Joan Smalls covers the new W Korea in Burberry Prorsum
TFS

I love how chameleonic Joan Smalls is. She is one of the few models who is just as versatile on the runway as in editorial. I love how after covering the July issue of the American version of W with a romantic and girly vibe she can transform into a tough girl for the August cover of W Korea. And I love that she does it wearing one of my favourite pieces from the FW12 collections – the Burberry Prorsum trench with the Prince of Wales tweed peplum.

It's also nice to see what is clearly only the first of many FW12 Burberry pieces styled in a sexier way than at the show. But you can always count on Joan to add a sexy edge to everything she does.

Gossip Girl Fashion: 'The Back-Up Dan'
Courtesy of Burberry, Style.com, HomeoftheNutty.com

This week's episode of Gossip Girl picked up where last week's 100th episode left off, which usually means a slightly more exciting episode but no wardrobe changes. This time, however, we get a bit of a taste of both worlds.

It's odd because I only seem to get properly into the plot when things change 180 degrees every 30 seconds, which is worrying me, like I have a Gossip Girl-specific ADD. I just feel like now that there are no new characters and everyone's done everything with everybody is hard to surprise the audience.

Fashion-wise it was also a pretty good episode. The best moment was, of course, by Serena. Once she leaves Blair's wedding reception she covers her Vera Wang dress in the stunning lace Burberry trench from the 'Nude' collection. I was thrilled to see the trench hit the screen. I loved the look, with the organza train flowing out of the coat – one of the best looks from this season.

Blair has a (sort of) double hit this week. One for the Pre-Fall'11 Carolina Herrera dress she wears at the end of the episode – I can't emphasise enough how this is her style – and one for her I (heart) NY 'trackie' look at the airport. I didn't think Blair had it in her but it was a fun GG moment.

Courtesy of Burberry, Style.com

It seems like I was right to suspect that the Burberry Prorsum SS12 womenswear collection could go along the lines of the menswear line I saw in Milan in June.
Before I get into what I liked from the collection I have to talk about Burberry's insane front row. I've never seen so many celebrities at the front row of a London show. I must admit I was most excited about seeing Rachel Zoe in the flesh for the first time. Rodger and Mandana were sitting on the row behind, looking a bit confused. I was standing opposite all of them (see picture below) and having Sienna Miller, Gemma Aterton and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley sitting next to each other made it a little hard for me to concentrate on the clothes... But I still managed it.
You wouldn't believe how many times I've heard "How amazing was Burberry?" in the last two days. Everyone was in awe of how Christopher Bailey keeps managing to reinvent the trench coat season after season. This time he took African inspiration in the shape of tribal prints and wooden applique.
The most memorable for me were the raffia trench coats and wedges because of all the craftsmanship that had gone into them and, well seeing Anja Rubik on a catwalk for the first time.

It was such acoincidence that I should get an email from Burberry about their 'April showers' collection yesterday, when the sky in London turned grey for a few hours and the rain poured only to let the sun come out again in the early evening.
I'm posting about the capsule collection not only because I thought that the timing of it was brilliant but because I really liked the new campaign shot by Mario Testino. There is something slightly ironic about the way the setting is almost apocalyptic and the models look so perfect in bright colour. And the same goes to some of the really cool plastic pieces (see my favourites below) that include the red trench above, which is simply genius and quite useful if you think about it, as well as bags and flats that seem perfect not only for April showers but for an upgraded "Festival look".

[Pictures courtesy of Burberry]

I am so glad fashion is finally looking beyond Paris, Milan and New York for fashion. Putting London back in the list of the big ones took a lot of effort but thanks to it some other really great fashion weeks like Australia's are starting to get the attention they deserve. I was extremely impressed with their SS11 collections. My favourite, without a doubt, was Dion Lee's. His collections are clever and straightforward, full of architectural clothes with a lot of light. Some people would label them as minimalist but I rather describe them as intelligently uncomplicated. My latest discovery has been his collaboration with high street brand Cue (a kind of Australian COS). I am crazy about his parka and the way he uses cut-outs and slits as the only detailing in his clothes, which reminds me of the angular scalloped shape of the Sydney Opera House funnily enough.

Will any of you Australian readers send one of those parkas my way, please? :P
I'm off.

[Pictures: dionlee.cue.cc]

Something for the weekend

As you know, I only post on Saturdays what I have something worth interrupting the weekend. Telegraph Fashion is celebrating I-Spied —a selection of the best in fashion, accessories and beauty products chosen by 22 of their experts, including Hilary Alexander, Kate Shapland and Justine Picardie. Every Monday to Friday from the 15 of November they have been giving away one of these amazing items. If you still haven't entered, do not worry, the second week competition opens next Monday 22nd. Make sure you visit the Telegraph Fashion website (brilliantly re-launched a few months ago) to enter one of the Gryphon New York jackets and coats they're giving away then. Gryphon's designer, Aimee Cho, is a former writer of American Vogue whose pieces have been worn by our favourite fashionistas —from Reese Witherspoon and Beyoncé to Blake Lively (and Serena van der Woodsen) and the Empress of fashion herself, Anna Wintour.

I'm off.

[Pictures: gryphon-ny.com, bergdorfgoodman.com, Daily Telegraph]

Yves revisited

If you read soVIPzone often you probably know already how incredibly fond of Yves Saint Laurent I am. I admire Stefano Pilati's work for the house so much that I tend to be slightly subjective when a new collection comes out. This, however, is not one of those moments. After a couple of slightly unfocused seasons, Pilati turned to the YSL archives to find inspiration for a collection we won't forget easily. He revisited the trench coat, the safari jacket and the über-famous Le Smoking, which he turned into a silk night gown ruffled at the sides and beautifully worn by Freja Beha Erichsen. Ruffles were, in fact, quite present on Cuban-inspired skirts and dresses, which Pilati perked up with dashes of bright colour. Yet black, white and sand ruled the colour palette. The sheer trend we have been seeing so far only left a slight mark on the collection as the designer preferred to bare the back. Parisian sophisticated elegance at its best.  

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]