THE WEEK IN FASHION: MAY 20th-24th

Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large

Everything you need to know about the week in fashion is within this blog post. Read, know, then go bank holiday weekend your socks off...

Jenna Lyons (image via tumblr.com)

It's seems like it's been a long time coming, but J.Crew has finally hit British shores this week. For today and tomorrow (Friday/ Saturday), the fashionably preppy US label is hosting a pop-up in a rather fabulous converted shed/ stables at Central Saint Martin's. Jenna Lyons, J.Crew's President and Artistic Director, is in town and used the opportunity to announce that J.Crew will be sponsoring a scholarship for CSM MA students. I popped along yesterday to the pop-up shop where you can get J.Crew's famous cashmere jumpers monogrammed and buy a jewelled collar especially designed for the London pop-up by the J.Crew design crew. A permanent shop is due to open on Regent Street in November.

Visit J Crew's pop-up at CSM by getting yourself to King's Cross Tube, and follow the arrows.

J Crew pop up via J Crew Instagram

One of my personal favourite collars from the J Crew pop-up

The BFC this week announced three new menswear designers to join the NEWGEN cohort in time for London Collections:Mens which is taking place in June. Agi & Sam, Astrid Andersen and Nasir Mazhar will get the backing of the BFC to show and sell their collections during the men's shows next month.

Agi and Sam did an inspired AW13 show in which they took the Marquess of Bath as muse. (catwalking.com)

Fabulous purple/ florals/ streetwear at Astrid Andersen AW13 (catwalking.com)

Nasir Mazhar AW13 (fashion156.com)

Issa, the label favoured by the Middleton sisters and friends, announced last week that founder and creative director Daniela Helayel is leaving. Blue Farrier has been appointed to take over. Farrier has great fashion pedigree, having worked at Stella McCartney and Chloe. Issa is particularly well-known for its flattering wrap dresses- Kate Middleton wore a blue one to match her engagement ring when she and Prince William announced that they would be getting married.

The new Givenchy AW13 campaign has been styled by none other than Carine Roitfeld. She cast Amanda Seyfried and up-and-coming Spanish model Dalianah Arekion in the rather subdued black and white images. It seems that Roitfeld also couldn't resist shooting herself, with daughter Julia, as well.

Amanda and Dalianah in Givenchy AW13 (via wwd.com)

Carine and Julia via Michel Gaubert on Instagram

At Issa's latest LFW show for AW13, models wore gimicky polo necks with hoods attached. Here's hoping Farrier might have a transformative magic touch.

Ugh. Issa W13 (catwalking.com)

Fendi will hold a special photography exhibition during July's Paris couture shows. As part of its pledge to help save the Trevi Fountain, images taken by Karl Lagerfeld (Fendi Creative Director, and you know the rest) will be on display. There will also be a 120-page book published to accompany the exhibition. Another clever high fashion initiative to make the public feel involved in the very exclusive round of couture shows.

Congratulations to Tatty Devine, The Cambridge Satchel Company, Harris Tweeds and Christopher Raeburn who were among the winners at last night's UK Fashion and Textiles Awards. Go Made in Britain!

Tatty Devine's award. As tweeted by co-founder Rosie Wolfenden.

Skate culture has been permeating fashion for a while now and it seems to be reaching a peak, especially with Yasmin Sewell's Beach in the East pop-up, inspired by Dogtown and the Z-Boys. The Guardian brought all the references together very nicely this week. Dazed Digital have done a great piece on the fight to save the Southbank undercroft. And if you have time for a fascinating long read this weekend, then may I suggest this on what happened to the stars of Kids.

Skating at Southbank. Image by Sophie Wedgewood via dazeddigital.com

Browsing in Browns Focus the other day, I was particularly drawn to a very sweet Olympia Le-Tan doodled cotton body suit. Le-Tan is, of course, most famous for her embroidered book cover clutch bags. It turns out that Olympia is sister of Cleo, a French novelist and daughter of Pierre, a highly respected illustrator. If you're anything like me and enjoy being nosy about these fabulous kinds of families, then you should read The Daily Beast's interview with Cleo Le-Tan.

Cleo and Olympia Le-Tan (via thedailybeast.com)

Finally, Cannes is STILL going on. In fact, it's been going on so long now that jewellery thieves have managed to strike twice. Yesterday, a £1.7m necklace from jewellers Di Grisogono went missing, despite the fact it was being heavily guarded at a chateau party. My four favourite stories from the festival this week are:

Nicole Kidman potentially wearing the Valentino dress which Anna Hathaway ditched for the Oscars at the lat minute.

Jessica Chastain wearing Spanx dyed vivid purple to match her Givenchy Couture dress.

And a Psy impostor gatecrashing loads of great parties and fooling celebrities.

Last night, the super, duper glamourous AMFAR gala, held to raise funds for AIDS, took place in Cannes. Carine Roitfeld was in charge this year and organised "The Ultimate Gold Collection" fashion show which was crammed full of specially created gold creations by the world's best designers. To round off The Week in Fashion, here are some of the shiniest looks of the night, as modelled by some of Carine's nearest and dearest, of course. Sun, take note. 

Giovanna Battaglia in Miu Miu (via vogue.co.uk) 

Joan Smalls in Givenchy (via vogue.co.uk) 

Anna dello Russo in Pucci (via vogue.co.uk)

Irina Shayk in Prada (via Vogue.co.uk)

Carine's daughter, Julia Restoin Roitfeld in Valentino (via vogue.co.uk)

DRESSING UP WITH FARFETCH.COM

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

If you're a regular reader then you will know FEAL are good friends of FarFetch.com, the fashion website which lets you shop the edit of 240 designer boutiques from around the world. It's great because it has all the ease of internet shopping but takes away some of that element which can sometimes feel quite clinical of pages and pages of stock rolling before you in a "Buy me, buy me" kind of way, with no real sense of edit. FarFetch.com allows you to enter stores from all over the world and yes, any given label will probably be stocked at at least a few stores but it will be a completely different part of the collection. That's because a buyer working for a French boutique will be catering to very different tastes to one in Latvia or the US. You can behave the usual internet shopper way and scroll through "skirts" or "shoes" OR pretend you're browsing in Miami one minute and Berlin the next. The legendary Browns has recently joined up.

Image from FarFetch.com on Facebook

This week, FarFetch.com showed that they're not just one step ahead of the game when it comes to retail, but also rather forward thinking with their engagement strategy. Enter Tuesday evening's #digitaldressup event which was like a cross between a kids party and a press day. FarFetch.com had gathered samples from the AW12 selections of some of the stores that feature on the site, including shoes and bags, laid on drinks, a photographer and bravely let a load of bloggers loose for a dress up in the pieces.  I suppose it was a little unfortunate that it felt like the hottest night of the year so there was no way that after a long day sweltering in the London heat, anyone can have felt all that fabulous or up for struggling into a whole new outfit, even if it was comprised of uber amazing designer pieces- who dares sweat in Stella? Anyway, some were brave enough and others were provided with a model to dress up rather like a life sized doll in outfits we picked out.

The FarFetch.com team challenged me to dress my model like she was going to work then out for drinks- fairly standard but obviously elevated by the fact that there were Phillip Lim clutches, J.W Anderson skirts and ACNE jumpers among the selection of pieces to choose from   I eventually plumped for a ridiculously cool red sleeved Givenchy blazer (from Concept Store Smets, Berlin), Mary Katrantzou typewriter print dress (from Feathers, London) with a bottle green Calvin Klein satchel bag (not online just yet) and Giuseppe Zanotti heels (from Dante 5 in Bari, Italy)- fashion yumminess. My main thought being the rather predictable one of wear the blazer to work then slink it off for drinks to show off your clingy, sexy yet super edgy dress.

Well done again FarFetch.com for a brilliant event concept. I can't wait to see what you do next.

P.S As we're now into SS13 fashion show season, there'll be no fashion news for a few weeks as usual but I'll be bringing you the latest from the shows and you can click on the new SS13 shows tab to watch live. Happy Weekend!

THE WEEK IN FASHION: JUNE 18th- 22nd

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Another week has whizzed by and there are plenty of developments to catch up on before the weekend...

Yves Saint Laurent outside the original store Saint Laurent (image from YSL twitter)

The news that rocked the (fashion) world so much that it was trending on Twitter on all day yesterday and this morning is Hedi Slimane's decision to change the hugely iconic YSL logo and Yves Saint Laurent moniker to SLP (i.e. Saint Laurent Paris). This isn't the first big change Slimane has brought about having already moved the brand's creative studio from Paris to LA. The outcry from the industry has been unmitigated. Here is a good example of the tone of tweet appearing on our timelines yesterday:

Fashion156.com ‏@Fashion156

#YSL rebranding to 'Saint Laurent Paris' sounds like a chain of downmarket budgets hotels. Why mess with something so iconic? thoughts?

However, Pierre Bergé, Saint Laurent's partner and the person who probably has the closest emotional ties to the house, is not so worried. In an interview with L'Express he declared that the name change is "an excellent idea". Furthermore, Bergé states his confidence that Slimane can take Saint Laurent back to being "a house of creation" and to the "prestige which is at it's heart". It's interesting to note that Saint Laurent Paris was the original name the house worked under and so it is really a revisiting as opposed to a complete novelty.

Raf Simons' new menswear ads (images from dailymail.co.uk)

Paris' other newly instated big name designer is, of course, Raf Simons at Dior. There have been no shocking Dior announcements from him thus far however images of his eponymous menswear line's ad campaign were released this week and show that Raf is perhaps indulging any temptations to shock via this outlet. The imagery shows deconstructed bodies in a collage-like style. Many have called the campaign, entitled Run Fall Run, weird but I think it's quite beautiful and just what we have come to expect from Raf. Now bring on the new Dior!

Givenchy AW12 ads with Stella Tennant (image from fashiongonerogue.com)

More Autumn/ Winter campaigns are being released every day. We reported earlier in the week on Prada's look of the season and today I'd like to bring Givenchy's to your attention. Tisci favourites Stella Tennant and Joan Smalls are among those who feature in the shots inspired by "the energy of a rave".  Mert and Marcus were behind the camera and Carine Roitfeld  was styling- fashion dream team.

Gary Richardson, legendary hair colourist from Daniel Hersheson, very sadly passed away last week. LOVE magazine, with whom he had a close relationship, posted some great images of his work which we'd love to re-share...

Images from www.thelovemagazine.co.uk

As guest designers at this year's Pitti W event, taking place this week in Florence, Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos were bound to pull something special out of the bag. The images from their presentation in a Florentine palazzo confirm those suspicions. The pair, who are already famed for their complex and form enhancing prints, installed a "digital kaleidoscope" at the venue which projected the prints- inspired by medieval manuscripts- onto surfaces all around. The result is an "old-meets-new celebration"which is depicted not only in the setting but in the garments themselves.

Peter Pilotto at Pitti W (image from Vogue.com/ Peter Pilotto)

Pilotto's prints on the walls of the palazzo (image from vogue.com/ Peter Pilotto)

Here's an up-close look at one of the pair's new tailored pieces at their London resort press day this week.

You know by now that we're suckers for little snippets of King Karl news so I loved these pictures The Telegraph found this week of what appeared to be the Chanel designer in a fishing boat in rough waters. Cue daydreams of Chanel SS13 being comprised of macintoshes, galoshes and gold spun fisherman beards. No such luck though as it's actually Karl impersonator Jörg Knör who regularly dresses up as Mr Lagerfeld. Oh well. 

Karl at sea images from www.telegraph.co.uk

I was sad to miss G-Shock's Maarten van der Horst vs. Sibling party last night to celebrate the launch of  the watchmaker's new collaboration with the Fashion East designers. Sadder still that I can't possibly choose a favourite between Maarten's surfer florals and Sibling's colourful animal designs. Lulu Kennedy, Fashion East founder and LOVE Editor at Large, sums it up when she says the designs "are perfect for summer" and "represent the fun spirit of Fashion East". You can get one at G-Shock's store at the Truman Brewery.

The reason I couldn't make it to G-Shock last night was because I went along to hear Melanie speak on My Daily's panel discussing the future of fashion in the digital world. She was joined by the brilliant Mary Katrantzou, LOVE Editor Alex Fury and Sasha Wilkins of LLG. It was a fascinating chat to listen in on and I learnt many things, including the fact that designers plan their catwalk looks according to Style.com's layouts so that when the pictures are up the looks are grouped together in rows of six- observe the colour coordination in this screen shot of Prada AW12.

Left tonight: My Daily editor Libby, Sasha, Alex, Melanie and Mary (image from mydaily.co.uk)

Finally, I know we're almost a week late on this but if you're NOT one of the 4 million people who's already seen Abercrombie and Fitch models dancing to Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe" then get to it. Perfect Friday night getting ready to go out entertainment. Just beware the cheese factor is off the scale... Happy Weekend!

RESORT 2013 COLLECTIONS: THE BEST LOOKS

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

I've been at Graduate Fashion Week in London on and off all week, and most inspiring and fascinating it is too, but I took some time out this afternoon to indulge in the hobby du jour for all professional fashion editors this week - namely viewing the Resort 2013 collections and deciding on the best new looks. With all the 'trashion' (my new favourite word) doing the rounds on pop stars, tacky TV folk and young girls about town, a jolt of real honest-to-goodness fashion refreshes my senses and restores my faith in style for style's sake. Here they are.

Stella McCartney

Nina Ricci

Valentino

Givenchy 

Givenchy

Cedric Charlier

Carven

Celine 

Acne

MYTHERESA.COM: CLEVER SHOPPING FOR FASHION OBSESSED BARGAINISTAS

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large 

One of my favourite online fashion shopping destinations is MyTheresa.com. They always have the iconic editorial fashion pieces of the season in stock; mainly because their rather awesome fashion director Justin O'Shea recognises a key fashion piece on sight, and then has the savvy to buy them in quantity. 

In actual fact, I've just bought the Givenchy silver biker sandals I've had my eye on all season from MyTheresa, and at a very agreeable price too as their 50% off summer sale began today. Right there in the above sentence is another reason why I love MyTheresa. Price is a key factor: they buy fantastically edgy fashion pieces from labels you don't often find online, and even charged at full RRP the item will be slightly less than the cost in GBP/££, so once in sale they become too good a bargain to pass up!

The Munich based high fashion website grew out of a bricks and mortar shop named, appropriately enough, Theresa, which is owned by husband and wife team Susanne and Christoph Botschen. Theresa launched 24 years ago; locally the Botschens were seen as pioneers for bringing luxurious European and American labels into Munich. Now, internationally the site is known for its great selection of brands and eye for European style that swoops across from Balenciaga accessories to Miu Miu, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent runway collections with much more besides. A lot of what you see on the site feels like a rare find because many of the luxury brands will only agree to sell online if the website also has a bricks and mortar store. If you haven't switched on to MyTheresa yet, I suggest you give it a whirl. Here is what I would be buying right now if I wasn't somewhat physically compromised due to being pregnant.  Givenchy glittery sandals will have to keep me going until then....  

Carven dress £234 from £333

Mary Katrantzou blazer £1,404 to £983

Dolman cashmere cardigan £359 to £252

Givenchy sandals £513 to £330

Erdem blouse £550 to £385

Marchesa Notte cocktail dress £702 to £422

Peter Pilotto shirt £504 to £353

Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony skirt £437 to £263

Samantha Sung blouse £269 to £189

Jason Wu jumper £719 to £432