Minki considers her collections and design process a dream like fantasy, where she is never fully awake or asleep, but never wishing to leave the creative space. This conceptual way of thinking about fashion is reflected in the collections she presents.
“The world Minki lives in is always high and low tide at once; a site where humble work wear shapes meet 70s glamour extravaganza, ruched organza and PVC.” This idea was demonstrated this season through the juxtaposition of voluminous ruffles on classic button down shirts and seemingly simple dress silhouettes. There was an emphasis that the collection is extravagant yet not un-wearable. Drawstrings were used, mainly on coats, to bring these large pattern pieces in to fit the body and fit ready-to-wear criteria.
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When you are attending a Tata Naka presentation you are really attending a Tata Naka photo-shoot.
In the 17th and 18th century room of the National Portrait Gallery, in front of a French family portrait, Tamara and Natasha Surguladze, the sisters behind Tata Naka, direct girls in florals and stripes for IPhone photos (which you can now see in one of the three Tata Naka Instagram accounts @tatanaka @tatanaka_2 @tatanaka_samplesale) Some of the models such as, Estelle Digridi and Charli Fletcher are veterans to the experience, being in the presentations season after season. The atheistic of Tata Naka is colourful and hectic, reflected in the atmosphere of the presentation. The Surguladze sisters are above all else are print designers and this season the feature fabric of choice was an orange, yellow, green, and blue-stripped designs. The cotton fabric was worn as shorts, pants, jackets, and dresses. There was also a strong sense of vintage inspiration in the collection. By using muted tones of traditionally bright colours and ankle lengths skirts the piece seemed as if they could have been borrowed from a 1960s garden party and placed in a portrait gallery. When I attended my first Sharon Wauhob show last season, knowing only that the designer had previously been showing in Paris for over a decade, I didn’t think that the atmosphere could be more beautiful. The Anglican Saint Cyprian’s Church looks like a regular building from the outside, but once inside there is a room filled with baroque paintings and light flooding in throw stain glass. This season in the centre of gothic arches and below a golden ceiling was a glowing white orb.
As the drum of the music started the models paraded around the orb like clockwork. Wauhob works brilliantly with large outerwear that is made unique by the attention to details. There was the use of feathers, ruffles, and silk to bring a soft spring touch to the square shoulder jackets and square toe boots. Being a brand that has a large accessory following the collection shows what are to be the biggest jewellery trends for the coming season. Used throughout the collection were gold and silver cocoon chains, worn both as rope like belts and wrapped around the wrist. The show reflected the angelic atmosphere and while the London trained designer has returned to the city the heart of the brand still remains in the streets of Paris. Flying back to London from Canada only allowed me to attended one full day of London Fashion Week this season, so I had to make sure that my day was full and my outfit worked for everything I attended.
I decided to go with monogram grey for the day starting with a grey beret. Unconventional for fashion week, but normal for me, I wore a yoga top, the Alo Yoga extreme crop crew neck in, showing a bit of a white lace bralette underneath. Next I wore grey trousers from American Apparel and black pointed boots from Office. For an accent I clipped a Rebecca Minkoff tassel to my belt loop, which was also a life-saver and one of my favourite things of the moment as it doubles as a phone charger. When I booked my flight to LA last month the next thing I did was book my appointment at the dreamy ARE YOU AM I Loft. ARE YOU AM I is the wardrobe for, “girls who get it” designed by Rumi Neely. And the Loft is where you can buy these perfect pieces in the prettiest location. Ever wonder how a model looks so good in a white t-shirt? Well the shirt is probably ARE YOU AM I. The body-suits and off the shoulder tops can regularly be spotted on all the it-girls, from Kendall Jenner, to Bella Hadid, and Chiara Ferragni. The Loft (the only place other than online to purchase ARE YOU AM I) is located in the fashion district of Down Town Los Angeles. The space is appointment only and you receive a completely private shopping experience. Even with the experience being so exclusive its not at all intimidating. You’re free to try on and take pictures at your own pace. Now that I finally have some ARE YOU AM I pieces I’ll always make time to stop into the Loft whenever I’m in town and build my perfect wardrobe. Or if ARE YOU AM I is ever looking for someone to rent out that bed I’ll be first in line. Men’s Fashion Week street-style is always a different game. To start, if you’re not a man chances are 75% of the photographers don’t care about you or what you’re wearing. The 25% who may be interested in you are looking for the trends that have been on the previous men’s week runways, meaning you’re better off in a Balenciaga sweatshirt and a Supreme cross-body bag than heels and Gucci embroidered purse.
I was lucky enough to be photographed for Basement Approved by Damilare Joseph on the last day in my favourite outfit I wore all week. I wore the Palace yamen joggers paired with black cage heels. I wanted the joggers to be the focus of my outfit so I wore a cropped Zara top with shoulder pads and a black Saint Laurent bag. Lastly I wore the widely popular trend of yellow tinted aviators, which I bought from Urban Outfitters. |