By Susie BubbleWhat? It's the U word again!
LONDON -- If I keep extolling Uniqlo's virtues and bigging them up, I'm afraid I'm going to turn into their spokesperson or something but really I can't harp on enough about them. In total, there have been 4 posts dedicated to Uniqlo. Well, what can I say! For a fairly style-complex child like me, when the simple stuff is as cheap and as good as this, what I can I say except 'More more more!' and as I have warned, the 'more' for spring is a treat indeed. The two forthcoming collections for Uniqlo's Designers Invitation Project will probably spark the most interest State-side seeing as it's NYFW faves Alice Roi and Phillip Lim. The collection is up and will be available to buy from the 20th April in all stores worldwide (do New Yorkers forsee a bit of a frenzy at their Soho flagship store?). I have to say, the Alice Roi collection is a little on the bland side. That's an odd statement considering Uniqlo's style methodology but most of it errs on the side of bad-simple save for these two dresses.
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Phillip Lim's collection however says good-simple all over. Well simple with a hit of plaid and sweet shapes and of course Lim's trademark way of making women think 'Hey... I really want to wear that...'. Once I have done my Uniqlo haul I'll have my frollocking in LA sun outfits all ready (indeed I will be gingerly venturing out to the West Coast... will I be peturbed/exalted? Who knows..). I'm also hoping to bust out with my Uniqlo Lim paired with Real Lim outfits (I have surprisingly garnered quite a few real Lim pieces). It's all a little Lim overkill and a bit '90's head to toe one label' syndrome but frankly, I just don't give a toss.
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Miró lives on
I want a happy medium between severely mminimalist and exhuberantly outrageous. Strong, bold, almost starkly so graphics on simple garments fall into that happy medium. I seem to be uncovering more and more RCA grad gems as I have completely fallen for Sarah Locke's AW07-8 collection. Combining the swirls and surrealist shapes of Miró with simple, almost austerely cut shirts, skirts and trousers. It's not print. It's not screaming out at you but it's not a shrinking violet either. The best thing is that even for such a new designer, Locke has got onto the e-boutique train and right now her spring summer 2007 collection is available to buy online. But I'm absolutely sallivating for her AW07-8 collection. Miro-esque, strong graphical garments are just the exact sort of thing I'm craving right now.
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Taking the K route
Whilst we speculate whether Hedi Slimane will move into womenswear territory, Karl Lagerfeld has launched his lower priced K diffusion line that is an androgynous range of skinny skinny sillhouettes which is contributing to the popularity of unisex/ambiguous clothing. Mr Lagerfeld says
"Today's stye is not that different for women or men. My style is very at ease with this 'ambiguity. This is the base of a wardrobe - and one can add all kinds of things and fantasies."
I'm also liking the idea of taking pieces from this as a base especially with a price range of £47 to £148. Though, I haven't quite mastered the look of androgyny as I have lamented about before, perhaps edging into it with K range isn't such a bad idea. It's like the quickie route to androgyny, all worked out for you in these looks. I'm not usually one to take the easy way out but for a style aesthetic that i find quite difficult to configure into my wardrobe, there is no shame in taking the fashion high road! I'm not sure how confident I would be rocking the complete femme Karl Lagerfeld look but a skinny tie here and a white shirt surely won't do any harm. The line will be available from July in department stores
worldwide.
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