All Walks Beyond the Catwalk and Rankin present 'SNAPPED' at the National Portrait Gallery, the Debate.

'Is Fashion the Lens through which we evaluate our own Identity?'

Since joining Twitter, we've been following Caryn Franklin (@Caryn_Franklin) and All Walks (@AllWalksCatwalk) in their much needed fight for diversity in the Fashion Industry. It was on Twitter that we came across 'SNAPPED', the late shift at the National Portrait Gallery which showcased Rankin's latest photographs of beautifully differing women. Evie has of course been in London since Monday, interning with Tom Lipop, but as soon as I read about the event I booked myself a train ticket, knowing it was an evening simply not to be missed! But fear not if you weren't there - the debate was filmed and will be steamed online. Evie wasn't able to attend, however in a wonderful stroke of luck, whilst waiting to enter the debate, a designer struck up conversation with me. Anna Lee, a Fashion Designer who is to exhibit next week with Vauxhall Fashion Scout, became my company for the evening and I was glad to give her Evie's ticket to the debate! We had an eventful evening - at one point I lost one of my bags - typical me - and Anna had to witness me have a bit of a panic in the middle of the gallery at the thought of being stranded in central London without money/tickets/ID, the poor girl had only just met me. Luckily people at the event were very nice, someone handed my clutch in and I am en route to Nottingham as I write this, thank you thank you thank you!! 

I am just one in a whole Nation of Women who I am quite sure are made to feel inadequate through Fashion's often unforgiving lens. I don't want to pick up a magazine and for the photographs in it to make me feel insecure. One of Lorraine Candy's points was that the ELLE team create images that are beautiful. She argued that women aren't stupid and know what they are buying (in the stick legged models amongst fashion magazines). I understood her point, Fashion is Art, naturally, the fashion spreads she publishes can't look anything other than beautiful. However, why does this mean the same waif thin casts of women should be used? Why can't something beautiful be created with what really is beautiful, and what we need to finally believe is beautiful: real women like ourselves. I want to see curvature amongst the haute couture, a personality wearing the garments for inspiration, not a blank and unhealthy canvas. And isn't that what it comes down to: health. What is more beautiful and inspirational than a woman exuding vitality whatever age, shape or race? 

the panel join the audience in the shock of the fact that Britney is actually normal like the rest of us before photoshop takes hold

Erin O'Connor told the audience about her more recently conflicting relationship with the Industry. She remembered feeling quite awkward as a girl, and that all changing after being scouted, her 6 ft. frame me being adored by the camera and praised by everyone behind it. But with sample sizes no longer fitting, she sometimes has trouble. She recounted an experience with a Designer, who asked 'what happened to you?!' when a pair of trousers didn't fit backstage at a show. Erin replied 'then why don't you make them bigger?', a fair point, no? The catwalk is becoming more diverse, this Season John Galliano sent Beth Ditto strutting her voluptuous figure down the catwalk, and hopefully at London Fashion Week more designers will choose to follow suit.

Kiki and her RUBY campaign

Kiki Kendrick's inspirational advertisements were shown behind her as she described the Body Shop's FULL VOICE campaign she worked on, starring RUBY the size 16 Barbie Doll who took the world by storm. She made the point of  the dangerous nature of the saturation of untruthful images to women, and in particular younger women. She commented that the first time you see something, it's different, the second it's not quite as much, and from then on it's just 'normal', and when this happens in magazines with the heavily airbrushed photographs portraying unattainable beauty, young girls don't see that it isn't really normal at all. When honest femininity is even sucked out of a plastic doll in exchanged for unrealistic proportions, these images are put in the mind of even the youngest girls. 

After leaving the Theatre, we made our way to the Gallery itself. By this time, most of the events (such as fashion illustration classes, the chance to be photographed by Alistair Guy for i.D and the 'I am' photobooth) had ended, yet the space was absolutely packed, the music of the female DJs filling the atmosphere. The Gallery was filled with familiar faces, I even bumped into Osman Yousefzada whilst making my way through the crowds to the bar. Since he was one of the first influential people Evie and I had the chance to interview, we were pleased to see him nominated for the BFC/Vogue Fashion Funding recently, but above all, we love the fact that Osman is a key supporter of All Walks, Amira Ahmed wearing one of his stunning designs amongst Rankin's shots. With her arms raised and the fabric of the dress taking the the air with her, she looks empowered and full of joy, the feelings which the All Walks campaign is spreading, and which are definitely catching on. 

'The Land Of Os'

Central Saint Martins graduate, Osman Yousefzada creates beautiful architectural designs which have caused much stir within the fashion world. The Afghan-British designer formed the collection for  Fashion In Motion live show which is inspired by the movement of the body.
Here we have an exclusive interview with no frills, as Osman gets straight to the point much like his gorgeous structural garments, about his experience as a designer and how he creates such innovative collections.

Sequins added to Osman's understated glamour

Have you always wanted to be a designer?

Yes, as I grew up my mother had a dress-making business, so I just took interest in fabrics from a young age, all the scraps. I've always liked fabrics.



Muted grey sci-fi ensemble



What was your favourite part of Central St. Martins?

Being basically surrounded by like-minded people, a lot of people with a lot of passion really.

 We loved the collection about the movement of the body...

The pieces fit together beautifully...

Yes, I mean, what I had to do was go through eleven collections because there was about fifty looks that were shown at the V&A, so I think it really helped me identify what I'm good at as a designer. 

The baby doll dress, paired with this Season's hottest shoe, the smoking slipper.

Who is the Woman that you design for?

She's intelligent, creative... I think with the kind of effortless style. She can just put something on, but creates a lot of drama when she walks in to a room basically.

As we'd never be able to choose, what from the collection would you put us in?

I don't know, I think I could picture one of you in the babydoll dress... and one of you in the little grey sci-fi suit.

We thought overall, the designs were minimal in shape but had real impact. Do you have a favourite piece from what you've chosen?

I don't know, there's a lot of favourite pieces. I move on really quickly, I think the babydoll dress. It's thirty metres of fabric, but due to the way it's cut, it's really reduced down.

There's always a little bit of a journey, these are pieces shown at the V&A earlier on, so they come from the last four and a half years. These are pieces that really stand out for me, they make a story really.

Birmingham Style Live Highlights

 The Harvey Nichols hub

Style Birmingham Live made it's mark across the centre of Birmingham last weekend, for an exciting three day event. We'll be posting everything that happened, exclusive interviews and the best places to be.

 The Mailbox offered goodie bags and the chance to get tips from the latest MAC Autumn/Winter trends. We also visited the exclusive VIP lounge where special ticket holders could take a break from shopping to sip champagne and celebrate over the more than generous VIP goodie bag, which contained a range of the best beauty products. As well as all this, shoppers could seek out the Elemis double-decker bus, which held facials and treatments for only £10!

The Bullring treated the shoppers over the weekend to 'The Show', as the Bullring magazine was brought to life to showcase the latest pallettes and looks for Autumn. The models were styled with makeup from The Body shop and high hair from Regis at Debenhams, as well as wearing outfits from the new additions to the Bull Ring: Forever 21, which is the first store to be opened in the UK, boasts a total of 3 floors of luxurious clothes, as well as Thomas Sabo the glamorous jewellery brand and the much loved Lipsy.

Selfridges also celebrated the style of Birmingham by making the department store the ultimate destination. The store offered a range of exciting events such as a exclusive fashion parade, personally customised Tshirts at Ralph Lauren, and live DJ sets from the latest up and coming artists. From masterclasses in grooming to photographing and shoe story telling to free boxes of Krispy Kremes, Selfridges really impressed us.

With a Starbucks coffee in hand, hunting down the best back-stage interviews



22 models reveal Autumn/Winter trends from over 30 of the best retailers

 The Style Birmingham Live Catwalk was held within Birmingham's Town Hall, with a total of 13 glamourous catwalk shows for the audience of fashion followers to enjoy. We saw 9 of the biggest A/W trends for women from Grunge Glamour to Boho poets, more than enough for every type of woman you want to be. The men didn't miss out on staying stylish either, as each catwalk featured well styled outfits for both sexes. There was also an exclusive collection of lingerie, the crowds went wild as the men strutted their stuff in their boxers.





                                         

George Lamb in his role as the presenter of the event

 

Honestly, we have to admit the highlight of the day was meeting the television presenter, George Lamb.  We loved his style and are excited to write up the interview, as many people have told us they're eager to read it. We chatted about his debut clothing line, his opinions on style, and most importantly, what he eats for lunch.

Osman Yousefzada

Birmingham's own Central Saint Martins Graduate, Osman Yousefzada showcased a collection formed for the Fashion In Motion live shows at the V&A museum earlier this year. Osman answered our questions about the collection, and told us about the woman he designs for, how he made it as such an inspirational designer and even what he has in store for Spring/Summer 2011.



Luckily, we caught the next big name in hairdressing, Warren Holmes, as he takes a break from Nicky Clarke's London Salon for a homecoming to Birmingham. We found that the most important part about this man is that he is genuinely incredibly enthusiastic about hair. He has styled hair on catwalks from Chanel to Armani, and we have an exclusive interview for you about the hair trends featured on the Style Birmingham catwalk, as well as the up and coming hair trends for Spring/Summer 2011.