Everybody loves Carven
JustJared, Getty, MyFashDiary, The Man Repeller

I am sure I haven't been the only one to notice how successful Guillaume Carven's S/S 2012 has been so far. But what I think is most grate about this popularity is the fact that the women that have been wearing his designs are totally different from each other. Beyoncé and her sister Solange did a super sexy take on his blouse and asymmetrical dress while others like Bérénice Bejo, Jessica Alba or Lily Collins went for a more demure look. And even hip trendsetters like Leandra Medine from The Man Repeller and Tala Samman from My Fash Diary find a way to incorporate Carven pieces in their contemporary looks.
Carven quite simply hits all the right notes – classic shapes, contemporary cuts and timeless prints. The S/S 12 collection is one of those lines you and your mother could buy literally in its entirety and both of you would wear each and everyone of the pieces, no doubt.

Below, I have done a selection of my favourite Carven printed summer pieces. Follow the numbers underneath for the links to the products' website.

1. Striped cropped cotton-blend jacquard jacket, 2. Striped high-waisted jacquard shorts, 3. Asymmetric cotton-blend jacquard dress, 4. Printed jacquard platform sandals, 5. Striped jacquard and leather sandals, 6. Striped cotton-blend jacquard mini skirt, 7. Printed silk-chiffon and lace dress 

Would you rather... Miu Miu's or Prada's prints?
Style.com

The fashion week month clothes yesterday in Paris after four weeks filled with, I must say, some pretty strong collections. I haven't been able to post about all the interesting bits of my favourite ones so this is the perfect time to start sharing those with you –starting with the rest of my LFW highlights.

Miu Miu was among the very few lucky shows on schedule the last day and it's always one that doesn't disappoint. After Prada's strong collection of prints I didn't think I would like the Miu Miu line as much. I often tend to like one more than the other every season. But after looking at the FW12 offerings from Miu Miu I must say I am loving their prints. They have a more sophisticated and subtle feel to them and I really liked the sort of garçonne look with a sense of humour of the collection.

Know Wear, Style.com

For SS12 Mary Katrantzou went for a much more abstract approach to the prints that have made her so famous and covetable. It was so that it almost felt like you had walked into, say, the Gugghenheim museum in Bilbao to watch a moving abstract painters exhibition. The huge metallic tubes that served as the backdrop at the old Eurostar terminal at Waterloo station added to this illusion.

I must confess I found this new approach to prints –oversized, slightly distorted- fascinating. The silhouettes, sexier and less rigid than we'd seen before, still retained that regal air Katrantzou was famous for. Cocktail dresses carried a train at the back or had long sleeves. The most striking and, to me, unexpected of the looks was perhaps the scrap metal asymmetrical dress that closed the show. The designer had used coloured cans to create a stunning effect. Even the way the metal sounded as the model walked was charming.
It was a much more wearable collection than we've seen before but this didn't take away from beautiful and almost magical world that Katrantzou's fashion always manages to take you to.

Style.com
a. Mary Katrantzou blouse @ Matches and Markus Lupfer skirt @ Net-a-Porter, b. Mary Katrantzou blouse @ Net-a-Porter and Dolce & Gabbana skirt @ Net-a-Porter

Some times it's hard to see how runway looks could translate onto the street before designers edit their pieces for retailers. Especially with the best collections.

Mary Katrantzou is always on my top 5 favourite London designers. However, apart from Anna dello Russo and a couple of other fashion insiders who wear Mary during fashion week it's hard to find her clothes on regular people.
It looks like Katrantzou has actually done a great job adapting her famous prints on ready-to-wear items. My favourite are the printed shirts and blouses. Thinking of how you could buy them and wear them in a way to resemble Mary's aesthetic. Instead of pairing them with a printed skirt or trousers I think the best option would be to wear the Katrantzou blouses with a textured skirt like the tweet ones to the right. They work as a pattern that keeps the outfit interesting without being too overpowering or bold and staying fashion-forward and true to the designer's vision.

How would you wear Mary Katrantzou?

I know bold prints —Jil Sander, Stella McCartney, Céline and the lot— are pretty much old news. But the fact is that I am currently very much inspired by them. Not only they match my jolly summer mood (despite London's temperamental weather) but they look über-cool when carefully combined with other prints.

As a man, I have to be even more careful with my print combinations but you ladies are so lucky to be able to go a lot crazier. I am loving stripes and flower prints at the moment, especially if the florals are a bit funky and look quite collage-y.

Which prints will you be wearing this summer?

There has been no images of Mischa Barton for a while. Ever since she failed to continue her career after The O.C. with her short-lived 'The Bautiful Life' TV show she sort of fell off the radar.

She did make an appearance at Cannes last week for the amfAR gala, where she was a host. She then looked quite a lot like her old self in a strapless sequinned black gown, which made me hope for a comeback.

Last night she was seen out at Mahiki in London wearing a Matthew Williamson dress and blouse combo that, to me, looked more like Giles. Her insect-printed top reminded me a lot of one of my favourite up-and-coming London designers. Charlotte Taylor debuted her namesake line two seasons ago and I've been a fan since. Her animal prints —the now signature penguins and also ants, lobsters and robots— are super bold and are a brilliant mix with the vintage cuts of the, mostly, silks that she uses. I'm also a huge fan of the turbans, which are part of the kind of colonial British heritage that Charlotte includes in her clothes.

Wouldn't Mischa look incredible in any of these pieces?

Check out Charlotte Taylore's web here and don't miss her blog.

[Zimbio, Charlotte Taylor]

SS11 in a nutshell

This picture, from one of T magazine's latest editorials, summarises the new season that's just starting. Bold is the key. Be it in terms of colour, print or combination choice. It can be tremendously tricky but trying mixes of colours or prints you wouldn't normally wear (it's the summer after all) can end up having successful results. Think Anna dello Russo on on a laid-back day.

Styled by David Vandewal

Shot by Walter Pfeiffer

I'm off.

[Picture: RDuJour.com]

LFW fw11: Print Heaven

It makes me excited to see so many good collections being talked, blogged and tweeted about. London has been reclaiming its place in fashion ever since the return of Burberry and it seems to me that this season is making clear the city's got its place back. Jonathan Saunders was probably the one collection I was most disappointed not to have tickets to. His fw11 line was all about contrasting the traditional and the innovative. The classic prints were remade into cool and exciting graphic motifs for the silk skirts and shirts, which came in bold combinations of tangerine, turquoise and neon green. I loved how the two combined made the classic pencil skirts and blouses dynamic and fresh. Saunders also introduced menswear this season, which was also very much talked about. Read more about that soon on Fashion, Frankly.

And it seems prints are the trend in London. Also on Saturday, Clements Ribeiro showed their extremely interesting take on prints. The design duo, who, if you care for some gossip, are also a couple in real life, focused on the fusion of prints rather than on the variety. I found very intriguing how they managed to create a kind of degradé between a leopard and a more traditional brocade pattern and then back to leopard again, all of it trimmed with ultramarine blue silk. I love how designers are starting to use technology more and more to create new ways of doing print. And I loved how Clements Ribeiro made a point out of their prints, leaving their clothes in a slightly secondary role.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

soVIPstreet-style

After a weekend break from blogging we're back with the street style feature in collaboration with Stylevation Army, which we started last week. This time the girls went for a walk around a residential neighbourhood in very different styles from what we saw last week. Caroline went for a bicolour biker look with a dash of red, Camilla gave into a graphic print total look quite reminiscent of McQueen, and Marthe played with textures and contrasted lengths. Which one is your favourite?
Remember you can see even more chic looks over at their blog and follow them on twitter.

[Pictures: StylevationArmy.blogspot.com]

Introducing: Kamola SS11

When I think back, one of the best things about taking my first course at LCF was to meet all these people who would go on to do very different things in the industry after university. Kamola is one of those people. She first attended the prestigious Instituto Marangoni before moving to London and spending the last three years laying the foundations for her namesake brand and putting together her first collection for FW10.

Kamola has, since then, been brought on by On|Off at their numbernine store and showed her SS11 line. Last weekend, I was lucky enough to attend their preview where I had the rare treat of choosing what I wanted to see on the model! The collection is quite simply a breath of fresh air. Kamola has shifted from the femme noir body-con she did for winter to a very modern aesthetic based on structure. She cleverly played with angles creating interesting looks like the side-slit silk shorts paired with the asymmetric printed top. My favourite part of the collection, however, were the exquisite prints. Kamola personally handpicked them in Uzbekistan (her home country) where they are all handmade with silk. The result is extraordinary on the inside of the garments. The collection is completed with a beautiful colour palette (soft yellows, apple greens and pale pinks) and selective silks and chiffons, which play with the concept of a structured sexiness in the most contemporary manner.

Check out the rest of the SS11 collection and the FW10 line at Kamola's website.
You can buy Kamola online at Lila Boutique, Not just a label.
I'm off.

[Pictures: Kamola, soVIPzone]

Thinking ahead: Erdem SS11

I am yet to make my mind up about whether I enjoy how some brands start selling some of their pieces ahead of the season. Cases like this, however, make it more difficult for me to decide because I love some of the collections so much I can't wait to see them on! Erdem is one of the first ones to be selling SS11 and they are doing so in the shape of a capsule collection for Matches for which they have included some of their incredible printed dresses from the runway collection as well as some exclusive pieces for the famous London retailer. This satin dress below is my favourite piece in the collection because I love the mix of the kind of more traditional flower print brought up to date with a 3D effect and the more modern abstract one cutting it off. Are you a fan?

I'm off.

[Pictures: Matchesfashion.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]

imprinted

The concept of printed clothes is anything but new. Yes, I know. But the SS10 shows provided us with new print options. The concepts were basic: be bold and wear very graphic prints or be arty and opt for blurred, distorted or pixelated prints. There have been two celebrities that, lately, have very much epitomised both looks. On the one hand, beautiful January Jones (whose style sense is rather spotless) has ben seen around LA porting the 'arty' print trend in numbers such as the two below, including one of the jewels from Dries Van Noten's flawless Summer collection. On the other hand, Rihanna. I have been paying a lot of attention to her as of late, specially ever since the two-leopard number (see here). She has a fantastic ability to combine colours and prints. She, however, tends to go for more graphic and bold prints. Bang on trend have also been Kristen Dunst and Victoria Beckham (!) in Miu Miu; possibly the most popular prints of the season.

And, of course, I had to have a look online to see what the biggest e-tailers have on sale in terms of prints. As I said before, Miu Miu and Dries Van Noten, though great, are a little obvious as choices. If you are looking for leopard for the summer, this is your season. There isn't a designer that hasn't created a shirt, skirt, dress or blouse with their own vision of leopard skin. My favourite is Chloé's de-coloured version. But the best brand to go for prints this season Sass & Bide. They have mixed ethnic inspiration with street style and very graphic elements. Giulia and I went to preview their FW10 a while ago (post coming up) and we loved every single piece.

I'm off.

[Pictures: JustJared.buzznet.com, Celebrity-Gossip.net, Zimbio.com, Net-a-Porter.com, Brownsfashion.com]

Keira in Erdem

Looking back at our coverage of fashion week I realised soVIPzone had payed little attention to one of our favourite London shows: Erdem. Once the fashion week momentum is gone it seems hard to find a way to talk about shows that took place weeks ago. So I was happy to find this picture of Keira Knightley walking the red carpet in one of the gowns from FW10 and use it as an excuse to go over the collection once more.

It was nice to find out that Erdem Moralioglu had refocused the brand's vision by refraining from over-embroidering dresses. Instead, we saw a beautiful reinterpretation of romanticism. Full length gowns, high necks and stunning cocktail dresses in anything from flirty A-lines in silk to body-con lace.

[Pictures: Style.com, JustJared]

I'm off.

the Liberty of summer

I can't think of anything more essential in any women's summer wardrobe than prints, prints and more prints. However, finding the right tasteful one that works in different occasions is never the easiest endeavour. This summer Liberty of London has associated with the legendary 10 Corso Como to produce a collection of items in Liberty's "anthe" print. What I love most about Liberty's prints is that they keep reinventing what's in their archives rather than tossing out classics —something that gives them character, if you ask me. In addition, the pastel palette of the print makes it relevant this season in such a classic way that no matter how trends shift you will always be able to wear it. They have also produced a darker version of the print but I personally prefer this one. It looks great on the bikini or on the beach canvas bag, giving your outfits a bit of a chic ethnic touch.

All the items from the collection, which is coming out this month, will be exclusively sold at Liberty of London and 10 Corso Como in Milan and Seoul.

I'm off.