HERMIONE DE PAULA'S AW10 COLLECTION EMERGED FROM ICE

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

I attended a lot of the off schedule shows this season (whilst Fashion Editor at Large hit all the big names and will be posting on them asap) which means I spent a fair amount of time in the Freemason's Hall covering the Vauxhall Fashion Scout designers. You might recall I was particularly excited about their Merit Award winner Hermione de Paula.

Vauxhall Motors (the prime sponsors) and Fashion Scout are both keen supporters of emerging British fashion talent and innovative design, and their partnership contributed a great deal to Hermione's first successful solo show:

 

  

  

 

This collection was a departure from last season's soft rose coloured hues. It was graphic and monochrome with shapes which served to exaggerate the female form. 

After all the applause had subsided I managed to get a word with Hermione backstage:

E: This was you first solo show – how did it feel?

H: Really nerve wracking. I was more worried about the attendance than the actual show. You know when you throw a party and you panic that nobody will turn up?

E: What about the run up? Did anything go wrong or was it all smooth sailing?

H: It actually went well. This was the first time I’ve been super organised with my time. Having said that there was an episode with the snow, and then everyone got sick so I think I did the whole collection in a month and a half.

E: What was the inspiration for this collection?

H: Ice. I started off making my prints from ice sculptures. I borrowed a freezer from my local corner shop and it filled up my front room. I stuck half mannequins in it and sculpted around the form. Then I photographed the end product and used that as a starting point. In previous seasons I’ve used fresh flowers for my prints, this time I put the flowers in water and froze them, and created the wor4k from the result. 

E: What were the locks and keys about?

H: It was kind of based around the idea of chastity belts. I used skeleton logo keys – everything has a lock and key because each piece is precious

E: What’s the next step?

H: I’m really excited to be with Vauxhall Fashion Scout. Who knows? David Koma and William Tempest have done really really well from this platform. We’ll have to see.

Hermione's SS10 collection is currently stocked at Browns Focus.

Photos: Catwalking.com

VAUXHALL FASHION SCOUT PROVE OFF SCHEDULE SHOWS ARE THE ONES TO WATCH

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Fashion Editor at Large recently voiced the theory that my generation – enthralled by reality TV shows like Project Catwalk and *ahem* The City – have come to see fashion as a form of entertainment unto itself. She assures me that when she was my age seats were hard to fill and the whole show-scene was a very business-like affair compared to the front row celebrities, bloggers, blaggers and show-crashers of recent seasons.

I think she’s right. Possibly because the champagne reception, the goody bags, and the paparazzi-esque street style photographers create a general air of privilege and exclusivity normally reserved for celebrities.

Of course there will be actual celebrities in attendance, and those celebrities understand how important it is to associate themselves with the right labels. Last year Beyonce and Cheryl Cole expressed a propensity for new designers when they both wore David Koma, thereby propelling him to top of the agenda in editor's meetings at the major fashion magazines. Off the back of the resulting buzz off schedule has become the new ‘on’ schedule, and Vauxhall Fashion Scout has had to move to the Freemasons Building to accommodate a 20% increase in demand for seats.

Competition for space is particularly fierce for the winner of this season's Merit Award - Hermione de Paula – whose prints look like reflections on a rippling lake.

"Hermione is extremely talented and is becoming renowned for her beautiful prints. Last season we showcased her as part of our Ones to Watch show which resulted in a huge amount of press coverage and her work being picked up by Browns Focus"

Martyn Roberts, Director, Vauxhall Fashion Scout

 

de Paula (who is of course a St. Martins graduate) will have her first stand-alone catwalk show sponsored by Vauxhall Fashion Scout as part of the Merit Award initiative. She will also receive PR and sales support through a tailored mentoring program which will help cultivate her talent and push the nitty gritty business aspects of the enterprise forward.

Judges - including Vogue.com's Jessica Bumpus, Jemma Dyas from Browns Focus, and Susie 'Bubble' Lau - look for 'creativity, quality of work, and business development' in a Merit Award winner, and the bar has been set pretty damn high by previous winners like these two:

David Koma

And William Tempest

 

But if you really want to get a handle on who the big fashion stars of tomorrow are today, get a front row, second row, or even a standing ticket to Ones To Watch. This season's geniuses in the making are ASKH, David Longshaw, Eudon Choi, and Florence Kozuch.

 

Log on to FEAL on Friday 19th and find out which one I predict Cheryl will be wearing in a few months time...