File this under another example of we all love Anna Dello Russo. Never one to shy away from showing off her moves, ADR has just dropped this video, 'Fashion Shower', ahead of the launch of her new accessories line for H&M.
The video was shot by Alex Turvey and sees the Vogue Japan editor doing a Madonna, posing her different yoga moves while wearing a fringed Mark Fast dress. And aside from her moves, you can also enjoy her chanting things like 'Fashion is always uncomfortable, when you get comfortable, you never get the look,' in a dramatic way in time with the music.
H&M always celebrate their partnerhsips in a big way so it'll be interesting to see what they do with this one. Dello Russo performing with Lady Gaga maybe? Now that would be a moment!
Mark Fast is known for his uber bod-con knitted dresses so when he sent plus size models down the runway at his S/S10 show back in 2009, he had everyone talking. This week his efforts were celebrated at the first Body Confidence Awards in London. At the event, which was organised by Debra Bourne, Caryn Franklin and Erin O'Conner, the designer was awarded with the fashion prize.
'As a designer I care about the women that wear my clothes ... it is very important to deliver the technical aspects a look and a quality of make — I don't really understand this? — but I also want to make each wearer of my clothes feel empowered and affirmed. I want to celebrate women and make them feel good in my clothes,' he said.
Kanye West has been attending London Fashion Week for a while now. In the past he's popped up on the front row at shows like Burberry and Christopher Kane but this season he didn't do the usual rounds. Instead, he only attended the Mark Fast show leading many to believe that he is working with the knitwear designer.
Last season the only younger brand that he went to see was Louise Goldin who we now know worked with him on his debut collection for his eponymous line so his arrival at Fast's show seems to be more than a coincidence. If that has convinced you, Fashionista confirmed that an undisclosed source confirmed that Fast is in fact helping the rapper on his second collection which is set to be unveiled on March 6.
Yesterday Mark Fast showed one of his best collections yet. While there wasn't anything particularly ground breaking about it, the pieces were a lot more streamlined and refined than we've seen from him the past. The knitwear worked so well that it was easy to forget that that's exactly what they were.
The collection was also a lot more wearable than we've seen in the past. The dresses still came with high hemlines, thigh baring slits and were still body conscious, granted, but this time the neutral colour palette of monochromatic stripes, greys and peaches teamed with softer silhouettes allowed the line to appear to a wider cross section of women. One look which featured a stripped cropped top with a winter appropriate grey knit skirt and beanie is exactly what I want to wear now and the fringed coat that appeared at the beginning will definitely satisfy the Fast customer who loved the brightly coloured versions that he has shown in the past.
Mark Fast’s Fall 2011 collection wasn’t met with the best reviews but this season was different. It was as though he took the critique from February and really used it to take his latest collection to the next level. As always, the knitwear was strong but this season he proved that he’s more than a one trick pony by also serving up an orange and black print that came on dresses and cropped bomber jackets, cropped tops and mini skirts. Unlike in the past, the collection feature pieces that were not knitwear which showed that he has a lot more to give.
Colour wise, he had all bases covered. The collection began with an assortment of nude pieces teamed with chunky gold necklaces and bangles that felt a big Greek goddess. As the collection progressed he offered up his signature bod con dresses in bright yellow – which has been in just about every show this season – as well as a bright orange. In true Fast fashion, hemlines were either really short on bod con dresses or hit the floor in predominately halter neck styles with cut outs along the sides.
Back in 2009, Mark Fast shot to fame after showing sexed-up bod-con knitwear dresses, and now five seasons later, we've all been wondering what else the designer can do. Fast tackled the criticism head-on yesterday, showing us that he's more than a one-trick pony.
Whatever you can say about Fast, he does open your mind to the creative potential of the use of knitwear. No other designer has played with the technique in such innovative ways. This season, he decided to deviate from high hemlines and opted to show a floor-length mermaid tail knitwear dress in nude. Although his experimentation should be applauded, unfortunately it just didn't work. For the fish tail, he used a chunkier knit that seemed to weigh the dress down, making it look too heavy. With that said, the strength of the collection definitely lay in the simple pieces, like a selection of nude suede shift dresses, and particularly the opening looks, like a neutral knit halter mini dress teamed with a cropped jacked in what looked like Mongolian wool. A look featuring a cropped top and mini skirt with a thicker knit along the hemline looked classy.
Last season Mark Fast got everyone talking when he sent plus sized models like Crystal Renn down the runway. The result was a lot of mixed reviews but the important thing was that it got people talking. That said, it was good to see that his decision wasn't merely to be controversial. In his show this morning, the designer sent plus size models alongside 'normal' models signalling a movement forward reverting away from tokenism.
Now on to the collection, Fast continued to work with his signature knitwear bod con dresses but got playful putting fringing on just about everything. Black dresses had tassels all over the sleeves and down the sides teamed hinting at a rebellious feel supported by a heavy dark eye. The collection was definitely provocative and sexy with cone bras appearing with patent leather detail which also appeared down the sides of dresses. Cut outs were severe and the collection had a spiders-web feel.
Colour was everywhere on dresses despite the opening black looks with dresses coming in aqua blue and dresses come with orange, blue and purple tassels. Crystals were encrusted on sleeves and on vertical panels on dresses and also on sheer panels running along the sides of trousers. Fluorescent yellow - which we've seen a lot of today - appeared towards the end, as well as dresses in terracotta. The collection ended with a dramatic white dress fringed on the sleeves and along the hemline - a true fashion moment.
Moving from her usual residence in New York to London - "My boyfriend [Robert Konjic] is in London, so I'm spending the summer here, I've been here for a couple of months now," she tells Grazia - Julia Restoin-Roitfeld isn't in the capital purely for leisure. Style.com reports that the design management graduate is the face of the forthcoming Lancome collection for Spring, Ultra Lavande, and was recently shot by Mario Testino for the campaign.
Alongside modelling for the beauty brand, Restoin-Roitfeld has taken on the role of creative consultant for Mark Fast's lower-priced line, Faster, and was on set to offer her advice for the line's Fall lookbook on Tuesday. "It started after I saw two friends wearing [Mark's] dresses [one of which was model Anouck Lepere]. I was asking 'Who designed those dresses! I want one!'" she explains of how she came about the position. "I especially wanted to wear one for the Cannes film festival, and that was my first dress by Mark."
"So that's how we met. Amanda [Mark's Art Director] heard that I was working doing creative consulting. So they asked, and I was very happy to work with him and bring my ideas to the brand. Mainly it's about being able to bring an outside point of view because they [Mark's team] all work together already. [I] mostly [work] on branding, and the image of the brand."
Back in May we reported that the ANDAM prize fund finalists had been announced by Anna Wintour and the rest of the jury - Mark Fast, Turkish designer Hakaan Yildirim, former Mugler designer Alexandre Vauthier,Francesco Scognamiglio, former Christian Lacroix and Balenciaga designer Bouchra Jarrar, and Calla Haynes, who worked for Oliver Theyskens for five years at Rocha, as well as Nina Ricci.
Fighting off the tough competition to claim the prize of €220,000 was Hakaan Yildirim, who when asked to comment from Istanbul replied with his collaborator and good friend Mert Alas, "This is so magical. We are honoured." Hakaan's first show in London took place only last February, and caused quite an unexpected stir on the fashion scene, bringing Carine Roitfeld, Kate Moss and Emmanuelle Alt to the front row, whilst Natalia Vodianova, Lara Stone, Maricarla Boscono and Natasha Poly walked.
