Style Bubble

Unpacking Pollini

Pollini may not be a shoe label with a widely known history or heritage but it does have one and atemporary exhibit entitled "Unpacking 60 Years of Pollini", which was feted today exploited all possible elements that would reveal this shoe and leather goods company's background.  What made it particularly interesting was to have the involvement of editor-in-chief of The Gentlewoman (haven't devoured the new issue yet but the cover is mighty enticing, no?) and creative digital producer Jane Audas (she has a very sweet blog about the subject of Shelf Appeal), as co-curators of the exhibition.  There was also striking graphic support from Veronica Ditting, who is responsible for the distinctive art direction of both The Gentlewoman and Fantastic Man.  All of those background forces combined with the ever-directional designs of Nicholas Kirkwood, who has been creative director of Pollini since 2010, made for a satisfying and fun way of exploring Pollini's history.  

A ramshackle pile of shoe boxes sat in the middle of the room with archive pairs of Pollini shoes popping up from past decades and you immediately notice that they mostly display practical and chunky heels as Pollini catered to the "modern" woman.  These were shoes made for walking.  That "sturdiness" is something that Kirkwood has definitely drawn from for his current designs.  At the bottom of the shoe box pile was the current A/W 13-4 collection, which immediately gets my vote for its mix of textures, colours and most importantly heel shapes, which I know can pound the pavement properly.  

In a special reinvention project, Kirkwood took the original 1977 Pollini "Cavaliere" boot and reinterpreted them for six of his ideal Pollini icons - Monica Vitti, Grace Jones, David Bowie, Ellen von Unwerth, Patty Hearst and Lena Dunham.  No doubt, Dunham's character in Girls would approve of the "wrong" deliberate clash of prints on the boots because she dares to go braless with a yellow string vest.

Upstairs, you could get some vivid neon orange and Yves Klein blue nail wraps done as well as get in on the "Pollini Social Club" action by getting your Polaroid snapped with a pair of Pollini's on.  Naturally I went for the pair of flatform sandals with the flashes of braided neon.  Few shoe brand birthdays get this many facets to its party so for that, I commend Martin, Audas and the Pollini team for squeezing as much out of its 60 year history as possible.  

Taped Media

The Telegraph recently posed a question of how British is British Fashion, with regards to foreign ownership and investment injected into the British biggies.  It's also a bit of a redundant question to ask when it comes to the origins of the majority of designers who show in London, if you're going to be pedantic and ask them what passport they hold.  Take Antipodium.  Creative director Geoffrey J. Finch originally hails from Australia and his contemporary label that always promises bags of fun-fuelled wearability, was originally spawned from a London-based showroom and PR company, promoting labels from down under.  Now Antipodium is firmly rooted to East London and has been in an upward ascent in popularity with its concept-n-art infused designs at smart prices.  

Its A/W 13-4 collection was a multimedia mashup, both in texture and in inspiration.  Sex, Lies & CCTV is the title that preambles this sleaze-filled collection.  Spy cams, sex tapes and guilty pleasure trash thrillers like Sliver and Basic Instinct set the scene for this sartorial investigation of modern day voyeurism.  There's a delectable unease about the textures - sickly pistachio or muddy berry slick patent, fluffy sheepskin contrasted with flashy lilac metallic panels, faux pony and velvet sit in one tactile but slightly disturbed "Trophy" coat.  This was a collection full of deceptive outerwear options where front-on, you'd see one thing, and then you turn to the side or round the back and you see another.  Antipodium have once again collaborated with duo Craig & Karl on the prints, which are based on CCTV footage screencaps and security guard video walls.  Oiled up patent emerged as a favoured fabric from London Fashion Week, and no doubt Antipodium's take on this "sleaze with ease" style will prove popular.  

Speaking of popular, a quick gauge from my Instagram showed that people are bang into all things cork.  Especially if they come in loafer form.  Not since Aldo x J.W. Anderson has a high-low shoe collaboration been this awesome.  Antipodium have paired up with ASOS to exclusively bring us eight mixed media syles of shoes that come in the Pathfinder loafer, the Halftone heel and the Gradient heel.  Cork, mesh, patent, sheeny shiny buckles, snakeskin-effect and a touch of olive suede are all intermixed into different texture combos.  The loafers are undoubtedly my favourite out of the lot and for a well affordable £75.   A commenter called me out for calling Sophia Webster's shoes reasonable priced the other day.  I'd maintain that they are in a designer shoe world context but I'll admit I was a bit overenthused about my pricing language.  This sweet little collab though is well and truly within most means, with plenty of design packed into the price tag.  Quite pleased that in one outfit, cork, pvc sheeting and clear plastic manage to come together, like a jumbled up Blue Peter craft project.

Wearing Swash bomber jacket, Simone Rocha yellow plastic and cream tweed skirt, Ostwald Helgason x Noel Stewart cap

Happy Place

Explanation of absence of the blog can be put down to lazy tabloid sports or traffic headlines.  SUPER SUNDAY.  MANIC MONDAY.  Emphasis on the Monday, as yesterday I had a bit of a meltdown outside the Topshop venue in the Tanks at Tate Modern (Venue verdict?  Brilliant - modern, gives you a sense of occasion and stark enough for the clothes to do all the talking).  Transportation/wardrobe/technological malfunction all came colliding together until no less than four fash-y friends has to come and give me a hug and tell me it was all going to be ok.  Once all problems had been solved, I shuffled and sniffled back into the Tanks, like a pathetic fashion victim (I don't mean victim of my clothes - although you guys may disagree - but I mean a victim of fashion week slog) and wandered into Sophia Webster's presenation.  

I was assured by Gary Card, the wizard set designer who worked with Webster on the presentation, that it would be "Very Bubble!"  How very right he was.  I'm such a predictable pastel-loving, glitter-glowing, unicorn-wannabe.  I stepped into Webster's rainbow land and it was like magic fairy dust and come falling down all over me.  My sniffles were gone.  My cheesy toothy grin was switched on.  And I flitted about in amongst the pastel painted woods checking out each unicorn-maiden (styled by the wonderful Leith Clark - actually she was one of the people who was kind enough to give me that aforementioned hug)  and seeing what delectable shoes and accessories Webster had conjured up for her second LFW presentation.  Webster's candy-filled ascent in the shoe world has, as most will know, been aided by the support of her former employer Nicholas Kirkwood.  The success also lies in the fact that Webster's fun-fun-fun aesthetic doesn't come at too hefty a price tag.  Afterall, it's a whole lotta shoe you're getting.    

This season, the styles don't stray too far from what we have seen and rightly so.  Everyone with a penchant for Clueless and My Little Pony should know what Sophia Webster is capable of.  Let's see... holographic leathers in girly toy pearlescent colours, polka dot metallic heels, pretty bows, Cher Horowitz plaids, crystals, gobstopper balls and all the pretty colours from the pastel gel pen set, which I was obsessed with as a teenager... I could go on but you definitely get the idea from the much-edited set of pictures here (it was a tiddly space but I still managed to hammer into my SD card, going around taking multiple run of pics).  

On the credits sheet, it quotes the famous Peter S. Beagle line from The Last Unicorn "Always be yourself.  Unless you can be a unicorn.  Then always be a unicorn."  I left the presentation definitely aspiring to be a unicorn.  Failing that, being myself and chasing after Webster's shoes for as long as she carries on is not a shabby second best.