J Crew are coming to Ldn!

Last year we had the news that the likes of Victoria's Secret and Helmut Lang were to open their first UK stores in 2012, today it seems that another American retailer is to follow in their footsteps, J Crew.

The brand, which began back in 1983, is the go to store in the US, particularly in Manhattan for high end classic clothes (think Reiss but better).

The brands creative director said today at the new season presentation that they were looking at stores in both Regent Street and Covent Gardens stating 'It's not just gonna be one store, we're not gonna be stingy'. We have a huge British following already, our New York stores get a lot of customers, but what we do is not very well represented in the British market'

The stores are speculated to be opening sometime next year, Until then the brand is available to UK customers online at both net-a-porter and the brands own website JCrew.com.

Fashion Week Kicks Off

Many off us have not even had the chance to try out SS 2012's new trends thanks to the blistering colds but thankfully today is the day that Autumn Winter 2012/13 kicks off, giving us plenty of time to adapt our current winter wardrobes, which given the next few weeks forecast of snow and minus degrees temperature can only be a good thing.

Mercedes Benz fashion week kicked off yesterday with shows such as DKNY Mens and Rachel Comey but today we start seeing the bigger names in fashion with shows such as BCBG Max Azria, Duckie Brown and Cynthia Rowley.

Following on Friday are fashion heavy weights Rag & Bone, Helmut Lang, Jason Wu and Nicole Miller with unmissable Prabal Gurung, Alexander Wang, Herve Leger by Max Azria and Monique Lhuillier.

Sunday's line up see's some of the newest yet biggest names with Victoria Beckham kicking off in the morning to be followed by Thakoon, Derek Lam, Diane Von Furstenburg and one of my favourites Zac Posen.

On Monday we have Jenny Packham, Preen, 3.1 Philip Lim, Reem Acra and Marc Jacobs with Tory Burch, Badgley Mischka, Rodarte and Oscar De La Renta following on Wednesday.  The penultimate day of shows brings with it the now hotly anticipated Victoria by Victoria Beckham, Marchesa, Elie Thari and Proenza Schouler whilst the final day before we move to London is filled with American classics from Ralph Lauren, L'Wren Scott and Calvin Klein.

Fashion week is always a busy one, but with the weather getting colder and winter lasting longer and a whole list of fresh new talent let's hope there is plenty of fabric.  Keep reading and we'll follow up today with reports on the best shows.

Helmut Lang SS 2012

With this being his first show in 5 years, great things were expected from Helmut Lang.  Despite his show starting almost an hour late, he did not disappoint.  The show started off heavily feautring the monochrome look that fashionistas such as Anna Wintour herself are so fond of.

The collection consisted of a lot of draping, sheer fabrics which revealed models underwear.  Tops were asymmetric and jackets had waterfall styling.

Layering was also a big part of Langs look, and whilst it was just sheer white fabric on sheer white fabric, it worked.  The overall look was clean, playful and one that definitely has emphasis on keeping cool throughout the summer months.

See the show here

MBFW Mayhem

The month we have all been waiting for is almost upon us. That's right, in under 12 hours the first show of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week will begin, kicking off four weeks of previews from top designer for S/S 2012 in the worlds four top fashion capitals, New York, London, Paris and Milan (although we all know London's officially the finest :) ).

This year is set to top the rest with the return of Tom Ford and Helmut Langs first show in 5 years. New York will run from Thursday 8th - Thursday 15th, from where London Fashion week will begin.
New York see's 7 full days of over 100 shows from CFDA emerging talent 2011 winner Prabal Gurung to Marc Jacobs.

The week has had various disruptions due to Hurricane Irene with Marc Jacobs moving his show from Monday 12th to Thursday 15th and indirectly causing Bill Bass to move from 5pm of the same day to 12.30 to avoid any possible conflict.

The CFDA also previously announced that all models during MBFW will be required to show valid I.D before walking after it's chairman Diane Von Furstenburg mistakenly hired a 15 year old to walk her A/W 11/12 show earlier this year.

I can't wait to see what S/S 12 has in store for us. Whilst there are over 100 shows, I'm particularly excited for the following....

Thursday 8th
BCBG Maxazria - 10.00
Supima - 13.00

Friday 9th

Jason Wu - 13.00

Mara Hoffman - 14.30

Rag & Bone - 17.00

Tommy Hilfiger Mens - 17.30

Saturday 10th
Lacoste - 10.00
Prabal Gurung - 12.00
Helmut Lang - 13.00
Alexander Wang - 17.00
Charlotte Ronson - 18.00
Monique L'Hullier - 19.00

Sunday 11th
Victoria Beckham - 10.00
Derek Lam - 12.00
DKNY - 13.00
DVF - 16.00
Zak Posen - 19.00

Monday 12th
Jenny Packham - 9.30
Carolina Herrara - 10.00
Preen By Thorton Bregazzi - 12.00
Donna Karen - 14.00
Rachel Zoe - 15.00
Marc By Marc Jacobs - 20.00

Tuesday 13th
Tory Burch - 9.00
J Crew - 9.30
Badgley Mishka - 10.00
Vera Wang - 11.00
Rodarte - 12.00
Herve Leger - 14.00
Marchesa - 15.00
Oscar De La Renta - 18.00

Wednesday 14th
Michael Kors - 10.00
Philip Lim - 14.00
Anna Sui - 18.00
Ellie Tahari - 19.00
Proenza Schoeller - 20.00

Thursday 15th
Ralph Lauren - 10.00
Calvin Klein - 14.00
Marc Jacobs - 20.30


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Lang Loves London

Wow, it really does seem like high end designers just cant enough of the streets of London.  So far we have had Tom Ford, Isabel Marant and Victoria's Secret announce plans to open in the capital of England.  

Today, further news announced that the Austrian fashion brand is joining the ranks of fashions finest and launching it's first UK store in London's Notting Hill next month.  The store, which is to fill an 800 sq ft store on Westbourne Grove, will be the first of the brands free standing stores in Europe.  The fashion house, which is known for its minimalist yet severe designs, has said that the store will contain pieces from the A/W 11 collection against a backdrop of natural materials.

Honestly, this, coupled with Victoria's Secret's opening, I think I'm going to explode with excitement.