AIU (American Intercontinental University) London - Sustainable Fashion Show

AIU (American Intercontinental University) London hosted its last fashion show of the year in Marylebone Gardens. 

Award winning designs of the night were:

Image provided by AIU London

Emma Louise Murray’s Creative Drape gown. Recycled plastic bags were glued over the dress fabric giving texture and a pair of embellished white jeans draped around the shoulders as a shawl.

Emma was awarded an internship at Lipsy plus a Lipsy dress.

Image provided by AIU London

Taylor Scopes-Upton’s pristine white arctic parka outfit from the Precollections category earning a cash prize from Vilene Freudenberg

AIU’s December shows always contain experimental pieces and for this year it was to stretch the design students’ imagination to create ‘better quality or greater environmental value’ garments from ‘useless products’ or ‘waste materials’.

Creative Drape Fashion student - Rashaud Hightower

 Titled ‘Upcycle’, the design brief for the students was Reduce,  Reuse and Recycle.  
 Upcycle was then broken down into three themes: Creative Drape, 3D form and Precollections.

Reena Choudry - Creative Drape. Image provided by AIU London

The Creative Drape project instructed the students to take a blouse and make it into a new top incorporating the paisley fabric provided.

Designs were a collage of recycled fabrics including no longer worn garments, paisley fabric, plastic bags and old newspaper to well worn leather from old sofas and boots.

Sarah Bergman used her own old leather boots to create sleeves bringing an edgy touch to her Creative Drape white cotton gown.

 Rakayla Robertson was inspired for her 3D Form top by a stack of newspapers found on a bus, not wanting to throw the paper away. She also transforms a sweatshirt into a pair of low crotch harem style pants with the sleeves as the trousers legs.

Catherine Calderon removes the sleeves and cuffs from her striped shirt and re-uses them as part of the bottom of her trousers.  

 Shirt sleeves with the cuffs are also used as trouser legs in Amelie Scharfetter’s dip dyed outfit.

INSPIRATIONS FOR CREATIVE DRAPE GATEGORY:

Image provided by AIU London

Isaias Ponce was inspired by Russian girls who disguiesd themselves as boys to avoid discrimination and danger for her Creative Drape outfit

Brittany Dixon was inspired by volume and architecture for her Creative Drape gown

Carli Tallent inspired by golds and elegance.

Dafna Mayberg inspired by ways of folding and creating dimenstion to paper

Rashaud Hightower inspired by metals, rust and wire

Jeffrey Van Hare goes for the broken doll theme

Laurea Lindros - cosy warm and furry looks

3D Gategory:

Henna Abdul Karim

Roxanne Nahala

Anna Duarte

PRECOLLECTIONS CATEGORY:

Hazim Bangwar

Michelle Kasujja

Flaminia Mechoulan

Sarachimeg

Sarachimeg

Inspired by Gareth Pugh, make up created by the Session Hair was of dramatic white geometric shapes on eyelids and over eyebrows whilst the hair style by Electric Hair was sharp sleeked back pony tails.
Proceeds from the event will go to the FSSA Zambia, funding for Secondary School Assistance in Zambia.

Go this season's Edgiest Look with Faux Leather

Luxe leathers featured heavily in the AW12 catwalks showing a new sleek and chic look.
Get this season’s edgiest trend at a fraction of the price with these faux leather pieces from Jovonnista

Left to right

Frankie jacket with studded collar ( sale price  £30 )

Peeta skaterskirt with silver toned studs around the hem £45

Military green Deborah trench coat  £80

Available at www.jovannalondon.com

Linzi faux leather riding style boots

Left to right:

Crissie £35

Scarlet £35

Clara £35

Claudie £40

Heddie £40

All available from www.linzishoes.com

Chamilia create exclusive Make-A-Wish Bead

Chamilia has launched an exclusive Wish bead - a Sterling Silver bead adorned with sparkling electric blue Swarovski Crystal Elements.

This Wish bead was created to benefit the charity Make-A-Wish UK to help them in their quest to grant wishes to children aged from 3-17 who are fighting life-threatening medical conditions. 

 

 The Wish bead will be sold exclusively through Ernest Jones and H Samuel and will retail at £55.  Chamilia will be donating £12 to Make-A-Wish UK for each bead sold, with a minimum total of £37,500.
The wish bead can be found in store and on the websites:

www.ernestjones.co.uk product code 9810161, called Make A Wish bead

www.hsamuel.co.uk product code 9810234 and called a Hope, Strength and Joy bead

To celebrate their  partnership with Make-A-Wish International, Chamilia and Ernest Jones held a launch party at the glamorous Corinthia Hotel, Whitehall Place, London.
Celebrities who attended included Alexandra Burke, VV Brown, Jo Wood, Henry Conway, James Brown, Natt Weller, Meg Matthews, Katy B, Jamie Winstone, Amber Atherton and Made in Chelsea Francis Boulle to name a few.

Alexandra Burke

VV Brown

Katy B

 

Fashion for Jewels book available from QVC

Fashion for Jewels - 100 Years of Styles and Icons
 
Jewellery expert, Carol Woolton, has launched her book, “Fashion for Jewels,” on QVC.
A leading international authority on jewellery, Carol has written widely on antique and contemporary accessories, producing a number of books that explore jewellery design, trends and inspiration.

In this lavishly illustrated hardback, the renowned jewellery editor of Vogue examines the links between fashion and jewellery and the trends that have evolved over the years.  From timeless and elegant earrings to heavily embellished cuffs, Carol travels through the decades to depict a number of major trends and some of the most famous designers including Chanel and Van Cleef & Arpels. This book is an absolute must for jewellery lovers, available from www.qvcuk.com    for £16.00.
About The Author Carol Woolton is jewellery editor of Vogue and a leading international authority on jewellery. Previously, she was Tatler magazine’s first jewellery editor. She has written for The Times, The Financial Times and Art Quarterly.

Get Ready for the Downpour with luxury rainwear by Wanda Nylon

Wanda Nylon is a luxury fashion brand dedicated to rainwear and its 1^st collection is titled ‘Cyclone’
These coats are going to go down a storm!

 

Gone are the days of looking like a drowned rat, to be replaced with a big splash of contemporary chic and style. 

Available  at UK stockists:

 Browns 24-27 South Molton Street London, W1K 5RD

 Opening Ceremony 31-32 King Street Covent Garden London

www.wandanylon.fr

Fleur Kelinza Evening and Cocktail Collection

FLEUR KELINZA  mixes sophistication and elegance with a touch of sexiness for her  women’s evening and cocktail wear.

The collection is characterised by the use of a wide range of fitted silhouettes, exotic feathers and rhinestones.

Working with draped textiles such as lace and silk, Fleur creates the lustre and opulence in her garments.

Originally from Ghana, Fleur has added a touch of her own heritage by incorporating an ancient Ghanaian Adinkra symbol (Ram’s Horns, which stands for humility and strength) as her company logo.
 An interpretation of the symbol is shown along the side of the simple but dramatic red dress below, with the sleeve ruffles also emmulating the horns.

Key pieces in the current collection include:

The Navy French Lace Dress – a delicate and feminine cocktail dress, constructed with a delicately cut out lace overlapping an airy silk fabric.

The gold and black Flower Dress – A very feminine looking silk dress which has a cool vintage “Sex And The City” look. It has a pleated top with black and gold overlay and a high fitted taffeta waistline to enhance the feminine features.

More details on www.fleurkelinza.com

 

Ethical Christmas Stocking Fillers

Thes handmade ethical accessories make gorgeous Xmas stocking fillers

 Available online at www.ilovelowie.com

Or from their new Lowie shop at 115 Dulwich Road, Herne Hill, London SE24 0NG

Get the Look- Kelly Clarkson's Engagement ring

www.qvcuk.com

Handbag Xmas Wish List by Bag Servant

Have you sent your letter to Santa yet?

If it includes a handbag, then Bag Servant has a great way of making sure ‘Santa’ knows which one (or ones) you want.

Go online www.bagservant.co.uk , choose the bags and create your wish list by clicking on to the ‘add to favourites’ icon which appears as a heart just above each bag. Then in the top right hand corner of the screen., you’ll see another heart titled Favourite Bags. Click on this and it will show you all the bags you’ve selected.

Now you’ve created your ultimate wish list you can pass this on by clicking on the facebook, twitter or email icons and add an optional message (just in case they don’t get the hint).

Here’s a selection of bags in gorgeous colours available on Bag Servant:

Clockwise starting at the top left:

Fendi 2 Jours leather tote £1420

Red Folli Follie £65

Yellow Folli Follie £65

Ted Baker gold glitzy gliteer crystal matinee £70

Pink Marc by Marc Jacobs £59

Hope you’ve made it on to Santa’s good list!

SORAPOL SS13 COLLECTION - EUPHORIA

Sorapol SS13 collection Euphoria tells the tale of Catherine, a wealthy socialite who has it all. But she dreams of a world without struggle and where fantastical extravagance is commonplace. This is when she discovers Sorapol who welcomes her to Euphoria.

Taking place in the stark concrete building of an underground NCP car park, an impressive sleek panther motorbike revved down the runway as though he had just stumbled on to the show.

Enter the first model in a Barbarella-esque flesh coloured body suit stripped of one leg and one sleeve. A long skirt billowed behind like a parachute on a rocket re-entering the earth’s atmosphere – clearly a message to say Sorapol had landed and Europhia begins.

The sci-fi and asymmetry look extended to the footwear as one thigh high silver ‘foil’ leather boot (on the bare leg) was teamed with a silver ankle boot on the pant leg.  

Rather than strutting, the models staggered down the sparkling white powder lined catwalk as if intoxicated from taking so much Sorapol Euphoria.  Their faces were hidden by gauze masks designed by illustrator Achraf Amiri who used Illamasqua make up to mimic a few past and present celebrities. The masks help Catherine morph into her celebrity idols.

The Elizabeth Taylor model wore a mint green peplum dress which was amazingly ‘normal’ amongst this theatrical collection.

The Olsen twin models looked legless (literally) in their matching pant suits designed with just one pant leg.  Reminiscent of Clockwork Orange the twins wore embellished colourful bowler hats.

The Naomi Campbell model glowed in a fluorescent orange chocker and neon orange beads embellishing a split lilac gown.

The finale gown, worn by the Marilyn Manson model, brought a darker rock’n’roll style with a black floor length leather skirt shimmering here and there with metallic blue and a lace up  bodice adorned with a V-shaped double neck electric guitar splattered with violet pink and blue.

Like Euphoria the collection was larger than life and the colour palette bright and vivid. Catching a moment at the end of the show, designer Sorapol Chawaphatnakul explains that he sees the realistic world as dark and this collection transforms Catherine into the colourful world of Sorapol. Take Sorapol and you become your own superstar!