LFW - Belle Sauvage SS12

So London Fashion Week is over for another season and what an exciting week it was! Lots of amazing new collections from established British designers for SS12 including Mulberry, Burberry, Jonathan Saunders and Giles Deacon to name a few. I was lucky enough to go along to a couple of shows, one of which being the very fabulous Belle Sauvage show, held at The Sorting Office on New Oxford Street.

My knowledge of the label before the show was fairly minimal but after googling I found out that Belle Sauvage was formed in 2006 by Virginia Ferreira and Christian Neuman in London; the brands main focus being eye-catching prints and shapes. It has since been worn by celebrities including Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, a pretty impressive following I think you'll agree. I went along to the show not knowing quite what to expect but was very pleasantly surprised. The collection was, in a word, beautiful, punctuated by photographic/digital style floral prints on silk mini and maxi dresses with chiffon pleats in Spring shades, cut out details and a smattering of colour pop leather.

The clothing was paired with retro, 'Pan Am'-style air hostess hair-dos, red lips and fresh turquoise eyeshadow. The overall feel was glamorous, with an edge of individualism and various strong prints throughout the show.

The below images are a few of my favourite looks from the collection:

Opening look from the show - strong shoulders, assymetric detail and cornflower yellow (THE colour for ss12?)

Cosmic style purple print in the same style, teamed with lilac pleats



Bold red leather shift dress with said 'air hostess' style hat - can definitely see Gaga working this one!

Thigh-high pleats are still big news for ss12

The standout look for me - graphic print tailoring paired with matching bag. A very modern take on workwear

Images copyright of Belle Sauvage, for more info see their website

Style inspiration: Lanvin

Every season there are catwalk shows to fawn over, amazing dresses to marvel at and themes to be swept up in. Most importantly, there are collections to find inspiration from for your every day wardrobe and I have found a number for AW11, beginning with Alber Elbaz's creations at Lanvin.

Lanvin has been a popular fashion house for some time and has recently raised its profile within the mass market through the brands successful collaboration with high-street retailer H&M in November 2010. Alber Elbaz designs dresses you would be foolish to not want to wear, who can forget the stunning grey and tan thigh-split maxi dress of SS11, as worn by Blake Lively? Not me, certainly. So I was excited to see his offerings for AW11, and was not at all disappointed.

Lanvin AW11 is in a nutshell: perfect coat dressing. Yes, the dresses are beautiful (I'll get on to that in a moment) but what caught my eye was the simplicity and overall stylishness of the outerwear. From chic swashbuckling capes (for want of a better word) to collarless designs accessorised by cocktail jewellery, the look is highly wearable and strong for this season. The coat can be the point of focus in an outfit and need not be overcomplicated, accessorised by a necklace, a pair of loafers and the all important floppy 70's style hat.

My personal favourite is this red collarless coat: yes, it may be difficult to see from under the brim of that hat but the look is so simple yet so striking at the same time. Definitely one to try for the new season (N.B - fellow Londoners, maybe bare legs is not so advisable come October unless you are a celebrity with your own driver...)

Evening dresses wise, Elbaz does not disappoint. The simple cuts of the dresses are the most interesting aspect to me and I love the block colour on the orange-red and fuchsia numbers. Block colour with black is far from a new phenomenon but perfectly displays the notion that a bold colour can speak for itself. The shapes are modern and sleek, my favourite being this stunning off-white asymmetric maxi dress, worn simply with a pair of killer heels for maximum impact. The pink off-the-shoulder number is a close second, I look forward to trawling the high-street for my own version!

Lanvin AW11 has an on-trend, yet timeless feel to the collection. Elbaz has the ability to design clothes that both A-listers and the everyday girl can admire and wear with confidence.

Catwalk images from http://www.style.com/
Blake Lively image from http://www.look.co.uk/

AW11: the looks I love

So the new season is upon us and I have finally got round to having a proper look through all the main catwalk collections. I've glanced at specific shows here and there before now but this weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time over each show and found no shortage of amazing looks to covet.

Colours of the season
Every season there is an 'it' colour that everyone raves about and this AW there is literally a rainbow of shades to choose from. Take your pick from bold purple, teal and mustard to name a few. My personal favourite is tomato red, courtesy of Betty Jackson. Wear a bold colour head to toe for a contemporary look.

L-R - Alberta Ferretti, Hermes, Jil Sander, Betty Jackson

Show stopping dresses
You know the ones; the dresses the most stylish celebrities will be choosing to wear on the red carpet... and the dresses the rest of us will wear in our dreams. Maxis are still dominating the runways and there are a variety of styles to catch your eye. I'm torn between the plunging purple berry Elie Saab and the billowing printed Holly Fulton.

L-R - Elie Saab, Erdem, Lanvin, Holly Fulton

Best coats
There's no disputing that Burberry is King of the coats, case in point: AW10's aviator jacket. However this season I have allowed my eye to be caught by a handful of other brands. Obviously the Topshop Unique dalmation print coat is a big talking point but I particularly like the fur cuff detail on another Unique number (left) and the double breasted, tweed-sleeved Chanel coat that is the perfect mix of stunning design and wearability. Capes are still big news, go black Zorro-esque a la YSL or heritage inspired as seen at Fendi.

L-R - Unique, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, YSL, Fendi

Things I need in my wardrobe
This is a mixture of excitement and torture for me, deciding the items I need to find high street alternatives of to go into the new season. Items I'll be looking out for straight away include a bird print dress in the style of the various Miu Miu numbers, a minty green crisp silk shirt like the Chloe model, a liquid gold maxi skirt to rival the below Moschino one, a fedora hat, a fur (faux, of course) stole and anything in polka dot mesh, as seen at Stella McCartney.

L-R Miu Miu, Chloe, Moschino, Christian Dior, Stella McCartney

Look out for my favourite collection posts coming in the next few days...

Images: http://www.style.com/