The Liner, The Clutch and The Wardrobe

Since winning the Womenswear Award for his beautiful, Elizabethan nightwear inspired collection at Graduate Fashion Week back in June, Nabil El Nayal has been getting a lot of attention, not only across the fashion blogosphere, but in huge fashion publications such as Elle and Vogue.

Today's announcement that he has been awarded a coveted scholarship by the BFC to study an MA in Fashion Womenswear at the Royal College of Art in London therefore, comes as little surprise.

When I saw his collection closing the Manchester School of Art show, I was genuinely stunned by the gorgeous, ethereal gowns that graced the catwalk, and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

River Island is often a shop I neglect due to some rather unsightly teenage dalliances with glitter applique, but now that Topshop have fully taken over the high street with their catwalk copies, it looks as though they have really upped their game and have come up with some really great pieces for this Summer.

As well as sponsoring the hugely respectable Graduate Fashion Week recently, their collections seem to have become far more catwalk inspired, particularly with their line of gorgeous floral summer dresses which seem to nod to those paraded on the runways by Luella, Stella McCartney and Ralph Lauren.

I absolutely love the Rose print maxi-dress (pictured) and at only £34.99, it is a lot cheaper that many other high street alternatives.

When I saw the Manchester School of Art show at Graduate Fashion Week on Tuesday, I was absolutely blown away by Nabil El-Nayal's collection of billowing period nightgown dresses and lustrous, sheer puff sleeve blouses.

I was delighted then to see him collect the award for best womenswear collection at yesterday's Gala Awards. The collection that was beautiful, ethereal, romantic and ghostly truly deserved the award and I hope to see Nabil El Nayal go on to achieve great things.


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Before you get too excited, I am sadly not referring to the kind of male models you see in ad campaigns smothered in Johnsons baby oil, but rather the type that grace the catwalk. This week I have seen my fair share of male models at Graduate Fashion Week and think I might finally have found a reason to take an interest in menswear. The models are quite literally gorgeous, with chiseled high cheek bones and one of two hair styles, either wild-grunge hair or a sharp angular style that looks like it’s cut daily with a ruler. They have wide shoulders and tiny waists with enough of a six-pack to show off their chest without being fully embarrassed but not so much that they resemble a ‘90s Peter Andre.

Anyway, it is not just their dashing good looks which have got my attention but also the way in which they grace the catwalk. Female models (for now) have got walking down to a fine art (feel free to try this out in the privacy of your own home). Firstly, you must march one foot in front of the other with your hips pointing sharply upwards (to the chandeliers if you wanna impress Valentino), you must also pull an incredibly nonchalant facial expression that suggests you don’t even know why you’re bothering with a catwalk in the first place. Finally, you pose twice at the end of the catwalk thus showing off both protruding hip bones.

But, if you’re a male model the look is completely different. From what I can gather, you must go one of two ways. 1) Assume a face of pure anger and march down the catwalk as though you are going to deck the photographers waiting at the end. Maybe even scowl. Or, 2) Pull a confused face (think 2,345,987 divided by 13) and walk so speedily down the catwalk that you might just run off the end and disappear keeping the clothes on your back. Either way, they never full wait at the end to pose, they simply act like they can’t be bothered, and run off back to the dressing room. Trust me, male models are something else.

Tonight, Graduate Fashion Week drew to a close with a prestigious, celebrity laden ceremony, awarding the best collections from across the week.

Winning the coveted River Island Gold Award, was Jessica Au of Ravensbourne College, for her innovative, psychedelic printed menswear collection. She also took away the Zandra Rhodes Textiles Award for the same collection.


Image Kirsten Borst

With Alumni including the likes of Paul Smith, Nottingham Trent University is steeped in fashion, and year after year produces some of the most impressive collections Graduate Fashion Week has to offer. This year was no different. What struck me most about the collections at the Nottingham show, was how accessible and wearable the pieces were, and I would not be surprised if the University has plenty of future household names to offer us.

The most beautiful collection of the show was by Emilie Maddison Carter, who combined glossy silks in a pale, golden green with muted brown tweeds to create a collection that was both glamorous and classic. Carter adorned select pieces, including a mid-length skirt with peacock feathers which added quirky touch to the collection, and complemeted the greens and browns used.

Showing a huge amount of innovation was Hannah Rodman, who made most of her collection out of cardigans. That's not to say that the pieced were limited to cardigans in their traditional sense. Rodman buttoned them together and manipulated sleeves into waistbands and halters to create some wonderful dresses, skirts and jumpers from single as well as multiple cardigans. Soft knits and a muted colour pallette also lent the collection a romantic feel.

Also demonstrating creativity with knitwear was winner of the Pringle of Scotland Visionary Knitwear Award, Ria Thomas. Thomas knitted a swirled ribbed detail (pictured) into her neutral wool dresses to create the effect of piping. Thomas' collection also featured some gorgeous, open weave, chunky knit dresses. What stood out about Thomas' collection was the way she managed to make it truly individual, yet accessible at the same time.




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These days, East London is as much associated with Agyness Deyn, neon and edgy fashion as it is Dot Cotton, cigarettes and tabards, so the graduates of the University of East London had a lot of expectation to live up to when exhibiting their final collections at Graduate Fashion Week this Monday.

There was a vintage feel to many of the East London collections. Lucia Homolioakova combined feminine forties tailoring with sexy, veiled pill-box hats. Irredescent fabrics, and textured rouching on blouses lent the collection a modern feel and brought it up to date. Julia Reimann added a vintage feel to her collection, which featured oversized, nineties jackets, with burlesque style structured bodices and tassles. The colour pallette, which was limited to peach and black, also added a classic, vintage feel.

Following it's outing at Henry Holland's Spring/Summer 08 show, Tartan made an appearance in more than one of the East London collections. Katy Burnett used the print on a hooded coat, as well as to add texture to preppy blouses and feminine dresses. Sasu Ehanire took a more traditional approach to Tartan, using it to create mid-length, billowing Kilts. Natalie Jacobs, who wrapped the fabric around models to create jagged hemlines, teamed Tartan with heavy military jackets, and stiff hats to create a tougher edge.

Esme Davies brought plenty of colour to the catwalk with her folky collection that included both short and long empire line dresses (pictured) that alternated panels of black with red, blue and white candy stripes printed with bold floral detail. Colourful floral embroidery on bodices heightened the folk-gypsy feel of the collection further.



Image Kirsten Borst - Courtesy of FabSugar UK

Yesterday saw the beginning of Graduate Fashion Week at London's Earls Court 2, and every fashionista worth their Manolo's was there to feast their eyes on a wealth of eclectic designs from the UK's freshest fashion talent.

Kicking off the week of shows were collections by students from The University of Central Lancashire. There were jumpsuits, bubble hems and floaty sheers a plenty, as well as a glamourous hybrid of sports and evening wear from Lucy Crook, which featured flirty ruffelled dresses in bright neon fabrics with a sporty stripe detail. The stand out collection from the Lancashire show, was by Maria Manfredi, who created beautifully cut dresses and jump suits in this season's essential nautical stripes.

Sharing the bill for the second show of the day were Northbrook College and The Arts Institute at Bournemouth. While the overall standard didn't seem as high as that of Central Lancashire, there were some really strong collections on show.

Most notably from Bournemouth was Natalie Conroy, who developed the ombre trend by splashing inky blue stains onto white sheer layers. She also dyed silk in multiple colours to give an inky marbled effect.

My favourite collection from Northbrook was by Rebecca Reeves, who combined masculine and feminine styles from the forties, by teaming a vintage style tea dress with a leather flying jacket, and an oversized men's dinner jacket with sexily feminine stockings and suspenders.

After the first two shows, the standard set was high. Watch this space and I will I keep you posted on shows for the rest of the week.




Image Kirsten Borst - Source.