Emerging Fervour

On Tuesday night Beyond the Valley hosted a party to showcase Henry Holland’s new collection for Roxy Heart. As the champagne flowed and mulled wine warmed up people’s spirits, guests were entertained by glamour puss Jodie Harsh on the decks, pumping out music to make anyone smile!

The party was put on to celebrate the launch of Henry Holland’s new range for Roxy heart, which mixes high fashion with casualwear, sportswear and knitted accessories to tie into Roxy’s typical snowboarder style. It was a high profile event, with celeb guests and the usual London fashion set… I think it’s interesting how it was held at Beyond The Valley, a shop which usually supports upcoming new designers, as oppose to major established brands such as Roxy and Henry Holland.

See the full collection here»

Henry Holland’s graphic prints adorned t-shirts and dresses. Seen here, the designer himself posing with one of the pieces.

Visit www.beyondthevalley.com»

Another day, another mid week fashion party, it’s a hard life! Last Tuesday Beyond The Valley put on a party to celebrate the launch of their current collection, titled Cosmic Tropicalia. As you may know, this boutique is a favourite on the London secret shopping guides and a must-go-to place for those seeking fabulous one-off pieces from up and coming designers.

Cocktails on tap and scatterings of jelly beans throughout the shop created a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Guests were treated to fairy-like face painting and manicures courtesy of Wah Nails.

Excitement surrounded the showcase of the 3D artworks and garments, as guests were encouraged to wear 3D glasses to view digital “paintings” and a 3D kimono.

Remember the early 90s animated film Fernguli? Well, the whole thing reminded me a little of that, with the addition of the London fashion set, and minus the bulldozers!

This made me do a little dance, when the invite arrived, as it was so amazing last February that it’s the one catwalk I was extra excited about! Waiting to be let in, you could sense a buzz and as we finally got led to our places, it dawns on me that we’ve got a front-row, yay, how much better could it get?

The show started with ‘Lilee’ who’s colour palette of white, grey and navy blue conjured a sense of purity with a nautical feel. This was my personal favourite; clean lines, swishy materials and muted colours makes for one sophisticated lady and I’d be happy to wear any piece of this collection.

Charlotte Taylor’s was a brilliant follow up. Vintage robots, sail making, copper and rust provided the catalysts for this collection. It is colourful, quirky and fun and feels like sunny summer and that you’d be ready to play.

Tuesday night I was lucky enough to go to the Neurotica A/W ’10 launch at the Swanfield On Tour Travelling Boutique in Kingly Court. The pop up store is the brainchild of fashion designers Katherine Port of MINE and Cecilia Hammarborg. As we shied away from the drizzly London weather, spirits were brightened by the delicious array of garments, accessories and artwork on offer.

I love how the boutique runs with its swan theme, suggesting that the store is only in one place for a short amount of time. The idea of all these beautiful pieces flying around spontaneously excites the romantic inside me! The swans, as they call themselves, will be residing at 1.2 Kingly Court for the Autumn season.

The Neurotica collection, as featured on this blog last month, stood out in all its patterned glory as wearable fashion with a lick of feline charm, which reflected the atmosphere of the evening: sophisticated, yet relaxed and fun!

Oh we just love September and I’m sure you don’t have to guess why! We’re getting our schedule together for London Fashion Week which also means it’s nearly London Fashion Weekend time! As it’s just around the corner, tickets are being snapped up which is why we thought we’ll remind you to get yours.

We’ll be there, spotting, shopping and sipping champagne. We had a great time last February and my highlight is still finding my Beatrix Ong shoes, which I treasure like no other pair and I still can’t believe I only paid a mere £69!!! £69!!!!! I still get a little heart flutter when I look at them.

So we’re very excited that The London Fashion Weekend is welcoming back the designers such as Alex Monroe, American Retro, Ant!podium, Beatrix Ong, Ducie, DNKY Jeans, Juicy Couture, Lola Rose, Mawi, Pauric Sweeney and Sass & Bide.

And say hello to some Fashion Weekend first-timers including Angel Jackson, Bassike, Donna Ida, French Sole, Nicole Richie’s lines House of Harlow and Winter Kate, Me & Em, Nicholas King, Olivia Rubin, Tara Lacey and Twenty8Twelve.

Aw we’re gutted we can’t bring you ‘On the street‘ this week but our James has had an accident!! Fear not though as he’s on the mend and hopefully will soon be back behind his camera.

So instead of seeing lovely people in amazing garments we thought why not take you back in time to the 40s and 50s, which is my personal favourite in style as it’s all about hugging our figures!

If you are like me, and love this area where women started to embrace fashion and dare a bit more, then you will love the exhibition which is currently held  at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London where they are showing a new exhibition of Horrockses Fashions – off the peg in the ’40s and ’50s.

Horrockses Fashions Limited was the manufacturer of one of the most respected ready-to-wear labels in that time and we all know their full-skirted dresses. Horrockses Fashions used emerging artists such as Graham Sutherland, Eduardo Paolozzi and Louis le Brocquy and translated into cloth creating the most amazing prints, cuts & prints which I wouldn’t think twice to wear.

Today the London Jewellery Week is starting, celebrating a week long London’s unique position in the world of jewellery design, production and retail.

The cornerstone events form the basis of a week of activities across the city, encouraging visitors to experience and celebrate London’s diverse jewellery scene. These events support new designers, feature established names and give visitors a unique experience of London’s traditional jewellery quarters.

There should be an event for everyone as looking at the list of exhibitors, I’m gutted I’m currently not in London to traipse the streets!!

You can find out where and when the events will be held on their website and you can even sign up for a discount card.

Website: www.londonjewelleryweek.co.uk

Enjoy!!

Clerkenwell Design Week is a three-day annual festival (starting tomorrow Tuesday 25th!!) celebrating design’s creative richness, its social impact and its power for change.

Clerkenwell, the undisputed heart of design in London – itself acknowledged as design’s global metropolis – is perfect for a design festival, where more than 60 design showrooms and a horde of design and architectural practices can be found amongst elegant greens and squares, historic architecture, cool pop-up clubs and shops, famous restaurants and funky bars.

The festival programme of seminars, workshops and debates tackles key issues from a design standpoint. Big design names and inspirational thought leaders will spearhead an event crammed with left-field thinking, off-the-wall performances and presentations to challenge all your preconceptions.

And of course there is a little bit of fashion in there as Craft Central will be supporting a design market in St John’s Square.

It promises to excite, inspire, educate, inform and entertain.

You’ll need a ticket though, so make sure you register for free entry.

Don’t miss it!!

Our fellow blogger, The Clothes Whisperer (Kristin Knox) has only gone out and published her own book titled Alexander McQueen: Genius of a Generation.

The book signing is taking place on Thursday, here are the details:

Start Time: 13 May at 18:30

End Time: 13 May at 20:00

Where: 1.10 Kingly Court Carnaby Street, London W1B 5PW

To RSVP to this event, follow this link to be taken to the Facebook page.

Check out Kristin’s blog at www.theclotheswhisperer.co.uk

We met Tommy at LFW…he was one of our spotted faces (the category). We stayed in touch with him and he has since forwarded this charity thing called Make Do & Mend he’s organised, showcasing 8 designers. Tommy, full name Tommy Lloyd Baker is a designer and a stylist who felt compelled to raise funds for the two organisations, Bob Champion Cancer Trust and Whipps Cross University Hospital, who helped his father overcome bladder cancer.

Showcasing their Autumn / Winter collection 2010 at the MD&M event, at the T47 at London Bridge on Thursday 10th June 2010 is LDW Atelier, Beautiful Soul, Aaron Ray Dowie, Red Mutha, Victoria Shearing Millinery, Queenie and Ted, Mollies and Léafric Designs, whose original takes on modern vintage, up-cycling, chic couture and bespoke tailoring are complimentary to each other.

Of the event, Tommy mentioned:

“I wanted to say thanks to the people who helped nurse and support my Dad through cancer and raise money for them, so I thought it this would be a fun way to do it as well as a great opportunity to bring together cutting edge designers.

“Whether the designers are re-using vintage techniques, are inspired by 1940′s architecture, conversations on the tube or are using vintage trimmings and materials like Japanese kimonos, all of their collections have a sense of beauty and are wearable pieces of art. They are unique garments which now have a new lease of life, just like my Dad.”

Tommy continued: