A vintage London Fashion Week

There's a fresh new feel at London Fashion Week, with a pared down, more grown up exhibition. The A/W 2012 offering includes more structured tailoring, together with some beautiful, high-quality fabrics, garment and accessory finishes. As predicted, there is also something of a vintage vibe going on – though I'd describe it as more Ye Olde England meets a 1950s nature-inspired mash-up at the 2012 Olympics. What completely bowled me over is the range of decades and cultures represented by the designers and their work. It only goes to prove that London is a veritable melting pot of cosmopolitan retro futurism.








Curious highlights include wearable art by Japanese designer, Ryohei Kawasnishi (pictured on the right in this group photo), which is inspired by the aftermath of last year’s earthquake: A dirt and dust-caked, matted tangle of recycled fabrics form jackets and ponchos, which are hung like pieces of decaying meat from gantries, bathed in eerily luminous, post-apocalyptic light.










































They couldn’t be further removed from Orla Kiely’s tea dance classics... Super-prim prom dresses worn with bobby socks that shimmer under flashes of light from a dance hall glitterball. Check out ShopCurious’s video here:

If there were more hours in the day, I’d love to share more of my Fashion Week finds. But I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until next time…

Will you?

A curious New Year in London

Once in a blue moon you might get the feeling that it’s going to be a really curious New Year. Then again, every new day in London is pretty curious. Here are a few images, compiled over the past year, showing just how curiously varied and original life can be in our great cosmopolitan metropolis.

This shot, taken by Goldfinger, shows the beautiful blue moon in all its magnificent natural glory, illuminating the London sky last night.








In early February 2009, it snowed so much that the city was brought to a standstill. I even spotted an icy cool igloo in Wandsworth Park. Yes, there were actually people inside (or do you see Eskimos?)








At ShopCurious, we're very much in favour of all things slow, so when I saw this group practising the martial art of Tai Chi outside St Martin in the Fields Church in Trafalgar Square, I had to stop and take a picture. Funny, I’d never noticed the quirky window to the rear of the church building before… very arty and unusual.






The East End of London has become something of a centre for edgy, fashion-conscious types, so I was really surprised to stumble upon an old fashioned tea dance in full swing, as I walked through Spitalfields Market. Next time you’re in the area, why not dress up in some stylish vintage clothing, put on your dancing shoes and join in the fun?

Here’s another one by Goldfinger, showing the spectacular fireworks over the London Eye, as they lit up Big Ben at midnight.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you have the best and most Curious New Year ever.


Will you?