Tuesday 16 September 2014

London Fashion Week - The Lingerie and Swimwear Edit

Yesterday evening I attended London Fashion Week (for the first time, yipee!) to represent Tallulah Lingerie at the Designer Showrooms Open House Event. The event took place in the early evening at the beautiful Somerset House. 

Having never attended Fashion Week before I arrived at Somerset House so excited and a little nervous as to what I was about to experience. 

As I neared the main entrance the pedestrians on the street slowly started to filter into what looked like a street style edit from ELLE Magazine.. The ratio of sunglass wearing, fashion week attendees to non-fashion weeking civilians grew rapidly and suddenly I was turning left through the arches of Somerset House, being handed free fashion publications and dodging blogger camera lenses as I got my bearings. 

Main court yard at Somerset House 

Somerset House 

Thames facing outside area and over-looking balcony from the Designers Showrooms
I had no idea where I was heading, so I just decided to walk towards the big, shiny box in the centre; slowly.. across cobbles.. in gigantic Jeffrey Campbell boots!! 
This big, shiny box happened to be the hub of Fashion Week at Somerset House. All the images you see from catwalk shows streamed all over the internet happen here! 
Surrounded by the historic drama of Somerset House and nine foot tall, digitalised supermodels walking towards you from screens on the side of the main catwalk premises it's all quite surreal. 

Beautiful Flowers at the main reception 

My pass to the Designers Showroom 
London Fashion Week - Little Black Book 

Without getting lost I found the Buyer's Desk where I was issued with my UK Buyer's pass and my 'Little Black Book'.




After a brief barcode check by security, I made my way into the showrooms for an hour or so of exploring.. I loved the dramatically dressed mannequins that lined the sides of the corridors linking each showroom to the next. 

I headed upstairs to hunt out the lingerie, swimwear and activewear section. It wasn't as extensive as I would have hoped I think there was definitely potential to have had more of it, however, here's what I saw.. 

A few designers look books and contact cards from the Designer Showrooms.

Sumarie was the first collection I came across. Sumarie is a Parisienne swimwear brand, they have a fashion range and continuous collection that were both displayed. The very lovely Liz talked me through the SS15 collection.. 


Champs Elysees Swimsuit in Black and Gold by Sumarie | http://www.sumarie.com/home.php

La Seine Swimsuit in Midnight by Sumarie | http://www.sumarie.com/home.php

Reine Bikini in Black and White Stripe by Sumarie | http://www.sumarie.com/home.php
I'm definitely obsessed with the La Seine Swimsuit - it was gorgeous in the midnight navy colour photographed above but my favourite was the version that had was a stunning champagne gold from waist upwards which unfortunately wasn't photographed for the look book. 
I was drawn to the La Seine because of the dreamy shape, it's low plunging neckline and high waist effect was perfect. The waist band is made out of a special quilted, cubed fabric exclusive to Sumarie which is a luxurious detail. 

I wasn't crazy about the luminous pink and was introduced into the fashion collection for this season; it didn't quite agree with my Tallulah eyes.. However, their other SS15 injection choice was a dash of black and gold which I loved. For example, the Champs Elysees Swimsuit above was fabulous!

The fringed, itsy-bitsy bikini's that stepped out in a variety of colours were fun, I'm not convinced our Tallulah girls would feel entirely comfortable with that much flesh on show.. But, for the petite client, the fringe would be on point for a festival abroad or a weekend away in Ibiza! 

It made me very excited that apart from the odd dash of luminous pink, Sumarie went with a lot of classic colour choices which I always champion. The navy's, champagnes, monochrome and reds really worked together especially on the pieces that were designed to be mixed and matched. 
I mean, even the bows on the bikini tops in the continuous collection are designed to be taken off and switched with different colours or stripes etc.. A very cool little designer feature! 

I would love to see a few Sumarie pieces at Tallulah Lingerie, we're always on the look out for some 'Wow' pieces to go along side our beautiful swimwear staples. 

Nichole De Carle London Look Book SS15 Cover 

SS15 Collections by Nichole De Carle | http://www.nicholedecarlelondon.com

I was super excited to see that Nichole De Carle was showing as I've love her collections, I really enjoy the brands idea of wearing pieces as outerwear. Seeing the lovely brand representative wearing a Nichole De Carle bra with harness details peaking out from her soft grey t-shirt was exactly how I envisioned the brand to be worn. 

I was shown through all the different ranges within the collection; it was all super edgy and cool, but the bespoke and top end of the collection was mind blowing. 
There was a particular contouring slip which was black and champagne gold that stood out to me. The material around the cups and on certain symmetrical sections along the front of the slip where textured with tiny, sparkling champagne coloured, caviar type detail. 
This new fabric is what Nichole De Carle decided to experiment within her bespoke pieces this session, however, there was mention that this material might make an appearance outside bespoke soon which would be so, so exciting as it's the most stunning fabric and texture. 

I loved the entire collection, Nichole De Carle really appeals to my personal taste and how I like to style underwear as outerwear - it's a unique look I'm a huge fan of! 
Some of it was a little 'much' for Tallulah's lacey and feminine show floor; for example, the Black Label Onyx, which would recognise immediately if you have seen Nichole's collection before. The label is still super feminine but in more of a rock and roll kind of way.. 

But there was one line called 'Soiree' which was described by Nichole as ultra feminine with striking shapes that compliment a woman's natural curves. I can see Soiree featuring next to designers such as Lascivious and Gossard in Tallulah - maybe a 'watch this space' situation.. 



A few piece by Fifi Chachnil Paris | http://fifichachnil.com/en/
Fifi Chachnil was the last lingerie collection I saw, it was so delightful to meet Fifi herself! It was very clear that her collection and brand are an extension of herself which is ultra feminine in a parisian and chic kind of way. 
The majority of the lingerie was either a candy floss pink or soft pale blue. The shapes were classic with triangular shaped full cups and half cup bras topped with Chantilly lace. Small bows were sprinkled across the pieces hanging from the rail as cute detailing and a few soft feather pom-poms poked out here and there as they hung from tie-side knickers. 

I enjoyed that Fifi also mixes ready-to-wear with her lingerie collections, a nice addition to her strong brand identity. There were soft cashmere's and sheer baby dolls hanging amongst the SS15 lingerie sets. Not only can you own the lingerie set but you can also own the little off the shoulder pussy bow shirt in the same colour and fabric!
Fifi herself was styled in this dreamy matching fashion, with a pale blue bra with double red stripes running across the cups and a matching shirt tucked into her high waisted polka dot pencil skirt. 

My favourite piece was definitely a pair of loose fitting shorties that they called 'bloomers'. Made entirely of sheer polka dot fabric available in a range of pinks and ivory and trimmed with lace they were adorable! 
Even though I'm a girly-girl from time to time and love a touch of pink my favourite colour element was a charcoal, lavender mixed colour. It was a rich looking purple that I couldn't get enough of! 



This was my lingerie edit for the Designer Showrooms Event, I'll be publishing a jewellery edit and ready-to-wear edit as the week goes by! Thank you to all the designers I met and thank you for showing me through all of your dreamy collections.   



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