History, Drama and Romance at Alistair James in London

Sitting in a bower of leaves, this diaphanous, pearl-encrusted gown worn with flowing red hair was the centrepiece of Alistair James' presentation in London. Cover picture and all photographs by Elli Ioannou for DAM.

One of the highlights of London Fashion Week was the official debut of British design duo Nicholas Alistair Walsh and David James Wise who first met at Alexander McQueen. Their evocative SS18 presentation was held in the exquisite Fitzrovia Chapel, designed in 1891 by celebrated Victorian architect John Loughborough Pearson. Story by Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photographs by Elli Ioannou

 Pearl encrusted gown and a ruffled,
sequinned ensemble

LIKE a Pre-Raphaelite painting, a young woman with long, red hair and a flowing gown encrusted with pearls sits in a leafy bower in a gilded chancel. Architect John Loughborough Pearson's passion for medieval Italian architecture and St Mark's basilica in Venice inspired his design for the glimmering mosaics that give the chapel an otherworldly beauty.

This Gothic Revival jewel was the atmospheric backdrop to the romantic centrepiece of Alistair James' presentation during London Fashion Week, last month. Designers Nicholas Walsh and David Wise say they were inspired by a range of people and ideas yet those varied influences all coalesced into a cohesive and engaging collection with an unexpected edge.

The ideas for their most recent work were drawn from mythic, fairytale figures such as the May Queen and Sleeping Beauty to iconic British Sixties and Seventies fashion designer Ossie Clark and textile designer Celia Birtwell plus the work of portrait photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. Storytelling is at the heart of Alistair James' designs and Love Conquers All is the title of the new collection. Motifs include the briar rose and hearts, stars in sparkling Swarovksi crystals and a rich palette that included silver, blue and green. The diaphanous gowns were mixed with fluid smock-like dresses in white and porcelain blue, a suit with shorts in custom-made, dark green jacquard and silvery, sequined and ruffled outfit with a short, thigh-skimming skirts.

A key element in the design duo's philosophy is a ‘made in Britain’ ethos. This relates to Nicholas Walsh's family connection to fabric production in Yorkshire and David Wise's career as a textile designer and their belief in sustainability and using local skills and materials. The pair is determined to continue to work with British mills to create their new collections.

Fluid grace in a blue like
 Jasperware porcelain

Today, the designers work together from a South London studio. While Nicholas Walsh grew up in West Yorkshire and started his career as a women's wear designer, David Wise comes from London and began his career in textiles. Before forming their label, Wise had already worked with top fashion houses, including Alexander McQueen since 2010. Walsh grew up in Halifax, a wool trade town, and he was able to see his father at work at a theatre drapery mill. A youth spent surrounded by the mill's wools, velvets and silks meant he could easily relate to Wise's work as a textile designer.

Nicholas Walsh began his career in fashion after graduating with a BA in women's wear in 2014 and then working at Gareth Pugh and Alexander McQueen. While Walsh was working in the couture studio, Wise was a textile designer when they met at McQueen. When the two designers decided to branch out and create their own label together, they made a capsule collection which they showed to the British Fashion Council. They were put in touch with fashion industry contacts that helped them move forward with their label and lead to their ethereal SS18 collection shown this season in London.

Tap on photographs for full-screen slideshow

Voluminous, flowing lines added to the collection's sense of otherworldly romance.

The collection was inspired by the May Queen and Sleeping Beauty along with Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell and British portrait photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.

Nicholas Walsh and David Wise say they were inspired by a range of people and ideas yet those varied influences all coalesced into a cohesive and engaging collection with an unexpected edge.

When the two designers decided to branch out and create their own label together, they made a capsule collection which they showed to the British Fashion Council.

The designers were put in touch with fashion industry contacts that helped them move forward with their label and lead to their official SS18 collection shown this season in London.

Today, the designers work together from a South London studio. Nicholas Walsh grew up in West Yorkshire and started his career as a women's wear designer while David Wise comes from London and began his career in textiles.





A key element in the design duo's philosophy is a ‘made in Britain’ ethos. This relates to Nicholas Walsh's family connection to fabric production in Yorkshire and David Wise's career as a textile designer and their belief in sustainability and using local skills and materials.

Nicholas Walsh began his career in fashion after graduating with a BA in women's wear in 2014 and then working at Gareth Pugh and Alexander McQueen. While Walsh was working in the couture studio, Wise was a textile designer when they met at McQueen.

 

Slow Fashion in a Fast World: Indian Designer Rahul Mishra

Prismatic colours embroidered on to a flowing dark navy gown at Rahul Mishra's SS18 show in Paris. Cover picture and all photographs by Elli Ioannou

Designer Rahul Mishra believes in "slow fashion" where time is taken to research and produce collections. He uses artisans from across India that work by hand using traditional techniques like fine embroidery to create collections that are shown during Paris Fashion Week. Mishra wants to combine both the best of new technology with craftsmanship to enhance a sense of beauty and peace, writes Antonio Visconti. Photographs by Elli Ioannou

Intricate flowers and stripes create a
richly-textured jacket

IN our rapidly changing world of digital technology and social media, fashion designers are pressurised to deliver their shows and collections as soon as possible to world wide audiences and often in real time. Although many fashion houses in Paris and Milan have resisted the "see now, buy now" movement because either it is not feasible given the conceptual nature of many shows or the time-consuming workmanship required for high-end collections. Philosophically, Indian designer Rahul Mishra who shows on the official Paris Fashion Week schedule, supports "slow fashion". His fashion house is based on sustainable and ethical production using both hand-craft techniques combined with new technology. Mishra collaborates with craftspeople in different regions of India. The designer aims to create collections that are contemporary yet use traditional artisans that support local economies.

When Mishra visited his hometown village Malhousie in Uttar Pradesh earlier this year, it allowed him to literally slow down and appreciate the stillness and beauty of the natural world. In the quiet of the village, cut-off from digital distractions, he focused on the joy of observing the birds and the bees under India's great blue sky, walking across the village fields and listening to the crickets.

Animals like birds, bees and tigers embroidered
on to a jacket at Rahul Mishra

Mishra's latest SS18 collection, presented in Paris earlier this month, was inspired by watching the honeybees in his village and looking at prisms of light and colour created by movement. When the designer returned to his studio in Delhi, he researched what he had seen in the countryside and spent months creating his new runway show, "Light In The Sky". During Paris Fashion Week, he showed the new collections including some one hundred garments, many pieces finely embroidered with bees, flowers and birds and prismatic representations of light. The collection includes floating, sheer dresses with ruffles, flowing skirts and a multitude of different colours ~ inspired by seeing colour and light at speed. It was a frothy, buoyant and summery collection, one that contrasted with his Autumn/Winter 2017 show with its rich pointillist embroidery inspired by 19th century French Impressionist painters, created by 700 different artisans.

Studying a science degree, Rahul Mishra did not seem destined to a life at the epicentre of haute fashion in Paris. He comes from a family of doctors and grew up listening to his grandparents tales of history and myth in his village.

Layers of ruffles enhances the summery, buoyant
theme of the show

Mishra went to school locally before completing a graduate degree in physics at nearby Kanpur University. But he decided to change career completely and express his ideas about the world through design. He went on to do a post-graduate degree at the National Institute of Design in Ahmadabad. His dissertation addressed social issues that he encountered meeting Indian crafts people. His aim was to find out how to make these artisans more empowered. Mishra's debut collection was based on using traditional Kerala looms. This first collection won him a scholarship to Italy's Istituto Marangoni. By 2008, he opened his own fashion house focusing on specialist textiles and hand-made garments. Mishra's work became known beyond India, when he won the prestigious Woolmark Prize in Milan in 2014. This buoyed him to launch his Spring/Summer 2015 collection and show it on the international fashion stage at Paris Fashion Week. So far, Mishra has managed to maintain a strong Indian identity based on the country's traditional skills while melding that with the latest in digital technology.

Tap on photographs for full-screen slideshow

Rahul Mishra's fashion house is based on sustainable and ethical production using both hand-craft techniques combined with new technology.

Mishra collaborates with craftspeople in different regions across India.

The designer aims to create collections that are contemporary yet use traditional artisans that support local economies.

Mishra's SS18 collection, presented in Paris earlier this month, was inspired by watching the honeybees in his village and looking at prisms of light and colour created by movement.

When the designer returned to his studio in Delhi, he researched what he had seen in the countryside and spent months creating his new runway show.

 During Paris Fashion Week, Rahul Mishra showed the new collections including some one hundred garments, many pieces finely embroidered with bees, flowers and birds and prismatic representations of light.

The collection includes floating, sheer dresses with ruffles, flowing skirts and a multitude of different colours.

The new collection is a frothy, buoyant and summery with fluid fabrics and brilliant colour.

 Mishra's work became known beyond India, when he won the prestigious Woolmark Prize in Milan in 2014.

After studying Physics, Mishra went on to do a post-graduate degree at the National Institute of Design in Ahmadabad.

Mishra has managed to maintain a strong Indian identity based on the country's traditional skills while melding that with the latest in digital technology and showing on the international stage in Paris.

Paris Fashion Week: Highlights from Moon Young Hee's Spring/Summer 2018 Ready-to-Wear Show. Photography by Elli Ioannou