Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2012 Catwalk Review: Toni & Guy – Hair Meets Wardrobe


Naomi Campbell, salve illustrated by Phoebe Kirk

So fashion week (unofficially) kicked off early this S/S 2012 season with a Thursday night show-cum-product launch from purveyors of the faukhawk, Toni & Guy. I had no idea what to expect from this. Well, clearly I imagined there’d be a fair few hair dos on display – but would it take the form of a normal runway show? What would the fashion be like? Would I leave desperate to dash to my nearest T&G salon? I was soon to find out.


Toni & Guy, illustrated by Gareth A Hopkins

Inside the uninspiring BFC tent within the awe-inspiring Somerset House, we were treated to champagne, Pimm’s and traumatic canapés that make it entirely impossible to look attractive whilst throwing them in your gob. I was starving though, so I did my best ‘I-don’t-even-care-about-looking-attractive’ face whilst hoovering them up. Inside the tent we were rewarded with pretty decent seats, an enormous goodie bag featuring the new Toni & Guy Hair Meets Wardrobe range, and a crisp A4 sheet detailing what was about to happen. I scanned down it and thought I read ‘with an introduction by Naomi Campbell’. I read through it again. I hadn’t been mistaken; ‘with an introduction by NAOMI CAMPBELL‘. There it was, in black and white. Really? The Naomi Campbell? Yikes.


Naomi Campbell, illustrated by Sally Jane Thompson

A scrum ensued when Olivia Palermo took her Frow seat right in front of us: flash after flash left a permanent glare on my eyeballs. She was joined by Matthew Williamson in a rather stylish hat, with yet more flashbulbs going off at record speed.


Olivia Palermo, illustrated by The Lovely Wars

The lights dimmed and an X-Factor-style voiceover requested we welcome NAOMI CAMPBELL. Not much of an ask, let’s face it. Out she sashayed to huge cheers, and I could actually feel one of my legs wobbling. I write the next sentence with caution and hide behind my screen to avoid any airborne mobile phones, but our Naomi isn’t the best public speaker. I can’t imagine she’d spent much time rehearsing, but she fluffed her way through it, referring to Hair Meets Wardrobe as ‘Meet the Wardrobe’, at which I chuckled. Having said that, a woman like Naomi could read the Yellow Pages aloud and I’d still be completely mesmerised.


All photography by Matt Bramford

On with the show, and a video popped up on the big screen showing some of nature’s finest matches: fish ‘n’ chips, gin and tonic and so on – I think they were getting at that hair and wardrobe are quiet important together – a concept not brand new to fashion. The show was then divided into four sections (the four components of the new Toni & Guy brand): classic, casual, glamour and creative.

Classic


Illustration by Gilly Rochester

The classic section featured 1960s-esque natural beauties with slick hair styles. Croydon facelifts were popular – a hairstyle that will never go out of fashion.

Casual
I loved the ‘casual’ section, and can’t wait to mess up my locks with the sea salt spray we were given. Sexy bedroom hair, that I’ve since seen on numerous catwalks, was presented in a variety of ways, from backcombed scruffy heaps piled atop models’ heads, to long natural styles with uneven plaits.

Glamour


Illustration by Gilly Rochester

T&G cranked up the glamour for what was by far my favourite portion of the show. 1920s tight waves walked alongside big, big backcombed locks and modern interpretations of the pompadour. Sexy, smokey eye make-up and flowing frocks brought the looks together perfectly.

Creative

Illustration by Gareth A Hopkins

This is praps what Toni&Guy are essentially known for – and I have to admit that I was expecting much more of this from the show. Y’know – the kind of hairstyle popular with Diesel-clad punters from Leeds. A couple of spiked coloured numbers felt a bit dated in the mix of all that glamour and sophistication, but a Louise Brooks-esque severe bob soon turned things around. A few cartoonish styles at the end brought a welcomed bit of fun.

Previous fashion editor of Tatler, Charlie Anderson, had styled the show and had married striking outfits with each of the hairstyles. it’s difficult to focus on hair alone when you’re used to watching models parade backwards and forwards, but the clothes (apart from the final pieces) were cool enough to bring the barnets to life without stealing the show. These were my final thoughts as another pap scrum formed where Naomi had taken her seat.

All photography by Matt Bramford

Categories ,BFC, ,Casual, ,Charlie Anderson, ,Classic, ,Creative, ,fashion, ,Fauxhawk, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Gilly Rochester, ,Glamour, ,Hair, ,Hair Meets Wardrobe, ,London Fashion Week, ,Louise Brooks, ,Naomi Campbell, ,Phoebe Kirk, ,Pimm’s, ,S/S 2012, ,Sally Jane Thompson, ,Somerset House, ,The X Factor Voice Over Man, ,Toni & Guy

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