Emerging Fervour

London is full of emerging and talented fashion designers and within this forest of designers, I’ve finally come across Iris van Herpen, a native of the Netherlands. Graduating from ArtEZ Art Academy in the Netherlands, van Herpen has been showcasing her label at Amsterdam Fashion Week since 2007.

Also showcasing at LFW, Iris van Herpen unveiled her latest AW10 collection – Synthesia, a futuristic collection inspired by synesthesia: a mix-up of the senses such as feeling sound, tasting movement and hearing colors. Some critics say it mimics McQueen, but to me – this is all her. And who cares anyway? Lots of designers take inspiration from a mish mash of others – it doesn’t make her any less of a designer than the next person.

Synthesia

www.irisvanherpen.com

Yes yes yes! It is Friday already and we are back to show you some of London’s East end style. We have a palette of sombre Avante Garde tones, yet rather striking, juxtaposed to quirky summer brights. This is what James captured this week.

Nadir Tejani

Nadir has created a good balance with his different shapes and lengths of his garments. A perfect layering of the three quarter leggings under his shorts. His draped style top comes from Ante, his silk shorts from H&M and leggings from Uniqlo.

Shaun

Shaun has an effortlessly cool style here. He wears Alexander McQueen trousers and shoes, vintage shirt and Marc Jacobs belt.It’s all topped off very nicely with Raybans.

Anna

Anna strikes a strange comic like pose in her dark layers. She could be straight off Junya Watanabe’s runway. Her layered garments are from Sick In The Sick Laboratory.

Makode and Perax

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

Detail, detail, detail…the little black dress, reworked ∨

My mother always says that accessories make an outfit…she wasn’t wrong ∨

Natural, worked fabric against beautifully structured pieces ∨

About Alexandra Groover

Originally from California, Alexandra moved to London in order to promote her designs to the international fashion market.

Her Black Label collection was created to fulfill her need for expression through sculptural and textural manipulations of fabric. Black label is a collection of luxury garments inspired by the architecture of nature. Made from fabrics such as felted wool and washed silk, these pieces concentrate on the sculptural properties of the felted wool together with the flattering, body skimming properties of bias cut silk, making the visual impact of the pieces both classic and avant-garde.

taken from Alexandra Groover’s blog.

You can shop for Alexandra’s pieces at www.alexandragroover.com

Kristian Aadnevik is 32, he’s Norwegian and he’s super-talented. After working for Harrods International, Charles Jourdan and Alexander McQueen, he decided to set up his own label in 2004. Take a peek at some of his masterpieces…

S/S 2009

His label is often described as gloomy, opulent and glamorous…another one of London’s ‘next big thing’. Educated at the Royal College of Art in London, Kristian combines the technical knowledge of a skilled couturier with the charm of a screenwriter. Undecided between fairytale and horror, he explains: “For me every collection is like a film starring the heroines I dress; plots and stories change, but my muse remains the same, she is the protagonists who evolves and explores life.”

AW 08-09

For a full list of stockists, email info@kristianaadnevik.com. Visit Kristian’s site at www.kristianaadnevik.com for the rest of his collections.

We did a piece on Jeni Jaques and Harlow in Chains not too long ago; and we’ve gone one better and managed to get an interview with her. There are few designers who move me with their stories behind their reasons to become designers…Jeni Jaques from Harlow in Chains is one of the very few. Her anwers to my questions are filled with so much passion and love that she would even inspire Gordon Brown to become a jewellery designer. This lady is incredible…take a peek at our interview with her.

EF: Jeni, we absolutely love your style…what inspires you to create these big statement pieces?

Jeni Jaques: Thank you!! I’ve always loved art and creation in all forms: painting, illustration, sewing/fashion design & construction, writing, photography and in recent years constructing one-of-a-kind jewelry and accessories… I’ve also always had a love for older vintage and antique items and have been collecting those since I was a young child. I love the history, mystery and sense of wonder that each and every piece holds: ‘What kind of woman wore this brooch?’; ‘Was this locket a gift from a loved one?’; ‘Did it hold a special meaning?’; ‘What journey has this piece followed to end up in my hands, to use in part to create an entirely new piece?’ It’s mysterious and slightly haunting; I love that…

Joanna, I love you, you’re the one, the one for me. Ok, so these might be the lyrics to Kool and the Gang’s ‘Joanna’ but f*** me I do love Joanna Vanderpuije, and these pieces from this emerging designer are DEFINITELY for me.

How you can walk in them, we don’t know but they certainly are showstoppers!!

The Fast Company have put piece up about 13 amazing high-concept shoes which include cutting edge material and techniques which we just had to pass on.

They are amazing and although undoubtedly not very comfortable, I’d love some in a show case!!

Andreia Chaves’ Invisible Shoe, invisible as it will blend in with the environment and so handy when you need a mirror.

Andreia Chaves’ Form & Texture Shoe, I can’t stop thinking Jenga

Marloes ten Bhömer shoe is made of leather and carbon fibre, the individual pieces were formed individually and then assembled to create a fractured collage, they actually look wearable.

And who could forget Alexander McQueen’s crazy creations for his Spring 10 collection?

Check out the rest of them at Fast Company site.

We’ve also found a few more, make up your own mind if they are wearable or not…

I met Olli one bizarre work-drinks Friday (she’s an ex-colleagues girlfriend) and couldn’t help but perv on her amazing style for the whole night. Luckily she didn’t get too freaked and agreed to help me kick start our new feature that looks inside the wardrobes of non-famous but super trendy people. We know, sounds amazing…and it is, so here is Olli Leivers rocking five different outfits:

SEQUIN DRESS

Olli says: “I love this dress. I think the high street has become a little TOO inundated with sequins recently. They can be a little lairy/tacky at times. I personally love them when they’re used subtly like this. I feel all aquatic and magical in it. Although, I’ll usually dirty up a look that’s too girly – hence the jacket and whopping great big platforms.”

If you like the style and after something slightly different, then check out our suggestions throughout this piece.

What we found

1. Dress £363: Antik Batik from farfetch.com 2. Jacket £519: Preen from fatfetch.com 3. Shoes £140: Ethel by KG at Kurt Geiger

Putting aside how amazing his collection is (although not so sure about the shoes but amazed there weren’t any accidents), we love the fact that Alexander McQueen embraces the digital age and the social media world.

His show was streamed live to a potential audience of millions by six video cameras and two robot installation which operated on motion-control technology, meaning they responded to the models’ every movement. Just check out the video and you can see how much thought went into the set up as well as the collection.

Not only that but about 15 min after the show ended, his designs were sent to millions of people’s iPhones!

The world is changing and he’s not only setting trends in the fashion world but the digital one – we love it and hope other designer will follow.