Queen McQueen

Two weeks before London Fashion week, his home and where he belonged, the very much loved Alexander McQueen, aged 40, passed away at his London home. I was a lover of McQueens eccentric, quirky creations, which made the news of his death even more devastating. In a way i always saw Alexander as a last man stating type of man. I always assumed he could cope with any extreme situation he placed him self in. Losing his mother the previous week was obviously like cutting of his supply to support. If peace was what he was searching for then one can only hope he has found it. Even his most theatrical designs were an inspiration to us all, influencing generations of designers in the industry. Known for his unconventional and outrageous runway shows McQueen was loved and his power will stay alive. His work always created emotional reactions- big ones, his audiences were one minute shredding tears of frustration of his wrong choice of venue, the next, tears of joy over both the clothes and the staging. "Enfant terrible" followed his name constantly. Yet, despite the perennial label he always collected the big and important awards from London. His power and influences will never die.

Long live Lee McQueen.

A BRIGHTER NOTE

LEFT RIGHT LEFT

Statement shoulders, stylish skinny combats, buckled boots, tailored army jackets will be swamping out streets by March. Even though i see many, maybe to many taking to the military boot trend, which i willingly admit to adopting myself, pairing them with absolutely everything... they just go right? Alexander Wang and Phillip Lim, love following and creating new military loves whilst Bess NYC encrusted their designs in pyramid studds, Pierre Balmain even introduced Cheryl Cole to looking like a soldier, the military ensemble was given the designer treatment with slit Harem pants from the fashion house that has seen a revived popularity among the celebrity fashion pack recently.

This doesn't need to be as boyish as you think girls, dedsigners like Aquilano Rimondie at buttery shaded leathers with girly skirts. Nanette Lepore and Haider Ackermann add the feminine touch by adding draping skirts and dresses to their collection. With this trend the possibilities really are endless.

CLEAN AND PRISTINE

Wanting to start the new season with a new slate? Here's the perfect opportunity. Tailoring is at its hottest and designers have finally realised less is ALWAYS more, BUT this is not mannish minimalism of the 1990's i'm talking about.Soft materialised pieces of body architecture have had a revamp with a feminine twist, with pleats, twists, hidden kinks and frills.

Thanks to Micheal Kors being good with the scissors 'cutouts' are becoming a huge trend and thanks to Hussein Chalayan's thigh-high slits we are seeing a lot more skin around here. Yves Saint Laurent, Donna Karan, Max Azria, Zero + Maria Cornejo and Maria Grachvogel have all joined the feminine tailoring gang designing gorgeous shift dresses and floating but subtle maxis.

PASTEL PERFECT
Fairgrounds with a stick of candyfloss, or a weekend picnic in the park surrounded by cupcakes all resemble the sweet tooth. This up coming season i was rather scared of, my body isn't a coathanger, i don't look fabulous in those floaty blouses and light colours. I always thought pastels were not my colour and belonged to pretty skinny blonde's. Lagerfield went country at Chanel, pinafore dresses at Bottega Veneta, and homespun luxe embroideries courtesy of Oscar de la Renta. This summer is defiantly going to be a sweet one.

KISSKATCH
Forget playing volleyball on the beach summer, cause balls is not what people will be throwing at you with designers adopting active influences for spring. With Alexander Wang's American football collection will look even better when broken down into its individual components, he is no doubt the captain of this trend; Pucci's Peter Dundas has combined business with pleasure, as we all like to do secretly, turning out sexy dresses inspired by his love of scuba; and Proenza Schouler has taken two well-worn references surfing and skateboarding and made them even more chicer than imagined

We’re not talking basketball shorts and football kits here girls. Derek Lam gives this boyish trend a feminine kick with marine-coloured sequin dresses, while Hermès make unsexy, well.. very god damn sexy.