A NEW COAT CONCEPT FROM TOOGOOD

Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large

I read this morning that people employed in farming, fishing and forestry are the happiest. If you work in the media, you are less happy than quite a lot of other professions, apparently. Oh dear. While this news is a bit depressing in itself, it does shine a light on why Erica and Faye Toogood might have struck on the idea to 'pay tribute' to eight different trades with their new collection of coats, which launched during Paris fashion week. Admittedly, it's rare that one goes to PFW and ends up having a conversation about the particular details a bee keeper might require from their outerwear.

The Chemist coat

The Toogood passport

You may already know the work of Faye Toogood. She's a furniture and object designer whose studio has collaborated with the likes of Humberto Leon and Carol Lim of Opening Ceremony/ Kenzo fame and Phillip Lim. She teamed up with her pattern cutter sister, Erica, about a year ago to work on the Toogood coats collection. As with all great fashion concepts, there's a lot of theory backed up by thoughtful details. For example, each coat comes with its very own "passport". A label which details who your coat was designed and made by and who sold it. The idea is that you then add your own details as a constant reminder of the trajectory which each coat has taken. "There is no hierarchy here," comments Erica, "we wanted to create a feeling of transparency about the process of making a coat."

Each unisex coat comes in 6 sizes and is handmade in London. Faye does the design while Erica deals with bringing them to life by cutting innovative patterns which reflect how each worker's coat might have been worn over time, see the deep pockets on The Chemist. For The Courier, a fitted waistcoat with short cape, there were 17 toiles made before the fit was just right. The sisters mimic the movements of each worker to show me why certain details have been included, like the curved seams on the sleeves of The Mechanic or the slits on the cuffs of The Roadsweeper. The fabrications are like nothing I've ever seen before which makes trying on these coats a properly novel experience. Imagine a shell-like back created from melted bin bags, the bumpy texture of a baked latex print or the super-shiny and squeaky effect of sprayed and splattered rubber, a job which the sisters commissioned a guy who usually paints cars to complete. The coats are as hard-wearing as their names suggest too, cut from rot resistant canvas. It all sounds terribly tough and rough and ready but some of these shapes are akin to an elegant opera coat or a chic biker, in many ways. The ultimate aim, of course, is that you make it your own. Faye insists, 'we want our coats to look and feel just as beautiful on a 60 year-old man as they do on a 25 year-old girl'.

THE COATS

The Beekeeper

The Courier coat

The Milkman

The Oilrigger

The Roadsweeper

THE TOOGOOD MANIFESTO

DISPATCHES FROM THE SHOWROOM: COMME DES GARCONS

Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large

One of the many benefits of flitting to Paris during fashion week is that even if you don't get there in time for a particular show, or if you are too low down the fashion food chain to be awarded a ticket, then you can still get up close with the clothes which are shaping up the forthcoming season with a visit to the showroom. In many cases, you could argue that these are even better places than a catwalk show to understand the shapes, the colours and the fabrics.

And so it was that today I stopped off at Comme des Garcons' home on Place Vendome. Having diligently studied the show reviews in advance, I was fully mentally prepped for the fact that Rei Kawakubo's approach to SS14 was mostly about forgetting that she was designing clothes. She apparently had no ideas for clothes and so sought to create a kind of art installation centred around the body. The ultimate expression, perhaps, of the SS14 mega-trend for art? Anyway, the main point of this Comme des Garcons collection was probably that it was viewed in the complementary space of a show venue where each outfit had its very own soundtrack and, like an art gallery, the light and sound were under complete control. The showroom, by contrast, is a bustling room full of busy buyers and sales agents closing deals on taking these apparently non-clothes (or more truthfully, their more commercial counterparts) into stores across the world. It's the place where that vital link from catwalk to shopfloor is really made.

I might not have been able to imbibe Kawkubo's entire seasonal ethos but it was super interesting to experience the show pieces laid out neatly on tables and displayed clothes-like (not to sound churlish) on mannequins. Many of the dresses you see in my tumble of pictures below are made in a defiantly non-fashion fabric which I have been trying to fathom all day; it's something like a jay-cloth, very polyester-ish and very, very similar to the hydrophobic sort of thing which might make-up a mattress protector or lining for something around the house. One thing's for sure, it's probably never been pleated, stuffed and stitched in Comme way before. Equally fascinating was the footwear which was entirely sole-less so that really they were only footwear covers- these came as brightly coloured bootees and childlike, painted lace-ups.

A new reason to look forward to next Spring... seeing how this is going to translate for street style stars and on the floor at Dover Street Market A.K.A how will non-clothes become fashion?

ANDROGYNY IN FASHION: EACH X OTHER

Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large

As I've scooted about London and Paris this season, one of the biggest themes I have noticed is the number of emerging brands who describe themselves as 'no gender' or 'androgynous', although quite a few of them don't even seem to like that term. Perhaps its the influence of JW Anderson creating a sort of preference towards these kinds of designers? It's not that they're a totally new thing, but now is their time. It could even be that the minimal, tailored theme of which Phoebe Philo is the high priestess lends itself to women buying into menswear. In yesterday's Times Luxx, Sarah Mower wrote 'at the moment men’s clothes are better than women’s on almost every count'. Mower's piece makes you stop and think about about the rituals of womenswear; fast and furious. You're pretty much always behind because the thing you just bought is no longer cool, so short is the life cycle of a trend and they are so not made to last that they come apart before long anyway. So, in the spirit of this not new, but certainly relevant mood, expect posts about the likes of NEWGEN designer Paula Gerbase of 1205 and Antonio Azzuolo (who is exhibiting at Americans in Paris) in the near future. 

The inspiration for for Each x Other

First though, is Each x Other, a Paris based brand which I've had my eye on for a while. When I spoke to co-founder Jenny Mannerheim this afternoon, she quickly pointed out 'You know we are no gender? My favourite phrase is I am Man. It's so ambiguous'. Each x Other isn't just clothes, in fact it's quite difficult to get your head around everything the brand is really trying to do but it's main function is the marriage of art and fashion. 'Art is useless!' Jenny exclaims, just moments after telling me that she's worked on art magazines (like Beaux Arts) and has her own gallery (Nuke in Paris). However if you take art and put it onto something useful, like clothes, then it becomes functional, so the philosophy seems to go. Each x Other came about when Jenny met Ilan Delouis, who had a solid fashion background as founder of Faith Connexion. They bonded over a Robert Montgomery piece which reads:

'The city is wilder than you think and kinder than you think it is a valley and you are a horse in it it is a house and you are a child it it safe and warm here in the fire of each other'

That was a year ago and now there is a large group of artists from all over the world who are putting their own particular stamp on the core aesthetic of Each x Other which is probably best described as left-bank rocker Parisienne, lots of printed skinny jeans, luxuriously soft biker jackets, silky blouses, simple throw-on tees and functional pea coats. There is a main collection with off-shoots designed in collaboration with any artist whom Delouis and Mannerheim feel a 'magnetism' with. For AW13, those artists include Alessandra D'Urso, Daniele Innamorato and Yi Zhou (whose biker jacket is my new dream thing). Robert Montgomery is a permanent fixture on the roster too. 

Jacket by Daniele Innamorato for Each x Other 

Silk front polo neck by Daniele Innamorato for Each x Other

Dream biker jacket by Yi Zhou for Each x Other

At today's event, the Each x Other philosophy was brought to life with the presence of Blair Chivers who was screenprinting the brand's signature life affirming, positive phrases onto anything you wanted. There's hardly anything which doesn't come without an epic sentence on the label or tucked into the lining. As well as clothes, Each x Other will publish and exhibit the work of like-minded creatives, a vision which should really come to life when a Parisian flagship opens 'as soon as possible, this year we hope', Jenny says. It strikes me that Each x Other is less about shopping somewhere because you're a boy or a girl, but buying into something because you appreciate what it stands for or just really want a great jacket. 

Buy Each x Other at Net-a-Porter

Blair Chiver screenprints for Each x Other

HOW ONE VERY SKINNY BOY BECAME A THORN IN HEDI SLIMANE'S SIDE AT YSL

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

Ever since Hedi Slimane re-joined the worshipful Yves Saint Laurent company last year he has been stamping his pointy black-booted feet all over the traditional conventions of the fashion industry, and in particular its media.

Only last night at his comeback menswear show at YSL (he previously designed YSL menswear from 1996-2000) he broke unwritten catwalk rule number one. Namely: Do Not Hire Underweight, Anorexic Looking Men (or Women) as Models.

This guy needs to eat (photo: style.com)

Back in the old days before social media a very very skinny, ill-looking male model, such as the one above, would cause raised eyebrows amongst those actually present at the show, and not much else. Last night this boy caused raised eyebrows in the catwalk theatre and beyond. Simon Chilvers of the Guardian said Slimane's skinny musician boys looked "dated" compared to the way the majority of brands including Prada and Margiela are using male models today. "When you start to see clothes on a wider variety of male bodies," says Chilvers, "you cannot help but hone in on models that are particularly thin, such as some of those boys in the Saint Laurent show last night." Tim Blanks even mentioned the elephant in the room in his Style.com review saying "You don't even want to go there with the skinny." But it was left to writer and former LOVE editor Isaac Lock to say what everyone was thinking, and it went viral.

Lock (@IsaacJLock) highlighted the above photo of this emaciated boy on his Twitter feed last night asking the question: "This is aspirational, right?" which prompted hundreds of Retweets. The former LOVE magazine editor also Tweeted "Hedi's Home for Hungry Boys. Fashion, you're pretty fucked up sometimes." Which fairly summed up the thoughts of everyone who put their twopence worth in overnight on social media. Yes, fashion can be fucked up, yet we all know Hedi Slimane is an agent provocateur. He has always used skinny models. But this skinny?? Could he be using fashion's biggest taboo to gain press coverage? By lunchtime the photo had prompted stories on the New Statesman and Daily Mail websites among others and interested parties knew Hedi Slimane was back at YSL menswear causing a commotion. 

When I emailed Isaac Lock this afternoon to ask him why he felt strongly enough to publish his thoughts on Twitter he sent me the following.  What Isaac has to say strikes at the heart of the matter of why social responsibility remains relevant in fashion. 

"I reacted so strongly because I think there’s an unhealthy silence around men’s body issues both in and out of the fashion industry. Women, of course, are subjected to extreme body pressures all the time, but there is, at least, an ongoing conversation in the media about it. That’s less the case when it comes to men and it can be embarrassing for a lot of men to talk about the way they feel about their bodies. The way the fashion industry often works is to pile shame on people then invite them to buy their way out of it. For men, or boys, since with this show we really are talking about boys, to say that an image or an ideal is shame inducing can be very difficult - it opens the door to more shame - that they’re not manly enough, they’re not tough enough, they’re not cool enough to just get on with it like the boys in the show. 

"More than any other men’s designer, Hedi Slimane trades in hype. He trades in saying, "This is it, this is the coolest, most relevant idea there is." When he’s saying that, and then presenting that idea on a series of boys who have a body that it’s unhealthy for the majority of the male population to aspire to I think it’s important to say ‘Hey, what the fuck is up with you? Are you ok?'  

"In the years between Hedi Slimane’s time at Dior and his time now at YSL there’s been a change which means there are a lot of teenage consumers of fashion. They don’t consume it by buying it, though, they consume it in image form. They obsessively gather images of shows and shoots on their Tumblrs and send them around. They respond to fashion in the way that some of their peers might respond to music or sport. These are kids sitting at home in their bedrooms pawing over the internet probably dreaming, like a lot of us did, about escaping to a new, metropolitan, exciting life. They are kids who are at a vulnerable age and whose stock in trade is trying to work out what they can do to realise their fantasies.  For those kids who are interested in fashion, something like the Saint Laurent show must seem like the epitome of excitement and escape. The thing is, those kids, like the kids of the Dior era can’t buy the clothes. They can, however, emulate the bodies the clothes are shown on. I don’t think Slimane can ignore his teenage fans and say it’s not intended for them because, by appropriating the language of youth culture to sell stuff, he’s talking right to them, and what’s he’s saying is hollow, disempowering, crap."

What do you think?

BREAKING FASHION NEWS: NICOLAS GHESQUIERE LEAVING BALENCIAGA

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Nicolas Ghesquière by Irving Penn (image via Vogue.com)

PPR has this afternoon announced that Nicolas Ghesquière, who has been Creative Director at Balenciaga since 1997, will be leaving at the end of this month. Despite his long tenure, the news comes as something as a surprise after fashion's recent period of "musical chairs" seemed to have settled down. Indeed, amid the excitement of the debut collections from Raf Simons at Dior and Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent last month, Nicole Phelps ended her glowing review of Balenciaga SS13 with a statement underlining the house's importance in the Paris mix...

"What Ghesquière did today was a reminder to us all that Paris fashion isn't a two-man game."

SS13 flounces from Nicholas Ghesquiere at Balenciaga

Rumour has it that Ghesquière has been holed up in New York during the Sandy chaos and was spotted shopping in Barney's and "holding court in [the] tea room" (via @JillKargman). There has been plenty of praise for Ghesquière from key industry figures as news broke...

Balenciaga ‏@BALENCIAGA

Thank you Nicolas for bringing back all Cristobal Balenciaga’s values and creativity. Read more: http://bit.ly/PRpj5I 

Dazed Fashion Team ‏@Dazed_Fashion

Nicolas Ghesquière & @BALENCIAGA are to part ways at the end of this month after a spectacular 15 year collaboration that shaped 00s fashion

Derek Blasberg ‏@DerekBlasberg

Very depressing news for my well-off, fashionable fans of avant garde, conceptual French fashion: Nicolas Ghesquière to leave Balenciaga.

Alexandra Shulman ‏@AShulman2

Nicolas Ghesquiere unarguably one of the biggest talents in fashion leaving Balenciaga where he has been incredible 

There is already speculation that Stefano Pilati, who recently left Yves Saint Laurent and had landed a post at Ermenegildo Zegna might be a prime candidate to take the reins. Watch this space...

THE OTHER SIDE OF FASHION WEEK: BUYING WITH BRIX IN PARIS

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

You probably know Brix Smith-Start as the former rock star who is now a firm fixture on the front row at London Fashion Week, usually with her her pugs Gladys and Pixie tucked under her arm. You may also be aware that Brix co-owns a fabulous designer boutique called Start in Shoreditch with her husband, Phillip. That means that, despite appearances, fashion month is not all fun and front-row games for Brix but she spends a lot of time with her womenswear buyer Lizzie travelling around the key cities to choose new stock for her store. This season, I went along to a couple of buying appointments with the Start ladies while they were in Paris to get a little insight into what the other side of fashion week is like. I see plenty of buyers doing the rounds while I'm at showrooms but you never know quite what goes on. As a journalist, I'm vying for the big picture- what the look and feel of the collection is, as well as key pieces which are usually the "wow" catwalk creations. The crossover with the buyers comes from working out what it is we will all want to wear, what will be the key pieces and what works with the trends. As Brix and Lizzie explained though, it gets more even more specific than that for them because it's about knowing how their customer will want to interpret the latest looks as well as investing in pieces which will still be beautiful and wearable 5 years later.

Brix and Lizzie in Paris 

Our first stop was the mammoth Comme des Garcons showrooms in Place Vendome. Lizzie and Brix wanted to buy more of the brand's accessories and perfumes for Christmas and beyond, "they're such great price points for something which is so special and will really last, you'd love that as a gift wouldn't you?" Brix enthuses as we look at the brightly coloured purses and clutches. Errr, yes! Adrian Joffe, who is married to CDG designer Rei Kawakubo, greets Brix warmly while Lizzie goes through some paperwork with a member of the sales team. We quickly spy a shelf of CDG's famous wallets which have been updated with a spacey star print. Lizzie and Brix have seen them before but are still really excited about them. To demonstrate just how important these are, Brix removes her brogue and sock to show me her star print pedicure which she asked for the week before. "This is collective consciousness" she tells me, "it came into my head and now it is on these wallets which I'm going to sell in my shop. That's a really important thing to be turned on to, and you either have it or you don't".

CDG star prints + Brix's pedicure = Collective Consciousness

Lizzie vies for the fragrance shelves where she picks out some giant bottles of cologne which she says will be good for Start's men's christmas offering. There are also beautiful, pebble like limited edition fragrance bottles on display which Lizzie and Brix immediately agree on- "they're so special and you would keep them forever". Some of the number crunching which is a big part of buying comes into play as Lizzie works out which styles and colourways of all the things they love will realistically work in store. There are spongy, spotted gadget cases and metallic zipped leather wallets which all look great, but Start can't have them all. Lizzie explains that she decides there and then what she wants but will send through the quantities she wants to order a few days later. 

Keep forever Comme des Garcons art perfume bottles

After we've finished at CDG, Brix and Lizzie explain a bit more to me about how they buy a season. "You have three stages now to each season" Lizzie tells me, "Maison Martin Margiela do a pre-pre-collection so that's where you start to get the first ideas. At the show, the ideas are very directional. There might be a white shirt with huge, voluminous arms and shoulders. It's amazing, but we need to find a white shirt with a gentle version of that". Brix adds, "it's about something with a breath of Margiela magic but not the whole shebang". Later, trends begin to emerge which Start want to buy into but "we need to work out who is doing it best for the best price" Lizzie says. They also stress the importance of perceived value, "If I'm spending £700 on a dress it must look like it cost that much" says  Brix, "the absolute best thing, which makes me so so happy is when a woman spends that on a dress in my shop and then comes up to me 5 years later and is like 'I love this dress and it is still making me happy.' "

Brix's ultimate test for a product is the "fashiongasm". That is, if something fills her with an explosive, must-have sense of need then she knows she's onto a hit. FYI, Brix's recent fashiongasms have come from NEWGEN shoe designer Sophia Webster and the leather tote bags of Sophie Hulme. I think she has another when we move on to Alexander Wang's showroom. While we're perusing the shoe offering, Brix spies a pair of  black ankle boots which have a cutaway heel, lined in rose gold. She already has a pair but is pleased to see them again and describes wearing them as "having angels nibbling at my heels"- I'm not sure anyone could have put it better. 

Wang is more chaotic than Comme and we have to wait a while before a showroom representative comes to help. In the meantime, Lizzie and Brix are plotting their strategy for this appointment. They've already bought quite a bit of Wang's pre-collection. In fact, the way it usually works out means up to 70% of their buy comes from pre collections (and pre-pre in the case of Margiela) and the remaining 30% is made up of the main collections we see on the catwalks. 

A black shorts and top combo with sliced out segments sewn together with transparent thread is pointed out to Lizzie and Brix when they ask what the big sellers have been so far but they're not so sure it will work for their customer. However, when the model comes out wearing the pieces it looks like they might change their mind.The models are crucial because they show buyers how the pieces are cut and hang, it's not fail safe but if something doesn't work on a model then it's not going to work full stop. Lizzie and Brix dismiss a few pieces because "you could never wear a bra with that"and think about all the ways to wear items they like, they go through the options for making the lemon knit tank work and what you could wear with it. 

I learn that buying is about being quick, decisive, sure of your opinions but open to changing your mind and noticing the world around you. Brix tells me about the Isabel Marant Bekett wedge trainer phenomenon, "I remember going to the showroom and I actually preferred the Betty style but every girl in the showroom was wearing the Bekett, it felt like the hot thing. Nobody ordered enough that season, it was crazy". It's the perfect example of rising above your own level of taste to detect the general mood, "it was inelegant but actually really cool". Lizzie thinks a similar thing is happening at the moment with Kenzo, "I'd written it off as a very 80s brand which kind of belonged there" she tells me as they're about to head off to their buying appointment at the label, "but I'm adjusting my vision because there is so much buzz about it now". Funnily enough, minutes after I leave Brix and Lizzie I see two very cool Parisiennes with two giant Kenzo bags apiece slung over their shoulders. 

Thank you to Brix and Lizzie from Start. Visit the store at 42-44 Rivington Street, London, EC2 3QA.