Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011 Catwalk Review: Romina Karamanea

Illustration by Rob Wallace

JW Anderson’s Autumn Winter 2010 collection was a celebration of the understated. Opening the rather quiet menswear day at the BFC on September 23rd, buy information pills the designer’s Spring/Summer 2011 collection unleashed models dressed as Liberty sponsored waif and strays.

All Photography by Matt Bramford

The collection was luxe hippie, medicine a perennially popular look that rarely translate into the everyday, unless you happen to be a rock star from years’ past. Nevertheless, it is wonderfully pretty, especially when the boys came highly reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix’s flowery rock attire crossed with the early portraiture of Walker Evans.

Following his video presentation earlier during the week. JW Anderson choose to unleash his recent expansion into faery-esque womenswear onto the menswear catwalk, drawing a few raised eyebrows from a front row settling in for a day of uninterrupted menswear.


Inspired by the photography of William Gedney the collection captured a sense of youthful naive freedom last seen in the work of Sally Mann at The Photographers Gallery.

Illustration by Rob Wallace

A nod to American Youth subcultures, (everything is a nod these day, a rehash, a reminiscence) the clothes arrived as bleached out dreamy tie dyes combined with floral print trousers for the boys and long sheer skirts fitted underneath fisherman knits for the girls.

The collection, a homage to youthful runaways on the Great American Road trip was heavy in the literary romanticism in which JW Anderson excels.

For the finale, the models (beautifully styled by Robbie Spencer) sauntered to the youthful dissatisfaction of Jarvis Cocker’s Pulp, underneath the eery green light provided by lasers more commonly seen at Fabric.

Illustration by Rob Wallace

JW Anderson’s Autumn Winter 2010 collection was a celebration of the understated. Opening the rather quiet menswear day at the BFC on September 23rd, website like this the designer’s Spring/Summer 2011 collection unleashed models dressed as Liberty sponsored waif and strays.

All Photography by Matt Bramford

The collection was luxe hippie, look a perennially popular look that rarely translate into the everyday, cialis 40mg unless you happen to be a rock star from years’ past. Nevertheless, it is wonderfully pretty, especially when the boys came highly reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix’s flowery rock attire crossed with the early portraiture of Walker Evans.

Following his video presentation earlier during the week. JW Anderson choose to unleash his recent expansion into faery-esque womenswear onto the menswear catwalk, drawing a few raised eyebrows from a front row settling in for a day of uninterrupted menswear.


Inspired by the photography of William Gedney the collection captured a sense of youthful naive freedom last seen in the work of Sally Mann at The Photographers Gallery.

Illustration by Rob Wallace

A nod to American Youth subcultures, (everything is a nod these day, a rehash, a reminiscence) the clothes arrived as bleached out dreamy tie dyes combined with floral print trousers for the boys and long sheer skirts fitted underneath fisherman knits for the girls.

The collection, a homage to youthful runaways on the Great American Road trip was heavy in the literary romanticism in which JW Anderson excels.

For the finale, the models (beautifully styled by Robbie Spencer) sauntered to the youthful dissatisfaction of Jarvis Cocker’s Pulp, underneath the eery green light provided by lasers more commonly seen at Fabric.

Illustration by Rob Wallace

JW Anderson’s Autumn Winter 2010 collection was a celebration of the understated. Opening the rather quiet menswear day at the BFC on September 23rd, pharmacy the designer’s Spring/Summer 2011 collection unleashed models dressed as Liberty sponsored waif and strays.

All Photography by Matt Bramford

The collection was luxe hippie, a perennially popular look that rarely translate into the everyday, unless you happen to be a rock star from years’ past. Nevertheless, it is wonderfully pretty, especially when the boys came highly reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix’s flowery rock attire crossed with the early portraiture of Walker Evans.

Following his video presentation earlier during the week. JW Anderson choose to unleash his recent expansion into faery-esque womenswear onto the menswear catwalk, drawing a few raised eyebrows from a front row settling in for a day of uninterrupted menswear.


Inspired by the photography of William Gedney the collection captured a sense of youthful naive freedom last seen in the work of Sally Mann at The Photographers Gallery.

Illustration by Rob Wallace

A nod to American Youth subcultures, (everything is a nod these day, a rehash, a reminiscence) the clothes arrived as bleached out dreamy tie dyes combined with floral print trousers for the boys and long sheer skirts fitted underneath fisherman knits for the girls.

The collection, a homage to youthful runaways on the Great American Road trip was heavy in the literary romanticism in which JW Anderson excels.

For the finale, the models (beautifully styled by Robbie Spencer) sauntered to the youthful dissatisfaction of Jarvis Cocker’s Pulp, underneath the eery green light provided by lasers more commonly seen at Fabric.

Romina Karamanea skirt by Joana Faria
Romina Karamanea by Joana Faria.

For the past two seasons the good PRs for Romina Karamanea have ensured that there has been a ridiculously long queue of baying fashionistas gathered outside the venue before they will let anyone inside. And so it was that I found myself being battered around on the steps of the Freemasons’ Hall on Tuesday evening: it was late in the week and it wasn’t really what I wanted to deal with. My ex flatmate, for sale a stylist that I used to work for at The Face – we fell out – elbowed her way through with a bit of a hissy fit. I was seriously considering just calling it a day and going right home. But then security announced that it was “too late for stars” meaning that the complex sticker system on invites was about to be ditched, and the PRs next to me agreed that the most important people were at the front anyway – that would include me! love it when I feel less of a pleb – and it all looked good to go.

Romina Karamanea pants by Joana Faria
Romina Karamanea by Joana Faria
Romina Karamanea by Joana Faria.

Ushered into one of the gorgeous upper halls I was seated only three chairs down from my nemesis, who of course refused to acknowledge me. Which is just fine, our relationship never recovered after she moved out of my house and refused to pay her outstanding rent. But it did make me smile. Oh happy days. A funny little girl in latex stockings was placed between us and quickly presented me with her card and a badge. I had to spend the whole show trying to take photos around her as she leaned into the catwalk to take hers, but in the grand tradition of fashion week poseurs she sure was good at attracting attention.

Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina-Karamanea-by-Lisa-Stannard
Romina Karamanea by Lisa Stannard.

For this season Greek born, Central Saint Martins trained Romina looked to abstract expressionism for inspiration, though as her press release cheekily says, basically “the designer had popped to see her artist friend Hermes for a glass of wine.” Three colour stories of white, bluey green and red explored passionate brush strokes and the patterns of natural phenomena and geology. Opposing structures morphed into one garment, voluminous swathes of chiffon colliding with cleanly structured tailoring. It was a big collection that included a smattering of menswear but my favourite pieces were undoubtedly the final ones, glorious rich red undergarments topped with sweeping patterned dresses. Utterly divine.

Romina Karamanea by Joana Faria
Romina Karamanea by Joana Faria
Romina Karamanea by Joana Faria.

I wasn’t aware that Romina Karamanea was an advocate of sustainable design until I found a leaflet featuring her work in the basement at Esthetica, where the Centre for Sustainable Fashion had a corner stand showcasing some of the designers they work with. This organisation was set up by the London College of Fashion, with the aim of “challenging and provoking the established fashion system to work towards the goals of promoting human well being and respecting nature’s limits, whilst creating beauty and style.” Fashion designers are invited to attend workshops and one to one mentoring sessions about how to implement sustainable design practices and apparently Romina is one of their ambassadors, which is very exciting news.

Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina-Karamanea-by-Lisa-Stannard
Romina Karamanea by Lisa Stannard.

But a line in the first paragraph of her blurb immediately made my heart sink just a tiny bit. And not just because of the bad grammar. “Each piece is designed to be loved and kept forever getting better over-time, hopefully like the wearer.” Along with the notion of upcycling (now a far trendier way to say recycling in fashion circles) and making the most of factory waste – both of which I hasten to add are admirable choices when it comes to making fashion – creating clothes to be worn for a long time has become a bit of a get out quick clause for designers. It’s an easy statement to trot out because high fashion is invariably all about luxury and has a price tag to match. Not many people who invest in designer pieces are likely to throw away their purchases every season.

Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

But let’s just stop and think a bit more here. The reality is that these designers continue to show new collections, and we are inevitably urged to delve deep and create ourselves a new wardrobe each time a new season comes around. I only very rarely buy new clothes myself but I can’t claim to be completely removed from the process because I also get really excited about new creativity on the catwalks. It’s an innate human excitement that you can’t take away, but it’s how we deal with that feeling that counts. Of course I am against throwaway mass produced fashion, but sustainability cannot be achieved merely by saying that people should treasure clothes forever, not whilst producing a new collection twice a year with no deeper links to sustainable practice.

Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory

Reading on, I applaud Romina Karamanea‘s efforts. She is careful to fully research her supply chain, reduce fabric waste, utilise low impact digital printing techniques and organic cottons. She’s an edgy designer with a big following who can really affect people’s perception of working in a sustainable way. But it’s interesting that none of this information was on the press release for the catwalk show, or on her website: after all, who wants to be pigeonholed? It says a lot about how we still perceive an ethical imperative in design.

Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory

Categories ,Central Saint Martins, ,Centre for Sustainable Fashion, ,Defying Mainstream, ,esthetica, ,ethical design, ,Freemasons’ Hall, ,Greek, ,Joana Faria, ,lfw, ,Lisa Stannard, ,London College of Fashion, ,London Fashion Week, ,Romina Karamanea, ,sustainability, ,The Defiant, ,The Face

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week A/W 2010 Catwalk Review: Bryce Aime, Romina Karamanea, Iris Van Herpen

Bryce Aime by Etiene Del Monte
Bryce Aime by Etiene Del Monte

Time flies past and before you know it fashion week is but a rainy memory from sometime back in February. Gosh, unhealthy it rained a lot didn’t it? And now look at all this lovely sunshine, visit web it just ain’t fair. So here, in no particular order, I offer a round up of the first few shows on Saturday 20th February, to be followed shortly by the remaining ones. From Saturday that is. I’m going slow here. Bear with me.

Bryce Aime by Etiene Del Monte
Bryce Aime by Etiene Del Monte

Bryce Aime named his show Egyptology but I thought it owed more to medieval battle wear. Or perhaps a re-envisioned Egypt more familiar to movie-goers and more specifically fans of The Mummy franchise, where historical accuracy tends to go the way of a believable plotline – I guess the one begets the other. The show featured strong shouldered shapes, big ruched hips, brusque we-mean-business banded hair and zipped leggings: perfect gear for heading straight into war, (maybe) worn over purple digital catsuits that might feasibly offer camouflage on some colourful alien shores. Though I’m not sure that brocade and draped lamme in coppery red metallics would offer much protection. The body armoured theme reached its logical conclusion in the amazing transformer-like sculpted shapes of the final three costumes, the only ones displayed with pride at the entrance to the on/off exhibition. Stunnin’ they were.

Bryce Aime by Etiene Del Monte
Bryce Aime by Etiene Del Monte

I caught up with Bryce briefly over at Somerset House later in the week, where he fidgeted nervously as if either a) desperate for a cigarette or b) desperate to get away from me. In a thick Parisian accent he described how he originally came over here to work in bars and restaurants in 1998, before deciding he wanted to study fine art. But he didn’t reckon there would be any money in it, so instead he did fashion at Central St. Martins and graduated in 2005.

Romina Karamanea show
The Romina Karamanea queue – I was bored alright. I quite like the lady with a ghost leg.

With a biting cold wind whistling down New Oxford Street we waited in a long snaking queue, guaranteed to irritate the casual Saturday shoppers, to see the Romina Karamanea show in the Runway Nightclub. I really couldn’t work out if this name was for real! Is it? Anyone? We were eventually guided into a cramped venue with early-comers already perched on banquettes, only to be irritated as rows of people coalesced in front of them.

Romina Karamanea show
The Romina Karamanea show in the Runway Nightclub.

Here I had my first sighting of baby-leg woman, a young scenester with artfully arranged fashion-forward frizzed out asymmetric hair and tight plaits (and mulitple baby doll legs dangling off every her). Doing that usual thing of looking moody when asked to pose for a photo “what, me? really? dressed like this? quelle surprise!”, she then refused all requests to sit down so that the people behind her could see the show. I mean, c’mon now, how could she? Honestly people, she had some serious extracurricular cardboard hips going on there. Be fair now.

Baby-leg Girl
Baby-leg Girl (and sidekick)

Finally the models began to step slowly down the runway, pausing to pose dramatically below the lights and dangling crystals. It was dramatic fo’ sure but because most of the clothing was black leather and it was dark it was incredibly hard to make out the clothes. My notes read: draped leather, cutouts, tailoring, hoods, bell shapes, spiky ankle boots: the overall impression was severe. Not really my thing. Lighten up I say!

Romina Karamanea by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea. Photography by Amelia Gregory.

Romina Karamanea by Rachel De Ste. Croix
Romina Karamanea by Rachel De Ste. Croix

Romina Karamanea hairdo
A Romina Karamanea hairdo – snakey plaits a-go-go. Love it.

Romina Karamanea. Photography by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea by Rachel De Ste. Croix
Romina Karamanea by Rachel De Ste. Croix

Next stop, I found myself sitting next to stylist Tamara Cincik at the Iris Van Herpen show over in the Freemasons’ Hall. As we waited for the show to begin we gossiped about mutual friends and she commented on what an unfortunate name this designer has. Indeed. But she has trained with Alexander McQueen (god rest his soul) and so has a fabulous pedigree.

Iris Van Herpen by Kelly Smith
Iris Van Herpen by Kelly Smith
Iris Van Herpen by Kelly Smith

Now I am going to feel a little compromised saying this, but I absolutely loved this collection. Iris specialises in cutout leather sculptures that remind me of shimmering sea creatures, christmas trees (in a good way), otherworldly goddesses. There was lots of creamy flesh tones teamed once again with coppery metallics, curling and winding into utterly gorgeous concoctions. But it was also all leather. And whilst I will happily wear leather shoes because I think they’re pretty necessary for practicality and comfort, I am not sure how I feel about a clothing collection that is so reliant on an animal product, even one that is less obviously cruel and harmful than fur. Less obvious being the operative word. I feel a little more research coming on shortly… watch this space.

Iris Van Herpen. Photography by Amelia Gregory
Iris Van Herpen. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Iris Van Herpen. Photography by Amelia Gregory
Iris Van Herpen. Photography by Amelia Gregory
Iris Van Herpen. Photography by Amelia Gregory
Iris Van Herpen. Photography by Amelia Gregory
Iris Van Herpen. Photography by Amelia Gregory

Categories ,Baby-leg girl, ,Bryce Aime, ,catwalk, ,Crystals, ,Etiene Del Monte, ,Fashion Illustration, ,Freemasons’ Hall, ,Iris Van Herpen, ,Kelly Smith, ,leather, ,metallics, ,onoff, ,Rachel De Ste. Croix, ,Romina Karamanea

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