Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Feature: London Fashion Weekend, written by Shanique Sampson


If you’ve been living under a rock and didn’t know about London Fashion Weekend, then let me inform you; it’s the magical event that falls directly after London Fashion Week (which this year was from the 17th-22nd February 2012). Thousands of keen shoppers rushed through the doors scrambling through over 100 designers’ new season collections, bagging bargains of up to 70% off from names such as Jaeger, Twenty8Twelve and many more.

I also attended October 2011’s LFW and was absolutely blown away, part of me even doubted that this one would be able to top it...but WOW was I wrong! They’ve definitely entered the New Year with a bang, the sun was shining and so were the shoppers! The new fashion clothing trends, hairstyles, makeup, and guests were all astounding!

You’d have to be crazy if you didn’t take the opportunity to browse through the vintage boutique, styled by the wonderful Wayne Hemingway - with a huge range of London’s very best vintage sellers’ collections to feast your eyes on and top entertainment acts and DJs to get you in the shopping mood.
Somerset House is vast and if I hadn’t been there before, I wouldn’t have known where to start! I arrived a couple hours before the catwalk show which gave me time to look around some of the fabulous new collections, where I then purchased my exclusively designed Holly Fulton show bag - jam packed with luxury goodies including: Elizabeth Arden 8 hour hand cream, TONI&GUY label.m products, a Juicy Couture perfume necklace, a Chambord champagne stopper, Broadway Nails impress nails, Kusmi tea, Kleenex cleansing wipe, Lavazza coffee, Veet easy wax, Lipcote lipstick sealer, Galaxy chocolate and a Virgins holiday voucher- all for just £8!

The catwalk show was as promised, ‘a fashion experience like no other’, taking place in the London Fashion Week Show space that had welcomed the celebrity fashion pack and industry elite only hours before. The show was hosted by Zoe Hardman and I was astounded at Jasper Conran, Antipodium and Holly Fulton’s new collection. Above all, I was astonished as Zoe Hardman introduced the surprise guest, none other than our fashion royalty Hillary Alexander, kindly gracing us with her presence! 

Following the success of her Fifth season at LFW, Holly Fulton continued to make waves with her contemporary and luxurious, geometric, crystal and Perspex encrusted take on fashion. Her work - bold, hand-drawn graphic prints combined with signature embellishment in Perspex, created the impression of one giant collage of jewellery, adorned with statement necklaces and accessories. Fulton references her love of Pop Art, Art Deco, colour and surface within her collections to create a bold signature displaying commitment to a look which is fast becoming synonymous with her label.

PRIM ROSE, to name but a few, the first model appearing, wore a dress by Twenty8Twelve and a 60’s cardigan from Shikasuki Vintage. The second wore a 60’s Sweater from Shikasuki Vintage and Levi’s Curve ID Jeans with a headpiece by Piers Atkindon. The following wore a dress by Jaeger Boutique, 60’s cardigan from Shikasuki Vintage. Next was a 70’s shirt and 50’s cardigan from Shikasuki Vintage and a skirt by American Apparel. The next model strut her stuff as she wore a shirt vintage collection which was simply stunning and I saw clothing that even I would wear!

The ANTIPODIUM AW12 COLLECTION: GAME ON. Collection was fantastic…who would have thought that a pair of trackpants by American Apparel, a 60’s crop top from Shikasuki Vintage and heels would look so stylish? A look I believe we all could get used to.

Although the catwalk show only lasted 35 minutes, I could talk about it for hours. It was absolutely breath taking and I would consider anyone foolish not to inquire about getting tickets for the next Autumn/Winter seasons collection.

After a tremendous fashion show what’s better or more appropriate than to shop for clothing you’d just seen on the catwalk?! Some of the discounts were jaw dropping and admittedly I fell in love with a Dolce & Gabbana dress with an original price of £500, discounted to £350; and it didn’t stop there, 5 D&G fitted tops totalled at £75 and would have originally been £300! It was heaven for the big shoppers like me! The whole experience is life changing and I personally am itching to see what’s in store for the Autumn/Winter collection. 

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