Rachel Slater
Staff Writer
Fashion doesn’t take a breather. As the dust settles on the catwalks used for an entire month of back-to-back fashion weeks, there is once again a hint of change in the air. As the new S/S pre-collections sneak into the pages of our beloved magazines, we are left a little mystified. Such talk of peeling off the layers, and contemplating the fresh outlook of the next season, all when we’re just beginning to stock-pile on jumpers? That would be a resounding yes. Whilst the jumpers won’t be getting the cold shoulder, fashion’s fangirls are currently sizing up the next big things that are grabbing the industry’s attention. So, here are a few predictions for 2012 and a guide to who’s who in ‘le monde de la mode’ for the year to come.
The Trendsetter: Topshop is of course the chosen fashion haven for many of Dublin’s university ladies, and is an adequate treasure chest of pieces filtered down from the most unattainable trends and garments to deliver semi-affordable high-street prices. Vogue, its name undoubtedly synonymous with everything to do with the world of haute-couture and exclusivity, remains as one of the most powerful dictators of what fashion bandwagon we should be jumping on. So what if we combined the two? A girl’s most trusted supplier of suitably chic but wearable threads, and the international giant that primarily nurtures high-fashion’s elite? Welcome to 2012, Topshop meets Vogue. British Vogue’s Fashion Director, Kate Phelan, took up the reins as Creative Director at Topshop earlier in the year and it seems exciting things are on the horizon. The product of Vogue vision was unveiled last week at Topshop’s 2012 Spring/Summer press day. So what can we expect? Phelan said “It’s going to be a more premium product with lots of light layering, silk trousers, and mesh knits in gentle pastels.” We can look forward to an “early-nineties festival look” with “lots of threaded metallics and faded sweaters”. As one would presume, the new Creative Director appears to be keen on infusing our faithful brand with a bit more of a high-fashion perspective. In February, we will see the launch of a t-shirt collaboration with a selection of well-known designers. Could we ask for a more experienced trendsetter than Kate Phelan to take control and bring something innovative and fresh to the masses for 2012?
S/S Topshop Collection 2012
Kate Phelan, Creative Director at Topshop
The Patron: For the past decade, ‘fashion’s fairy godmother’ has been grafting away behind the scenes to nurture some of rawest fashion talents and names we are now familiar with. So, who is this fabulous woman waving her magic wand over the likes of Jonathan Saunders, Mario Schwab, and Meadham Kirchhoff? Lulu Kennedy, the 41 year old director of ‘Fashion East’, the London-based non-profit organisation she founded in 2000 which looks after the most promising young designers through the early stages of their career. Those fortunate enough to impress her are mentored and given the chance to present their catwalk collection at London Fashion Week, and to showcase to international buyers at sales show rooms in Paris each season. Currently, Kennedy who in an interview quoted “a pencil skirt and fuck off heels” as the items she turns to in a fashion crisis, is said to be “having a moment”. For Fashion East’s tenth anniversary in 2010, Kennedy embarked on a new commercial branch of the business, titled ‘Lulu & Co’. Under this name, she released a capsule collection of ten iconic dresses by the blossoming designers she helped bring into the spotlight. This season, for A/W 2011/2012, Lulu & Co. are back for a second helping, as the next line-up of ‘limited edition edits’ was presented. This collection comprises a mix of items from her latest protégés, the likes of Michael van der Ham, Richard Nicoll and Simone Rocha. 2012 should see Kennedy and ‘the Fashion East gang’ grow even further in strength. She is the one to watch, because she is ‘the watcher’, discovering those diamond talents who will become the future of British design.
Lulu Kennedy, in polka-dot trousers, with her protégés (from left) Hazel Robinson, Pablo Flack, Natascha Stolle, Richard Nicoll, Jonathan Saunders and Michael van der Ham.
Lulu Kennedy
The Innovator: It seems all roving eyes are firmly fixed on a certain Mary Katrantzou’s every move of late. The Grecian fashion designer, who draws inspiration from the likes of ‘perfume bottles and 18th century portraits’ is delivering her distinct and completely original creations to stunned audiences. It’s often hard to link a designer to their collections, with every season bringing a new chaos of whirling ideas. But with Katrantzou, there could be no mistake. It is her signature prints that make her stand out, all of which she crafts digitally, and with names like ‘Mary Queen of Prints’ being thrown around, she is obviously doing something right. The ‘lampshade skirts’, demonstrating a fusion between home interior decore, art, and fashion design from this Architecture graduate, were the first pieces to wow fashion critics. But for S/S 2012 she has moved on from this, exploring less rigid structures, already proving she is somewhat of a design chameleon. She has summed up her latest inspirations somewhat cryptically as “industrial fabrication versus formal beauty in nature”. Katrantzou has been nominated for the prestigious ‘Emerging Talent Award’ at the annual British Fashion Council ceremony, whose results are due to be released on November 28th. As for Dublin, an exhibition of her pieces took place in the windows of Brown Thomas for two weeks in June of this year, as part of the Irish Museum of Modern Art’s “Art of Fashion” celebrations, and Brown Thomas now exclusively stock her collection. And while Mary’s little printed pieces of heaven are out of most of our price ranges, it’s okay to look right? And look admiringly at that.
Printed Boots by Mary Katrantzou, A/W 2011
Mary Katrantzou (Centre)
