What's not to love about Esteban Cortazar? During his time at Emanuel Ungaro the brand went from strength to strength before completely falling apart when he decided to leave when bosses decided that working with Lindsay Lohan was the way to go. Ever since he's kept quite a low profile but in May confirmed that he's finally making the comeback that we've all been waiting for with the help of Net-A-Porter.
The designer has decided to start his own namesake line and will unveil the collection during New York Fashion Week. The partnership with the online retailer meant that they helped him get the brand off the ground and worked closely with him from the initial sketches all the way to the pricing process and now also with marketing and PR. 'The way we're buying his brand - our approach is that of the way we would buy into a more established brand,' Net-A-Porter managing director Alison Loehnis told WWD. While she refused to say how much the retailer has invested into the company, she did confirm that they will naturally buy the collection in a 'robust' way suggesting that we have a lot to be excited about.
When it comes to runway shoes, it doesn't get much better that Nicholas Kirkwood's collaboration with Erdem. The pair started working together for the designer's A/W10 show after meeting through a mutual friend in Paris. Their partnership for Fall 2012, though, is one of their most memorable collaborations yet and was without doubt some of the most memorable styles from London.
The collaboration between the two has always been an interesting one. Erdem is known for his romantic femininity and delicate prints, which at first thought seems at odds with Kirwood's directional architectural style but the combination works. For Fall 2012 the shoes were covered with the prints and fabrications that we saw on the clothes, while Kirkwood was given free reign on the perspex heels.
'Erdem and Kirkwood wanted to create something bold, modern yet feminine,' the press release states. 'The heel, inspired by Le Corbusier whose known for his signature bold shapes, were the perfect starting point to create a strong grounding silhouette to build the shoe around while the use of the Erdem prints and fabrics add a feminine element.'
The collection is now available on Net-A-Porter with prices starting at £795.
Over the past few weeks my inbox has been inundated with various products designed by brands to cash in on the interest in the Queen's Jubilee. Rather than creating something special and one-off, the majority of the pieces have simply been updated by sticking a Union Jack on it somewhere but this special Nicholas Kirkwood shoe is different.
The style is still typically Kirkwood rather than being gimmicky and marks the occasion by the inclusion of red and white Swarovski Elements. They work so well because they are desirable even without the symbolic value.
Earlier on this week the British Fashion Council played host to the third British Designer's Collective pop-up shop at Bicester Village and just about every journalist in London was there to celebrate. As we reported, Alexa Chung replaced Thandie Newton this year to open the shop in line with her new role as the BFC's Style Ambassador.
'I am proud to support Value Retail on their British Designers' Collective pop up store at Bicester Village,' she said. 'The initiative opens up a whole new market to the participating designers that they might not otherwise have access to at this stage in their career. I look forward to choosing some key pieces from their collections for myself.' Starting from this week, great British brands like Nicholas Kirkwood, Jonathan Saunders and Holly Fulton will be available for up to 60% percent off but for a limited time only so don't waste time. Get down there soon.
Last night ELLE hosted their 15th annual ELLE Style Awards. The event, which took place in London's Savoy Hotel, saw Alexa Chung brought back to serve as host and guests were treated to a performance over dinner by Critics Choice Award winner, Emeli Sandéwho was joined on the stage Professor Green in the after-party.
Red carpet looks were strong, particularly from Tali Lennox in Julien Macdonald, Jessica Chastain in Alexander McQueen, Chung in Stella McCartney and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Antonio Berardi.
But outfits aside, the one thing you can always count on at the event is a good speech or two and last night was no different. Last year everyone was talking about Vivienne Westwood's 'interesting' confession that she didn't know who Emma Watson but this year was even more memorable. Johnny Johannsson, Acne's creative director, had us all impressed as he sang a Swedish celebratory song to pick up the award for Best Contemporary Brand but it was Cuba Goodings Jr who stole the show. Before presenting the Style Icon award to Huntington-Whiteley, he had the crowd taking shots of their drinks after saying that, "this is the first party I've been to where I feel I need to loose weight."
In the past London Fashion Week was the city that everyone felt like they could afford to miss but with the support of the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund, things have really turned around for London. The program, which provides all of the short listed designers with an industry mentor and £200,000 for the winner, has helped propel the businesses of previous winners Erdem Moraliglu and Christopher Kane. Both designers success in the UK and beyond is testament to the success of the program.
Yesterday the BFC announced that this year's short listed designers are: Jonathan Saunders, Roksanda Ilincic, Mary Katrantzou, Richard Nicoll, Marios Schwab, Peter Pilotto, Meadham Kirchoff and Zoe Jordan, as well as Nicholas Kirkwood.
It's been a busy social week so far. Monday night saw the CFDA host their annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund awards and last night everyone came out to tribute director Pedro Almodovar at the Museum of Modern Art's forth Annual Film Benefit. The best look on the night were definitely Miranda Kerr who looked stood out in her zip-up Peter Pilotto top and skirt combo teamed with Nicholas Kirkwood heels.
Just because we know you love a good shoe, let us introduce you to the latest collectiom by Nicholas Kirkwood. Like many designers this season, Kirkwood was inspired by the outdoors and gardens, which translated onto multi-coloured floral prints. The collection also featured more graphic floral styles in white on a pink heeled and yellow soled design and metallics, bows and leopard print also make an appearance.
Not that you need another reason to love Nicholas Kirkwood but we thought we should share this interview with you anyway. The British shoe designer has collaborated with everyone from John Rocha to Rodarte but for his latest collection he has designed a selection of one-off pieces inspired by Keith Haring. Teaming up with Swarovski again, the one-off pieces are covered in the crystals coming in bold colour on Kirkwood's signature sculpted designs.
In her light of her domination of the fashion world over the last three seasons, it was hardly a surprise that Phoebe Philo won big at this year's British Fashion Awards. As expected, she walked away with the Designer of the Year award, beating competition from Erdem and Christopher Kane.
Mulberry was another winner on the night recieveing the award for best designer brand, while Nicholas Kirkwood was rightly awarded the Accessory Designer Award and Nicola Formichetti walked away with the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator.
