Vogue at 100: models in the blitz, Diana with a tiara and the Kate Moss creation myth

February 9, 2016, 10:31 am

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The fashion bible’s A Century of Style exhibition captures a peculiarly British sense of aristocracy, adventure and female power

Damien Hirst, scruffy in a black jumper, pulls a silly face for the camera while a Hitchcock-blond Gwyneth Paltrow strikes a pose in a Lanvin cocktail dress. The ultimate noughties cocktail party comes to life in Vogue 100: A Century of Style. The National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition for the magazine’s centenary is organised in reverse chronological order, with each room telling the story of a decade in the magazine. The effect is that each room is a Vogue vignette that captures the tone of that moment in glamorous portraits of that era’s most-invited.

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The rise of blind-spot shopping

February 11, 2016, 8:11 am

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Livia Firth’s new collection for Marks & Spencer suggests that the smartest shoppers may be the ones buying clothes that most others would pass by

Confession time. When I shop, I am drawn like a moth to a flame to the prettiest, most eye-catching pieces. Yesterday, I took a short cut through Zara – I know, madness. Know thyself, woman! – and ended up buying a spaghetti-strap black lace bra-top thing, with some half-baked idea about how I was going to wear it over a shirt at fashion week in a sort of entry-level-Vetements way.

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What I wore this week: what real people wear to fashion shows

February 12, 2016, 5:00 am

≫ Next: How workout leggings set the pace in fashion

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Pleated skirts. That’s what we wear

Do you know what people actually wear to go to fashion shows? The relatively normal people who go to fashion shows for relatively normal, job-related reasons, I mean, rather than the people whose career is being able to monetise having a photograph taken in a cherry headdress or gold lamé thigh boots.

Pleated skirts. That’s what we wear. Last time I was at a show, I was wearing a dress with a pleated skirt, and about 25% of the women in the room were in a similar outfit. The only other time I remember such a concentration of pleated skirts and dresses being the norm was when the teachers at my school were gathered on stage for end-of-term assembly.

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How workout leggings set the pace in fashion

February 15, 2016, 8:07 am

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Trophy fitness wear is this decade’s It item – even when you’re not in the gym

Around 2004, somewhere between the Balenciaga Lariat and the Chloé Paddington, we reached peak It bag. It is funny to think about, now that the handbag market is all about cross-body comfort and accessible price tags, the obsessive worship once directed at bonkers-looking handbags. Back then, Vogue described the handbag as “that totemic accessory that announced you were owner of all that was desirable in the world”.

The status of the It bag soared sky high, entirely unmoored from the practical notion of a handbag as a vessel for stuff. The tiny Fendi Baguette – “foolish, a treat, anti-functional”, according to Silvia Fendi, who designed it – but still became almost a character in its own right on Sex and the City. The Chloé Paddington weighed 3lb even when completely empty, thanks to the hefty padlock (hardly optimal, you would think, for an object designed to be filled and then carried around all day) but this did not deter the 8,000 women who were on the waiting list before it arrived in stores.

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See it, buy it: prêt-à-porter comes to New York fashion week

February 17, 2016, 10:17 am

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Michael Kors abolishes wait between catwalk and store by making key garments from his latest collection ready to buy

New York fashion week has a new catchphrase: “Ready to wear – ready to go.” The see-now-buy-now mantra that is revolutionising the industry started in London, with Burberry’s unilateral abolition of the traditional six-month wait between a catwalk show and clothes arriving in store. But it was inevitable that New York, a city where instant gratification and 24-hour delivery are a way of life, would step up and own it.

The designer Michael Kors has a talent for pithy enunciations of where fashion is at. (“Ultimately, rich and pretty is what women want,” he pronounced at the height of last decade’s pre-financial crash mania for status dresses and It bags.)

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Ralph Lauren ignores the fashion zeitgeist and lets the good times roll

February 18, 2016, 1:16 pm

≫ Next: From Lady Gaga to Beetlejuice: seven things to know about the Marc Jacobs show

≪ Previous: See it, buy it: prêt-à-porter comes to New York fashion week

Designer’s catwalk show celebrates enduring power of traditional aesthetic values with seductive, sleek daywear

Kanye West, as usual, nailed the fashion zeitgeist. In the week when West declared himself to be $53m in debt, New York fashion week jettisoned its familiar high-rolling, wealth-signalling aesthetic in favour of utilitarian layering, dialled-down eveningwear, grunge and deconstruction and utility. Off the catwalk, unusually low temperatures put a brake on the peacock tendencies of the audience, and saw beanies and boots dominate the front row.

But when Ralph Lauren’s turn on the catwalk comes around, the good times still roll. Ralph does not do gritty. The brand sells a lifestyle of comfortable, discreet affluence that will never lose its appeal to consumers, even (or especially) when it is more fantasy than aspiration. The entrance to the catwalk venue was dominated by a floral arrangement the size of a tree, a white urn filled with hundreds and hundreds of perfect red roses. As a mission statement celebrating the enduring power of traditional aesthetic values, it said it all.

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From Lady Gaga to Beetlejuice: seven things to know about the Marc Jacobs show

February 19, 2016, 2:49 am

≫ Next: What I wore this week: a blue shirt with a twist

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The Marc Jacobs New York show was a lesson in urban grey, towering platforms and Beetlejuice chic. Plus, everyone was there, from Lady Gaga to Christina Ricci

Lady Gaga walked, wearing a black wool coat with green furry sleeves, a lime pussy-bow blouse and enormo platform boots. In the running order, she was listed as “Stephanie” (her real name is Stefani). Only Gaga can star in the most outre show of fashion week and make it look like the most normal outfit you have seen her in for ages, right? Kendall walked too, in an oversized suit with a stand-up feather collar – but Gaga stole the show, because the mood was very dark-fairytale and she is, after all, queen of the Monsters.

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What I wore this week: a blue shirt with a twist

February 19, 2016, 4:59 am

≫ Next: It's handbags: accessory labels do battle at London fashion week

≪ Previous: From Lady Gaga to Beetlejuice: seven things to know about the Marc Jacobs show

The elevated shirt doesn’t have to be tent-like, or down to your knees

The adjective most often affixed to a blue shirt is “humble”. That is, until now. This year, the blue collar has gone decidedly upmarket. Say goodbye to the basic blue shirt, and hello to the elevated blue shirt.

This is confusing, because it runs contrary to the principles of shirt-wearing, that the usefulness and appeal of a shirt resides in its simplicity. Those principles have been the basis of how shirts have been framed in fashion for years – a wardrobe device, used to engineer different looks. A cotton shirt worn open at the neck, with a pair of jeans, for ultimate blue-jean chic, or worn under a crewneck sweater with the collar poking through, for minimal layering. Or tucked into a below the knee full skirt, to modernise the midi length. The shirt is a foil, a plain background against which your look can pop.

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It's handbags: accessory labels do battle at London fashion week

February 21, 2016, 11:26 am

≫ Next: Sarah Burton brings Alexander McQueen show back to London

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Mulberry’s catwalk return and fun designs from Anya Hindmarch and Hill & Friends raised stakes in a UK market worth £2.7bn

It is a sign of how business minded the British fashion industry now is that, just as Milan has Gucci and Prada slugging it out, London has its very own handbag wars. The prize money is considerable: 51% of all British women bought a handbag last year, contributing to a UK accessories market worth £2.7bn.

Equivalent figures for the sale of ironically deconstructed sweatshirts and one-legged trousers are unavailable, but handbags are key to fashion’s bottom line. On Sunday at London fashion week, three labels went head to head in the battle to create this season’s It bag.

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Sarah Burton brings Alexander McQueen show back to London

February 21, 2016, 2:04 pm

≫ Next: Want to nail a fashion week trend? Head outside the shows

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Designer makes triumphant return to venue where she worked on her very first McQueen show 20 years ago

Sarah Burton’s decision to stage the first Alexander McQueen womenswear catwalk show in London for 15 years, rather than in Paris, was taken for a practical, rather than sentimental, reason: at 38 weeks pregnant, she does not wish to travel.

Nonetheless, the homecoming – not just to London but to the Royal Horticultural Halls, a venue where, Burton said backstage, she worked on her very first McQueen show 20 years ago – turned out to be a lucky charm. This was a stunning collection, and a fashion spectacle with soul.

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Want to nail a fashion week trend? Head outside the shows

February 22, 2016, 7:46 am

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From Gucci loafers and ankle gaps to loose hair and white polo necks, forget the catwalks. Look no further than the streets, where the showgoers are promenading all the latest looks

What would happen if you went to fashion week, but completely ignored the clothes on the catwalk? This sounds like a pretty stupid idea, even by the standards of the industry that brought you Zoolander 2. Actually, it’s not even remotely outlandish – especially at New York fashion week, where the clothes on the catwalk can be prop-your-eyes-open-with-matchsticks dull but the audience is unfailingly compelling.

If you ever happen to be in New York during fashion week, do not make the mistake of imagining you need to be on Calvin or Ralph’s “nice” list for a good view of the action. Instead, head down to Albert Capsouto Park on the northern edge of Tribeca, bag yourself a bench with a good view of the Laight Street crossing (right across from the entrance to the Holland Tunnel), sit back and enjoy the best catwalk show in town. Here, showgoers heading to the Spring Studios catwalk venue promenade their best looks, for the benefit of the photographers who will record their virtuoso shoulder-robing skills for posterity. Since London fashion week departed the photogenic cobblestones of Somerset House for Soho, the more picturesque stretches of Brewer Street – outside Lina Stores deli, say, rather than Simply Pleasure Adult Entertainment – have become unofficial catwalks around show time.

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Burberry ready to modernise fashion without delay

February 22, 2016, 11:48 am

≫ Next: London fashion week: seven ways to make your wardrobe more interesting

≪ Previous: Want to nail a fashion week trend? Head outside the shows

The brand’s catwalk took place against the backdrop of an industry on the brink of scrapping its traditional business model

Christopher Bailey was more succinct than usual in his summation of the new Burberry collection. “The Mitford sisters, glam rock, military, wellies. Just a patchwork of things that I love,” he said backstage after the London fashion week show.

The point is that the Burberry story right now is much bigger than the clothes on the catwalk. Bailey and Burberry represent the forces of modernisation in an industry whose traditional business model, of catwalks showcasing clothes six months before they appear in stores, is on the brink of being declared unfit for purpose now that the fashion consumer can see the collections instantaneously on the internet. This Burberry collection will be the last to operate on a time delay. From September, the brand’s clothes will be shown on the catwalk at the same time as going in stores.

Related: Christopher Kane stripped bare

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London fashion week: seven ways to make your wardrobe more interesting

February 23, 2016, 10:04 pm

≫ Next: Gucci's glamorously nerdish aesthetic returns – with a twist

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From eiderdown coats to showgirls sequins, next season’s trends revealed

This is what I love about London fashion week: you can rely on this city to put the cat among the pigeons.

As Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet says, we should be very proud that Burberry planted the British flag in the brave new world of see-now-buy-now. This is fashion, so change is always good, right? But, with all due respect to the newly appointed dame, Euripides also said that we should question everything. And that is exactly what London fashion week did.

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Gucci's glamorously nerdish aesthetic returns – with a twist

February 24, 2016, 10:12 am

≫ Next: Prada thinks differently at Milan fashion week with commentary on glamour

≪ Previous: London fashion week: seven ways to make your wardrobe more interesting

The mood was more assertive and womanly than the label’s usual ‘androgynous adolescent prodigy leaves the library for cocktails’ fare

Gucci designer Alessandro Michele makes clothes you lay eyes on for the first time and instantly feel you have always wanted. He starts trends that have a mass appeal quite disproportionate to their off-the-wall aesthetic. You may have never heard of Michele, but if your eye has been caught by a pleated skirt or a pussybow blouse in the past few months, I must tell you that you are in fact under his power.

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Prada thinks differently at Milan fashion week with commentary on glamour

February 25, 2016, 12:53 pm

≫ Next: What I wore this week: an X-factor neckline

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Designer Miuccia Prada uses the catwalk as a collage for the ‘history of women’ – but are Prada’s rivals gaining ground on its eminence?

The power of Prada has long derived from the fact that it is a glamorous and prestigious brand which thinks differently from other glamorous and prestigious brands at Milan fashion week.

For example: the rest of Milan puts corsets on models because they look sexy, while at the Prada show on Thursday, corsets in coarse white cotton were layered, unalluringly, over the top of tweedy, countrywoman jackets with hunter-style patch pockets.

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What I wore this week: an X-factor neckline

February 26, 2016, 5:30 am

≫ Next: Maxmara shows a collection that's hot on detail (and, of course, camel coats)

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Whereas a halterneck can be a bit Spring Break, the X-factor neckline is classier, because it nixes the cleavage element

Allow me to introduce you to the X-factor neckline. I don’t mean X Factor in the Saturday night telly sense; nor do I mean X-factor in the pre-Simon Cowell sense of je ne sais quoi. I mean X-factor in the most literal sense – an X shape. X marks the spot.

The X-factor neckline is yet more proof that the bare-shoulder trend is going nowhere. I am not suggesting you necessarily need to go bare-shouldered this very weekend, but in the interests of your spring wardrobe it might be a good idea to get to grips with a multiway bra sometime soon. Off-the-shoulder tops and the new X-factor neckline both require you to leave the traditional bra-strap at home.

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Maxmara shows a collection that's hot on detail (and, of course, camel coats)

February 26, 2016, 6:26 am

≫ Next: Oscars red carpet fashion: a retrograde year for Hollywood feminism

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Maxmara’s autumn/winter 2016 show is a lesson in combining classics – stripes, boilersuits and a new version of its classic camel coal – with modern updates

The Maxmara world is reimagined every autumn, but its north star will always be the classic camel coat. And so its Milan show is a masterclass in the subtle navigation of fashion, adept in endlessly reinventing that piece into a look that fits the mood of the moment.

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Oscars red carpet fashion: a retrograde year for Hollywood feminism

February 28, 2016, 11:11 pm

≫ Next: The 'Man Repeller' look – how Milan turned its back on sexiness

≪ Previous: Maxmara shows a collection that's hot on detail (and, of course, camel coats)

Alicia Vikander picks yellow and Cate Blanchett comes dressed as a mermaid … Hollywood’s leading women opted for a decidedly sugary look on the red carpet

In pictures: the best and worst of Oscar fashion

The Oscars red carpet has never been exactly at the vanguard of feminism. Unless the five-hours-in-make-up, half-starved-to-death thing is an ongoing subversive agitprop immersive theatre piece orchestrated by Reese Witherspoon to make a point about the gender pay gap in Hollywood by illustrating how much harder the women of Hollywood have to work than the men to pass muster on the red carpet. (That would be awesome.) Or unless, perhaps, Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander chose mint and lemon as their red-carpet colours this year in order to start an #oscarsopastel meme in support of #oscarsowhite. But so far, no word on this from their people, sadly.

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The 'Man Repeller' look – how Milan turned its back on sexiness

March 1, 2016, 7:18 am

≫ Next: John Galliano takes Maison Margiela non-traditional

≪ Previous: Oscars red carpet fashion: a retrograde year for Hollywood feminism

Milan fashion week is the spiritual home of sex appeal. So why have labels from Gucci to Fendi embraced clothes with a cheerful disregard for the male gaze?

Man Repeller, a fashion blog by the American writer Leandra Medine, has become one of the most influential industry voices since it launched five years ago. A Man Repeller, Medine explains on the site, is “she who outfits herself in a sartorially offensive mode that may result in repelling members of the opposite sex. Such garments include but are not limited to harem pants, boyfriend jeans, overalls, shoulder pads, full-length jumpsuits, jewelry that resembles violent weaponry and clogs.” The phrase has become a buzzword during a period when taking delight in clothes with a cheerful disregard for the male gaze has become an increasingly mainstream fashion position: see, the enduring and unexpectedly widespread popularity of dungarees.

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John Galliano takes Maison Margiela non-traditional

March 2, 2016, 10:49 am

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Layered ponytailed hair extensions under bobbed wigs, two-dimensional dresses draped like a bib: you get the picture

Maison Margiela, the house now headed by John Galliano, promised “a non-traditional approach” in its Paris fashion week show. That pledge was fulfilled by a model wearing a gold hi-top trainer on one foot and a lace-up hiking boot on the other; by layered ponytailed hair extensions under a Louise Brooks bobbed wig in a contrasting colour; by dresses worn in two dimensions, draped over the front of a jacket like a bib. I could go on, but you get the idea.

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