Two Articles:
Article 1. London Fashion Week Somerset House Fri 19 Feb ‘10
A wintery grey start to the day on Fri 19 Feb didn't deter my mother Amita and I from attending the first day of London Fashion Week at Somerset House for the Caroline Charles fashion show. We were ushered into the gigantic catwalk enclosure for the show, a full-house with fashion industry professionals, media and lots of young fashion-loving students. On the opposite side of the runway I spotted fashion Editor Hilary Alexander seated in the front row constantly busy on phone calls with notebook at the ready.
Caroline Charles known for her classic and elegant couture style opened the show with two models wearing black and white tweeds, one in a fitted jacket and the other in a shift dress. There were also traditional Autumnal shades of olive green and browns and the show finished with a glamorous gold and black attractively embellished evening wear collection featuring dresses, jackets, tops and skirts.
This year London Fashion Week was even more poignant with the recent passing of a highly talented and artistically innovative British designer Alexander McQueen whose unexpected death shocked the fashion industry and all his adoring fans. Within the LFW enclosure people were invited to write messages on cards and pin them onto a display board for everyone to gather and read the heartfelt tributes.
In between fashion shows we popped into the Somerset House galleries for the Esthetica exhibition and whizzed round with a glass of champagne browsing several eco-friendly brands including Monsoon celebrating over 35 yrs of trading in colourful, hand-crafted ethnic style clothes with their original wooden printing blocks on display.
We just made it in time to the next show at the Bloomsbury Hotel where we joined an extremely long queue outside for the Aminaka Wilmont fashion show. Once inside we grabbed a spot near the front of the catwalk and being so close to the catwalk entrance I couldn't help noticing how painfully thin some of the models were and looked like they could have done with some good wholesome food. The collection consisted mainly of contemporary day wear with blue, black and grey smudged prints, smart asymmetric-cut black leather jackets and grey fur winter boleros.
© By Gina Chrysanthou Photos by Amita Chatterji & Gina Chrysanthou
Left: Hilary Alexander, Fashion Editor The Daily Telegraph
Please click link to view full collection of Amita and Gina's photos in Gallery: http://www.pukkapr.com/gallery/
Article 2. London Fashion Weekend in Association with Elle Magazine The Waldorf Hilton Hotel Thurs 25 Feb ‘10
After the closing of London Fashion Week on Wednesday 24 Feb, associated fashion events continued at various venues in London including a ‘London Fashion Weekend' evening event on Thursday 25 Feb at the The Waldorf Hilton Hotel in Aldwych. A red carpet entrance lead guests into the breathtaking Palm Court Ballroom with a champagne and canapé reception, this being the second season the Waldorf have partnered up with London Fashion Weekend.
Guests were invited to browse designer goods on display exhibiting five ladies fashion brands: London Bonkers - off-the-wall Brit street fashion, LDW Atelier - demi couture fashion, 4 2 Morrow - contemporary wear in shades of black, white & grey, Bhavna Rishi - exotic silk dresses and luxury scarves and Eco-Suga's Shabby Chic collection.
The show opened with two suavely dressed men in dark suits playing the roles of models and doormen, they stood side by side at the top of the staircase in front of the Adelphi Suite mirror doors. When the doors flung open, two male models with rippled torsos appeared to the delight of guests wearing bright tight red underpants causing a wild reaction in the crowd, a welcome tantalising surprise for the female guests...yeah bring em on! After a casual strut down the catwalk, the two male models took their places on either side at the top of the grand wrought iron staircase. A group of young street style dancers with painted face decorations livened up the atmosphere and a fashion show proceeded with the aforementioned five designer brands. The show was well choreographed making good use of the opulent surroundings and models enjoyed posing in sequence on the staircase. Guests were then invited to stay on and mingle after the show, a great way to complete the hectic activities during London Fashion Week.
© Article & photos by Gina Chrysanthou
Please click link to view full collection of Gina's photos in Gallery: http://www.pukkapr.com/gallery/