Iris Cantabri Pre-Fall 2015

I was so pleased to be invited to view Iris Cantabri's Pre-Fall collection, having discovered this young French brand last season and totally loving it (check out my review of SS15 here). Continuing the 'create your own look' theme, this collection includes tops and skirts made from a mix of wool, polyester and paper for warmth during colder months. 

Of course, thanks to the cleverly thought out zip system, you can mix and match the SS15 and AW15 collections to create, seemingly, an unlimited number of looks.

Artistic director and founder of the brand Guillaume Michel was kind of enough to talk me through the collection, his influences and inspirations. I was particularly taken by how he had translated his study of African masks to his designs and the result is both entertaining and beautiful. 

If this is just the pre-fall collection, I am dying to see what this amazing young fashion house will produce for AW15 in a couple of months!

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J'étais trop contente d'être invité de voir la collection "pré-fall" d'Iris Cantabri, une jeune maison française que j'ai découvert la saison dernière et que je kiffe. En continuant l'idée de "Prêt à Personaliser", cette collection inclus des hauts et des jupes fabriqués d'un mélange de la laine, du polyester et du papier pour donner chaud pendant les mois d'hiver. Grace au système de fermeture bien planifié, vous pouvez mélanger les collections printemps-été 15 et pré-fall 15 pour créer, apparemment, un nombre de looks illimités. 

Le directeur artistique et fondateur de la maison Guillaume Michel m'a parlé de la collection, ses influences et inspirations. J'étais impressionnée comment il a utilisé ses études de masques africains dans la collection et le résultat est à la fois divertissant et beau. 

C'est juste la collection "pre-fall", du coup j'ai trop hâte de voir ce que cette jeune maison de mode produira pour automne-hiver 15 dans deux mois!

Izzie x   

PFW: Days 1 & 2 Roundup

Vionnet presented a Greek inspired collection for SS15, using whites, beiges, greys with the odd pop of cobalt blue and black. The use of layered and over-lapping fabrics shows how togas inspired the collection. The models look like Greek Goddesses in the long, flowing gowns made of mesh, sheer fabrics, which makes the collection very powerful. Finally, I have to mention the shoes. Vionnet’s take on the gladiator sandal is just fantastic. The trainer trend is combined with long thick gladiator-esque straps for some looks and for others the straps are so thin they are barely visible. Love it.

For me Balenciaga's SS15 collection is just perfect as it incorporates most of the things I am mad about right now. The use of sheer and mesh fabrics with strong, scuba trims is a contrast that works really well. Once again I loved the monochrome and pastel colours, which seems a theme for SS15 – works for me! The tailoured floor length coats and hot pants are the cherry on the top of a wonderful cake.

The Modern Victorian vibes of Aganovich's SS15 collection are amazing, with lots of layered fabrics, ruffles and high collars, it seems this trend is going to continue from AW14 into next year. Again, I'm loving use of monochrome and red so this collection is right up my street.

The Guy Laroche collection is really varied so, overall, it is hard to decide what I think of it. There were certainly aspects that were not to my taste, such as the leather panel dresses at the start and the garish yellow and navy design on some of the dresses and skirts. However, I really like the 60s style mini length and cut of the dresses and skirts and the A-line shapes. My favourite pieces include the lace black dress with shirt collar, the navy dungarees and, of course, the embellished sequin slip dresses. 

“There was no soundtrack to begin, just the chirp of birds tweeting - or was that in fact just the audience all heads down and finger tapping into the oblivion of their phones? And was this perhaps a reminder - if not on purpose but quite brilliantly by accident - about what tweeting used to mean? The sound of nature, not technology.” (Vogue.co.uk)

Dries Van Noten, I salute you. What a lovely back to nature and hippy collection, which is refreshing among the monochrome and pastel tailoured collections so far at PFW. With a mossy catwalk under foot, the models show off Van Noten’s bright yet forest-coloured pieces. Each outfits brings together at least 4 different and usually clashing colours, but it just works. Not only do the colours clash, so do the beautiful prints but perhaps that is what the back to basics message is all about - stop over thinking outfits and just go with it.

What are your favourite collections so far at Paris Fashion Week?

Izzie x

PFW: Etienne Deroeux X Le Mont Saint Michel

Location: Le Mont Saint Michel, 96 rue Veuille du Temple, Paris

Paris Fashion Week commenced yesterday and I kicked things off by attending the capsule collection launch of Etienne Derœux X Le Mont Saint Michel. I went with my friend Gina, who is Etienne's wholesale executive for Paris Fashion Week so it was nice to start with an event that felt a bit more personal. 

The collection brings together Etienne Derœux's sport luxe style and Le Mont Saint Michel's work-wear influence and the result is beautiful. The clothes are simple yet unique and very wearable and the monochrome and pastel colours used meant the collection was instantly right up my street. I am a huge knitwear fan so I adored the chunky, soft jumpers that made me excited to get cosy in my jumper collection over the coming winter months. The graphic print silk shirt is the stand out piece of the collection and it looks great styled with a cropped jumper over the top, as seen in the last photo. And how fun are the woollen hot pants?! Perfect for keeping your bum warm under a black sheer skirt or trousers!

Keep checking back for more Paris Fashion Week posts throughout the next week and follow me on Instagram for instant updates! 

Izzie x 

Featured: Guest Post for Motel Rocks at Paris Fashion Week

As well as attending Paris Fashion Week for my own fun, I was also reporting for one of my favourite British brands and former employer, Motel Rocks. I sent street style images, which appeared on their Instagram and wrote a guest post for their blog which you can check out here.

Izzie x

P.S. You can get 20% off at Motel Rocks if you use code izzie_h at the checkout!

Paris Fashion Week Street Style

During Fashion Week the streets of Paris became full of stylish people. Don't get me wrong, Paris does usually live up to its reputation as being a very chic city but last week you could just tell that fashion was in the air. Being the capital of course there are some more edgily dressed people in here but generally the French are quite conservative when it comes to fashion. So it was a breath of fresh air to see all of the fab styles and looks at Paris Fashion Week and here are my favourites...

The trainer trend is in full flow and I am so on board! I spotted lots of girls at Fashion Week sporting Nike, New Balance and slip-on trainers. I got chatting to the girl on the right and she works for Cosmopolitan Finland! I really loved the layering of her outfits as well as all the different textures!

To my delight, pastel colours made an appearance on the streets of Paris, showing that the dark colours of winter are behind us. The great thing about pastel colours is that you can either wear one statement piece or they look great all together! I mixed pastels and winter burgundy in my PFW outfit, which you can check out here.

Despite the gloomy sky, I saw lots of bright and neon colours! These skirts look great and I think the ice cream lolly jumper is fab! (Haha Fab, geddit?)

Although I'm not sure I could pull them off, I love long coats! The girl on the left has such an effortless with the different shades of black and grey topped off with bright pink lipstick and a gold chain. I'm also mad about the socks-in-heels trend, which is going on in this transitional period. 

I think these accessories are great! I love the look of a see-through bag but the safety conscious part of me would always be worrying about a thief spying something they wanted! This mesh backpack is good because it doesn't give too much away. I love the 90s inspired neon turquoise plastic bag - makes me think of inflatable backpacks!

I just had to include this picture because it's a great photo and I love her sequin neck!

So these are the best dressed of Paris Fashion Week, look out for my post on the weird and not-so-wonderful looks from the fashion capital of the world.

Izzie x

Issey Miyake AW14 at Paris Fashion Week

On Friday I was lucky enough to attend the Issey Miyake AW14 show at the Espace Ephemère in the Tuileries gardens, which was the perfect setting for the show to come. The show was entitled Rhythmatic Forest as the collection is inspired by the pulse of forest life and the plants within it.

The show started with a guitarist and singer playing enchanting and hypnotic music at the top of the catwalk where from they continued to play for the entire show. Then came the models, dressed in simple clothes and carrying intriguing semi-circular coloured handbags. They stopped, opened the bags flat on the ground and produced a circular dress or jacket, which they then put on. This was scene 1 entitled ‘Tree Ring’ where the clothes were all designed to transform into compact circular shapes when placed on a flat surface. Just amazing. 

The rest of the collection included lots of layers, textures, curves, metallic colours and a hell of a lot of pleats. The clothes looked fabulous on the catwalk because as the models walked, the clothes bounced and rippled beautifully thanks to the pleats. It was an amazing show and I’m already excited for AW14!

Izzie x

Vendredi dernier, j’ai eu la chance d’aller au défilé d’Issey Miyake pour voir sa collection d’automne-hiver 2014-2015. Le défilé a eu lieu à l’Espace Éphémère Tuileries qui était le cadre parfait pour ce qui viendrait. Le titre du défilé était « Rhythmatic Forest » car sa collection a été inspirée par la pulsation de la vie de forêt et les plantes à l’intérieur.

Le défilé a commencé avec la musique captivante et hypnotique joué par une guitariste et une chanteuse. Elles l’ont joué de la tête du podium et elles ont continué de jouer pendant le défilé entier. Ensuite les modèles sont entrés, habillées en vêtements simples et elles portaient des sacs à main colorés semi-circulaire fascinants. Elles ont arrêté, ouvert les sacs à main et les mis plats par terre. Ensuite, les modèles ont produit des robes ou vestes circulaires des sacs et elles les ont mis. Cela était la première scène qui était intitulé « Tree Ring » et tous les vêtements peuvent devenir les formes circulaires et compacts quand on les met sur une surface plate. Magnifique !

Le reste de la collection a inclus beaucoup de couches, textures, courbes, couleurs métalliques et plein de plissées ! Les vêtements étaient super sur le podium parce que comme les modèles marchaient, les vêtements sautaient et ondulaient dans une belle façon grâce aux plissées. C’était un défilé magnifique et je suis déjà enthousiaste de la saison automne-hiver 2014-2015 !

Bisous, Izzie

Paris Fashion Week - What I Wore

Vintage coat / Vintage skirt / eBay top / Vintage hat / Doc Martens / Boutique backpack

(All vintage from Kilo Shop)

Today I headed to a few Paris Fashion Week shows and for my outfit I mixed Winter and Spring colours. I wore matching burgundy Doc Martens and hat with my pastel mint green coat and a peach coloured skirt. Yes, the skirt is actually a petticoat I guess but I'm channelling the underwear as outerwear vibe and I think it works. What do you think?

I was super jealous of all the LFW blog posts that I have read recently so I'm glad I can report from the Fashion Week of my adoptive home city! I spent the day taking street style snaps for Motel Rocks and attended the Issey Miyake show, which was amazing! Look out for blog posts on these soon!

Izzie x

Aujourd’hui je suis allée aux défilés de Paris Fashion Week et j’ai mélangé des couleurs d’hiver et de printemps pour mon look. J’ai porté des bottes Doc Martens et un chapeau bordeaux coordonné avec mon manteau vert pastel et une jupe couleur pêche. Oui, j’imagine que la jupe est, en fait, un jupon mais c’est la philosophie des dessous qui se portent dessus et je pense que cela marche. Que pensez-vous ?

J’étais tellement jalouse de tous les articles de blog sur London Fashion Week que j’ai lu récemment que je suis ravie de faire des reportages de Fashion Week de ma ville adoptive ! J’ai pris des photos ‘street style’ pour Motel Rocks and je suis allée au défilé Issey Miyake, qui était magnifique ! Mes autres articles de Paris Fashion Week vont arriver bientôt !

Bisous, Izzie 

Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture SS14: Chanel

Paris Fashion Week is in full swing and yesterday was Chanel’s Haute Couture show at the Grand Palais so I thought I would take myself down there to check out the looks being showcased by the most elite of the fashion world. To sum up, furs, black and the occasional strange headpiece.

The atmosphere was completely different to what I experienced when I went to London Fashion Week in September. In London the courtyard of Somerset House was full of edgy and bang on trend bloggers hanging around trying to get snapped. I was actually hoping to see some of this happening outside the Grand Palais but it was mainly paparazzi, television crews and the odd blogger, most of whose style did not grab my attention. Perhaps I was at the wrong show for this, or perhaps there will be more of this in the ready to wear week in February.  

 (Photos from vogue.fr)

Chanel’s Haute Couture collection is amazing. Any designer who puts their models in couture trainers and a bumbag is a winner in my eyes. The clothes are beautifully intricate and elegant. I love the tight waist lines with loose fitting crop tops over the top – a style which I’m sure will be re-created by the high street shops in the coming months. Bravo Karl!

What do you think of the Chanel collection?

Izzie x

Paris Fashion Week battre son plein et hier Chanel Haute Couture était au Grand Palais. Alors, j’y suis allée pour voir les looks des plus élites du monde de la mode pendant qu’ils arrivaient. En gros, ils ont porté les fourrures, le noir et un bandeau bizarre.

L’atmosphère était complètement différente à laquelle que j’ai trouvé à London Fashion Week quand j’y suis allée en septembre. A Londres le cour de Somerset House est plein de bloggeuses hyper tendances qui veulent qu’on leurs prend des photos. En fait, je souhaitais voir cela dehors du Grand Palais mais il y avait surtout du paparazzi, des équipes de télévision et des bloggeuses sporadiques et leurs styles n’ont pas vraiment pris mon attention. Peut-être ce n’était pas le show pour cela ou peut-être on verra plus pendant la semaine de prêt à porter en février.

La collection d’haute couture de Chanel est magnifique. Un créateur de mode qui fait porter ses mannequins les baskets coutures et une banane est top aux mes yeux. Les vêtements sont merveilleusement complexes et élégants. J’aime bien les tailles serrées avec des hauts courts – un look que les magasins de centre ville recréeront  dans les mois qui viennent, j’en suis sûr ! Bravo Karl !

Qu'est-ce vous pensez de la collection de Chanel?

Bisous, Izzie