. September 20, 2012 .
The lovely Philippa & Hannah
Micheal Van Der Ham
Julian Hakes
Ada Zanditon
French Sole
Kat Maconie
Sophia Webster
 
Tatty Divine inspired by Minnie Mouse
Awesome Topshop pop-up poster store!
 The lovely Ada Zanditon and her model
 Beautiful Soul
Phannatiq
Xsenia & Oyla
 Evmorfia
Kate Nash!


 London Fashion Week! Thanks to easyJet holidays and Ada Zanditon I was able to attend LFW, and had such an amazing time with Polly the organiser of the competition and Hannah and Philippa, the other two competition winners! We were given exhibition passes that let us look around Somerset house, seeing some fabulous fashion designers; I spend quite a lot of time in the shoe section as you can see! One of my favourite designers that I saw was Micheal Van Der Ham; there were some amazing embellishments and details on his garments with beautiful colours and prints, ultimate clothing envy. After a good few hours looking around and refreshing on cakes and Prosecco, we headed over to the Felicities Presents show, featuring designers such as Ada Zanditon, Beautiful Soul, Xsenia & Olya, and Phannatiq. Each designer was stationed with a Model wearing their beautiful clothes as well as an iPad for members of the audience to watch their amazing films on. I’ve never been to a show quite set out like this before and thought it was such an interesting way of showcasing fashion, it meant you were able to get up close to the clothes as well as the designers. I was able to chat to Ada for a couple of minutes and she told us how her collection was inspired by the female tiger, beautiful and wild yet exquisitely glamorous – definitely evident in the Tigress Reign collection, with beautiful regal prints and colours and ethnic details. There were cute and classic floral prints from Beautiful soul, where as Xsenia & Oyla focused on movement, their designs featured water and smoky prints. Evmorfia carried on the monochrome trend with its striking black and white designs and Phannatiq saw bold and grey dyed prints giving off a very urban-chic vibe. Whilst looking around the exhibitions and shows was utterly amazing, just walking around the courtyard of Somerset house was so much fun! The atmosphere was great, and there were so so so many amazing outfits and people to see, as you can see I snapped a few of my favourites myself! All in all it was truly one of the best days and I hope to go again in the spring!

What I'm wearing:
Dress - Motel
Tights - Primark
Jacket - Zara
Bag & Socks - Topshop

PS, check out my guest post on the Motel Rocks blog!
PPS, one of my best babes Polly has made a blog, eveyone go check it its awesome! http://wi1dathart.blogspot.co.uk/


London Fashion Week

. September 18, 2012 .


Hello hello hello! WHAT A WEEK is all I have to say at the moment. I've interviewed Theo Paphitis, got myself an intern-ship at MOTEL (so excited!), and won the easyJet Holidays & Ada Zanditon competition, and got to go to London Fashion Week! Whilst there is a lovely big LFW post brewing I thought I'd do one now on the new JW Anderson x Topshop range, seeing as I've been in London and got to see it first hand! The Oxford Circus store had a wonderful little section featuring the collection, my favourite piece is the black jumper with cat eyes on it! Unfortunately I couldn't buy all of the lovely things I'd have like to, but I was actually in desperate need of a new phone case and a new notebook, so I picked up these awesome ones. The prints are awesome, I chose the red turtle for my phone case and the zebra for the notebook, they look so cool together as well, I can see myself purposefully carrying them around with one another! The rest of the collection was equally as cool, the knitwear has fun designs on and I particularly liked the quilted brocade print pencil skirt, something so simple made so interesting! There were also some amazing cat-print skinny jeans that I loved as well as some really cute striped dresses. Anyway sorry some of the pictures aren't great, felt a bit weird whacking my SLR out in the middle of Topshop haha. Hope you've all enjoyed everything that's been going on with fashion week!

JW ANDERSON x TOPSHOP

. September 14, 2012 .


Yesterday I was lucky enough to attend Theo Paphitis's new lingerie store opening, Boux Avenue. The best way to describe it is a lingerie store like no other! At the door you were greeted by the gorgeous Boux girls giving out Boux sweets and treats. Inside it's like a boutique filled with underwear for everyone. You'll find beautiful lingerie displayed on the walls and tables, each with drawers underneath so you can find your perfect size, about time someone thought of this brilliant idea, right ladies? The press were also very kindly  given a Boux Avenue gift bag, which contained a gift card, a pair of knickers, hand cream, lip balm and a memory stick! Very spoiled indeed. After a good look around I met and interviewed Theo Paphthitis (yes I interviewed a dragon! Who actually is very lovely), here's what he had to say:

Where did the name Boux Avenue come from, does it mean anything?
We came across a young lady in Monaco named Boux, and she epitomised everything about the store and what it looked like, obviously very french.

You're no stranger to the lingerie business but what's special about Boux, what sets it apart from its competition?
There isn't anything like Boux in the UK, its a very special mass market product. It's a wonderful service, the experience and the environment from the changing rooms to the staff and the way you're treated - it's all about you. Boux's not a me-too store, it's been designed from top to bottom from a clean piece of paper by people that live, breathe lingerie - girls that understand it. I sat down and said to them what would be your ultimate lingerie store and this is it.

Boux obviously isn't aimed at one target market, why is it important to cater for everyone?
It is mass market or we wouldn't be able to survive, while its a wonderful project it's also a money-making project. We have to have a wide, broad appeal, not age driven, mental state driven. You could be sixteen or sixty, its about how you feel.

What was the inspiration behind the layout of the store?
Our inspiration was how you'd like to buy your lingerie. Classical and technology fits together, with the classical shop fittings we put screens in. This allows me to change promotion instantly without printing. Its about being commercial, joining the 21st century retail with a classical bend to it. 

This is your 13th store opening, and Boux Avenue's been open for over a year now, are you pleased with the customer reaction so far?
Ecstatic with the customer reaction with the loyalty and VIP scheme we're running, so much so we've actually accelerated our store opening plan. It's the 14th next week in Liverpool, there will be 18 before Christmas and 21 by March. The reaction's been superb, its all stations go now its looking great and the customers think so too.

Being a blogger myself, I noticed Boux also has its own blog, as well as being active on other social media platforms. How important do you think the new media is to the fashion and retail industry?
New media is everything, not just to the fashion and retail industry. We just talked about the technology that's in the store, we lead our lives now with accelerated changing at such a rapid rate. Its an experience in any of our lifetimes.

Is there anything the lingerie buisness has taught has been helpful in any of your other ventures?
It has actually, lingerie because its such a personal product, the way you interact with your customer and client is in such a nice way and personal way and that's certainly something I can replicate. 

Watch out for Theo on series 10 of Dragons Den, now showing.

Boux Avenue Opening & Interview with Theo Paphitis