SWAROVSKI LFW PREVIEW: MARK FAST

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Mark Fast (above) is to show his first solo catwalk show at London Fashion Week this coming Monday. Previously he showed back-to-back with Mary Katrantzou. Fast, who specialises in highly worked, super-tight knitwear dresses became notorious a year ago at London Fashion Week when he poured "plus size" models (i.e size 12-14) into his dresses and had a disagreement with his stylist who felt the models he chose were not the gold standard in their category. The pair mutually decided to end their working arrangement, but that was not the end of it. The press got hold of the story and the outcome was a media furore which Fast milked for all it was worth, thus fast-tracking his brand name from zero recognition to sought-after in a matter of days.  So here we are at his veeery east London studio, in an old Evangelist church hall, and he is prepping up to 35 looks.

MARK FAST SS11 INSPIRATION

"Its getting busy in here," says Mark gesturing to his three main assistants and five interns. "They've been in here everyday for a month working the machines," he says pointing at the ancient looking knitting machines that dot the studio, (they go for a fortune on eBay apparently) before leading us to the back wall and his mood board, above.

"I've been feeling a darkness in the air all summer, what with the oil slick and volcano.." he says and nods at the board. "Its a feeling of wetness and danger than I'm trying to translate into the clothes. But this collection is actually less dark than usual; it has injections of colour and then fades to white. The idea is to mix the danger of an alligator with the fragility of the butterfly. The Swarovski people even found me a stud crystal that has the look of reptilian scales when it is applied densely." To untutored ear, the previous quote may look like it belongs in Pseuds Corner (Private Eye) but when you see what he is doing with his collection of webby knits it makes a kind of sense. He shows me a go-go dress in Barbie pink hung with fringing and the arms heavy with Swarovskis densely positioned like scales. The workmanship and inspiration may be intense, but the the result, as always, is an amazing party dress. 

The young design graduate above has been working on this fringed cape for days.

These Louboutin platforms are beyond fabulous. Bring on the 70s glamous trend!

A close up view of the reptilian Swarovski studs

Photos by Fashion Editor at Large

Assisted by Fashion Junior at Large



CAN A CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN FLAT BE AS DESIRABLE AS A 9 INCH HEEL?

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Inside an unremarkable building in east London resides the Christian Louboutin press office. But as soon as you step through the door you notice red carpeted stairs. It's all looking a bit plusher. More like what you might expect from Louboutin.

It's the foot-wear label of most people's dreams, and when you picture a Louboutin shoe you probably picture a spindly sky-scraper heel don't you? I do. Or at least I did until I set eyes on the designer's AW10 collection and realised how much more he has to offer. 

The new look Louboutin heel

My favourite - thicker heel in electric blue

The Strictly Come Dancing shoe...Or is it Dancing On Ice? I don't know but you get the idea.

The unfathomably expensive shoe (each crystal / stud is attached by hand. Does that justify a price tag which is pushing £2000?)

 The trainers I might actually be able to work. (FYI they have the Louboutin trademark red sole)

The velvet lace-up - proving Christian Louboutin can make a flat as desirable as a 9 inch heel.

Right now on Fashionair.com you can watch a video of the man himself tap dancing. We LOVE Fashionair, and 'Dancer in a Daydream' might just be their best video yet. Click through for 5 minutes of pure joy!

BARBIE MANIA!

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

This morning was one of those mornings where everything just comes together really neatly. I popped into the Mandi Lennard PR press day to have a ganders at AW10 Gareth Pugh and Roksanda Ilincic (both gorgeous up close) and emerged with a pair of Vivienne Westwood for Melissa shoes and a Barbie doll.

There are 12 dolls in the Barbie Basics range, and four different accessories packs to choose from. Meet Fashion Junior Barbie...

Long dark hair. Thick fringe...

Magazines, and (most importantly) a laptop. Make your own now on ASOS.

Next stop was the Christian Louboutin press day (more of which later) where I spied the Louboutin Barbie collection (complete with skinny ankles. In a recent interview the designer was quoted as saying 'I said to them that the one thing that could really give her perfection is to give a curve to her ankle. It's not like she's going to suffer for it'). The new red carpet Louboutin Barbie (in the booklet below) goes on sale soon.

Finally, on Mandi's recommendation, I headed to Selfridges to check out the Barbie pop-up store in the Wonder Room. Curator Sharmadean Reid (of WAH Nails), has assembled a cultural retrospective of black Barbie dolls. As a child of the 90s this was my favourite:

'Barbie and The Beat: In the wake of the 90s revival, this Barbie is very much a cultural icon of history in a time when black clothing and music started to become mainstream in America. The 1990s was a time for De La Soul, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, the movies of Spike Lee and Yo MTV Raps! and Barbie and the Beat reflects the adoption of black music and language into the homes of little girls everywhere. This Barbie looks very much like a Californian girl who could have had a cameo in Saved By The Bell' - Sharmadean Ried

There's also an entire wall of Barbies playing house:

(Check out Beyonce dancing up a storm on the telly)

These So In Style dolls (which are dressed in Rocawear by the way) were created by Stacey McBride-Irby - an African-American mother who wanted to make a collection of Barbie dolls that her daughters and community could relate to.

The dolls retail for £25 each and will hopefully be sold on Selfridges' new website at some point soon.