London Fashion Week
London, the land of the two hottest princes, biscuits and tea and freckly, pale people – Great Britain and of course, its capital; London.
London is the proud runner up out of the ”The Big Four” (Paris Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week), hosting their fashion event directly after New York in February and September.
The first show was held in 1984. Since the beginning, each week has been attended by around 5,000 press and buyers. Most of the events are held at the same venue, which is the Somerset House in Central London. The courtyard hosts the catwalk shows, while inside the house itself 150 designers are showcased.
UK, despite its size, raised some of the world’s greatest designers, names like Stella McCartney, Mathew Williamson, Alexander McQueen and Emma Hill (creative director for Mulberry).
Here are some of the biggest:
Alexander McQueen
This innovative and amazing young man was a fashion icon. He played with our imagination and took his designs to the highest level of creativity (with his “fish heels”, for example). In 1996 he took over for John Galliano as head of Givenchy haut couture. Five years later, he moved away from Givenchy and LVMH to his own label that was controlled partially by Gucci Group. One of the biggest signature pieces is the skull scarf. He brought skulls back to fashion. His designs are unique, extremely detailed and exquisite.
Unfortunately, Mr. McQueen passed away in February 2009, leaving an unfinished collection for the scheduled Paris Fashion Week show. After he passed, his “right hand” and assistant Sarah Burton took over as creative director.
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Burberry
Burberry is known for its British class, primarily in the beige, black, and red stripes and of course their infamous trench coat.
Christopher Bailey came to Burberry in 2001 as the Creative Director. Since coming to the brand he worked hard and dedicated his heart to his work, so much so that in 2009 they created a position for him – Chief Creative Director. From then on he has been in charge of all Burberry designs, collections, and products, all advertising, corporate art direction, architectural design, multimedia content and overall brand image for Burberry. What a position! And he appears to be managing it just fine!
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Stella McCartney
Ms. McCartney was born and raised in the UK. She graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 1995 where Bergdorf Goodman, amongst others, picked up her final collection! She worked as the creative director at the very impressive, Chloe, before moving on to create her own brand in 2001 (backed by Gucci Group).
Ms. McCartney is very serious about animal rights and therefore never uses any real fur or leather in her designs – Peta must love her! She does keep herself busy with experimental work, like designing Gwyneth Paltrow’s outfit in Sky Captain and costuming Madonna for her Re-Invention tour.
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Paul Smith
With a collection known for its colorful stripes and fun designs, this English fashion designer (who looks like a Hogwarts professor), did not actually chose fashion as a career. Paul Smith dreamed of becoming a professional racing-cyclist, but a serious bike-accident killed that torch. After his tragic accident he was given the opportunity to pursue his passion for fashion, oh aren’t we happy he did!
Under his little corporation Paul Smith, there are 12 different collections. There’s something for everyone!
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