Boris Johnson
fashion event,london fashion week,Autumn Winter 2009,Boris Johnson
boris johnson
Ah Bozza, how we love you. Not only do you make us chuckle, but as London Fashion Week’s official fairy godmother you sprinkled your magical dust upon the hard-up international buyers and said, “You shall go to the shows!” It’s a brave man who opts to spends £40,000 of public money flying in buyers from all over the world so they can spend what little money they do have on the cream of London Fashion Week talent. Last season however, that gamble paid off to the tune of over £13.54m in orders. Not such a joker now, eh?
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By Belinda White
Little old ladies
fashion event,london fashion week,luella,Autumn Winter 2009
luella show
This season London Fashion Week could have been sponsored by Help The Aged. First we had the adorable tea ladies (and one gentleman) at Luella pushing tea trolleys round the catwalk laden with mugs of sweet tea and home baked biscuits to revive the jaded fashion pack, then we had Mary Portas\'s pop-up charity shop staffed by octogenarians at the fashion week exhibition at the Natural History Museum. Filming for her new series Mary Queen Of Charity Shops Mary and the very chic ladies of a certain age were inviting a host of fashion insiders to donate the clothes they were wearing in return for a whole new (although second hand) outfit. Pension power at its most stylish.
Puppy love
Mulberry,fashion event,london fashion week,Autumn Winter 2009
mulberry pug
We\'re not even particularly big dog fans here in team fashion, but for some reason the cute little pug Matilda who had to be cajoled around the catwalk at the Mulberry presentation this week had us all ‘aww-ing\' beyond belief. A quick check of the credit sheet informed us she was appearing courtesy of Battersea Dogs Home which briefly gave us hope she might be free to come and live with us. Sadly our hopes were dashed when we discovered she had a perfectly nice owner to whisk her back to her doggy trailer (or wherever it is these A-list dogs live).
Alexa not perfect shocker!
fashion event,london fashion week,Alexa Chung,Autumn Winter 2009
alexa chung
Poor old Alexa. Every girl has their off days, but unfortunately when you\'re as in demand as Alexa there are days when you just have to get on with it. In her role as London Fashion Week reporter for Harper\'s Bazaar magazine, best friend to many a designer and general cheerleader for the fashion industry, her presence in the front row was more or less demanded, so imagine how bummed she must have been when she woke up to a gargantuan cold sore on the side of her mouth. Brave old Alexa proved she was human (and flawed) after all and faced the paparazzi frenzy to do her duty to fashion. Luckily, her fantastic pins and stylish get-up were enough of a distraction for most, but the persistent paps desperate to cash in on someone else\'s misery nearly drove her to tears as she tried in vain to hide her blemish and they carried on regardless. Don\'t worry Alexa, you still made it to number eight in our
Week In Style.
London calling
fashion event,charles anastase,london fashion week,Kinder Aggugini,Autumn Winter 2009
kinder
While so many of our big name designers desert our capital for Paris, Milan and New York at the first sniff of success it was reassuring to see that London was the venue of choice this season for two hot international designers. First up was Kinder Aggugini an Italian ex-punk who studied at Cental St Martins before working for John Galliano (where he applied for the job dressed as a policeman), Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith, Calvin Klein, Costume National and as a head designer for Versace following Gianni\'s death. His first solo catwalk show went down a storm featuring elegantly draped floral print dresses teamed with crisp military jackets and starring long-term friend Erin O\'Connor. Meanwhile Charles Anastase came back for a second time to show his own peculiar blend of chic grunge that has all the coolest girls in town fighting for a front row seat.
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Left: Charles Anastase, right: Kinder Aggugini
Kanye, king of the catwalk
fashion event,london fashion week,kanye west,Autumn Winter 2009
kanye west
We don\'t expect much in London in the way of A-list celebrities on the front rows. While it\'s not uncommon in all the other fashion capitals, here in London we generally like to keep it British and not get silly about such things. So imagine our shock and delight when we realised that the handsome chap sitting next to us in the Topshop Café was none other than Mr Kanye West. To say we were giddy would be the understatement of the year as any semblance of cool detachment went right out the window (one of our team actually missed her seat at the show because she was too busy staring at him). We spotted Kanye at a further four shows and despite the fact that he fell asleep front row at Peter Jensen/Ann Sophie Back and emerged from his car at Vivienne Westwood to the sound of his own hit Heartless blaring on the stereo, we still love him. Come back soon x
Track champion
fashion event,london fashion week,kings of leon,Autumn Winter 2009,lykke li
lykke li
The shows are always a good time to pick up some new tracks for your iPod as some of the capital\'s hottest DJs lend their services. Our pick of the week was the Lykke Li remix of Kings Of Leon\'s Knocked Up which kicked off the Jaeger show. It\'s been rocking our YouTube all day. Check it out here...
Hat\'s what we\'re talking about
fashion event,london fashion week,Autumn Winter 2009,Stephen Jones
stephen jones
Stephen Jones is definitely having a moment. The \"nicest man in fashion\" (Erin O\'Connor), recently picked up an Outstanding Achievement In Fashion Design award at the British Fashion Awards in November, and this week saw the opening of Hats: An Anthology By Stephen Jones the show he has curated at the V&A. To celebrate the opening, the V&A threw a lavish party where all the guests were invited to wear a hat which threw up some interesting concoctions
(see pictures here), and Stephen took some time out of his very busy schedule to talk to handbag.com and we can indeed confirm he is the nicest man in fashion. Check back later this week for video interview with Stephen Jones.
Sew thoughtful
Anya Hindmarch,fashion event,london fashion week,Autumn Winter 2009
anya hindmarch
Accessories designer Anya Hindmarch knows a thing or two about how to keep a girl happy. The super-cute ‘I heart LFW AW09\' tapestry sets she sent round all the fashion editors to keep them occupied between shows reminded us of our school days and actually did help us to ‘watch all our worries unravel\' as promised in the instructions. Sew sew chic!
Old model army
Aquascutum,fashion event,london fashion week,yasmin le bon,Autumn Winter 2009
yasmin le bon
Had enough of all the hype about which miniscule 15-year-old is going to be the next big thing in modelling? Aquascutum was the show for you. To demonstrate their diverse clientele the legendary British heritage brand enlisted the help of some legendary \'80s and \'90s models including Jennie Howarth, Yasmin Le Bon (left), Cecilia Chancellor, Stella Tennant, Susie Bick and Alek Wek to blend in with current favourites Karlie Kloss, Daisy Lowe and Jourdan Dunn.
