Meet Peggy

I was lucky to have made it to the Kinder Aggugini show this season in London. They had chosen a beautiful yet reduced venue, which was crammed. Luckily for me, I found a friend who couldn't make it to the show and I was happy again. Kinder is one of my favourite designers showing in London because I always love how he manages to create refined collections that still transpire his rebelliousness. For fw11 he said to be inspired by early 50's French fashion and Japanese designers of the 80's. As a result the collection made a point of juxtaposing from-hugging garments with sculptured jackets and coats, which created very interesting silhouettes. My favourite item was a cashmere mix coat dyed in a type of yellow degradé that seemed almost unfinished and had details, such as the gathered neck and the drawstring, which reminded me of sportswear or parkas.

As he did last season, Kinder commissioned hats from the genius Stephen Jones. This time they were sort of mini versions of top and fedora hats made of red, blue and green plastic and accompanied by veils. Once again, a great fusion of traditional and contemporary style (or "the fictitious marriage of Coco Chanel and Sid Vicious", as he described himself). There was also a rather elegant punk reference throughout most of the show, which, again, contrasted with the sparkly heels cuffed at the ankle that might have easily belonged to Dorothy.

I'm off.

[Pictures: soVIPzone, Style.com]

mal d'Afrique

Last night I was lucky enough to attend the SS11 Kinder Aggugini show. I first found out about him very randomly when his last summer collection came out and I was instantly attracted to his strong tailoring skills, his use of prints and his intelligent quirkiness. As I sat in the BFC show space of Somerset House going through the press release I became even more excited. The SS11 collection was announced to be inspired by 'Travels in the Interior Disctricts of Africa', the travel diary of a Scottish explorer, Mungo Park, in his journey through Africa. And Aggugini delivered. The first looks, three piece Saville Row linen looks gradually gave way to flashes of animal prints and eventually culminated in one-piece printed silk crepes. A representation of Mungo Park's journey from being a mere British colonialist to becoming part of Africa.

I particularly loved the black linen dresses with the degradé leopard details, the tiny blue cheetah prints, and the Stephen Jones hats made of cardboard and plastic but that suited the vibe of the collection completely and which looked surprisingly chic.
The music, a kind of rocky version of traditional African songs and the African inspired 'I want candy' version for the finale kept people moving to the beat and rounded up the best show I have seen at LFW so far.

To make the whole experience even more perfect, I got a third row seat by some very elegant Italian ladies (thank you to the Kinder Aguggini people!). As the show was about to start the ever magnificent Anna dello Russo walked in (cherry hair-do included) and so I made it my goal to run up to her at the end of the show and take a picture. This is the (blurry) result. What a perfect experience!

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com, my own]

Bring on LFW

With fashion month approaching I can't but start getting excited. Especially about the SS11 shows that will take place in London. I always enjoy LFW because everything feels so fresh and different from any other fashion week. These are the designers that surprised me the most or that I simply loved last season and whose spring lines I can't wait to see. Who are you dying to see?

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

safari 2.1

Safari has become one of those summer trends that never ever leaves but rather acquires different twists to try and reinvent itself. So I started thinking of taking a more literal approach to the trend. Instead of wearing beiges, nudes and khakis why should we not go for a more 'animal' option? I started thinking of my favourite animals —zebras, giraffes and lions. Unfortunately, no one really makes giraffe prints or lion wigs so I eventually settled for zebra and snakeskin prints. And the first thing that came to mind mind was the amazing stripped maxi dress from Acne. For their SS10 line they have done a lot of black and white stripes and this graphic version of snakeskin that are perfect for my trend.

But I needed to find something else with a bit more colour. That's why I found Kinder Aggugini —an Italian Punk trained at St. Martin's with huge names on his CV such as Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, Calvin Klein or Costume National. The most fascinating part of his career to me was his job as head designer of Versace following Gianni's death. His SS10 collection has an amazing mélange of 18th-Century fashion with a strong stroke of Punk (kind of a nod to Westwood by means of layering) and excellent tailoring skills. He is now on my list of designers to watch. [Check out his website, collections and buy here]

I'm off.

[Sources: Aggugini.com, MatchesFashion.com, Africancraftsandproducts.com, shop.AcneStudios.com, photography.NationalGeographic.com]