London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2014: See You Next Season!

Electric blue eyes and a silken black sheath on the catwalk at Liz Black's show for London Fashion Week SS14. Photograph by Limor Helfgott

London Fashion Week has a reputation for edgy and avant-garde design and Spring Summer 2014 was no exception. Limor Helfgott looks back at five exciting days of high catwalk drama at Somerset House in the British capital

MORE than Milan or Paris fashion weeks, London welcomes a broad range of experimental designers from around the world and is known to be one of the best cities to train for a career in the fashion industry.

The stand-outs this season were the flying bags at the Anya Hindmarch show, J.WAnderson's twisted jumpers for a tomboy look and Peter Pilotto’s explosive digital prints with a finale of a halter dress covered in mirror work and knitted materials.

The strong presence of Asian designers this season encouraged an oriental theme: J.WAnderson's clever origami-like fold dresses and Holly Fulton's florals with a dash of the East. Designer L'Wren Scott clashed modern designs with feminine and chic kimono dresses as a homage to traditional Japanese style.

The highly structured, powerful collection of David Koma was free of pastel colors or floral motifs ~ there were no delicate feminine creatures. The Koma woman is indeed a warrior, bound in armour of leather and neoprene.

Russian designer David Koma's new collection for Spring Summer 2014 was inspired by the Japanese martial art of archery Kyudo. “The key features are graphics, color-blocking and asymmetry,” said Koma after the show.

The designer's pieces evoke a strong and powerful woman ~ a modern day warrior. Clear references to Kyudo were made with the holes punctured into every garment. The highly structured, collection was free of pastel colours or floral motifs ~ there were no delicate feminine creatures. The David Koma woman is indeed a warrior, bound in armour of leather and neoprene.

The colour ranges were from black, white and powder blue to bold blocks of cobalt. Shapes were strong: origami-folded jackets with sharp blue and black collisions, A-line skirts with asymmetrical hems, graphic elements, prints, stripes and zigzags across the body. Dresses were spliced at the waists. Leather was the dominant fabric of the collection and every piece gave us a glimpse of skin in an innovative way.

Inspired by the London Aquarium the colour palette at Jackie Lee was adventurous with cyclamen teamed with eye-popping pink pouts on the models. 

Korean Jackie Lee's collection was brighter and lighter than previous collections by the designer. Inspired by a journey through the London Aquarium, the colour palette was adventurous with cyclamen teamed with eye-popping pink pouts on the models. Other colours were baby-blue, navy and white.

Simplicity was the designer's key theme but there were layers of meaning. The designer's inspiration was jellyfish and she used shiny fabrics with the occasional gleam of PVC and scale-like textures to help achieve an under the sea vibe.

Shapes include cropped boxy jumpers, sharp tailoring with high necklines, dropped waistlines and oversize blazers. In this era of minimalism this collection gives you what it promises – wearable, clever, graceful and clean-lined clothes.

The inspired collection by Tata Naka had powerful contrasts of textures and colours with a luxurious finish that suggested the beauty and lyricism of the work of the Ballet Russes.

Showcased on the final day of London Fashion Week on a set in a blacked-out basement studio in Somerset house, the Tata Naka presentation was inspired by the work of Sergei Diaghilev and his famed Ballet Russes. Diaghilev turned classical ballet on its head with bold choreography and graphic sets and was the first to collaborate with contemporary fine artists like Picasso, Matisse and Chagall.

Designers Tamara and Natasha Surguladze from Georgia used their trademark shapes and prints in a combination of vibrant colours and pastel tones. Classic silhouettes with modern patterns, geometric cut-outs and zigzagged edges made up the look this season. The inspired collection had striking contrasts of textures and colours with a luxurious finish that suggested the beauty and lyricism of the work of the Ballet Russes.

While Sergei Diaghilev was a starting point for the silhouette of the Tata Naka collection it had a modern twist. Voluminous sleeves and skirts created new shapes in a palette of ice cream pink, pistachio, peach and lemon, contrasted with primary splashes of red, blue and yellow.  

This season Michael van der Ham's collection was all about the dress with bare shoulders or feminine spaghetti straps, sheer detailing and patchwork or a peplum details below the waist.

Showing his collection at the Café Royal on Regent Street, Dutch designer Michael van der Ham's clothes were chic and elegant. Models walked on to the catwalk with minimal makeup and hair pulled back presenting his signature textures and famous patchwork.

The designer won last year's Fashion Forward sponsorship. This season his collection was all about the dress with bare shoulders or feminine spaghetti straps, sheer detailing and peplum details below the waist.

The colour palette was mostly monochrome, with neon yellow paint splatters of peach, grey and green to add a bit of colour. Lace and silk were layered with a brilliant mixture of fabrics and prints covered in mesh covered holes, Swarovski crystal embroidery and jewel embellishments.

 Almost entirely monochrome, the collection by Erdem was enlivened by splashes of yellow and lavender, giving a Parisian feel to the show.

I just loved everything about the new Erdem collection, said to be a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge. Stunning feminine gowns were presented while a grand piano and cello accompanied the models on the runway creating a stylish ambiance. Almost entirely monochrome, the collection was enlivened by dashes of yellow and lavender, giving a Parisian feel to the collection. 

Designer Erdem Moralioglu from Canada used shimmering white satin silk, feathers, floral quilting and appliqué lace on boucle skirts and crisp white shirts which were teamed with sheer black organza, buttoned-up collars and embroidered bomber jackets. It was a tone down from last season's edgier collection for the designer. The mix of textures - sheer contrasted with heavier tweed ~ made this collection perfect with it's monochromatic palette.

Urban chic was the key motif at Eudon Choi with oversized coats, A-line skirts, beautifully draped asymmetric dresses in stripe and block colors along with Japanese-style kimonos and silk trousers.

Although Eudon Choi is known for precision tailoring and is a menswear graduate – it was all about the girls this season and there were very few masculine elements in the collection. It was all delicate and intensely feminine, inspired by the tragic story of Princess Deokhye who was forced into marrying a Japanese prince.

Urban chic was a motif with over sized coats, A-line skirts, beautifully draped asymmetric dresses in stripe and block colours along with Japanese-style kimonos, silk trousers and robe combinations tied with a cord but with low necklines to give it a modern touch. One of the outstanding pieces was a white strapless gown that was reminiscent of a chima or traditional Korean skirt.

The colour palette was delicate and included bright floral prints teamed with stripes in coral, white, magenta, navy and pink.

The innovative design duo of Latvian Fyodor Podgorny and Israeli Golan Frydman presented a chic, ultra feminine collection where colour was brilliant ~ from the sunniest yellow to pink and contrasting soft pastel hues of mint, baby blue and nude.

The Fyodor Golan SS14 collection Electric Children was inspired by bikers and joggers crossing Waterloo Bridge alongside the river. The innovative design duo of Latvian Fyodor Podgorny and Golan Frydman from Israel presented a chic, ultra feminine collection where colour was brilliant ~ from the sunniest yellow to pink and contrasting soft pastel hues of mint, baby blue and nude.

The looks were completed with Tresor Paris beads in a range of muted tones both embellishing and structuring the shapes of the collection. The luxurious beads were sewn to the tops and dresses also adding texture along with feathers, snakeskin and sheer flowing fabrics.

For me, the standout was a bandeau top made of rings of yellow smiley faces, which added a funky edge to the show together with the soundtrack of Heroes playing by David Bowie.

Beading, feminine shift and tube dresses at Mary Katrantzou featured large inverted pleated layers, skater silhouettes covered in ruffles and feathers and mini cocktail dresses shaped like cupcakes.

Turning sports clothes into feminine and flirty fashion, this season Greece's Mary Katrantzou created bold colourful digital prints also on to shoes including brogues, trainers and slippers.

The collection was full of blown-up details from the collaboration between the designer and French embroidery house Maison Lesage. Beading, feminine shift and tube dresses featured large inverted pleated layers, skater silhouettes covered in ruffles and feathers and mini cocktail dresses shaped like cupcakes.

Models walked to the sounds of She's a Rainbow by the Rolling Stones. Katrantzou's prints in neon purple, fluorescent green, electric blue and acid yellow and pink ruled the catwalk and each  looked unique.

 Fashionistas pause in London on the way to see shows for LFW SS14

Bold colour combinations make this father and son combo stand out at the entrance to LFW at Somerset House.

Striking a pose for the waiting cameras outside London Fashion Week's headquarters at Somerset House

Taking the Shalwar Kameez into a new urban realm with opaque black spectacles and felt hat outside LFW 

Perspex heels and an umbrella lined with lace were the accessories for this fashionista battling London's bleak fashion week weather

The Nuts and Bolts of Fashion: Jewellery Designer Yaniv Baranes

Yaniv Baranes new collection of jewellery creates a connection between the industrial and the feminine. 

Fashion correspondent Limor Helfgott interviews designer Yaniv Baranes at his Tel Aviv studio and discovers that hardware and fashion definitely go together. As a young boy, the Israeli grew up surrounded by the nuts, bolts and springs of his father's factory. He never imagined he would one day be making jewellery from them. Special editorial photography for Design & Art Magazine by Sherban Lupu with model Nela Samokovlija

YANIV Baranes was always an artistic child and at his father's factory he was given full rein to explore the interesting materials. But the designer went on to study economics, planning to work in the business sector of the family firm. After graduating, he yearned for a more creative career and decided to study interior design and began designing interiors with a strong industrial aesthetic.

The idea of creating jewellery and fashion accessories began when he was producing an exhibition for one of his university professors. “I was fascinated by the materials I was using which were foreign to me as an interior designer,'' Baranes says. "I was drawn by the gentleness of using textiles instead of the wood and concrete I worked with as an interior designer.”

When Baranes was designing his own apartment he created a net curtain made from different types of springs from his father's factory with the idea of designing a large abstract lamp. “I brought the net home and my sister caught a glimpse of it and immediately wrapped it around her hand. She asked if I could make a bracelet for her. 

“I learnt from making that first bracelet how much pleasure I had creating jewellery for women from industrial pieces which have no connection to fashion and femininity until they are linked together to create something entirely different," says Baranes.  

Baranes new collection of jewellery called Springs Project is made entirely from springs, locks, washers and bolts. The range has been a great success but the designer says he still has a lot to learn in the fashion and accessories world and is starting a masters degree in Fashion and Textile Design: “I am always looking for new ideas and one of my goals when I am studying is to come up with other new projects in the fashion field.”

Fashion styling: Limor Helfgott. Make-up: Yael Madmon. Model: Nela Samokovlija. 

Click on photographs for full-screen slideshow

Yaniv Baranes designing his jewellery collection at his studio in Tel Aviv. Always an artistic child, at his father's factory he was given full rein to explore the interesting materials.

Baranes new collection of jewellery called Springs Project is made entirely from springs, locks, washers and bolts.

The idea of designing jewellery and fashion accessories began when he was producing an exhibition for one of his university professors. “I was fascinated by the materials I was using which were foreign to me as an interior designer.''  

When Baranes was designing his own apartment he created a net curtain for a lighting piece made from different types of springs from his father's factory. “I brought home the net home and my sister caught a glimpse of it and immediately wrapped it around her hand. She asked if I could make a bracelet for her.”  

“I learnt from making that first bracelet how much pleasure I had creating jewelry for women from industrial pieces which have no connection to fashion and femininity until they are linked together to create something entirely different," says Baranes.  

The Springs Project has been a great success but the designer says he still has a lot to learn about the fashion and accessories world and is starting a masters degree in Fashion and Textile Design.

New Architecture: Festival Hall Tiroler Festspiele Austria

Folded like an origami bird of prey, Austria’s new Festival Hall crouches among the hills of the Tyrol looking ready to take flight, writes Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photographs by Brigida González

Designed by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects the building’s geometry follows the natural landscape of the surrounding hills and rock formations in Erl. The new Festival Hall is a winter concert venue for the Tyrol Festival. It's sharp, soaring lines offer a contrapuntal foil to the 1950s curving white building already on the site. The Passionsspielhaus, or 'Passion Playhouse'  hosts summer operas and orchestras and sits across a grassy hillock from the new building. 

The staircase leading into DMAA's  Festival Hall is integrated into the terrain’s topography and the enormous white foyer allows you to gaze at the surrounding green hills and look out to the white summer playhouse nearby.

The architects designed the configuration of their monolithic building like a tectonic stratification, with the 'crevices' and 'faults'  showing the way into the interior. During the evening, the incisions and folds of the façade allow slanting views into the brilliant white foyer.

A staircase leads up to a gallery on the next level and inside and out are brought together by the glass-fronted western façade. Pathways lead through the building, narrowing and widening with different ceiling heights creating a sense of the land's geometry.

The concert hall is located at the centre of the building like a shell anchored to the rock. The dynamic asymmetry of the foyer is deliberately contrasted with the peace and ordered space of the wood-lined auditorium. Delugan Meissl Associated Architects won a competition in 2007 to design the concert hall and it was completed at the end of last year. 

The embracing, wooden interior of the dynamic new auditorium

The asymmetrical, all-white entrance foyer 

The curving 1950s playhouse that offers a complete contrast to the sharp, soaring planes of the new Festival Hall 

Western glass facade of the building leading into the entrance

 Looking out from the new Festival Hall to the surrounding mountains of the Tyrol

Bosco Verticale: Vertical Forest Towers in Milan Near Completion

The urban vertical forest is one of the most intriguing ideas in contemporary architecture. The world’s first forested skyscraper is now nearing completion in the Italian design capital of Milan, reports Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photographs by Marco Garofalo & Francesco de Felice.

CALLED the Bosco Verticale, the project is designed by Stefano Boeri architects and was originally created to combat the alarming levels of air pollution in Milan. The two residential towers are located in the centre of the city in the Isola neighbourhood. Milan is now one of the most polluted cities in the world and the Bosco Verticale aims to ease the environmental damage caused by urbanisation. 

Given the lack of green space in the city, Milan’s environment does not promote biodiversity. The new plantings will provide an urban eco-system able to support a wide range of birds and insects. The architects believe the project has the potential to balance out the city’s environmental damage and to create a self-sufficient ecosystem.

On flat land, each tower equals an area of 10,000 square metres of forest. In terms of urban density, it is the equivalent of an area of single family dwellings of nearly 50,000 square metres. The verticality of the scheme means the urban sprawl is contained and the forest goes upwards into the sky.

The screen of leafy green trees and shrubs will filter dust particles, absorb carbon dioxide, protect the apartments from noise pollution, help ease the urban heat experienced in the city during summer and reduce the need for air conditioning to heat and cool the tower’s apartments.

The types of trees being used were chosen based on where they would be positioned on the buildings’ facades. It took more than two years of working with botanists to decide which trees would suit the buildings and the climate. The plants used were grown specifically for the project, pre-cultivated so that they would gradually acclimatize to the conditions on the face of building.

Although the architects have been working on the project since 2007, it is only now that the specially-grown trees and plants are being lifted into the two skyscrapers which are scheduled to be finished later this year. The towers, 110 and 76 meters high, will have more than 900 trees planted on their facades and balconies, each tree up to nine metres tall, plus 11,000 ground-cover plants and 5,000 different flowering shrubs.

“The Bosco Verticale is a system that optimizes, recuperates and produces energy,’’ says architect Stefano Boeri. “It creates a microclimate with a diversity of plants that produce humidity, absorb carbon dioxide and improve the quality of living spaces and save energy. The plants will be irrigated by filtering and reusing the grey waters produced by the building. Additionally Aeolian and photovoltaic energy systems will increase the degree of energetic self sufficiency of the two towers."

The construction of the towers cost 65 million euros, just five per cent more than an average skyscraper, and the project’s vertical design provides space that is equal to a large area of urban sprawl. The structure sets a precedent not only for new developments in Milan, but also for similar cities with the same level of urbanisation. The innovative concept is a viable model for reforestation within the confines of a developed city.

Click on photographs for full-screen slideshow

Artist's rendering of the completed Bosco Vericale towers with 900 trees, 5,000 shrubs and 11,000 ground cover plants.

One of the 900 trees being lifted on to a tower balcony. The trees will be three, six and nine metres tall.

Looking up towards the facades of the two towers from the ground ~ one is 110 metres high and the other 76 metres tall. 

Cranes are being used to lift the trees on to the apartments' balconies.

The view across from the new towers to the smooth, glass and treeless facades of the skyscrapers opposite.

The trees arrive on site in Milan and are prepared to be lifted into the sky.

One of  the Bosco Verticale balconies is prepared for planting with tall trees and a range of shrubs and flowering plants.

A tall tree is craned on to an apartment's balcony.

The raw concrete terraces and planter boxes before the earth, trees and shrubs transform this harsh space into a cool green retreat.

The balcony gardens are prepared with soil and irrigation before the shrubs are planted. 

The tower's austere facade with a single tree being lifted into place.

A workman surveys Milan and the two towers before they are covered by a forest of trees and plants.