Inspiration – Page 4

London Fashion Week SS14 at Somerset House

Published on September 17, 2013September 17, 2013 by Alicja JasnikowskaLeave a comment

Yesterday I finally made it down to Somerset House to check out the London Fashion Week SS14 showrooms. The Courtyard houses the main tents where models take to the catwalk in the designers visions for Spring 2014. Yes, just as normal folk are beginning to pull on jumpers and dust off their coats, the fashion folk are projecting what will be the hottest trends when the sun reappears sometime around March. Here is a summary of what I saw and what I loved.

London Fashion Week SS14 New Gen entrance hall

First stop was the Topshop sponsored New Generation hall where the next big things in fashion tout their wares. My favourite shoe designer of the moment, Sophia Webster, showed off a display of her signature candy coloured, kooky heels, predicting bold colours and clever heel detailing for next spring. Oh and jelly heels! My particular fave is the ‘Killer’ stiletto, surely the shoe Bridget Fonda’s rival should have worn in Single White Female…

Shoes, such pretty, pretty shoes by Sophia Webster for SS14

A lot of the New Gen hall was empty as catwalk collections by the likes of J. JS Lee and Simone Rocha hadn’t made it to the showrooms yet, so I headed upstairs to the Ready to Wear Emerging and Contemporary collections.

First stop was Zoe Jordan who showed at the early hour of 9am on Saturday morning, and put out a collection inspired by a grown up skater girl. Expect sports influenced pieces such as white punched leather tees married with printed silk dresses, in a palette of white mixed with bold hues.

Fresh from the catwalk: Zoe Jordan’s ‘Pretty Vandals’ SS14 collection

Christopher Raeburn’s collection also had an overlying sportswear feel (a trend that refuses to go away) with high-tech fabrics worked into chic printed separates.

Christopher Raeburn’s SS14 vision

Georgia Hardinge has this year decided to focus on her buyers and will be presenting a show in Shanghai next week, but for London she was on hand to explain her pretty printed silk dresses and clever pleat inserts. Collaborating with a specialist, she has created intricate origami shapes hidden within her box pleat skirts and tops. Beautiful!

The designer herself, Georgia Hardinge wearing a pleated piece from her SS14 collection

Another brand that caught my eye was Paper London, which featured gorgeous laser cut jackets and wide sculptural garments in a tight palette of white, red and navy.

Paper London’s intricate cut-outs for SS14

Onto emerging talent where Jane Bowler’s hand-cut leather and PVC plastic creations were drawing attention. Strong editorial garments, plus amazing jewellery and reworked trucker caps means this brand will be a winner with the streetwear and music crowd.

Hand cut leather and PVC plastic pieces from Jane Bowler SS14

Finally I loved the pleat work, colour combinations and printwork of Heohwan Simulation’s SS14, who showed off-schedule on Day 1 of London Fashion week. Definitely one to watch…

Monochrome and yellow at Heohwan Simulation SS14

In the afternoon I managed to catch a presentation at the stunning Freemasons’ Hall showcasing the work of Natasha Zinko – a cute floral stage and pretty ethereal vibe in a succinct collection.

Natasha Zinko SS14

I was supposed to attend the dramatic Pam Hogg show at 5pm, but after queuing for over 30 minutes with what felt like half of London my tired feet got the better of me and I decided to give it a miss. I hear it was quite the crazy with magpie hats and more refined silhouettes mixing with the usual latex catsuits.

London Fashion Week SS14 draws to a close today and the crowds of fashionistas in towering heels will move onto Milan for the next round of shows. Although not until they have partied at tonight’s closing parties, put on by the likes of Harper’s Bazaar and Dazed and Confused. When in Rome…

London Fashion Week SS14 runs from 13-17 September 2013 http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/ at Somerset House

For further details of featured designers: www.sophiawebster.co.uk; www.zoe-jordan.com; www.christopherraeburn.co.uk; www.georgiahardinge.co.uk; www.paperlondon.com; www.janebowler.co.uk; www.heohwansimulation.com; www.natashazinko.com.

London Letters

Published on August 22, 2013 by Alicja Jasnikowska2 Comments

Well, what a busy and inspiring 10 days I have had. As well as filming the last Ashley Banjo’s Secret Street Crew of series 3, I have also just styled a 4 day online street style campaign for Gap. This featured real people and the casting was superb – a truly unique & creative group. My blogs over the next few weeks will be a testament to all the new things I have seen or heard about recently.

The first I would like to mention is a great company called London Letters that I stumbled across in Old Street tube station early last week. Being both creative and interested in words this really caught my eye. The concept is naturally occurring unique letters on the streets of London, be it buildings, graffiti, railings, doors – you name it, owner Richard has shot it. He has even been known to spot an O in a pile of litter…

With a background in architecture you could say Richard has always had an acute eye for detail, however it was after an inspiring trip to Chicago in 2011 that he decided to start the London Letters project. The images can be purchased as individual letters on cards or postcards (cards £2 each, postcards £1) or as A4 or A3 prints, with London area names such as Brixton and Wood Green currently available. Richard also happily takes commissions & letters can be spliced together to create personalized messages or prints, making a fabulous present for that difficult-to-please friend who has everything.

The top letters are those featuring bold colour or a strong graphic shape – check out the R above – but the key is that all of these can be found around London and there is no editing or rotating of images. Each comes with a distinctive tag with the company logo and the location of the letter, so you can go and see it for yourself in situ. Buy some to give as birthday cards or go for a full set of A-Z and use them to teach your child the alphabet. As you can see I have created my own version of my blog name using the letters. So much fun!

For more info and to buy online go to London Letters www.london-letters.co.uk

Urban florals

Published on August 15, 2013 by Alicja JasnikowskaLeave a comment

This week I have been very busy with two big jobs. One is a street style international online campaign for Gap, and the other is styling for the final episode of series 3 of Ashley Banjo’s Secret Street Crew (Sky 1). We started filming this series as far back as March, but had to have a 2 month break whilst Ashley and the Diversity boys filmed another show.

One of the options for our final group (which consists of 6 lovely ladies) is a floral bomber jacket. Unfortunately, I can’t divulge whether we are going with this look but it has inspired a street style blog about said jackets. I hope you like them…

If you like the look and are after something similar then Dorothy Perkins has some fab options in the sale. Buy a size too big and team with shorts for summer and trousers for winter. A black and white tee also looks good (as seen in the above images) whether it be linear or graffiti text. Heels or high tops are my preferred footwear for this look.

All the above jackets are from www.dorothyperkins.com and are in the sale so you better be quick…

On another floral note, I also found this rather cute floral baseball cap by a brand called T.W.O Face – an independent urban clothing label from London. Check out their other styles here http://theworldsoriginalface.bigcartel.com/

Baseball cap by T.W.O Face London

A riot of colour

Published on August 9, 2013 by Alicja Jasnikowska1 Comment

Today’s blog is about my new favourite place. No, it’s not a boutique selling aggressively reduced Acne and Stella McCartney (although if anyone knows one of those please do let me know). It is a very unassuming fabric store right on my doorstep in South London. If you are coveting all the dramatic prints that have been filling stores this summer, but don’t want to find yourself along with several others in a matching dress, then this store may be just the ticket. Stocking a huge range of gorgeously patterned 100% cotton waxed fabrics, this is a treasure trove of bold daring prints. The pictures speak for themselves. Fabrics are sold in set lengths, but if you don’t want the whole 6 yards there is a selection of 2 yard off-cuts that sell for £5. Yes, that’s £5! This is like manna to a serious bargain hunter such as myself.

I have bought 3 different short lengths over the last few months and always pop by for a quick peek or to see if one of my favourite fabrics has made it to the off-cuts rail. With my first 2 yards I made unique cushion covers as presents for my friends’ weddings. This is enough fabric for two 20x20in cushions and then some. Both couples were supremely happy with their gifts (or so I am led to believe). Another length I am hoping to make into a summer dress or top, or even perhaps a pair of harem trousers if I’m feeling brave. The final length has yet to be assigned a plan.

A home-made cushion cover I gave as a wedding gift

The fabric is very durable and so perfect for both interiors and hard-wearing clothing. The tradition of using batiq to create these wax print designs goes back over 150 years. Produced originally by the Dutch and sold to West African traders, these fabrics soon became synonymous with African culture, and prints were given unique names by the traders based on characteristics in the design.

A selection of the amazing fabrics available at Sovereign Textiles in Tooting

If you don’t have a fashion degree, or aren’t adept with a sewing machine, then take the fabric to your local tailor and get yourself an original custom-made garment. I highly recommend Andy Piccos of Stitchin Biz (find his blog at http://andypiccos.com ) who I have worked with for years and is a wiz with a pair of scissors and a measuring tape. Otherwise try your local dry-cleaners, who often have competent and reasonably priced tailors on hand. Or be daring and turn your nimble fingers to a needle and thread. At only £5 you can afford to make a couple of mistakes and you never know… you may unleash the next Alexander McQueen.

Sovereign Textiles, 113 Mitcham Road, Tooting Broadway, London, SW17 9PE. T: 020 8682 1444. www.sovereigntextiles.co.uk
Opening hours 10-5:30pm but call in advance to check as they are quite flexible

For further information about the history of West African fabrics go to http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/design/2012/03/african_fabric_where_do_tribal_prints_really_come_from_.html

A little wedding inspiration

Published on August 6, 2013August 6, 2013 by Alicja JasnikowskaLeave a comment

We all know that weddings can be quite a handful to organise. From choosing the location to finding the perfect dress, booking the band to creating the table plan (including the inevitable friendship fallout this can incur), weddings are a minefield of do’s and do not’s.

I recently attended the nuptials of a fabulous friend of mine Davina to her gorgeous fella Bash, and was blown away by the attention to detail and the creative and personal touches they brought to the event. Held in a marquee in a field at Bash’s old primary school, the day was peppered with scholarly touches, with dinner-money envelopes being utilised as name cards and an old desk being used as the collection table for cards and gifts. Furthermore, Davina’s lovely mother had even hand-stitched printed tags of Davina and Bash’s names (the type your own mum used to sew into your itchy grey school jumper) onto yellow ribbon to tie around the serviettes. These we proceeded to tie around our wrists festival-style and I actually didn’t remove it all week.

Unique themed name cards, table names and serviette ties

School desk for the card collection and wedding book (image by Zelda Cave)

The marquee before the mayhem (image by Jess Haskins)

The overall colour scheme was yellow, with a highlight of blue, and an extra theme of cricket also ran through the decorations. Table names were printed onto mini cricket bats and as per the finest summer tradition, there was a reference to fetes that saw games on the lawn including a coconut shy, skittles and even a traditional ice-cream stand.

The wedding date on the cricket score board (image by Zelda Cave)

Guests enjoyed champagne on the lawn accompanied by a very happy accordion player

The bridesmaids in yellow frocks with bright blue shoes (image by Zelda Cave)

The gorgeous bride Davina enjoying her ice-cream (image by Hayley Young)

There were other wonderful touches. Rather than one cake, Davina and Bash decided to opt for an array of flavours including passion-fruit, lemon drizzle, chocolate and Victoria sponge (if memory serves me correctly). These were all presented under a rather cute hand-stitched sign, made by a friend of the couple.

Cake anyone? Gorgeous hand-stitched signs (image by Zelda Cave)

Ornate cutlery (image by Poptart pics)

Of course a wedding blog wouldn’t be complete without a detail pic of the bride in her dress. Davina channelled Grace Kelly in her stunning backless lace gown with chic pearl headpiece. No wonder Bash looked so happy.

The first dance (image by Poptart pics)

A cheer from the groom

If you are newly engaged and are in the early stages of planning a wedding I thought these images may inspire you. I think the bride and groom did a great job. I hope you like the pics.

Main holding picture of Davina Perkins and Bhaskar Maji arriving at their wedding, 20th July 2013 (image by Poptart pics)