By Malene Birger

By Malene Birger was created in 2003, driven by the four values of obsession, creativity, responsibility and efficiency. Before establishing By Malene Birger in 2003, Malene had already won a Danish Design Award for her former company Day Birger and Mikkelson.

The S/S 10 collection focuses heavily on current trends, but the distinctive feature of By Malene Birger’s collection is that the pieces are designed in a way that you cannot get the trend wrong. Elegantly cut khaki pieces that ensure that you look like you are rocking the utility trend, rather than heading for safari, and denim dresses mixed with beige jackets give an easy way to work the cow girl trend, rather than look like you are in fancy dress.

Here are a few of About your Dress’ favourites:

  

 

 

 

Won Hundred

Danish brand Won Hundred primarily draws inspiration from different movements within music, cinema and art. The brand was rooted in classical menswear and traditional formalwear, but they have a willingness to take risks, which led to rapid interest in their clothes and the development of a womanswear collection. In 2008 they hosted their first major fashion show at Copenhagen Fashion Week, and have gone from strength to strength since then, with their collections now being stocked in 170 stores across the world.

Their clothes are still based on smart tailoring, but using a range of materials, shapes and patterns, creating beautifully made pieces. With a mix of tight jeans, baggy trousers and shapely jumpers, amongst other gorgeous garments, you could easily create the base of your wardrobe for any season from Won Hundred’s collections, and throw a few of their more unique pieces in for special occasions.

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Les Néréides

As a huge fan of costume jewellery About your Dress was ecstatic to find out about French jewellery label Les Néréides, started by designers Pascale and Enzo Amaddeo 30 years ago. Unlike many costume jewellery brands that have popped up in recent years offering you a quick fashion fix, Les Néréides offers gorgeously elegant luxury pieces that were built to last. Their collections are formed from creativity and diversity, as well as beautiful materials, creating pieces that you will want to keep forever.

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Carnaby Street: 1960 – 2010

Anybody who has loved music and fashion at any point over the past 50 years has probably been to Carnaby Street; the street that was synonymous with the swinging 60’s, but continued to make its mark over the decades that followed. To celebrate everything that Carnaby Street represented over the past 50 years there will be an unique exhibition held called ‘Carnaby Street: 1960 – 2010’, kicking off this Friday.

The central feature of the show is a unique 3D timeline which illustrates key people, events and happenings in the area from over 500 years ago up until the modern day. It will be followed by a series of events throughout 2010 including a live music weekend in June and a unique fashion show in September. Before you head down there, About your Dress recommends visiting the Carnaby website to see if there are any special discounts.

Irving Penn Portraits

Following Irving Penn’s death at the end of last year, and the release of his book Irving Penn: Small Trades, there is an exhibition of his work entitled Irving Penn Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, which opened yesterday. Whereas the book focused on the beauty of everyday people, these images will celebrate his work photographing major cultural figures including Grace Kelly, Al Pacino, Salvador Dali and Christian Dior.

The exhibition is brought together from major international collections and includes over 120 silver and platinum prints, many vintage, ranging from his portraits for Vogue magazine in the 1940s to some of his last work. Tickets are a bargain at a maximum of £10, and the portraits will be on show until June 6^th, when they will move to Rome, so make sure you see them whilst you can.

Zambesi

Another one of the delights at Robinson Pfeffer’s Sweet Treat night was New Zealand based brand Zambesi, who epitomize “individual spirit, redefining convention with an ironic practicality”. Their spring/summer 10 collection shows beautifully cut silhouettes in a simple colour palette of black, greys, neutrals and white. However, the pieces are not just plain, they have an understated elegance, clothes to wear everyday, not everyday clothes. After seeing the garments, About your Dress felt that a piece of Lucy Hutchings jewellery would be the perfect accessory to a Zambesi garment.

Here are a few of About your Dress’ favourites:

Kurt Geiger Clogs

If, like About your Dress, you have been lusting after clogs ever since they sauntered down Chanel’s S/S10 catwalk, but couldn’t justify the price tag, your wait is over as they have now landed on more affordable ground. Kurt Geiger has released two styles of shoes, classed as a platform court (Jola) and a platform sandal (Jada), which are essentially clogs. Both styles have a dark wooden sole, however the Jada style comes in white and beige leather, whereas the Jola comes in black and beige leather. At £140 a pair, they are not exactly a pick me up treat, but they are definitely an investment this season!

Alpha60

Georgie and Alex Cleary are a brother and sister design duo from Melbourne, who created the label Alpha 60. They never set out to start a brand, and neither of them has a background in fashion, the t-shirt designs started out as a teenage past time, which spread through friends from word of mouth. The launching of Alpha60 officially took place in 2005, alongside a Vivienne Westwood Retrospective at the acclaimed National Gallery of Australia.

Their designs show beauty with a dark edge, they are dramatic but accessible, featuring a strong colour palette, jersey drapes, tucks and spliced garment. Georgie and Alex draw a large amount of their inspiration from iconic films, featuring their heroes of the moment and view their clothing as “sophisticated quirk”. There is definitely something different about Alpha60’s garments, for starters the designs are printed on gorgeous fabric, rather than a plain tee, and their non printed pieces offer designs that are just as beautiful.

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Lucy Hutchings

Lucy Hutchings grew up in Suffolk, developing a natural fascination with raw materials and manipulating them into something beautiful, which led her to the University of Brighton to study materials. After graduation she became noticed very rapidly, having early success with her designs, which lead her to an opening Erickson Beamon’s prestigious London studios. Today her designs are bold and elegant, a perfect figure of show shopping statement jewellery.

Her Spring Summer 10 collection will be Lucy’s fourth, which combines past techniques with new innovative ideas. Her inspiration comes from juxtaposed areas, such as East London architecture, the beauty of geisha’s and The Wizard of Oz. The result of this is beautiful stones caged in metal boxes, and tassels hanging from lightweight chains, amongst other truly striking pieces. Lucy Hutchings jewellery only needs to be worn over plain garments to be rightly appreciated, but they would look great with other outfits too!

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Tina Kalivas

Tina Kalivas’ career started in Costume Design, when she worked for Premier Costume House ‘Angels and Bermans”, whilst studying at the London College of Fashion. Although this gave her the basis for understanding the cut and make of traditional dress, it was 3 years later when she began pattern making and constructing showpieces for the late, great Alexander McQueen that inspired her to further her career in fashion.

The Tina Kalivas label is bold, quirky, tailored yet playful and organic, expressing a great fascination of other worlds and cultures. The pursuit of beautiful real garments has taken Tina all over the world, including Afghanistan where she collaborated with a group of Afghani refugee women who embroidered traditional, colourful rustic embroideries, to adorn the tailored garments, and Tokyo where she designed costumes for a Japanese fantasy film.

Her S/S 10 collection, Polyrhythm, was inspired by the “mysterious natural geometry that lies at the very heart of indigenous African culture”, with some pieces using materials and embroidery developed in Africa. The use of meticulous pattern cutting, folding techniques and carefully aligning the organic fabrics show the natural geometry, and are mixed with African prints that give each individual garment a unique feel. Pieces include a peplum skirt, fitted trousers and shapely dresses just to name a few, all with amazing detailing and made from a selection of gorgeous fabrics.

Here are a few of About your Dress’ favourites: