London Fashion Week SS13: Day 2

Every season I attempt to be all work and no play for the duration of fashion week. Every season, this attempt fails. What can I say, I’m young, foolish and extremely partial to free cocktails and fabulous company, things that are offered up in abundence during this magical bi-annual event. After Matches’ celebratory fashion week soiree, my friends and I somehow found ourselves ‘pursuaded’ to continue on to another two parties. This, combined with post-New York exhaustion and jet lag unsurprisingly resulted in my feeling a little fragile when my alarm went off at 7am the next day. One quick glance at my schedule (plus a triple shot latte and several max strength painkillers) soon sorted this out and soon I was back in my heels and ready to hit the road.

I wore…
Sweater: Boutique by Jaeger
Skirt & Shoes: Topshop
Hat: Uniqlo
Tights: Accessorize
Bag: Anya Hindmarch

My first port of call was the Julian Macdonald showroom in Mayfair where I had a private appointment to see his SS13 collection. Julian is a designer who knows how to do glamour and his latest offerings, ‘Island Life’, delivered it in spades.
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Posted on September 20, 2012 by Ella Catliff in Fashion Week 1 Comment

5 (more) Minutes With… Holly Fulton

As you know, I’m prone to a little fashion obsession from time to time. Sometimes these style crushes are fleeting but more often than not, once a brand or designer captures my heart, I’m in it for the long haul. Once such designer is Holly Fulton. Since falling for her playful, colour-popping creations during my first EVER London Fashion Week Holly has continued to wow us all with collection after collection of garments that are simply a joy to behold. In the two years since then, I’ve journeyed to Doha and back with Holly, interviewed her numerous times and was even lucky enough to wear one of her SS12 dresses to the Scottish Fashion Awards. With Fashion Week fast approaching (eek!) and her sartorial star firmly on the rise, I caught up with the designer to find out what’s next for Holly Fulton…

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Ella Catliff in Interviews 2 Comments

Holly Fulton

Matches Launch Designer Charity T-Shirt Project

Do you dream of swanning around in Mary Katrantzou’s kaleidescopic prints and Roksanda Ilincic’s perfect peplums? Hitting the pub wearing Holly Fulton’s colour-pop creations and banishing first date jitters in an elegant Erdem ensemble? I know I certainly do. Sadly, like most of the population, my budget’s never quite been able to match my fashion fantasies and there remains a large Jonathan Saunders shaped hole in my wardrobe… But all that might be about to change thanks to an ingenious initiative from London retail legend, Matches.

Between the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, 2012 is a pretty big year for Britain. And what better way to celebrate our country’s sheer fabulousness than by bedecking the population in cutting-edge designer togs while fighting poverty in London? At least that’s what I assume was going through Matches’ CEO, Ruth Chapman’s mind, when she came up with this inspired collaboration. Ruth enlisted a selection of London’s hottest fashion names including Holly Fulton, Mary Katrantzou, Jonathan Saunders, Roksanda Ilincic, Erdem, J.W Anderson and Richard Nicoll to each design a limited edition t-shirt based on their signature style.

The shirts will be sold at Matches for just £60 a pop with proceeds going to an extremely worthy cause, The Disposessed Fund. So, in short, this Summer we can all treat ourselves to the cream of the sartorial crop while helping those in need… God bless England!

Love Ella. X

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Ella Catliff in Fashion 1 Comment

La Petite Weekly Wish List, May 25th

1) Wildfox Drama Queen Tee, £34 at AlexandAlexa.com, click here to buy
2) J Brand Low-Rise Shorts, £127.83 at Bloomingdale’s UK, click here to buy
3) Superga 2750 Cotu Classic in Pastel Green, £40.95 at Zappos.com, click here to buy
4) Diane Von Furstenberg Large Beach Tote Bag, £74 at Matches, click here to buy
5) Milly Santorini Poppy Print Bikini Top, £96 at Net-a-Porter, click here to buy
6) Milly Santorini Poppy Print Bikini Bottoms, £96 at Net-a-Porter, click here to buy
7) Lily and Lionel Yellow Leopard Print Scarf, £100 at Liberty London, click here to buy
8) Diane Von Furstenberg Turquoise Tonda Clutch, £263 at Matches, click here to buy
9) Charlotte Olympia Miranda Mermaid Print Wedges, £575 at Matches, click here to buy
10) Holly Fulton Coral Print Flapper Dress, £538 at Matches, click here to buy

At long, long last Summer appears to have arrived in London and as a result the past few days have flown by in an over excited blur of too little sleep, too many cocktails and a whole lot of floral prints. I give it approximately 3 more days before I start whingeing about overheating on the tube and getting my French Soles all sweaty (don’t pretend this doesn’t happen to you) but for now, it’s beyond lovely. Plus, it means that this week’s wish list is infinitely more relevant because it’s actually hot enough to wear these seasonal treats!

Love Ella. X

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Ella Catliff in Shopping 4 Comments

Vogue Festival: Day 2

Day 2 of Vogue Festival certainly did not dawn sunny and bright but once again, I refused to deviate from my pre-planned outfit and slipped into a highly impractical but oh-so-adorable shorts suit by Jaeger London. Having excercised uncharacteristic self-restraint at Alexandra Shulman’s soiree the night before I felt bright eyed and bushy tailed as I tottered across West London to the venue.

I wore… Shorts Suit: Jaeger London, Bag: Mulberry, Blouse: Whistles,
Shoes: Topshop, Necklace: Anne Bowes Jewellery

First up was the fearsome, fabulous and, as we’d soon learn, funny Diane Von Furstenberg. Remember the “guest speakers” you had at school? Some boring old drone who managed to drag out their unbelievably dull life story for so long that you basically lost the will to live? Well, whilst it may have been built around the same premise, Diane’s talk – “Turning a Passion for life into a penchant for businesss” – could not have been further from that dire memory.

The Queen of the New York fashion scene had us all in raptures as she told her tale of royal marriages, international businesses, losing it all and then getting it all back again. Diane opened with the statement;

“As a young girl I did not know what I wanted to do, but I knew what kind of woman I wanted to be… Independant, a woman who pays her own bills, can go out with a man without worrying whether he’ll call…”

Given that, aged 25 Diane Von Furstenberg was making (and more importantly, selling) over 25,000 wrap dresses a week and featured on the covers of Wall Street Journal and Newsweek in 5 continents, I think it’s safe to say she achieved that dream. I could easily harp on about Diane all day but that could get boring, so here are just a few of her best bits:

“There was a certain cute, little wrap top that did very well… One day I looked at it and thought, I’ll add a skirt… And everything went crazy” – on the birth of her iconic wrap dress

“When your children are teenagers you love them but you don’t like them… So they went to boarding school and I went to Paris” – on motherhood

“My mission is about empowering women… I like to make women feel confident because if you’re confident, you’re beautiful” - on her inspiration

Next on the agenda was “Fashion Question Time” moderated by Vogue deputy editor Emily Sheffield. A panel of London’s hottest, independant designers assembled on stage to answer our queries and share their experiences. Some of the designers, like Holly Fulton and Mary Katrantzou, I know personally and it’s always both interesting and heartwarming to hear them talking about their work. Others, such as Christopher Kane and Nicholas Kirkwood, I’ve never met and the session offered a fascinating insight into the methods and personalities behind the designs I covet.

From left: Nicholas Kirkwood, Mary Katrantzou, Christopher Kane, Roksanda Ilicic, Holly Fulton, Henry Holland
and Emily Sheffield

This was an absolute “must-attend” for aspiring designers as the six bright young things gave some invaluable advice on breaking in to the industry.

“You’ve just got to have confidence in your own convictions” – Holly Fulton on coping with critics

“You can’t just go and be a designer and not expect to have to run a company at the same time” – Nicholas Kirkwood on the business of fashion

“You need to educate yourself… That could be by working for a designer, or doing your BA… Everyone hase a different path” – Mary Katrantzou on preparing for education Vs experience

After a spot of sushi it was time to head back to the festival for the session we’d all been waiting for… Tom Ford in conversation with Alexandra Shulman. This was definitely the hottest ticket of the weekend and the theatre was packed fit to burst thanks to what can only be described as the “Ford factor”. British Vogue’s Editor in Chief opened with the words:

“How to introduce our next speaker… Would superman do?”

Her description was right on the money and an audible gasp went up around the room as the man himself took to the stage to begin his hour long seduction of the audience.

Tom Ford in conversation with Alexandra Shulman

Besides being heartbreakingly handsome, ridiculously talented and unbelievably skilled at branding, Tom Ford is also officially the most charming man in the world. On top of this, he is also incredibly witty and in between imparting priceless pearls of wisdom, Tom and Alexandra’s banter had us all in hysterics. Here are a few of the most priceless moments from what I like to think of as the “Tom and Alex show”…

Tom: “I feel that we should be (sitting) closer than this”

Alex: “This is as close as I’m prepared to get… I don’t trust you one bit”

Alex: “You’re very open about being gay”

Tom: “I’m not gay Alex, what would make you think that?… We don’t have to put boxes around it anyway… Have you ever slept with a woman?”

Alex: “Now you see why I don’t trust him!”

Tom: “Are you wearing my foundation?”

Alex: “No, Chanel’s”

Tom: “I was reading your book..”

Tom: “I don’t carry a cellphone”

Alex: “You don’t need to, you’re like the Queen… Someone else carries it for you”

Tom: “The gloves are off now!”

Love Ella. X

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Ella Catliff in Fashion 11 Comments

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