LFW: MEADHAM KIRCHHOFF AW13

I've had this post fired up and ready to go for days but things have been getting on top of me a bit and I've hardly had a spare minute. GOD KNOWS when an Oscar's red carpet round up will get done, AND I was at London Fashion Weekend just there and have hunners of pictures from that to upload too... ARGH! Plus, yi know, real life shiz needs doing too, like paying parking trickets, taxing the car, getting a haircut, spending time with pals...

Could do with a few days just to catchup with everything, know what I mean? All these self-imposed deadlines really suck, especially on top of ACTUAL deadlines, but I guess I maybe need to give myself a bit of a break. Prioritising is tough.

HOWEVER, I can't ignore Meadham Kirchhoff's AW13 collection. Totally jaw-dropping.

After a candy-bright couple of seasons, MK went DARK for AW13. Although the feel was more menacing, with touches of the Victorian Gothic and Japanese Lolita style, it was no less impressively opulent.

Ed and Ben described the collection as a sort of flip-side to their last - in other words , where last season was about over-the-top extravagance and luxury without consequence, this was meant to represent the dark side of striving for the extremes of perfection.

People often describe Meadham Kirchhoff collections as "moving." I have to say, I'd never really felt that myself, although they are one of my favourite design duos and always astound and stun me, I've never felt MOVED emotionally by them before...

But a weird thing happened with this collection. I first saw the images last week when I was having a bit of a shitty time, frankly. Just dealing with some crappy stuff over a rubbish few days - one of those times when you know you've really made a huge mess of something and can't turn it around... where you're frustrated with yourself and upset and CANNOT reign your feelings in. Yeah, THAT. Anyway, it was in this mood that I flicked through these images and found myself feeling like I was looking at a funeral. I felt totally overwhelmed with this weird sense of grief and loss, like something REALLY important was ending.

Extremely weird I know (it was a weird week) but I'm sure, even if I wasn't in this gloomy mindset, I'd still have felt something similar looking at this collection. I feel as though I've invested A PART OF myself in Meadham Kirchhoff and that I'm on a journey with them, of sorts. I guess everyone feels that way about their favourite bands or artists or authors or whatever, and designers are no different. But, yes, this was the first time I felt actually moved by a collection, and I'm glad it was Meadham Kirchhoff to do it.

Do I sound clinically insane? SORRYNOTSORRY.

PINK HAZE

Had to share this beautiful editorial from Bullett magazine titled Pink Haze...

Using pieces from Holly Fulton, Louise Gray, and Meadham Kirchoff, this is one of the prettiest spreads I've seen all summer. Sigh. Right, I'm done now. Bring on winter.

MEADHAM KIRCHHOFF SS12

...also known as the reason I'm getting excited about summer!

Back in September this was really the only show that got me pumped for sugary-sweet pastels, cartoon prints and quirky girliness for summer. Shame on me, I'd sort of forgotten how fierce a collection it actually is!

The show was the ultimate in performance-femininity - the models strutted down the catwalk to a mashup of Hole hits (sadly missing in the video below), and sashayed round Courtney Love lookalikes applying lipstick and jerking around in 90s-style babydoll dresses. The hair and makeup were so extreme that towards the end the girls looked less like models and more like living dolls.

Strangely, the collection itself is oddly similar to MK's SS11 offering (that show even started with part of a recorded interview with Courtney Love) but rather than use the girly, feminine aesthetic to channel feelings of anger and hostility, it instead exudes a genuine sweetness - a real charm and warmth. There are reports that some front-rowers found it all so moving it brought them to tears.

I also love it because it reminds me of some of my favourite bloggers like Tavi and Marlena.

Watch the vid and enjoy!






x

MEADHAM KIRCHOFF FOR TOPSHOP

I usually hate posting about the same thing I've seen on other blogs as it feels like cheating a bit, plus I guess it must be be pretty boring for folk to read the same blogpost over and over and over...

But in this case I'm making an exception!

Get a load of the new SS11 Meadham Kirchoff collection for Topshop! I originally saw these photos yesterday over at Coco's Tea Party (seriously, that girl is always one step ahead for fashion news!) and then again at Kingdom of Style, and since then I've had the images stuck in my mind...

Over the last few weeks I've been coveting pictures on my desktop of anything 90s/tie-dye/denim/acid rave/grungy-inspired (catchy!) and this collection is pretty much the combined sartorial smorgasbord of all these cool vibes I've been feeling.

I can't begin to describe how much I love this collection, so I won't even try. Just look...

*sigh* I could look at them forever!

Loving the pieces individually, but they really come alive through the amazing styling.

Layering the sheer floaty pieces over breton-striped tops and leggings gives a gorgeous contrast in texture. It's a bold look, but even if you didn't want to copy this idea exactly, you could take inspiration could by simply mixing up florals and stripes. And there's that dip-dyed hair again...

I have to confess, it's making me wish I'd stuck with my long locks and got the ends bleached and then dyed a cool blue or purple... Uhhhft.

Anyway, yeah. Safe to say I adore this.

The collection has already landed at larger Topshop stores, but be warned - it is pricey! As for what's available online, THIS will be my first purchase:

Thoughts?

Oh, and finally, I'll be boycotting today's Grand National because I disagree with horse racing. Having grown up riding horses as a child, I can't bear to watch races where the horses are whipped, pushed to the edge of physicality and sadly often die (either literally on the course or shortly after). I'd encourage you guys to have a read at these two articles before placing a bet or watching it on Telly.

Article 1

Article 2

Peace :)

EDIT: Two horses died in yesterday's Grand National - Ornais, who broke his neck after falling at the fourth fence, and Dooney's Gate who broke his back after attempting to jump notorious Becher's Brook. The Aintree crowd and TV audience of millions watched the horror unfold and there has since been controversy in the press over the commentators' comments describing the bodies of the dead horses as "obstacles."

Even the winner, Ballabriggs, had to be rushed off the field immediately after the race to be treated for extreme dehydration and his jockey has been banned for using his whip with "excessive frequency."

Of the 40 horses who began the race, only 19 completed the course successfully. There has now been 20 deaths at the Grand National since 2000.

I don't think I even need to comment on how disgusting, shocking and abhorrent this is.