Brighton Fashion Week 2012 - The Brighton Frocks show

Alice Parsons took in the first show at the 2012 Brighton Fashion Week:

The 2012 Brighton Fashion Week ‘Catwalk show’ at All Saints Church, Hove, had all the pre-show excitement, anticipation and awesome looking guests of previous years. Also the same lengthy queue for the bar (allowing more time for outfit perving). And the promise of an entire week’s worth of fashion to follow.

I had the great fortune of being seated on the front row, close enough to the catwalk to see every sequin and goose pimple. Also possibly close enough to be blinded by the whirlwind of an opener that was Celia Arias designs. A display of outlandish characters took to the catwalk. An evil puppet mistress steered a sumptuous Japanese puppet into view. They were followed by a cautious gollum sporting a skull and plastic aeroplane helmet, who checked his surroundings before beckoning a shy green monster onto the stage in Little Sister, Big Daddy style.

Latex was next, Lucky Dame showcased a collection of naughty, nude and pastel colored dresses led on by stunning BFW model Tess Georgia Dimos (pictured below). Despite latex’s saucy vibe, the outfits still had something cute about them, although along with Arias' creations perhaps fall into the not so wearable on a daytime/public spaces basis.

Frantic About Frances followed. The range of vintage style boudoir underwear is glamorous enough to get the sailors wolf-whistling whilst still looking pretty damn comfy. At this point my neighbour turned to me and asked ‘Are the gussets big enough?’ to which I replied ‘Yes, I think they are’, a special moment and a rarity in modern underwear, I’m sure some will agree.  It was also brilliant fun getting into the vintage spirit with a burlesque striptease and union jack waving.

Aneta Mackonyte’s ‘Rainbow Warriors’ are influenced by Tibetan, Mayan and Incan mythology. ‘I am trying to unite my own knowledge and emotions by mixing fantasy and the everyday in a child-like way.’ Mackonyte explains. Happy models, wearing relaxed chunky layers echoed her message. Clashes of tribal prints, bright woven fabrics, bear hats and knotted prayer flags would be great for snugly winter outfits.

Other highlights included feisty punks at Charles of London and Flash Gordon futurism at Shara Haze. The hairy zombie men clawing at us from the catwalk were also a big hit. Student and BFW fan Astrid Harbour commented, ‘What Jylle Navarro created with a pair of knitting needles was absolutely extraordinary’. My only complaint of the evening being the large number of lollipops carried throughout the show and the slightly abrupt ending after the final designer.

This year the models were stronger than ever. Local beauties (stand outs including Ellis Anthony, Desiree Laidler and Liv), many modelling for the first time and doing a spectacular job, were supported by the talented backstage crew as returning BFW model Dimos explains. "A team of hardworking individuals backstage power through the hours to perfect the look on the already very beautiful models. Make-up artists, hair stylists, dressers and designers were all working round the clock to get the models out and ready on time. Backstage madness is always worth it in the end; the models graced the catwalk in their stunning garments. Brighton Fashion Week has done it once again and put on a show to remember."

I quite agree.

BFW takes place every year in May. For more information visit: http://www.brightonfashionweek.com/
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Review by Alice Parsons. Photos courtesy of Theresa Power and Brighton Fashion Week.

Brighton Fashion Week - Roadkill Couture Wows Crowd!

Following the Success of Thursday's Brighton Frocks show at St Martin's Church, Brighton Fashion Week returned to the same venue the following night for the Couture show. While it's hard to believe any more punters could squeeze into the venue, it seemed there was an even bigger crowd in attendance than for the packed-out Frocks show, and it was standing-room-only by the time the first model set foot on the catwalk at 8.30pm.

The Frocks offering was always going to be a hard act to follow and the first-half of the Couture show - while oozing elegance and style - lacked that dangerous, edgy, outlandish element that made the night before so exciting. However, that changed when, soon after the interval, Jess Eaton's Roadkill Couture collection absolutely blew the roof off.

Jess Eaton makes her pieces from animals that have died naturally or been killed for food. She's not out to shock, but rather wants to push recycling to the limit and make an increasingly wasteful world think about the nature of sustainability. If animals are being killed to stick in our mouths, shouldn't we at least put their skin and bones to use too? And not only does she put them to use, she creates things of pure beauty.

Amongst her amazing collection, she boasts a belt built from Marks & Spencer spare rib bones, a fascinator fashioned from rat skulls and a hat made from magpie wings. To reiterate, this wasn't even slightly about shocking the audience with gimmicks - there wasn't a ham-fisted Lady Gaga meat dress in sight - but rather was beautifully crafted and perfectly judged. It deserved the ovation it received.

  
For more examples of Jess' strange yet beautiful work, as well as other designers' collections and yet more backstage craziness, check out our Facebook album. While you're there, why not Like us, and we'll keep you hella up to date with all the other BFW stuff we've got going on, as well as the latest music news, reviews and interviews from around the world. And yes, you read it right, we did use the word "hella". 

Words and pictures by Rob Townsend
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Update: here is Jess' statement of intent, to add a bit of context to the above:

Brighton Fashion Weekend

As a guest of the lovely folk at Brighton Frocks, I recently spent some time amongst the sartorially elegant and the beautiful at Brighton's Fashion Weekend. The annual event ran over three days and included a fashion emporium, special film screenings, open studios, widespread fashion installations and all manner of workshops around the city. The main event was a theatrical catwalk show at the Metropole Hilton on Friday night, featuring collections from Brighton's finest. I arrived in time for the dress-rehearsal (below).

Backstage before the show, things were exactly as you would imagine: an absolute frenzy of chaotic activity. It was a real buzz, as event organisers ran around barking one order into a mobile while simultaneously receiving another on their walkie-talkie. Meanwhile, photographers snapped away as models in varying states of undress queued impatiently around make-up tables. There was none of the cattiness that one might expect from such an event. All the - entirely amateur and voluntary - models were friendly and visibly nervous. While, front of house, punters jostled for seats or lorded it up in the VIP section, nails were being bitten backstage.



The next day, there was a lower-key show on a small runway in the same room as a fashion emporium. The scaled-down nature of this one (just a couple of collections and far fewer models) meant things were positively serene compared to the previous night. Before the show, models (who dwarfed all the normal-sized humans in the room) posed for photos and waited for things to get under way.


Despite the success of the previous night's show, there was no complacency amongst the models, some of whom found a quiet spot backstage for one last practice.

The insanely talented Emma (below, left) from Owl And The Grapes was the official reviewer of the weekend, so you can read a much more insightful and entertaining account of all the fun and games here.

Review by Rob Townsend.
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