It all started with a smile. On the catwalk! True, an almost unheard of occurrence in the straight-faced business of modelling. The girl in question was prancing down Dame Vivienne Westwood’s catwalk and –boom! – out of nowhere, a beautiful, broad, toothy smile.

And so it was that by the time Nathan Jenden’s models stormed the catwalk at the end of his show – dancing, leaping, laughing and encouraging their audience to do the same – there was no question that London Fashion Week (which ended on Wednesday) was in the grips of an optimistism pandemic.

“They all did it spontaneously, even in rehearsal,” said a breathless Jenden backstage. “It’s all about having fun; fashion should be fun.”

There was much to feel good about – a spectacular new show venue at Somerset House, a landmark anniversary celebrating 25 years of London fashion and an international front row, spearheaded by US Vogue’

s all-powerful Anna Wintour, who had flown in to see what all the fuss was about. Luckily, the designers they had come over to see did not disappoint. How embarrassing might it have been if Christopher Kane had presented a dud or Erdem had started over two hours late? But there were to be none of the usual LFW antics; in their place a slick, professional schedule and polished shows of an international class. Phew.

But more than that, a powerful buoyed-up feeling of positivity. London’s 25-year celebration – a kind of coming of age for the fashion city known for producing sapling talent only for it to leave and make a name for itself elsewhere – could even be felt in the stitches of the clothes. There was a sweetness to the London collections, not just with the proliferation of sugared- almond colours and so many pretty dresses, but also because designers actually used the word ‘pretty’ and talked of wanting their customers to feel ‘uplifted’. Antonio Berardi – a huge talent who came back to London having shown his collections in Milan and Paris for the past 10 years – described his show venue, St Mark’s Church in Mayfair, as ‘euphoric’

.

“Women need to feel an emotional attachment with the clothes they buy,” said designer Marios Schwab. “I want them to feel good. It’s the only way people are really going to buy clothes now.”

So the biggest new trend to come out of London this season? Optimism.

CRIB UP ON THE SPRING/SUMMER 2010 TRENDS WITH THE LFW DAILY’S SNEAK PEEK OF WHAT YOU’

LL BE WEARING Compiled by Cat Catalogue in the following posts…

Tweet This Post

Compiled by Cat Catalogue

Photography by Anna Bauer

Take a dip—and leave your hair wet afterwards. Swimmer’s hair is in. Basso & Brooke channelled model Stephanie Seymour surfacing from the pool in that Herb Ritts photo, keeping it wet with L’Oréal Paris Studio Line Design Wet Gel. Guido Palau went for damp and slightly 1990s grunge at Jonathan Saunders [see above] and hair stylist Malcolm Edwards did a twisted-hair look at Amanda Wakeley that recalled a 1970s Marie Helvin. Whatever the inspiration, it makes summer a whole lot easier.

Tweet This Post

Compiled by Cat Catalogue

Photography by Jason Lloyd-Evans

Elevate your ponytail into high fashion with a simple twist and tie. Charles Worthington and stylist Marc Trinder were inspired by how Japanese girls knot their hair at Erdem [see above], while Sam McKnight braided, pinned and knotted high ponytails at Jaeger.

Tweet This Post

Compiled by Cat Catalogue

Photography by Jason Lloyd Evans

Get your legs out without fear, with St Tropez’s new runway-tested products. Models glistened at Louise Goldin (Wash Off Instant Glow Mousse), gleamed at Roksanda Ilincic [see left, using New Radiance Mousse] and went bling at Marios Schwab (Wash Off Instant Glow Shimmer Stick).

Tweet This Post

Compiled by Cat Catalogue

Photography by Marcus Dawes

Why be subtle when you can be a superhero with the flick of an eyeliner? Manga make up made us whoop with delight at Luella [see above], where bright colour blocks of blue, red and glossy black framed models’ eyes. The look went futuristic and doll-like at Kinder Aggugini, while make-up artist Pat McGrath used pink blusher and purple glitter across lids and cheeks. Val Garland chose a graphic, linear under-eye liner at Mary Katrantzou. The question is, are you brave enough?

Tweet This Post

Report by Antonia Whyatt.

Photography courtesy of Max Factor

“Women say they want their skin to look ‘natural’,” says make-up artist Pat McGrath, sipping a post-show cocktail at the Hospital club in Covent Garden, “but what they really mean is they want to look HDTV natural.” She’s got a point. Our idea of natural has been tied to film ever since Max Factor created the first ‘Pan-Cake’ make-up for Hollywood. Now close to 100 years on, we expect naked perfection, as played out at the London shows.
Backstage at Issa [see left], the models were glowing in a hyper-real way — the foundation on their skin was so fine, if they’d sworn they had nothing on you would have believed them. This was thanks to Pat McGrath’s secret weapon, Max Factor’s brand- new Second Skin Foundation.

Skin was the tonal trend of the season. From beige and taupe eyes to ‘concealer’ used as the lip colour du jour, it was everyone’s inspiration. For Christopher Kane’s show, Lucia Pieroni gave skin a preternatural glow, prepping it with Clé de Peau, before highlighting cheekbones with cult product Egyptian Magic. At Matthew Williamson, James Kaliardos, the master of minimalism, had reduced his products to the L’Oréal Paris Made for Me Naturals Doutzen palette, and used it to do all his tonal contouring. “Women are used to airbrushed images and seeing perfection; they expect products to deliver.” Meanwhile, at Jaeger, girls had been given what we are calling ‘mushroom face’, a harmony of beiges and taupes created by M.A.C make-up artist Hannah Murray. She proudly brandished her four key products (Oak lip pencil, Luna Cream Colour base, Beguile Eyebrow Gel and M.A.C Face & Body), saying, “Anyone can do this look, it makes the girls super-gorgeous in this Lauren Hutton way.”

For Erdem, M.A.C make-up artist Andrew Gallimore was going for a ‘hyper-real’ look. He slicked cheekbones and eyelids with gloss for polish, and painted eyelashes with a fan brush to make them black and pointy in a nod to Erdem’s geisha influence.

The happy ending is that Max Factor has once more moved with the times and created a foundation to make real skin look, well, real, but in a filmic way by using high resolution pigments that mimic the ‘multi-chromatic look’ of flawless skin. How perfect.

Tweet This Post

Report by Anna-Marie Solowij.

Photography by Tyrone Lebon

“It’s mad back there,” shouted nail artist Sophy Robson over the music at Topshop Unique. She’s come out of the backstage area for fresh air and to offload the morning’s angst. “Three of my team were meant to arrive from New York on Sunday, but they didn’t get into Heathrow till 11 this morning, so I didn’t sleep a wink!”

For someone who hasn’t slept, she looks pretty fresh, with a perfectly applied set of Chanel logo nail decals on multicoloured nail tips. “I found these in Hollywood Star Nails in Peckham and took them along to the Chanel boutique on Old Bond Street for Vogue’s Fashion’s Night Out last week.” (Robson did manicures for the guests using Chanel’s sell-out Jade polish decorated with the CC decals.) “It was hilarious,” she laughs, “the perfect mix of high and low-end.” She ticks off her roster for the week on those nails: “Purple/red, like dried blood, at Veryta; perfect nude at Nicole Farhi.” For Unique, Robson did neon pink. “KatieGrand, who’s styling the show, is walking around with this pink Marc Jacobs scarf, and the theme is ‘Slacker surfer chick who’s been to London’, so the neon thing is perfect.” A red dot on each fingernail rocked for Westwood, lace for yesterday’s House of Holland, something experimental for Marios Schwab, and The Flintstones is the theme at Jeremy Scott today.
Robson’s daughter Jade, age 11, is her nail model for ideas in progress. “She’s famous – all the girls know her because she comes backstage with me for weekend shows.” So, will Jade follow in Mum’s footsteps? “She wanted to be a model until she saw The September Issuenow she wants to be Anna Wintour.”

Tweet This Post

Report by Anna-Marie Solowij

Big head or small head? That’s the key question that hair stylists ask designers before they start prepping the hair for a show.
The decision hangs on the degree of detail around the neck and shoulders. “When the neckline is busy, designers prefer to keep the head small, so as not to detract from the design,” says L’Oréal Paris session stylist Alain Pichon. Despite this, for Eun Jeong’s show, Pichon sent the girls out with huge, frizzed manes. “We did a tiny head last season, so it had to go the other way,” he laughs.
The volumising spray was out at Emilio de la Morena, too, where the Bumble and Bumble session stylist, James Pecis, created ‘youthful volume’. Bumble’s Thickening Hairspray should be top of your list, along with Charles Worthington’s brilliant new Front Row Dry Shampoo, the pro choice for building body at the roots.

For Kinder Aggugini, Malcolm Edwards for L’Oréal Professionnel maxed out on volume, giving the girls ‘Coke can’ curls. “The whole collection was about exaggeration and playing with scale,” he said.

Bigging up barnets elsewhere, Sam McKnight spent 30 minutes on each girl at Mulberry [see above], crimping and backcombing to create a fittingly fairground candyfloss ’do, while, at Westwood, Peter Grey was on a backcombing bonanza, too.
In contrast, hair minimalists included Osman with sleek ponytails, Veryta’s mussed-up topknots, and Louise Gray, whose neater knots were shot through with neon hair extensions.

It’s telling that the topknot has emerged as the most popular style among the fashion set this week. I counted 17 in the audience at Unique, which was officially a ‘bigger’ hair show. Despite the lure of the Toni & Guy on-site hair salon (brilliant blow-dries in 20 minutes) and
LFW press invitations for Daniel Hersheson’s Blow Dry Bar on Conduit Street, the temptation to just twist it into a knot is more appealing after a night of partying with a 9am show the next day.

Perhaps the best solution is to have it both ways. For Graeme Black’s show, Sam McKnight created a small head with a big, backcombed bun. Now who says fashion isn’t accommodating?

Tweet This Post

There’s just one beauty company showing at London Fashion Week and that is the organic aromatherapy brand, Alexandra Soveral. Alex is showcasing her scented wares as well as running a competition to create your own fragrance with the prize of a bespoke scent. Lisa Armstrong is one of the judges and, at the time of writing, Vogue’s Harriet Quick is tipped to win.Fragrance and fashion is something of a recurring theme: the halls of Somerset House are heady with the aroma of Comme des Garçons scented candles; John Richmond launched his first fragrance last week, and in New York the Halston collection was inspired by a recently revived house scent. While perfume sales continue to underwrite ready-to-wear collections for many big name designers, you know scents make cents. Jasper Conran, too, understands the sweet smell of success: he always spritzes the catwalk with a favourite fragrance before the audience arrives. This season it’s Moroccan Rose by True Grace.

Tweet This Post

Report by Anna-Marie Solowij

Photography by Anna Bauer

Book make-up artists Val Garland, Pat McGrath or Alex Box for your show and you’re guaranteed an eyeful. Of make-up, that is, because so far this week the eyes have been getting all the attention.

Val’s creation for Mary Katrantzou was based around the show’s theme of colourful Murano glass. Complementing all the kaleidoscopic prints of Katrantzou’s dresses, Val mixed a rainbow of striking shades onto a base of violet to recontour the eye, underlining the colourful statement with a graphic black tick below the lower lid. “It’s painterly,” says Val of a trend that has also surfaced in the clothes this week.

Over at Kinder Aggugini, Pat McGrath played around with the theme of Dark Fairytale, using pink blusher all across the eyes with powdery smudges of colour dripping down under the eye and onto the cheeks. A layer of purple glitter on a base of burgundy added depth and sparkle to the look. Brown false lashes (“Brown looks more childlike and softer than black,” explains Pat) with quarter lashes on the lower lid confirmed the sexy/innocent theme. Shimmer, applied to the top of the cheekbones, threw light upwards, making a feature of those lower lashes.

Stylist Johnny Blue Eyes’ House of Blue Eyes presentation saw Alex Box painting on a metallic gold visor across the eyes, onto which she layered black eyeliner, huge, fluttering top and bottom lashes and what has become known in the business as the ‘Alex Box brow’ – ie, bold and black. ‘It’s aliens from Outer Space meets Cleopatra,” quipped Alex.

At Louise Gray, fingertip-applied dots below the eyes and 1970s purple-streaked glitter at Olanic continued the theme that was kicked off by the Headonism show at the beginning of the week, when M.A.C make-up artist Caroline Donnelly based the graphic black eyeliner shape on an Art Deco earring design.

Finally, at PPQ, keyed by Shu Uemura Creative Director Uchiide San, a special set of false lashes was created to use on each girl. Great news is that the lashes go on sale, so we all get to have some of that PPQ make-up magic.

Tweet This Post