A Fashion Designer's Guide to London

Fashion star and Londoner Sarah Swash, of womenswear, accessories and swimwear label SWASH, gives you all the juice you need on her favorite hangouts in the capital.

THE BAR “I’ve always loved Bar Italia in Soho—going there is like taking a little trip to Italy and the only appropriate thing to drink is an Aperol Spritz.”

THE CAFÉ “My partner Toshio, the other half of SWASH, and I lived by Broadway Market in Hackney for years, and our local café was La Bouche. It’s crazy busy but our little boy is friends with all the staff there, which is why it qualifies as my favorite!”

THE RESTAURANT “We go to Kikuchi by Tottenham Court Road for amazing sashimi and sake.”

THE HIGH STREET STORE “I like Cos for basics like T-shirts, and I’m addicted to Muji for stationery.”

THE CONCEPT STORE “Dover Street Market has a good selection of Celine, one of my favorite designers, and lots of great brands like Rick Owens, Robert Clergerie, and Moncler Gamme Rouge. I never leave without making a wish list.”

THE INSPIRATION SPOT “The Wallace Collection is stunning: It’s an amazing building, and I always find something new there, like the tiny miniatures I was fixated on during my last visit. I also love Petersham Nurseries in Richmond—I take the boat from St. Margaret’s and then walk along the river to get there.”

THE STREET “Gloucester Road in Camden is so pretty; it reminds me of my grandma who lived nearby. Sloane Street is another favorite. As a child I loved visiting that area of town—the streets are so wide and beautiful it just couldn't be anywhere but London.”

THE PARK “The best park in London, hands down, is Regent’s Park—it’s an incredible green space right in the middle of town. We like to walk Candy, our whippet, and the SWASH muse, there, and meet friends for a bacon sandwich at the Honest Sausage café."

Source: CN Traveler

London Fashion Week: Tom Ford spring/summer 2014

Tom Ford created clothes with instant sex appeal - much like during his Gucci days. 

Ford doesn't need to invent any more. He did that back in the Nineties at Gucci, and for a decade he shaped - literally - the way we wanted to look. 

We love Tom Ford's new collection.. What do you guys think??

Rihanna mixes high street with high fashion

Singer launches first fashion collection for River Island at London Fashion Week

London: Pop star Rihanna showed off her first fashion collection on Saturday in London, with a raunchy street-style range displayed to the sound of thumping hip-hop beats.

The Barbadian singer said it was a “dream come true” to design a line of clothes and accessories for the high street chain River Island, a range which had its worldwide first outing amid London Fashion Week and will hit the shops next month.

At the Old Sorting Office in London, the 24-year-old swapped a catwalk for a stage separated into compartments which the models moved between as hip-hop pumped out from the speakers.

The clothes on offer were street-style, with bra tops, dresses slashed to the thighs, tummy-baring tank-tops and thigh-high boots.

Rihanna came out at the end to give the designer’s traditional bow and wore a short black dress with sparking jewellery.

“I’ve wanted to design my own fashion line for a very long time,” she said beforehand. “This has been something I wanted to do ever since I started loving fashion. I got passionate about it and I just felt like every time I saw something on a rack, there was something that I would want to do to it to change it.

What Celebrities wore at the People’s Choice Awards

London Fashion Week designers enjoyed a boost at the People's Choice Awards as Emma Watson and Chloe Moretz showcased their bold designs.

Chloe Moretz in Simone Rocha at the People’s Choice Awards 2013 Photo: GETTY

Flirting with spring, the 'junior' generation of red carpet stars lit up proceedings in a choice of bold dresses (the higher the hemline, the better) from the spring/summer 2013 catwalks.

Don't-remember-her-just-for- Harry Potter actress Emma Watson made a daring choice in a cut-out and boldly printed style by London Fashion Week label Peter Pilotto - but opted for a much shorted skirt length than was shown on the catwalk to accommodate her diminutive figure.

L-R: Paris Hilton, Emma Watson and Lea Michele. Photos: Getty; Reuters

Chloe Moretz meanwhile, who never lets being just 15 years old get in the way of a good look, picked a neon yellow, age-appropriate dress by Simone Rocha, who has quickly made a name for herself on the London fashion scene.

Also boosting the LFW contingency was Paris Hilton - who shed her usual Barbie look for something directional and modest by print maverick Mary Katrantzou.

Rumer Willis in Alice + Olivia by Stacey Bendet. Photo: Getty

The prints and bold colour moment was sustained by Glee star Lea Michele, who indulged her inner girlie-girl in a pink panelled cocktail dress by Elie Saab and Rumer Willis, who embraced silver and black stripy sequins without stumbling into Beetlejuice territory.

Could this cacophony of colour be emulated at this Sunday's Golden Globes? We certainly hope so.

LFW : Mulberry Spring 2013

LFW : Sass & Bide Spring 2013

LFW : Mary Katrantzou Spring 2013

London Fashion Week: Tom Ford spring/summer 2013

Chastity and perversity are the twin themes of Tom Ford's spring/summer 2013 collection.

Tom Ford's style certainly polarises opinion these days, between those who find it backward looking and those who regard it as classic. The vote splits as soon as you're ushered through Ford HQ in Victoria and into the lifts by the same breed of chisel-jawed, side parted, uncannily smooth haired flunkies as the ones who used to line the route to the Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent shows a decade ago. All of them, it turns out, hired for the day from a model agency.

Some like the intimacy and the wink to the past (or maybe it's more of a mugging). Others, not so much. "A good journalist friend told me to quit talking at these things," Ford confessed, as he tapped away on his iPad, cueing up the models and controlling the soundtrack.

Naturally being Ford, it wasn't an entirely wordless affair, which is a good thing. The banter is what personalises these presentations. Two words in particular couldn't be dispensed with. "Chastity and perversity," he explained, were the twin themes of this collection.

Chastity came in the guise of camel cashmere sweaters, taupe skirts and long high necked black paper taffeta column dresses; perversity showed up in the form of black patent zip pencil skirts, caped backs, and the multi buckled leather strap, bondage sandal-boots.

There were plenty of what have become classic Ford tropes: backless black fitted chiffon dresses with cupped breasts (very 50 Shades of Grey ) and long, slashed, beaded skirts and skinny pants, updated this time thanks to an injection of sportiness.

Karl Lagerfeld offers his view on ‘sexy’ Carole Middleton

While Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld is no great fan of Pippa Middleton, he thinks her mother is 'very sexy'.

Karl Lagerfeld is full of praise for Carole Middleton Photo: REUTERS/ PA

While Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld is no great fan of Pippa Middleton, he thinks her mother is 'very sexy'.

While we all know what Karl Lagerfeld makes of the Duchess of Cambridge's sister Pippa Middleton - he famously remarked that she "should show only her back" - he has much admiration for her 57-year-old mother Carole.

"I think Carole is very sexy" he told Grazia. "I think the mother is sexier than the daughters. There is something full of life about her. For a woman who must be 50 or so, I think she's great. She's full of energy."

Not so full of praise: Pippa Middleton. Photo: Getty

The spotlight was on mother of the bride Carole at last year's royal wedding, where she looked elegant amid the royal guests in a powder blue creation by Catherine Walker and especially trim thanks to a rumoured stint on the high-protein Dukan diet.

Duchess Kate and Carole are even known to share clothes, with Kate recently borrowing a royal blue dress by Reiss from her mother's wardrobe for a public outing.

"I Love Kate Middleton" added Lagerfeld. "Kate can try anything. For make-up, she has no limits."

The Duchess of Cambridge. Photo: Reuters

The multi-tasking designer also tried to explain the venomous comments he made towards 28-year-old Pippa. "I only meant I don't think her make-up is right," he said, adding: "she has a roundish face and round eyes and should pick another make-up for the eyes." However he did conclude with: "Her sister's more beautiful."

TOPSHOP to Collaborate with Louise Gray

Topshop have announced a collaboration with fashion designer Louise Gray for their up-coming Autumn make-up collection. The Scot has been a regular on the London Fashion Week circuit since her debut in 2010, and has already made something of a name for herself. 

Notorious for her eclectic use of haphazard prints, clashing textures and a kaleidascope of colours, the collaboration with high street favourite Topshop is a smart match.

'My mainline collections have always been about pushing optimism, colour and fun,' said Gray. 'I want [the Topshop girl] to experiment with the product, be daring and have fun with it.'

The collection will be unveiled in August but for a sneak peak, check out photos of the designer herself because Gray has promised the collection will be 'similar to both the fashion and make-up I wear already.'

Expect playful brights, glitter pots and fluro pops of colour. 

Watch this space...

*Source: MARIE CLAIRE

London Fashion Week Fall 2011- Burberry Prorsum

Absolutely loved the Burberry Prorsum Fall 2011 Collection. Christopher Bailey has outdone himself again. A Collection full of bright colours you forget its Winter, only thing that reminds you its for A/W is the fabric. Capes, colourful military coats, thick belts, pleats, flared trousers and monochrome hats is what we're looking at for next season.

Sourced from londonfashionweek