The Fairytale of LES'

In the world where the word innovation isn’t something that we hear every day and where the boring became synonym for most of the fashion made by our contemporaries, showed up a girl that is everything but boring.
Her name is Lesia Paramonova, and she is young Russian designer that loves world of the storybooks, flowers, and wild creatures that she incorporates in the world of her label LES' to create enchanting fairytales of fashion.
I came across her work few months ago by accident on tumblr where I was left breathless by her lookbooks and clothes that look like they are made for fairies. Her collection for upcoming fall season is certainly fairy-like and shows enormous talent for tailoring, patterns and great approach for using of the fabric.
The centerpiece of LES' Autumn Winter 2013 Collection is many times underrated, but very great for expression; the uniform. LES’s uniform is the uniform of Soviet school student reinterpreted in very modern and sophisticated way. From the start point of uniform, she creates overalls and pinafores adorned with the huge bows in prints that look like they are hand drawn with pencil. She has the great feeling for volume and the unusual detailing so yellowish jumper has the perfect volume, knee socks are embellished with tulle bows, and high-waisted shorts that from the back look like skirt are adorned with little pockets.
She sees winter in glitter, so the coat has a shimmery appearance and the satchel of her Russian schoolgirl is glittery pink. The prints she used for collection feature motifs from nature that together create such a beautiful surreal garden. And on the long dress that looks like it popped up from futuristic Victorian Artistic Dress Movement she added contrasting oversized bows on the shoulders while model wears one already on her head.
Too much bows? To be honest, never enough of them! Well done Lesia, we say in anticipation to see more of the fashion fairytales from the LES'. The world you imagined for us is real. We really are your fans!

Orla Kiely Autumn 2013 Presentation

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about this obsession called Orla kiely? Why we love this label so much? Is it because of her vintage-inspired, recognizable prints that could look good in the industrial environment as in the pretty house with English garden. 

Is it because of the fact these frocks and other garments remind us on some of our favourite icons of past time? 

Is it because of Orla’s ability to adorn frocks with extremely cute details and still make successful, wearable ensembles for grown-up girls that are dreamers somewhere deep inside? 

Is it because her campaigns and presentations reminds us of stills from Wes Anderson’s movies who is also another master in creating modern retro atmosphere? 

If we going to talk about Wes Anderson connection with Orla Kiely, then upcoming Autumn 2013 collection is perfect example. Inspired by our dearest heroine, gypsy royal princess from 1970s , Margot Tenenbaum and Irish artist Breon O’Casey, Orla created another pretty collection with garments that could easily replace all the others in closets of many. Leith Clark who styles Orla Liely’s campaigns, presentations and lookbooks, adorned the ensembles with white stocking, t-bar heels and 1960s chignons with hair clips. That is another reason why these pretty dresses, coats, blouses, skirts and bags in clean line and tender colors on Orla’s models had pure, simple and ladylike appearance. 

With those Cardigans adorned with squirrels and another dear creatures, we could easily join Girl Scouts. But we have to work and play by the rules of serious world. That’s are why Orla’s dreamers looked so good the office set-up where she presented them as secretaries. Isn’t that everything we are? Serious, grown up girls, earning for living with teenage hearts of dreamers. 

Why do you love Orla Kiely? 

 IMAGES VIA BETTY MAGAZINE, DASH MAGAZINE, WISH WISH WISH

Summary of London Fashion Week AW 2013

Over the last few years we have seen a rise of London as a capital of fashion. Brilliant designers, enormous number of young talent and recent graduates from prestigious fashion schools really bring fireworks of excitement during London Fashion Week. It seems that, the London’s talented fashion kids really set up the new direction in design, whether they are trying to break the boundaries with the new shapes and the design or to connect contemporary with vast history of costume we have in our heritage. Without sounding pretentious, London can really state it has it’s own new wave. Creating summary of London Fashion Week using blogger layout is really hard, because you could really publish a book every season. No matter how you try, you will hardly find even one show that is not good. 

Just look at the AW 2013 show of the “youngest”, the Central Saint Martins MA Fashion graduates. They are all brilliant and have their own fresh design and fashion ideas. This year, I found designs of Jaimee McKenna most interesting. Jaimee, knitwear designer and ex freelancer for Mark Fast, played with pleats in attractive forms using monochrome blue dress as a base. Designer’s powerful blue felt like The Blue Epoch of Yves Klien walking on the catwalk. 

Simone Rocha is one more young designer that has proved the status she earned last season with her eponymous label. The fact that she is coming from the family of designer (John Rocha) she takes to try harder. Simone Rocha’s AW 2013 show entitled Respect Your Elders had the task to respect the cut and refined details of clothes. Her connection of unconnected things, also demonstrated she did that pretty well. Risky combinations of heavily embroidered lace, faux fur, pink, leopard pattern can be dangerous for many designers. But not for Simone. Like an experienced designer, she created balance between that teenage edgy vibe and ladylike outline and created the minimalistic outcome. Accessories as loafers in velvet, patent, leopard or glitter, quirky glasses and refined headdresses were topping on the Simone Rocha’s excellent cake. 

Last season, except Simone Rocha, I fell in love with Eudon Choi’s work. The AW 2013 collection from Eudon Choi, which was inspired by Russian women who kept their families together during the Russian revolution, turned me into a big fan. Designer that is initially trained as a menswear designer has an excellent sense for romantic but still powerful womenswear. This nostalgic trip to Russia, brought also amazing collaboration with milliner Piers Atkinson, that created amazing headwear; bloom-filled scarves. 

One more successful attempt of subtle romance was Giles show. It was enough creepy for Addams family and enough romantic for medieval princess. Dramatic huge locks in combination with long shiny and silky dresses with bishop sleeves, created beautiful catwalk story. The kings of creating stories on catwalk, Meadham Kirchhoff duo, showed once again there are two meanings of the word kitschy. Their kitschy is the other one, a good word. In their magical Helter Skelter they connected almost everything; Harlequins, Rococo, Mary Poppins, Goth princesses, Louis IV and Victorian maids. And what can we say except admire them and history we have. 

More Moment to remember: Burberry hearts, Ashley Williams collection as part of Fashion East, John Rocha’s blossoms, Emilia Wickstead’s tartan ensembles.

PHOTOS VIA SHOWSTUDIO

New York Fashion Week Fall Winter 2013

In these days when photographs from fashion weeks are popping up everywhere, for fashion lovers (including me) who are not able to see the shows in personal this complete excitement can be little annoying. Images rarely give the full portrait of fashion show, the clothes and all the details that are crucial in many ways. Although many sites that cover fashion weeks provide images of details and live streaming, usually this is the case with major shows, which I reckon it’s pretty unfair for emerging designers. 

I almost gave up so many times from my examination of this jungle of images from fashion shows, but even If I am not obligated to see the show or I don’t have a gig for article or review fashion is an excitement that I cannot resist. 

I love to see a good fashion show. Good fashion show gives me butterflies. I love to catch a glimpse of good old passion that is substituted by profit quite often nowadays. These butterflies remind me why I chose career in fashion. They remind of my early teenager days when I used to run from the school after the ring of the bell to record on VHS tapes my favourite fashion shows. I used to get butterflies so often in those days, despite the fact that fashion trends of the 1990s were awfully ugly. 

From hundreds of shows that fashion designers presented during New York Fashion Week for fall 2013, Delpozo show was one of those that gave me butterflies. Josep Font, creative director of this Madrid-based label that is newcomer on New York Fashion Week used embellishments and architectural forms to create a modern Victorian era of our days. (Delpozo was founded in 1974 by famous Spanish fashion designer Jesus del Pozo.) 

Honor this year left me breathless. Giovanna Randall, the designer, created feminine silhouettes that were many times embellished with crystals and stylist Leith Clark wrapped up everything in perfect ensembles adorned with pointed flats and white hosiery. 

Above in the collage are the rest of my butterflies’ creators. Suno, Karen Walker, Creatures of Comfort, Band of Outsiders, Lauren Moffat, Tocca etc. reminded me once again why I love the fashion.

PHOTOS VIA STYLE.COM, CALIVINTAGE