Menswear, London Fashion Week Feb 2010.
Menswear day closes the end of fashion week and showing was Orschel-Read, as worn by Lady Ga Ga; even though he is a menswear designer, she still favoured his black winged trousers from last season. The show was held at The Vauxhall Fashion Scout and began with a model sporting a samurai ponytail, in a brown satin tailored suit with sharp shoulders. There were a few abstracted shaped tops with tribal and asymmetric prints, but his main theme throughout the collection was shoulder detail and clever paneling on his suits and jackets using leather, floral prints and tweeds then slotting them into the abstract shapes that he is well known for.
The next show was Omar Kashoura set in a 1940’s bistro near the Stand, put the romance back into menswear. There were a few high waisted flat fronted trousers overlaid with a thin cardigan or a soft floral satin collared shirt. The suits were tailored to look like they were from another period - but with a modern twist using modern and metallic materials – his collection is elegant and sophisticated. The show and the collection was very well thought out, in terms of how he wanted to present his collection and to set the mood.
A Child of the Jago was the last show to close the fashion week event and was in full attendance. It was held at a Shoreditch venue and a Miss Janet Jackson even managed make a swift appearance. The designer Joe Corre is the son of Vivienne Westwood, who was also there to support him. The show opened with an old man in a hat singing gypsy songs. There was an even percentage of casual and formal clothing in the collection; his style was very eccentric and eclectic but also very wearable. The collection was strong and memorable, and the pieces that I remembered the most were the camel blazer with the white trim collar and a monkey printed t-shirt underneath a red and white trim waistcoat.
Jimmy King
R.I.P. Alexander McQueen
The news has been spreading throughout the day that Lee McQueen, founder of the Alexander McQueen brand, was found dead at his home in Green Street, West London at 10am this morning. It’s especially tragic since there are rumours that he may have taken his own life.
McQueen was just weeks away from displaying his newest collection at Paris Fashion Week, and of course, he would have been a major presence at London Fashion Week, which is due to start just next week.
Being one of the most influential designers in a generation through his work at Alexander McQueen, Givenchy and Gucci to name just a few, he will be greatly missed by fashion lovers globally.
Our thoughts are with his friends and family. R.I.P.
Knowingly Understated – Joe Casely Hayford for John Lewis
I, for one, would not have believed you if you told me this collaboration was in the pipeline a couple of months ago. Now, I’m a believer and Stylenerds attended the breakfast preview event to see the collection before our very eyes.
The preview event was a great way to start the day and the man himself, Joe Casely Hayford was there to answer any questions. I’d also like to mention, the bacon sarnies & croissants were a welcome bonus to cure my hellish hangover.
Anyway, less about food and more about the collection itself. The collection was simply amazing and truly different from any other collaboration on the High Street at the moment (H&M, Uni Qlo or Topman). This is because of the multiple unique collaborations, not only between John Lewis and Joe Casely Hayford, but also with the likes of Barbour, John Smedley, Cheaney Shoes and Liberty.
Each collaboration offers something different from what you would usually expect.
The Barbour jackets featured in the collection, use exactly the same material you would find from Barbour but the tailoring and detail carry that Casely-Hayford influence.
Who is Joe Casely-Hayford?
Appointed an OBE for services to the fashion industry in 2007, Joe Casely-Hayford has enjoyed widespread acclaim for his designs since first making his mark on the industry in the late 1980s. Catwalk collections followed, showcasing on runways in Paris, London and Tokyo. His extensive work in the arts industry has included bespoke commissions for artists such as The Clash and Take That, as well as an era-defining wardrobe for U2. His most recent collection, co-designed with his son Charlie, has been widely praised for its ‘Afropunk’ originality.
The Joe Casely-Hayford Timeline
1975: Formal training at Tailor & Cutter Academy before graduating from Central Saint Martin’s School of Art
1989: Nominated for British Womenswear Designer of the Year
1991: Nominated for Innovative Designer of the Year
1992: Shapes iconic image for U2 designing wardrobe for albums Achtung Baby and Zooropa
2007: Appointed an OBE for services to the fashion industry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List
2010: Joe Casely-Hayford for John Lewis debuts in stores and online
Stylenerds Recommends…
The lightweight trench coat (pictured below) is the perfect solution if you ever ask yourself the below questions around March – June:
- I don’t want to wear my coat but will it get really cold when it gets dark?
- I don’t want to pay for the £1.50 cloakroom fee!
- I’m going to get too hot on the train and I bet it will be freezing when i get outside what do I wear?!
As a bonus, it can also be packed in a really nice bag should you feel a little hot under the collar.
The Joe Casely-Hayford Collection is available online and selected stores from March.
Check out the images below (more to follow)
From Fragrances to Watches – The Issey Miyake Watch Collection
Issey Miyake watches are another thing I have had my eye on for well over a year now. Since then, their watch collection has got a lot bigger with a wide variety of watches that are now available. However, there are 3 watches from the collection that I particularly lurve!
The Trapezoid was the first Issey Miyake watch that I had seen. The overall shape of the watch is the most striking feature to me. Even though it has these Manly gimmicks that a man apparently needs but never uses in a watch e.g: chronograph, Rotating Bezel, etc. The Trapezoid doesn’t have the typical shape of a watch that would have those features. The Bezel is very slim and steep and i have got to say, this looks ruddy beautiful! The Trapezoid comes in a range of colours and would be an ideal Christmas present if you are still stuck for ideas (And a bit of cash to spare…)
The TO Collection is a lot slimmer looking compared to the Trapezoid and it comes with less features (No bezel and no chronograph) but the dials are the main feature. I am going to go all geeky here but the dials are genius and it doesn’t take a lot of getting use to unlike a Nooka watch (Nooka’s are cool too! Just a bit tricky!).
Lastly, there’s the newer Twelve 365 which is has been designed by Naoto Fukasawa and is just as individual as the other two models. It has a 12 sided face (Yes, a Dodecagon) with minimal detail but I have to say my favourite is the brown leather strap version because it just has that classic twist to it.
Check out the whole Issey Miyake Watch collection here and to look for stockists go here.
Trapezoid
TO
TO
Twelve 365
Trapezoid 2
Easy on the Eyes and the Ears – AiAiAi Headphones
This is one of the 256 items sitting on my Christmas list right now (not that fussy am I?!). Ok, so it’s strictly not fashion but what the hell, these headphones look AWESOME. I first saw these headphones (Y model/Swirl 2.0) about a year ago when I last visited Hong Kong. I loved them but once again, my friend called “procrastination” tapped me on the shoulder and so, I didn’t end up buying them! Well a year has gone by since then and like true love, I still love them and there’s a new model that has been released called Tracks.
Y Model/ Swirl were the first pair AiAiAi headphones I saw and and they come in all kinds of colours. They also have a coil-like lead and even though I am not sure what it does on a technical level, It sure does look nice!
Tracks, like the Y model has been designed by Kilo Design and the design is based on the early Walkman head phones. The slider on the Tracks headphones connecting the ear can and the head band comes in three sets of different colours which is a nice touch. AiAiAi will also be releasing a leather version of tracks soon!
I’d like to throw one last headphone into the mix and that is the retro looking Panasonic HTX7. All of these headphones are ideal posing (It’s OK, we all do it…we just don’t admit to it!) and for the commute. Oh and by the way, these headphones have very good sound quality attributes which are miles and miles better than most of the mid-market headphones out there.
Go here to see your nearest AiAiAi headphones stockist
Panasonic HTX7 is available from here or Urban Outfitters
AiAiAi - Y-Model
AiAiAi - Tracks
Panasonic RP-HTX7
Uniqlo X +J – Best High Street Collaboration Yet?
Japanese high street retailer, Uni Qlo have teamed up with Jil Sander to create the +J range. On my lunch break, I decided pop over to see what all the fuss has been about. I was greated by a big queue and it took about 20 minutes to be granted access to the Uni Qlo palace on Oxford street.
As you would expect, the range is of high quality and you wouldn’t expect less from Uniqlo as I believe they make the best quality garments on the high street by far. The main difference between Uniqlo and +J is the tailoring. This is particularly evident on the +J suit jackets which have a much slimmer fit compared to Uniqlo’s more casual fit. The rest of the range features some nice little winter warmers which are perfect for this time of year and even some lovely cashmere jumpers.
Previous High Street collaborations may have sounded more attractive, for example, H&M X Comme des Garcons but I have to say, this has been my favourite because of the high quality in tailoring, choice of material and the versatility of the range to create a great outfit as the weather continues to cool. The + J range is only available at selcted stores and online.
22 Design Studio – Lord of the Rings?
The people behind 22 design studio are Taiwanese Design Graduates, Sean Yu & Yi-Ting Cheng. Why the number 22? Simple. They have kept their passion and ideals for fashion design since they were 22 years old. Their most popular product out at the moment is the Concrete Ring series. They chose to use concrete as their choice of material because it represents their admiration for architecture in Taiwan, Japan and is also a very unique material once exposed to the elements, which is why no two rings will ever be identical.
22 Design Studio Concrete Rings are available from their website 
