Topshop are a busy bunch. Fresh off the announcement of their make-up partnership with Louise Gray and bridal line with Richard Nicoll, yesterday the high street retailer confirmed that they are working with JW Anderson on a capsule collection.
The collection, which is set to drop in September, features everything from denim to outerwear to memory sticks, photography books and pencils. 'I am very excited to collaborate with Topshop. It gives me the opportunity to reach a much wider audience with my designs,' Anderson said in a statement. 'It has always been very important to me that my collections are made accessible to anyone interested in fashion and design.'
Clothes-wise, the collection is said to offer the 'best of all his design ideas to date, a sort of must have wardrobe of covetable pieces,' the press release reads. How the stationary and books work into that isn't clear.
Topshop have been really busy. Last week they confirmed that they have partnered up with Louise Gray an a capsule collection and make-up range and recently they announced that they are teaming up with Richard Nicoll on a bridal collection. Buying your wedding dress from Topshop might seem strange on first thought but considering that the prices are accessible, it's undoubtedly going to do well and today, the first images of the collection dropped.
The range, which is priced from £75 to £350, features everything from simple slip dresses to a lace-bodiced gown. Unlike everything else in store though, these pieces will be limited edition with only 50 being produced in each colour way, which will go a long way in avoiding having just about everyone else having the same wedding dress as you.
Some time ago reports started to emerge about Louise Gray partnering with Topshop on a make-up collection and yesterday it was confirmed. Gray has partnered with the retailer on a range of make-up pieces that will hit stores in August.
According to Diary, the range features everything from from 'glitter pots to fluoro eye colours' in a similar vein to her clothes. 'My idea behind the collaboration was to design for the Topshop girl a range that was fun, similar to both the fashion and make up I wear already,' she explained. 'My mainline collections have always been about pushing optimism, colour and fun. I want her to experiment with the product, be daring and have fun with it.'
The British Fashion Council are really doing well by British design talent. Over the past few seasons they've drawn in all of the key international press and their London Show Rooms that take place in both Los Angeles and Paris have helped expose these designers to an international audience. In L.A. for example, more and more celebrities are wearing British designers like Peter Pilotto and Christopher Kane thanks to these initiatives.
But it doesn't end there. Now they have partnered with thecorner.com to make the S/S12 collections of Felicity Brown, Todd Lynn, Simone Rocha and Louise Gray available to purchase online here.
This season's London Fashion Week is a special one for Topshop as it marks the tenth year that the retailer has been sponsoring NEWGEN, an intitative to fund the shows of London's best design talent. To celebrate the anniversary they have teamed up with twenty designers that they have worked with, past and present, - including Holly Fulton, Christopher Kane and Mary Katrantzou - to create a special line of t-shirts that will be available in strores and online from Friday February 17 to Tuesday February 22.
Last season we all had the British Fashion Council's New Gen to thank for sponsoring our favourite shows. Holly Fulton, Michael Van der Ham and David Koma all received sponsorship to produce their critically acclaimed spring/summer 11 collections and today, the British Fashion Council revealed that all three will receieve sponsorship again this season. Come february they will join Louise Gray and Mary Katrantzou who will also get funding for a runway show.
Everyone was excited to see Louise Graythis morning at On/Off. You can always rely on her to stick to her guns and show a creative eclectic mix regardless of what the masses are doing. So true to form, whilst most are channeling all things Celine and minimalist, Gray went the complete opposite direction.
Colour was everywhere from pink and orange prints on dresses to pom pom headwear (similar to those in Diane Von Furstenberg's S/S08 collection) in bright bold pinks and purples. Why stick to one print when you can have three different ones on one dress, was the clearly Gray's sentiment for Spring. Dresses looked patchworked with clashing colours and prints on dresses styled with cropped sweatshirt style tops with multi coloured embellishment. Mary Janes left us, and British Vogue, wanting to get our hands on the bright coloured styles with their yellow heels and blue or red straps teamed with equally colourful ankle socks.
Dresses also came with cutouts along the sides on a green one in particular and others came with plastic panels on the front and down the back filled with confetti and the like. Just in case we wanted a bit more colour, Gray embroidered bright beads on cropped tops and one skirt came completely covered in vibrant badges.
Want the perfect remedy to a bad day? Wear head-to-toe Louise Gray. The Scottish designer behind the self-titled line has us sold on her bright, rebellious East London quirk - and she's the perfect example of how a background in hand embroidery can come in handy. Gray's simple lines let her fabrics speak for themselves, and speak loudly they do. Or at least fashion-scouting guru Lulu Kennedy thought so, since she invited the Central St Martins grad to Fashion East for three seasons straight at the start of her career.
What's a typical day like in Gray's studio? Let's just say, don't show up if you're anti-Guns n' Roses.
Good news: hand embroiderer du jour Louise Gray has designed an eight-piece collection in collaboration with Asos.com. Gray's famous colour-filled style remains intact, with eye-catching prints created for "someone who is fun" available now from the retailer. The collection of bloomer shorts, fringed and chiffon shift dresses, graphic print t-shirts and cropped denim jackets sells for £45 to £80, so don't be afraid of buying several of the styles.
Gray told Vogue.com, "I wanted to make the most popular pieces from a mixture of seasons accessible to everyone." And how grateful we are for her generosity. Also look out for Gray's "artwear, crazy comforts and mono prints"-inspired AW10 collection, which she will be unveiling at London Fashion Week later this month.
