Editors Diary

The Chelsea Flower Show at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea will officially open to the public tomorrow. Celebrating 100 years of horticulture, visitors can expect to be wowed by the attention to detail of each exhibitor and weird and wonderful flora and fauna from around the world. We don’t want to give too much away yet, so in the meantime indulge in the suavely dressed flower loving fashionista’s and celebs spotted at the press day this morning.

Style Advisor and Presenter Trinny 

British Actress Sophie Okonedo

Absolutely Fabulous Actress Joanna Lumley

Academy Award Winning Actress Dame Helen Mirren

Photographed by Frederique Rapier 

Wondering how you’re going to travel around the world in 80 days? Well, you should have gone to Insure and Go’s – The World on Regent Street on Sunday.

It was the street festival of the month if you love culture and vivid cultural displays. With twelve participating countries engaging with Londoners on one street, you could explore the hieroglyphics of Egypt to the backdrop of Indian music and entertainment of costumed revellers showcasing a taste of Trinidad and Tobago carnival. And, if all of that got a bit exhausting, there was enough flavoursome food to set the taste buds on fire.

This traffic free, street festival had me reminiscing about my past travels and eager to learn more about the places I plan to visit this year.

By Ashleigh Johnson-Palmer

‘What men call gallantry, and gods adultery, is much more common where the climate’s sultry’

The Editor is away in the beautiful island of Grenada. These sexy, sultry, summer looks by photographer José Tió and his creative team remind us of the tropical heat. Keep updated on the daily blog to find out what our Editor gets up to in the Caribbean island of Grenada.

Top: Believeme/ Skirt: Tara Jarmon/Sandals: Brunopremi.com 

Top: Simona Barbieri/Shorts: Modemoiselle Tara/ Sandals: Brunopremi.com

Top: Simona Barbieri/Shorts: Modemoiselle Tara

Trousers: Brunopremi.com/Sandals: MNG

Bra top: Simona Barbieri/ Bottoms: Tara Jarmon/ Sandals: Brunopremi.com

Bra top: Lingerie Twin-set/Trousers: SCEE jeans/Sandals: MNG/Bag: Liebeskind Berlin

Top: Mademoiselle Tara/ Skirt: Tara Jarmon

Photography:  José Tió

Fashion: Giorgio

Make-up, Hair & Nails: Junior Queiros (with Rituals Cosmestics & Twin Colour)

Model: Lisa Lima @ Fleming Models

Photographers Assistant: Donatelo M.

Fashion Assistant: Mirella G

Design by Jay McCarroll – Islands Fashion Week 

Islands of the World Fashion Week in Nassau Bahamas was and still is my most memorable fashion week. That’s not to say I haven’t seen innovative designs in London and across the Caribbean, but it was the general experience that sits high on my list so I am pleased to hear it’s back after a one-year hiatus. Re-named as Islands of the World Fashion Showcase (IWFS), I am also pleased to announce that our very own Sub-Editor/Fashion Designer Darcel de Vlugt will be showing her label Van der Vlugt at the two day event hosted at the Sherton Nassau Beach Resort in May. Even I have no idea what Darcel has up her sleeve, but if you  judge by this gorgeous one-off leather corset she designed for me, it’s going to be constructed very well.

Just like the premier event the organisers have focused on the experience and entertainment. There will be a fashionable bowling face-off with models, designers and fashionistas  and a host of parties at beautiful locations. I can hardly forget the showcase at Atlantis Resort  and the closing party at the unimaginable Nygard Cay.

Just for the experience I recommend press, photographers and emerging designers to check out Islands of the World Fashion Showcase in Nassau, Bahamas.

a.knackfuss

British Fashion Council teamed up with The British Council to launch International Fashion Showcase which displayed the works of 80 emerging designers in over 20 nations.  A first in London Fashion Week history, fashion exhibitions from the Caribbean to China, Africa to Australia and everywhere in between represented the future of fashion worldwide. Here are a few of my favourites.

First country pit stop is Italy!

Fashion Designer Caterina Gatta  showcasing at The Italian Cultural Institute and handpicked by Vogue Italia is a must see! Her vibrant collection is a mixture of old and new fabrics, with the old fabrics sourced from vintage designs from the likes of Gianni Versace, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent and many more.  It’s the perfect coupling for fashionistas who love to mix high end with vintage pieces.

Italian Brand CO-TE was founded by designers Tomaso Anfossi and Francesco Ferrari who take their references from ‘curios women who love to experiment’.

‘The lightness of Being’, that seeks to rediscover the playful side of women, who are obviously brave enough to wear a bright neon PVC shirt dress.

Next Stop Belgium!

Innovative fashion house, a.Knackfuss presented a modern-masculine womenswear collection inspired by Japan in 1955.

A ruffled blouse adorned with black, white and grey origami birds tells the story of a seven year old girl who hand crafted her own fate with over 1000 paper cranes.

DrennaLuna by Arlene Martin

The Caribbean Showcase held at Charing Cross hotel featured the designs of emerging and established creative’s from fifteen islands. It was most impressive to meet and greet designers who had flown in from the Caribbean to speak about their collections with London fashion enthusiast.

Trinidadian designer Meiling displayed a selection of her simple and sophisticated linen garments in palettes of cream, beige and crisp white. She hinted at a new venture she will be a part of this year with another designer. We are very excited about her up-coming project as Meiling’s established fashion house in Trinidad & Tobago has supported many talented young designers from London College of Fashion looking for practical experience in the fashion industry.

Birmingham based designer Gavin Douglas debuted his all black AW12/13 collection complete with high waisted trousers, heavily embellished necklines, structured body-con and sheepskin skirts. His choice of colour and fabrics are in complete contrast to the pastel palettes and lightweight  fabrics of other Caribbean designers, but in his pieces there is a representative of the fierce and sophisticated nature of Caribbean women.

Kaj Designs was quintessentially Caribbean with colourful silk wrap dresses inspired by the landscape of the Caribbean and an appreciation of the indigenous. His floor length two tone silk dresses are the kind you envision yourself wearing on a cool summer evening when a light breeze can create a rainbow effect. Designer of Kevin Ayoung-Julien aims to channel the dynamism of diversity and culture with designs that exude confidence, self-respect and independence.

Reviewed by Ashleigh Palmer Johnson 

On page 20 of the Island issue a island fashionista shows how inventive you can be with natural hair. Little did we know at the time that there was a collective of women celebrating their natural hair by sharing hair care information at fun events. The six Complexd founders aim to connects women internationally by providing a tangible resource of information within the natural hair movement.

At their most recent event Curl Crush – a speed dating event with a hair twist, we were inspired by the array of fashion forward women who were evidence of how much can be achieved with natural hair.

Check out more images by Raoul Brown here

To find out more about Curly Girl Collective and get advice on maintaining natural hair click the image above

Complexd Fashion features the style of Yendi Phillips who also featured on our Island style pages in this month issue.

Yendi Phillips  made history by giving Jamaica its highest ever placing in the Miss Universe pageant when she placed 2nd in the 2010 staging of the event. She is a  pro-active female figure in her community and has spoken at many positive initiatives in Jamaica, all while looking effortlessly chic.

Image via Yendi Phillips Fan Page

Portrait of Editor sporting a topknot – photographed by Frederique Rapier

Fashion is not determined by the in-crowd and the trend pages of magazines. It is conceptualized by visionaries who have taken inspiration from history, people, culture and  life. Some trends have existed for cultural or religious purposes years before we discovered them. Take for example the simple  topknot which has a vast cultural significance.

Aboriginal Village women and commoners wore their hair in a simple knot at the nape. Court attendants and women of the richer classes wore their hair more fashionably, either in a topknot on the right side with a loop of flowers suspended or in a plait.

If a samurai had his topknot forcibly cut off, it was considered shameful and humiliating, as it is a symbolic of their status.

In many cultures, when the topknot of a child is ceremonially cut, it marks the transition from infancy to adolescence.