PARIS SHOWROOMS| The Art of Handcraft SS15

This season, Fashion Scout Paris returns to its showroom in the heart of Marais. We are celebrating the talent of 22 exciting new UK and International designers across our two floor showroom space.

SS15 sees a focus on the return to the art of handcraft and traditional process. Today we feature designers Cats Brothers, Le Photographe and Mariana Jungmann whose work all interprets this theme in their own way.

CATS BROTHERS

Cats Brothers where founded and handmade in London and are a brand heavily influenced by street culture and music. They bring a crafty twist to fun and wearable streetwear with the addition of embroideries and knitwear panels. We spoke to Lindsay, the designer behind the brand:

What inspired your SS15 collection?

This collection is inspired by the idea of dressing up, disguises and joke shops. It is very playful. I always tend to make my collections fun and playful, it’s kind of my style!

I know it is hard for a designer to pick but what are your favourite pieces from this collection?

My favourite pieces are always sweatshirts and the t-shirts. They always tend to be the staple pieces of my collections.

How do you design and develop your collections?

This is actually my first season when I develop my own prints which has been very exciting. Overall, more thought is put on texture, prints, embellishments, technique of fabric and generally whatever is happening on the fabric rather than the shape.  So far all production is kept in Hackney, London and I hope I can keep it that way. Being a knitwear designer and focusing on the good quality of knits I would love to be able to produce the knitted pieces in Scotland.

Do you like the idea of adding accessories in your collection to complement the outfits?

Yes, this season we have a few clutch bags with exciting patterns. The idea behind having the clutch bag is that it acts as an additional layer to the outfits. I love clashing patterns so someone can easily add a striking patterned bag to add excitement in the outfit.

MARIANA JUNGMANN

Brazilian designer, Mariana Jungmann has always been inspired by renaissance lace since a small child. The particular shapes of the lace help to identify it as traditionally Brazilian, used in many households as tablecloths and to decorate the home.

How do you manufacture your clothes?

I design the lace and then I send it to a community in Brazil, which produce the lace. Then this gets shipped to the UK, where I assemble the garments and it is afterwards produced in Europe.

Is ethical fashion an important aspect of your brand?

I support the lace making community in Brazil, not only financially but I also teach them some techniques that I know, which they can use when producing the lace. I also believe in slow fashion and how it can impact the world. I only use natural fibres since they are more biodegradable.

What message do you want to put forward through your brand?

I want to say to women that they can still be feminine and be strong. You don’t have to wear a suit to prove your power. Looking feminine, vulnerable and sexy doesn’t reduce your strength.

LE PHOTOGRAPHE

Le Photographe defines its style as being a fusion of modern embroidery techniques, graffism and embellishment within draped forms and structural cutting. Their pieces include intense sections of hand embroidery.

What is your brand about?

Le Photographe is about creative cutting. The designer, Chris, has been pattern making for a very long time so the techniques and the shapes used in the designs are a very important aspect of the brand. The pieces are feminine, wearable and portray beautiful embroidery.

What sort of techniques do you use in order to produce the garments?

Everything is handmade. So techniques used are hand-weaving, hand-beading and fabric manipulation. We want to bring luxurious techniques to simpler fabrics, in order to bring out the best of every fabric. Some garments in this collection have taken numerous hours to hand-make. For example, the silver duchess gown took 2200 man-hours to produce!

What is the concept behind the SS15 collection?

Nature and fresh colours are the theme of this collection. The prints are mainly inspired by magnolia flowers and they are portrayed in various different ways according to the technique used in each garment.

Cats Brothers, Mariana Jungmann and Le Photographe are on show as part of Fashion Scout’s Paris Showroom. You can view their collections at 23, Rue Du Roi De Sicile, 75004 until the 30^th September 2014. Opening hours are: 10am till 7pm daily, closing at 5pm on Tuesday 30^th.

INTERVIEW| Le Photographe

With Le Photographe's SS15 collection fresh off the catwalk, we caught up with founder Christian Beales to get his thoughts on showing at Fashion Scout and find out more about the inspirations behind his collection.

What has inspired your SS15 collection?

We were interested in a variety of things. We started looking at embroidery and surface design to see what we could do with them. We looked at manipulating fabric within the embroidery but also in developing the silhouette so I think that we were very free in how we approached it. Flowers were a simple idea that we took to almost knit this season's collection together. We wanted to keep it simple because we really wanted to explore a variety of things and see where our handwriting was going. This is essentially our first proper season so we just wanted to see how things happened naturally.

How did you decide upon a colour palette for your collection?

Very organic - you just throw it all up in the air to see what jumps out at you. We were very conscious of not using too much black so we decided that white was the real strong element here so that was the backbone of the palette. Then we wanted to have a soft colour and a strong colour so we've got the lemon and the fuchsia which was the interspersed with black so it was a four colour palette and then we added some other colours to enrich it.

How did you find the process of showing your work in the form of a presentation?

It is just a great learning curve. The tough thing about a presentation is actually presenting in a static way and I think that was something which I really grappled with at first but developing the mannequins as I did I think we've got somewhere with that.

What do you think of Fashion Scout as a platform for progression?

Phenomenal. You can't describe it. It has been a dream. I never thought that it would ever get to this level but Fashion Scout lifts you up to a point where you really think that you can go for it and so we thought this is an opportunity and we are going to go for it and so we have and it has been great.

By Charlotte Muscat, (@CharlotteLM9).

Photograph by Hugo Nogueira 

COLLECTION| Le Photographe SS15

Headed by designer Christopher Beales, Le Photographe's SS15 collection takes inspiration from the biblical narrative of the "garden of temptation", showcasing a collection offering texture and detail in abundance. 

Le Photographe took to the Fashion Scout runway in the form of a presentation. Meshed mannequin formations filled the centre of the room as models strutted through displaying a collection in which the traditional collided with the contemporary with truly stunning results. Juxtaposing directional billowing hemlines with intricate floral embroidery, Beales' silhouettes bloom into organic shapes demonstrating an innovative take on classic design, exaggerated shoulder detail and faultless fabric manipulation culminate in an elegant yet modern aesthetic whilst still retaining a feminine edge. 

Illustrating a wealth of texture in the form of shredded jacquards and woven raffia and chiffon, Beales' attention to detail appears effortless, with floral prints trailing through to the inside of garments while tailored jackets and classic shirts are revived with voluminous, draped hemlines. A fresh colour palette of fuchsia pink, lemon, and white tones with an occasional hint of black beautifully complement a collection in which organic shape takes centre stage. Beales offers a contemporary interpretation of classic evening wear throughout.

By Charlotte Muscat, (@CharlotteLM9).

Photographs by Hugo Noguiera

BACKSTAGE| Le Photographe SS15

This evening at the backstage of La Photographe’s Vestibule presentation, Fashion Scout caught up with head of hair Scott Jordan and head of makeup Lan Nguyen Grealis to discuss the looks that are going to complement the designer’s presentation.

“It’s all about having that block graphic eye, and having different tones of white along the skin, so highlight the cheekbones, highlighter on the lips, all kept quite cold,” explains Lan, who created the look based around the hats designed by the La Photographe. Maintaining a futuristic element the key features of the face are highlighted.

Using products by The Body Shop, a white kohl pencil creates a feminine block look on the eyes, which is finished off by the shimmery white eyeshadow, Sugargaze, that also acts as a highlighter. The final look is minimalistic, layered and clean, with clear lines used to highlight the look beneath the hats.

Head of Hair Scott Jordan created a feminine, delicate look working around the hats, which he considers to be one of the key pieces to top off the designer’s look. “We are intertwining the hair to mould into the hats, so the hair becomes quite origami,” he explains. “All the clothes are quite powerful and strong with a very feminine look, and these hats just set it off.”

To create both the intricate looks around the hats and the more relaxed, straight down hairstyles, the team is using Label M. Volume Mist, Hair Spray and Hold & Gloss spray, which hold the sleek and groomed look in place.

By Biju Belinky (@bijubelinky)

Photographs by Elizabeth Hodson

DAY FOUR| Fashion Scout London SS15

There may only be two presentations on the fourth day of Fashion Scout London but that's not to say that the showcase of international talent will be any less exciting. Here at the Freemasons' Hall, Jay Briggs and Le Photographe will showcase their SS15 collections.

As well as this, our exhibition will be open all day until 6pm and will feature a selection of the best up and coming designers including out Merit Award winner and our Ones To Watch designers.

Be sure to check back to the blog throughout the day for more interviews, as well as the presentation reports. 

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DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT SS15| Le Photographe

By giving an edge to traditionally feminine shapes through modern embroidery and structured cutting, up and coming womenswear brand Le Photographe celebrate the dainty without forgetting about practicality. Headed by designer Christopher Beales, who was previously the senior womenswear tailor in Tom Ford for three consecutive seasons, Le Photographe made its debut in March 2014, showing their AW Ready To Wear collection at the Trace Showrooms in Paris.

For their AW14 collection, the brand showcased an array of highly feminine garments in desaturated colours, featuring a soft play in textures. Using transparencies to highlight the geometric detailing, the collection featured delicately embellished, well-structured dresses. The details and the attention to the craftsmanship of the pieces made Ready To Wear as Couture as it can be whilst forever thinking of the modern, yet timelessly glamorous woman.

Forming an identity around detail and technique, Le Photographe shows a balance between the contemporary and the traditionally beautiful, using high quality materials and cutting to create a new take on the traditional feminine silhouette.

Having previously worked at a senior pattern cutter at Alexander McQueen and travelling to Mumbai to set up a workshop at a leading embroidery and manufacturing house, Beales brings together an array of skills and techniques that make Le Photographe. Made up of high quality garments whilst always paying attention to wearability and personality, Le Photographe are sure to shine through in this season's Fashion Scout catwalk.

By Biju Belinky, Contributor, (@bijubelinky).

Images, courtesy of Le Photographe