

The unmistakable sound of Rammstein set the tone while models strutted down the catwalk in chunky shoes and with wet hair obscuring their faces .

They were cocooned in oversized aviator jackets, wrapped in faux fur, adorned with tassels and draped with straps.

The tasseled back packs and gloves with different attachments complemented the clothes perfectly and added just the right amount of detail to the look.

The fur was panelled into the garments, adding volume in unusual places (back and arms), altering their silhouettes and adding a touch of softness to an overall tough aesthetic.

I would describe the collection as dramatic but wearable. I saw a lot of pieces that could easily be integrated into my wardrobe but would continue to make a statement whenever worn.

Being in London already, I thought it would be a good opportunity to visit Berwick street and some of the fabric shops I used to frequent while at university. I’m showing at Manchester Fashion Week in April and I want to include some of my non-latex pieces in the show.

I haven’t been for a while and I noticed a couple of new additions to the row of shops, but my favourites remain the same.

Misan had a great range of both natural and artificial leathers in various textures and colour combinations that I found really inspiring. I’m really into textures and juxtaposition this season so I’d love to be able to add some of these into my collection but aside from the fact that they are probably slightly out of budget, it’s also really hard to determine whether they are ethically sourced.

The cloth house is always great for jersey and knitted fabrics, there were at least 5 I’d love to add to my range but I’ve decided to keep it as simple as possible this time and focus more on the fabric story next year.

I also spotted this long pile, grey faux fur and light textured fabrics in the second Misan shop, further down the road. Faux fur is quite new to me as I’ve only recently decided it can look good. I love the feel and colour of this one but I’m not convinced on the price so I’m going to shop around a bit longer.

We finished off the expedition with a trip to Covent garden to visit my favourite tea shop, the tea house, (I love trying new flavours and also find it quite inspiring as I drink it while I work), and the astrology shop where I browsed scented oils and bought gem stone rings.

I bought two rings, one in opalite and one in faceted hematite. I think they go with my other “every day” rings and hopefully won’t discolour or irritate my hands. I was particularly happy because it only cost me £3 for the pair!

Hematite is a particularly good one for me to wear as it is said to counteract the negative effects the computer has on your energy body.

I decided to swap them round in the end and now wear them so the opalite and moon stone aren’t next to each other. I will take a better picture, without the gloves when I get the chance.

Last month I put on a fashion show at the Katzenjammer Club a new, vibrant and interesting cabaret style night in central London.

I would like to thank The Roustabouts, who put on the night for having me and my gorgeous models for doing the outfits justice and putting on a great show. They are:

Amy Statik, Maxine Anastasia, Cici Von Crypt, Blondie, Biomechanina

I’d also like to thank Richard Ayres for loaning me the headpieces to use in the show.

Show Images by Al Overdrive and the official Katezenjammer club photographer.

There wasn’t anyone there to film the show but my friend took a little video on her phone.

katzenjammer video

Al Overdrive also took some shots of us back stage:

This year I had the pleasure of being invited to show my collection at LFW. I only found out that I got through a week or so before the event so I decided to do the Avalonia show, featuring the Opulence and Chimera collections, just in a slightly different format that at the Alternative and burlesque fair.

Unfortunately we didn’t have the opportunity to dress the stage this time, and with the limited rehearsal time is was lucky that I re-wrote the choreography to go with a different shaped stage on the journey down.

The dressing room was crowded with models and collections but the other teams were helpful and we found space to put our stuff and even electricity to do some simple hair. Kudos to my amazing MUAs, Laura Wilson and Tabitha Adams, for managing to do make up in the abysmal lighting conditions!

I was pleased with the show in general and received a lot of positive feedback.