Iris Van Herpen’s 2011 Couture Collection Review

Iris Van Herpen’s 2011 Couture collection, entitled Escapism, without doubt takes you to another world. Inspired by the digital age that we live in, technology has played a huge part in the design process of her collection. Going with this theme of the digital world; Herpen has collaborated with acclaimed milliner Stephen Jones to create outlandish head pieces from bits of technology – from small wind turbines to mini speakers.


Garments made of 3D shapes, unusual bulges and plastic caging stalked the catwalk. The structuring of each piece plays hallucinogenic tricks on you; with so many folds, pleats and twisted fabrics the eye doesn’t know where to start. For this collection, Herpen has joined up with architect Daniel Widrig to develop innovating fabric techniques. Materials that are normally found in architectural structures were used to create this dominating framed look. Herpen believes that art and sculpture should go hand in hand with fashion.

There were some softer pieces though; a scrunch effect dress decorated with wisps of hair-like fibres was subtle but edgy. The cute fluffy booty shoes were designed by Rem. D Koolhaas, founder & creative director of United Nude; they added a sweet tone to the severe garments.

Herpen has created once more an avant garde collection of futuristic charm. Everyone is now waiting with impatience for her A/W11 ready-to wear collection in a few weeks time.



Louisa Kilburn

Interview with VFS Ones To Watch - Sara Bro-Jorgensen

Sara made her London Fashion Week debut at the Vauxhall Fashion Scout one day exhibition last season. In only one day she recieved significant buyer and media attention. We are lucky enough to have had a sneak peak at her new collection, and it totally took our breath away. Can't wait for her first catshow!

How are you feeling on winning the Ones to Watch from Vauxhall Fashion Scout?

I'm very pleased about winning and very excited about the show .

What did you do to celebrate?


I started working on my collection!


What was your experience in the fashion industry before forming your own brand?


I graduated with an MA from the Royal College of Art this summer. Before studying at the RCA I spend six month in Berlin doing a collaboration with the design label Boessert- Shcorn and before that I worked for knitwear designer Adam Jones in Paris.


Who is your favourite designer and why?


Azzadine Alaia, I love his drapes and way of shaping knitwear around the body


If you were not a fashion designer, what would you do?


I would work in art photography


What music do you listen to when you designing?


Charlotte Gainsbourg, Agnes Obel, The Kills, Pj Harvey, Love


What was your inspiration for your last season’s collection?


The collection was inspired by a series of black and white photographs I took with an old plastic camera. It is about contrasts and photographic imagery as well as light and dreamy layers. Furthermore it's about developing and combining knitting techniques that go from hand knit to graphic jaquard patterns.


Where would you like to see your brand in a few years?


As an established brand selling my collections in all my favorite shops and doing collaborations with people from other creative disciplines


Have you been to any of our mentoring event? What are your thoughts of the events? Have they helped?


I've been to a few of the evenings and find them very interesting and helpful


Are you looking forward to your show in London Fashion Week? What do you expect from it?


I'm very excited about the show and I expect to at least get some invaluable experience and hoping for lots of exposure too.


 
Kenny Wang

FAD's 10th Competition!

On Tuesday the 22nd of February one young designer will be launched into the industry’s competitive skies! Fifteen have been narrowed down from hundreds, but only one will pass through the pearly gates into career heaven. Two more runners up will receive stimulating support up the professional ladder. The successful candidate will collect £2000 along with a prominent industry placement. The runners up will also receive £1000 and a work placement. Previous placements have resembled a young designer’s dream where a winner worked with Vivienne Westwood. They enjoyed a Paris Fashion Week expedition and a feature in The Telegraph’s Stella Magazine.

This competition at Vauxhall Fashion Scout has been described by Vogue.com as an “undeniable springboard”. It is a highly desirable opportunity that inspires, motivates, supports and promotes fresh, young designers as they take their first steps into the high paced fashion industry.

The breadth of talent within the judging panel heightens the thrill of the opportunity. Prestigious names from a variety of creative and supportive areas in the industry include: Kate Carter, Web Life and Style Editor at the Guardian; James Wallman, The Future Laboratory; Wendy Dagworthy, Head of the School of Fashion & Textiles at the Royal College of Art; Anne Tyrrell MBE, Anne Tyrrell Design Consultancy and Chair of BFC Colleges Council; Martyn Roberts, Director of Vauxhall Fashion Scout and Tracey Bartlett, Senior Womenswear Designer at ASOS.com and 2002 FAD Competition Winner.

We thoroughly look forward to seeing how the competitors have tackled FAD’s theme where we “escape from the everyday into a place of wonder and distraction’. This competition has brought attention to many great talents of our current industry. February 22nd looks set to unleash even more relentless creativity in the form of three lucky, young designers.

Good luck to the fresh, new fifteen!

Charlotte Summers

2011 Exhibition Overview

If you thought you were spoilt for fashion-exhibition-choice in 2010, fear not, because there’s plenty more in store for 2011. First on the list, and a natural evolution of the inspiring Future Beauty at the Barbican, is a Yohji Yamamoto retrospective at the V&A. A site-specific installation – including a core gallery and hidden pieces placed around the museum – will offer a new perspective on the designer’s visionary garments, in keeping with Yamamoto’s unique perspective. Designed by long-term collaborator Masao Nihei, the main exhibition space will present over 60 garments from key men’s and womenswear collections, whilst contextualizing Yamamoto’s creative partnerships with Nick Knight, Peter Saville and Pina Baush.

Crossing the Atlantic to LA, the Museum of Contemporary Art presents Rodarte: States of Matter. Fresh from the success of Darren Aronofsky’s cinematic epic, ‘Black Swan’, this is the duo’s first solo exhibition on the West Coast. Installed as a series of conceptual vignettes, the sculptural qualities of the garments are revealed. The exhibition follows a run at New York’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, it seems the talented siblings can do no wrong.

And last, but by no means least, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will pay homage to the genius of Alexander McQueen, with an exhibition entitled Savage Beauty. Examining the impact of McQueen – from CSM graduation to a final, posthumous collection – the show will be arranged around themes including ‘Savage Mind’ and ‘Romantic Gothic’. We predict round the block queues, whilst hoping someone is kind enough to bring the exhibition to London, or sponsor our airfares.

Yohji Yamaomoto will run at the V&A from 12 March – 10 July 2011.

Rodarte: States of Matter will run at the MOCA from 3 April – 6 May 2011.

Savage Beauty will run at the Met from 4 May – 31 July 2011.

 
Victoria Loomes