PRADA SPRING 2016 READY TO WEAR

Modern retro-chic. Like many of the collections I've been posting about, the collection featured many conservative pieces including the power suit, boxy jackets and drop waist dresses, however they all had a modern take on them. Art-deco/space-age vibes were inserted in these clean everyday aesthetics. The models had robotic metallic lips and scooped back futuristic cosmic 'do's' with squared off and slicked down sides. Yokes and bibs on dresses were replaced by plastic fishnet disks, maximalism is back.

BURBERRY PRORSUM SPRING 2016 READY TO WEAR

FUNCTIONREGALIA is the name of the Burberry prorsum show that took place in Hyde Park during London Fashion Week. Burberry upped their tech game this season by releasing almost the entirety of the collection by 7pm the previous night on an app no other than Snapchat. The nation was blessed with watching the beautiful collection from the comfort of their own home on one of the most popular social media platforms. Sephora streamed the first ever live beauty tutorial on YouTube. Feminine shapes took to the catwalk gliding past familiar front row faces, including Burberry girls, Kate Moss, Cara Delevigne, Suki Waterhouse and Jourdan Dunn. Modern urbanities will be craving those oyster silk slip dresses suspended by spindly spaghetti straps with the famous Burberry trench coats casually thrown over. The trench coat will take a girl anywhere, even through to autumn with a trusty knit underneath. The collection showcased an array of pretty dresses like the intricate and flirty sheer mini's in black, yellow and mint.

TOPSHOP UNIQUE SPRING 2016 READY TO WEAR

Topshop Unique is one of LFW main highlights and with the likes of Cara Delevigne, Bella Hadid and Zayn Malik in the frow, along with a live stream to Topshop.com, the show was sure to be a hit. Topshop proved that manish suits and crucial styling are key, a skinny belt tied around some trusty tailoring and big 80's hair will not go unnoticed. The show featured a palette of pastels, rich red and monochrome ensemble's. Frilly blouses and flowing tea dresses with thigh high splits advertised feisty leopard print and 60's polka dots. They were topped with bomber jackets and chunky knits, red leather skirts and a pink leather coat also made an appearance. Fluffy scarves and shoes, and even daytime pyjamas inspired by the Japanese were flaunted, although they are trends most likely to not be leaving the catwalk.

DKNY SPRING 2016 READY-TO-WEAR

Two words - monochrome and suits. Hosted in the Westfield World Trade Centre West Gallery, Donna Karan watched dependably from the audience, after giving up her role as founder of one of the greatest fashion houses in history to Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne. Aware of their need to fill the shoes of a woman with such great respect, the Public School graduates delivered with a certain level of sophistication. Tailoring was of the essence, the first look perfectly summed up the modern collection that would follow - a classy pin stripe suit jacket over a crisp white playsuit. The elegant legginess toned out the masculine vibe from the mens classic wardrobe staple. The pair said: "We wanted to explore the idea of the working woman, specifically in the setting of the city. Starting with a hyper contextualized idea of tailoring in the workplace but stripping it down and pairing it with the ease of classic American sportswear." And they couldn't have said it better. The focus was tailoring, but the construction and manipulation of the garments was what really made the collection what it was. The bottom half of a jacket or a pin-striped knit was sliced off to reveal beautiful a crisp white fabric. The collection was perfect for the modernised working woman in the city.

CAROLINA HERRERA SPRING 2016 READY TO WEAR

To my delight Carolina Herrera's Spring 2016 collection rightfully claimed it's place in the Frick museum's garden room on the Upper East Side - making it the first collection to ever be showcased among many artistic masterpieces. The modern minded designer has embraced high tech materials stitched onto transparent mesh, creating a whole new meaning of discreet, but other pieces sported a higher density mesh. CH claims to be in her 'rose period' she said backstage, which comes as no surprise after she recently launched her new fragrance 'born in rose'. Her palette of blush, lavender, lilac and white welcomes the invigorating season and the transparency of organza and chiffon was used sparingly, creating mystery within the sensuous collection. Shoulders were bare and flesh was exposed, and for a treat for the less tame, black pleated chiffon was carefully embroided with sequins - creating a racier collection for the youth. Surprisingly to many, CH was eager to avoid prints this season as she's featured them a lot in the past, modern minded, but the rose print slip dress was still beautiful.

RAG & BONE SPRING 2016 READY TO WEAR

Marcus Wainright and David Neville's Rag & Bone collection yesterday evening was showcased in St. Ann's warehouse in Brooklyn, which brought a personal aspect to the designers collection, and clearly the change of scenery had no impact in the material sense, as the pictures of the collection appear identical as of those in a professional New York showcase. The slip dresses, sneakers, and chunky black knits paired with hoop earrings are said to have been inspired by the Notting Hill carnival in 90's London. However, the collection also channelled army vibes with cargo pants and anoraks, bringing back the masculine/feminine trait that was created post world war two, when women would wear more masculine clothing for equality and practicality. For example, silk slip dresses with spindly straps and chunky knitted tube dresses are topped with masculine bomber jackets. Models donned flight suits with The Pilot tote and Flight satchel which were inspired by a parachute in the Rag & Bone office, along with the anoraks.

GIVENCHY RESORT 2016

The Givenchy Resort collection is a surprising innovation following Riccardo Tisci's Victorian-inspired fall 2015 collection, furthermore, denim has not been used by Tisci in his 10 years at Givenchy. While the colour palette focused on olive, tan, white and blue denim - the collection flounced ruffles, pleats and leopard prints to welcome the youthful season. Skirts with ruffled hemlines and coats with boxy shoulders prove this collection is not for the tame, however, his celebrity friend's can most definitely be envisioned wearing his functional pieces in warmer climates. His evening pieces were more body conscious, the shapes appreciate more rounded contours, with ruched shoulder lines, thigh-high splits and carefully placed pleats.

HOW TO BUILD A FASHION CV

If you don't already know, the fashion industry is one of the most competitive industries there is - which means getting that job, is a lot harder than you think. The first step to getting that all important interview is having a CV that not only showcases your experience and skills, but creating one that really stands out. It's important that your curriculum vitae reflects your personality, and shows the employer that you're the one for the job.

Nowadays, you need a CV for pretty much anything, and in my case, I'm applying to University. I am currently a fashion student, interested in applying for Fashion Journalism, so it's essential I feature all my sales experience and blogging platforms in mine. It must also be creative, reflect me as a person, and advertise the best version of myself - stressful right? Not at all. We are in a digital age and with a simple google search, for example, "curriculum vitae template" you have the world at your fingertips... however, the best ones are usually ones you have to pay for, but if spending a tenner means getting that job, it's definitely worth it.

To make your CV creative you could do anything, experiment with origami, print onto fabric, or as I did, experiment with your technical creativity. I used Etsy for a CV template from The Resume Boutique, and used this template, priced at £12.22.

The template comes equipped with a two page CV, a cover letter and a references page, along with step by step instructions. Once purchased, you receive an email with a link to download and edit in Microsoft Word, and is compatible with both PC and Mac. After that, you fill in your details, skills and experience, and you're good to go.

Make sure that you show yourself off as much as possible, and if you don't have much experience, volunteering is never frowned upon and Universities really encourage it.



ECOFASHION - TOPSHOP RECLAIM TO WEAR

Topshop now has a brand new collaboration with a difference. Topshop have worked with Orsola de Castro and Filippo Ricci, who created Reclaim To Wear as a way of using up all the beautiful fabrics left over from designer collections. The industry is constantly fast fashion, and clothes are disposed with a cost to our environment, Castro and Ricci have collaborated with Topshop and have taken the best from the past and brought it to the future.

 

 

 "We had a New York style, clean aesthetic in mind. We took ideas from the fact that we were working with a jersey factory, then got inspired by laces and meshes we found in the basement. A lot of the looks were a happy accident – we had to forget the traditional design process and got very excited by what emerged as the final pieces."

 

All images sourced - insideout.topshop.com

 

Read more here to find the lowdown on Topshop Reclaim - http://insideout.topshop.com/2015/07/topshop-reclaim-the-lowdown

Mules for SS15

There are some hot trends right now for spring/summer '15, and mules are one of them! I've seen many online and in stores and they're a pair of shoes that I've just had to get my hands on. There are some gorgeous ones in Topshop for £68, now £30. Also, Public Desire do several different styles, starting from around £19.99.

However, today I was shopping in Primark for my basics and found a pair for a show stopping price of £14. 

They appear identical to some of those in River Island and are sold in white and black.