London Fashion Week FW2012

It's been a insanely busy two weeks, what with London Fashion Week, a digital workshop whirlwind trip to Barcelona, and lots of steps to get the online magazine I'm now editing up and relaunched by April! (I'll point you to the link when that goes up, don't worry.)

Anyway, even though it now feels like ages ago, here are a few of my highlights from the Fall/Winter 2012 collections at London Fashion Week. (Quick note: people here say "Autumn/Winter" instead of "Fall/Winter"... not sure why, but there you go. FW12 is now AW12.)

Probably the worst photo imaginable, but one of my favourite "newbie" shows. Canadian Thomas Tait lured a load of editors to a FREEZING (seriously, it was probably -5 degrees inside... and +5 degrees outside), dark warehouse in east London. Good thing his collection was stellar. Amazing construction, beautiful rounded shoulders on jackets, and this to-die-for sweeper coat in a mossy green.

Peter Pilotto - another one of my favourite collections this season. I've often wondered why they named their label after just one of the guys behind it (the other is Christopher De Vos). Loved the digital prints in this collection, and this snapshot is of one big thing that LFW brought: the pretty puffa.

Two shots from Christopher Kane. There were some great colours in this collection—blood reds and purples, as well as black and dark, dark greys—and a cool wood-grain print that you can just barely make out in this second photo. The purple carpet matched the font used for the tickets, and I sat in the front row, on the very, very (literally, VERY) end of the runway, three down from Poppy Delevingne.

Clémence Poésy at Burberry.

Love this little bow belt at Burberry. Not loving the look on Alexa Chung's face.

A closer look at the belt and one of the owl screened tops from the Burberry show. This photo was taken the next day at Burberry's enormous London showroom. 

I'm not sure if it was the fact that it was fashion week or the fact that it was much busier than usual (I have been there on one other occasion, and it was much quieter), but I did notice quite a few groups of people carrying brown paper bags around. I wonder if Burberry provides a packed lunch for some of the staff! This wouldn't surprise me.

Very wide cartridge pleats at Mary Katrantzou.

Roksanda Ilincic looking beautiful and very tall backstage, before her show. This was one of the calmest backstage areas I've ever witnessed.

An oversized, drawcord checked backpack backstage at Roksanda Ilincic. This makes me want to wear backpacks again.

Another shot of Roksanda backstage. She is gorgeous! And very friendly. The shoes are by Nicholas Kirkwood for Roksanda Ilincic. 

I don't wear heels as much as I did back in Vancouver (the cobblestone on London sidewalks and roads just isn't conducive to them, and running to the tube in 5-inch heels is no easy feat), but I do still pack them in my bag, and they are definitely still my favourite type of shoe to buy.

Some of the colours from the show - as the models start lining up.

A look board backstage at Moschino Cheap & Chic. The Italian label showed in London for the first time, a strategy thought by many, including the Telegraph's Lisa Armstrong, to be a way to gain a larger audience for the second line (similar to when Miu Miu moved from showing in Milan to showing in Paris). 

I heard many people say "Mosshino" during fashion week. When my sister lived in Milan, I mispronounced enough Italian words to know better. Here is a good little recording of how it should be pronounced ("mos-keen-o").

(As a general rule: 

An S before a CH, as in Moschino = "sk"

Two CCs before an i, as in focaccia = "ch"

There are other tricks, too, but Elliot says I'm being pedantic I can't remember them right now.)

More backstage shots at Moschino Cheap & Chic.

(The woman on the far right in this photo is Lucy Yeomans, editor in chief of Harper's Bazaar UK)

Four photos from the actual show. Not sure how I managed to take those first two; as you can see from the third and fourth, I was seated behind Julia Sarr-Jamois (fashion editor at Wonderland magazine), who has a fairly significant afro.

Mustn't forget Mark Fast. I liked this collection—it felt much more grownup than previous seasons, and a nice departure from his usual super-sexy, tight knitwear. As you can see, AW12 is still tight, for the most part, but the subdued palette and stripes felt much more wearable. 

I also went backstage right after the show with my fellow Canadians, Mosha (of FLARE) and Alannah (of ELLE Canada), and saw Mark talking to Kanye West. 

That's it! This last shot is an extreme closeup of the wallpaper in the "Peter Jensen pop-up café"set up in the basement of Somerset House. Isn't it cute?!

Of course, one of the fun (and also slightly stressful) parts of fashion week is all the insane street photography that goes on... but I'll post about that later this week.