Dispatches from London: LFW opening weekend
Welcome to London Fashion Week! After religiously checking the weather for days before my departure, this fashionista has been blessed with dry weather and sunshine—shocking for this city.
No major Anna Wintour sightings yet—although she is reported to be here covering the shows for the 25th anniversary of the British Fashion Council. I did spy her at the fall shows last February in New York, though, so I know exactly what the tiny bobbed one looks like in person. I’m keeping my peepers peeled!
Unlike New York, shows start on time here, which means I missed the 9:30 a.m. Mark Fast show [check out a video here]. (Turns out the venue was 20 minutes away from Somerset House, the official home of LFW where I had to pick up my press badge before heading over.) I did manage to catch the Ashish show (see the video above), where Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child sat front row. The collection was very “worldly”—think shirtdresses with the Eiffel Tower on the front, followed by pieces with a map of Italy and later, the Statue of Liberty. There were also pieces with a decidedly flamingo-meets-Hawaiian hibiscus feel, and everything—seriously, everything—in the show was sequined or had spikes on it (and often both). I’m pretty sure I spotted a grimace from Suzy Menkes.
But the ultimate highlight of LFW so far? Getting shot (wearing Helmut Lang slouchy pants and a Topshop faux fur vest) by Garance Doré, who’s in town for fashion week, attending shows and supporting her Sartorialist boyfriend, Scott Schuman, whose appearance at Liberty I’ll be attending later this evening. Plans for the rest of today include checking out Somerset House before the Christopher Kane show, meeting up with Mark Fast and his managing director, Amanda May, an Aquascutum presentation, and hoping for a glimpse of the Miller sisters at their Twenty8Twelve show this evening.
