Christopher Kane’s collection started in smart pinstripes and blacks, and then bloomed into dark flowers and intricate embellishments. Prints included abstracted, low-contrast concoctions of purple wood grains on dresses and bluish cheetah spots on leather macs; details included large blossoms embroidered on scarlet sheer blouses and skirts, and flower beds of beads and shiny sequins. The collection offered a contemporary take on Japanese kimono florals, with undertones of fetishism and perversion in tight leathers and the thick rubber rings that structured key pieces: square bras that looked like De Stijl artworks and synthetic crop tops that opened and closed as the models marched along the purple-carpeted runway to rumbling noise. This was a much moodier, sexier take on the flower garden than Christopher’s last collection, suffused with a pop-edginess mirrored in the Grimes track that played after it was all over.

net-a-porter.com

Text: Dean Kissick
Photography: Mitchell Sams

Click here to see our AW12 Womenswear coverage in full.

Fashion East showed the exact same line-up as last season – Maarten van der Horst, Marques’Almeida and James Long. It started with Marten, who’s moved on from tropical Aloha prints to rose-kissed officewear and underwear, and a self-proclaimed ”inappropriate vision of suburban nymphomania.” The Dutch designer’s tongue-in-cheek take on autumn/winter clothing included city-boy poplin PJs, black negligees, white satin pants, bottom-and-topless stockings and gorgeous red roses printed onto whites and blacks. Very hot!

Marques’Almeida took their signature grunge look to the woods – like Gus van Sant’s Last Days – with ponchos and hooded capes in black and yellow denim. Tops were ripped apart, often hanging open at the back or only together by the odd safety pin; shirts were hairy and jeans had slashed trains along their length. Fatima Al Qadiri’s Hip Hop Spa played over the finale.

James Long was the third designer out, showing off an ostentatious collection inspired by Chelsea girls and Russian roofs. Models with big, big hair were decorated with threaded tassel trims, golden embroideries, exotic zig zags and the most massive loose knits. Really though, the sparkling Barbie-pink skirt and trousers stole the show!

So who’s next Lulu?

Text: Dean Kissick
Photography (in order of text): Mitchell Sams

Monday night’s McQ show was the most extraordinarily theatrical event that London Fashion Week has seen in a long while. On an autumnal floor of fallen leaves in the abandoned Old Sorting Office, models were dressed in stern military styles with Scottish accents and 40s New Look silhouettes. Women wore pleated tartan dresses, men wore blue-green kilts, and strict tailoring and dark army khaki abounded. All around, there was the wilderness: girls had their hair pulled up into oversized mushroom buns that matched their mushroom-coloured sleeves; coats were embroidered with mossy shorn knits; funereal black frou-frou skirts were covered in fake flowers; and a fluoro pink and velvety black maple leaf fabric appeared on luxurious dresses.

Towards the end of the show, i-D cover star Kristen McMenamy appeared in a Corpse Bride wedding dress and stood, spotlit, under an unexpected shower of dead leaves… suddenly the walls vanished into thin air and a secret forest of trees appeared at the end of the catwalk! Kristen found a rope in the fallen leaves, followed it into the shady woods and discovered a fairytale cottage… that started throbbing with light and then eventually exploded into a spectacularly illuminated rave finale! A show like no other from the brilliant Sarah Burton.

alexandermcqueen.com

Text: Dean Kissick
Photography: Mitchell Sams

Click here to see our AW12 Womenswear coverage in full.

Click images to enlarge.

Since he was a little lad, twenty-four-year-old skater boy Mike Nicolls has been taking some epic fails from his board. Climbing back onto his wheels and tackling caballerias, carves, crooked grinds and kickflips he is now an accomplished rider who no longer fears the fall. i-D online got behind Mike as he travelled around Brighton one serene evening at sunset.

Stance? Regular. Where are your favourite skate spots? Worthing Library Banks R.I.P! What are your favourite tricks? Benihanas. Who are your favourite skaters? Dennis Busenitz, Van Wastell, Mark Gonzalez, Ethan Fowler. Park or Street? Street. What’s the most accomplished trick you can pull? Willy grinds! How does a typical day of skating pan out? Wake up too late and watch it get too dark to skate. What’s your usual skate setup? Krooked board, Venture trucks, Bones REDS bearings and any decent 54mm wheels. What’s in your pocket right now? Some plectrums, money, a box of matches and some sausages! What are your hopes for 2012? Win at life please. Where are you off to now? My friend Andy’s house to record some music.

Text: Milly McMahon
Film and photography: Oscar Hudson

In a wonderful space – Phillips de Pury’s pristine white auction rooms, illuminated by floating lantern-moons of light – Pringle of Scotland’s show was like a wonderful dream of angora, cashmere, faux-astrakhan, merino and ice cream colours. Alistair Carr, in only his second season as Creative Director, has transformed the label into one of London’s most exciting and desirable brands, and his autumn/winter collection did not disappoint: there were fluffy triangle-knit sweaters in puppy-soft pastel pinks and mints, mirrored in the models’ subtly dip-dyed hair; there were illusions of cardigans, actually contrasting colours on woollen dresses; there were cashmere roll necks with pie-crust collars and ruffles… all stand-out staples that any girl would want in her wardrobe. There were also cute blazers with school uniform style box pleats, so perfect for a collection inspired by a long-lost ex-girlfriend of Alistair’s: the mysterious Miss X. Oh, and then there were the amazing shoes: sharp-pointed high heels that hovered on miniature platforms and rough-cut stilleto spikes constructed out of jagged aluminium. This was a calming moonlight sonata of a collection from Pringle, and wherever Miss X is, we hope she loves it!

pringlescotland.com

Text: Dean Kissick
Photography: Mitchell Sams

Click here to see our AW12 Womenswear coverage in full.

Every six weeks or so, Detroit producer, DJ and record label owner Barclay Crenshaw, aka Claude VonStroke, has to chop the wool out of his bristly beard. When he isn’t busy maintaining facial hair, Claude’s time is mostly spent conducting A & R for dirtybird, keeping his ear very close to the ground, co-ordinating artists, booking international gigs and checking in on his overflowing inbox. Representing the epicentre of electronic music, his fun-loving record label currently boasts the outstanding talents of Justin and Christian Martin, J.Phlip, Worthy and Sacha Robotti. Working like a close knit family, Claude conducts business like he does a party, balling hard with an open mind.

First hearing house being blared from a boombox one day down in Detroit, Claude became intrigued by the rituals and characters on the dance music scene. At first a filmmaker, Claude was creating a documentary focused upon the movers and shakers behind the most influential decks and labels in the industry. Giving himself a head start on contacts and bypassing introduction, today dirtybird releases regular taste making compilations and organises sell-out secret raves all over the world. i-D online caught up with Mr Stroke to chat about the birds and the beats.

When did you first begin the label? In 2005 with DB001 from Justin Martin & Sammy D (who now just by chance, is the lead singer of PillowTalk!)

Why did you decide to name the label dirtybird? It just came about when I drew a little doodle of a bird I had been drawing my whole life on a napkin. I was at the bar where both of the Martin brothers worked and someone looked at the drawing and said “dirtybird”. The name stuck. This was actually more like 2002 when our BBQ party started in Golden Gate Park. The label followed the party.

What is the strongest band or artist you have signed to the label? Justin Martin.

How do you describe the aesthetic and ethos of the label? We are serious about music but we don’t take it too seriously.

Why all the bird references? Snowball situation. We started doing the bird thing and things just kept growing and growing. It’s not even a joke anymore we just do birds here.

Who is the fittest bird in the world? My wife Aundy of course.

What was the last song you listened to on your iPod? I have it right here. ‘Now or Never’ – the Roots, Phonte and Dice Raw.

What are you working on at the moment? I have a single coming out in a couple of weeks that I made with Jaw the lead singer of dOP. He’s got a really great falsetto that I love. I think the track is a cool departure for me. It’s the first thing I’ve made with a singer and I really liked working that way. Who knows what will happen maybe now I have the bug of working with a vocalist.

Talk me through a typical day in the life of you? Wake up at 7am, make breakfast for my kids, make coffee. Get everyone dressed and out the door. Go through whatever 100 emails that have come in since yesterday… then go through my tasks that I have set aside from all the emails that never stop coming in. I try to knock down the task list to under 50 to do’s before I go to the studio. Go to the studio until 5, then go up, make dinner and play some games with kids. Put everyone to bed, watch a little TV, get through some more work, see if Aundy is interested in getting busy, then hit the sack. Unless I’m on tour then just imagine 100% the opposite of this schedule. haha!

What festival should we go to this year? Movement in Detroit, the best. Do it. just book your ticket.

What’s the longest you’ve managed to last on what started as a night out? 3 days last year and that’s pretty good because I don’t do anything that keeps you up…

What is the best professional piece of clubbing advice you can pass on? Go really big once in a while and enjoy your life, but if you are going out every Tuesday and Wednesday and figuring out ways to stay out when Larry, the guy from the mini-mart is DJ’ing his Journey records at the coffee shop, I promise there is someone who is very worried about you. You don’t have to live in the club to have fun. But you can have fun in the club and stay out for days a few times a year when you are actually celebrating.

What are you up to this weekend? New York City dirtybird hatched tour!

Keep your eyes peeled for Claude Von Stroke, Julio Bashmore, J.Phlip and the rest of the dirtybird crew who will be playing at a secret East End location on April 7th.

dirtybirdrecords.com

Text: Milly McMahon
Portrait J Phlip.

“British,” Westwood has taught us over the years, means punk; rebellion; the irreverent smashing of stereotypes – for AW12 however Westwood was more Miss Brodie than all out anarchy. With less theatrics than previous seasons and a more intimate venue, Westwood opened with various incarnations of Tweed and wool suiting and a more buttoned-up feel than usual. Still with an eccentric flavour: think Mary-Poppins-meets-Princess Anne. Savile Row-inspired tailoring and Jermyn Street stripes prevailed – there were also playful touches of the Dame’s idea of traditional Britishness: a rugby shirt layered over a tea dress and a flurry of trilby hats. Her subtle subversion was ever present too – in painted tattoos on the models’ necks and forearms and in the tattoo-inspired tights.

viviennewestwood.co.uk

Text: Caroline Newell
Photography: Mitchell Sams

Click here to see our AW12 Womenswear coverage in full.

Silhouettes came in all shapes and sizes at Acne with the models elongated by plastic neck braces, inflated with down padding and cinched with belted waists. Outerwear was oversized with volume focused on the sleeves and Creative Director Jonny Johansson experimented with textures, mixing cashmere and wools with netting, vinyl and nylons. The combination of unusual silhouettes and a mish mash of textures meant each look was a feast for the eyes. Highlights came in the burgundy pieces, in particular a trouser suit teamed with a nude sweater and a futuristic take on cat eye shades. All in all Johansson produced a beautifully strange collection that raises the bar, and sets up Acne as a heavy hitter on the show schedule.

acnestudios.com

Text: Ger Tierney
Photography: Mitchell Sams

Click here to see our AW12 Womenswear coverage in full.

Margaret Howell went military this season, with a utilitarian collection perfect for a brisk country stroll. Her early Sunday morning show kick started with a double-breasted cashmere coat, belted at the waist and accessorised with an army green beret. A series of exquisitely cut jackets in khaki green, brown and grey soon followed. Buttoned up at the front, with their collars neatly turned up against the cold, they created an elegant and sophisticated silhouette. But it was Margaret’s must-have assortment of pleated skirts, tailored trousers, chunky knits and masculine brogues that really made the show. Classic and sophisticated, they are the perfect addition to any wardrobe, cementing Margaret’s reputation as the go to label for laidback simplicity and easy breezy cool.

margarethowell.co.uk

Text: Holly Shackleton
Photography: Mitchell Sams

Click here to see our AW12 Womenswear coverage in full.