Betty Jackson is a firm favourite on the London Fashion Week schedule after being involved in the event for the last 60 seasons but this season the 62 year-old designer is notably missing from the line-up.
This week she confirmed that she has decided to take a gap year from fashion but will definitely return. "We're not closing the company, and I'm definitely not retiring," she told the Guardian.
Betty Jackson and Lucy Ewing are the perfect duo. The stylist understands the Jackson woman so well and never puts a foot wrong - and the show is always well edited, creating a strong message for the season. That's exactly what Jackson delivered this morning.
Like many other designers this season, the designer showed a lot of colour. Tomato red appeared on thick red maxi dresses teamed with white tights and Mary Janes, and also on boiled wool coats and jackets. Wide-leg trousers teamed with thick jumpers also came in varying shades of red, as did some leather looks featuring single-breasted leather jackets with cropped wide-leg trousers. As the collection progressed, red continued to appear, but on lighter fabrics. A long, floaty maxi dress with simple spaghetti straps came with large but subtle floral prints teamed with chunky heels. It wasn't all about red, though. Towards the end, black appeared on sheer dresses with pink embroidered flowers styled with skinny silver belts.
Betty Jackson's jump-off point for her Spring collection? The Land Army, which was left to keep England running during the war. Like many designers this season, it was clear Jackson was headed back - way back - to try to find something modern. And in the process, she also proclaimed that she was designing for women of all shapes and sizes.
Mixed in with a few bikini tops and hot pants, there were forgiving silhouettes to be found. A floaty chiffon floral-print number, for instance, and a few belted jacket-and-skirt combos could do the trick. And though Jackson stuck mostly with a palette of camel, brown and black, she added pops of aqua and hot pink for energy. Cuts for all sizes, with a bit of fun? We'll take that for any generation.
Wandering around Somerset House first thing in the morning on day three of London Fashion Week, we were just bemoaning the horrible weather when we spotted an over-sized red umbrella being carried by none other than the king of fabulous stilettos, Jimmy Choo. Despite being drenched, of course we had to rush over for a quick chat, to which he kindly obliged.
The Fash Pack: Morning Mr Choo, glad to see that our awful British weather didn't keep you away. How are you enjoying LFW so far?
Jimmy Choo: It's been good, although I only just got here so I haven't seen very many shows yet.
TFP: What collections are you most looking forward to?
JC: Jasper Conran, Betty Jackson and Burberry for now, but I'm sure more will come to me later.
The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has recently announced the launch of its new pop-up shop in central London. The UK-based charity is known for its work in empowering individuals who "suffer most from environmental abuses, (such as forced child labour and environmental abuses in cotton production), to find peaceful ways of preventing them."
With this in mind, the charity once again has returned to their temporary home in Kingly Court, off Carnaby Street, but this time are stocking up-to-the-minute sample (pre-season) men's and women's T-shirts and 100 Eley Kishimoto designed eco-friendly shopper bags at £10 each, (which were also seen on the front row at LFW earlier in September), for a limited period only. The t-shirts feature art from a number of designers, including cream-of-the-crop of British designers such as Luella, Giles Deacon, Betty Jackson, Zandra Rhodes, Alice Temperley, Katherine Hamnett, Jenny Packham, Richard Nicoll and Ciel. T-shirts can be bought separately, but savvy shoppers can invest in two t-shirts and get a free EK shopper.
With the likes of Lily Cole, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Ashley Jensen and Nic Hoult, amongst over 50 others, having been spotted sporting the organic Continental cotton t-shirts, it is likely they'll be an instant hit. More to the point, as there is only a limited amount on stock available, the T-shirts will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis so you would be wise to head over to White Gold, 1st Floor Kingly Court, London, W1B as quickly as your 5-inch heels can get you there. And as Christmas is round the corner, it would seem that there is no better time to do your bit for charity, whilst snapping up some presents your friends and family will definitely not want to take back after the festive period.
Ali Michael is officially one of our favourite models. Having bumped into her several times during London Fashion Week, The Fash Pack finally managed to sit down with her backstage at the Betty Jackson show to discuss what she thought of the show and what she loves about London.
Mention his infamous name and the most fabulous shoe designs spring to mind. So to say we were thrilled would be an understatement when the royalty of beautiful heels, Jimmy Choo, gave us an exclusive interview backstage after the Betty Jackson show, about why he loves London over any other city.
Betty Jackson opened the third day of London Fashion Week with a fresh collection of marble prints, sheer socks and painterly florals. Close friend Jennifer Saunders sat pride of place on the front row, joined by Tracey Emin, Stephen Jones, Jimmy Choo, Melanie Blatt, and Jasper Conran.
Pink florals on a brown base opened the show with bib style ruffled blouses, and underwear as outerwear became an apparent theme with pastel coloured sheer socks, cute silk shorts and night robe style tunics. Prints ranged from that of a monochrome marble to watery silk florals in pastels and nudes, contrasted with an updated breton stripe in gold and black. The eighties was still a clear inspiration for Jackson, who continued the use of accented shoulders with padding and embellishment, however the new season's show saw a looser fitting aesthetic, nipped in at the waist with a thin material belt, with far less structure and formality of that seen over the Autumn Winter shows. Edwardian style ruffles around the neck added volume to blouses made from the sheerest of fabrics, and metallics made an appearance with a pewter dress and top. As Eniko Mihalik and Ali Michael and strutted to eighties-esque music, the colour pallette, prints and optimism of the whole show provided a freshness and excitement for the coming Spring. Be sure to look out for the sequined lightning bolt jumper, soft camel coloured leather jacket, and simply anything with those embellished shoulders.
Betty Jackson is synonymous with quality British fashion. Clearly the Queen agrees with me because in 2007 she honoured the designer with a CBE, acknowledging Jackson's contribution to the British fashion industry. During her 28 years in the business, Jackson has developed a highly successful mainline as well as a diffusion line for Debenhams and who can forget the infamous costumes she designed for '90s hit TV show, Absolutely Fabulous.
Last week The Fash Pack caught up with the designer to discuss everything from her who her ideal customer is to trying to get some work done on a hangover.
