Clandestine Cigarettes: La Mode, Movida and more..

What?

A private fashion show featuring young, upcoming designers. A debut of sorts.

Where and when?

Movida – A prestigious Celebrity and Private Members Nightclub in the heart of London i.e., Argyll Street, off Oxford Street. Thursday 17 June 2010.

Movida

Why?

Well, it’s important to applaud and encourage budding talent!

What did CC wear?

(Now don’t roll your eyes. This is an important question! You’ve gotta be well dressed if you’re invited to cover the event. Also, we like them shoes, around which we plan our outfits *winks*)

CC, Outside Movida

What was CC’s opinion of the show?

(Are you surprised we feel the need to express our opinion? Well, that’s our job, innit?! Also, that’s what we were invited there for! *Wide grin*)

The venue worked. It was the right backdrop for a young, vibrant show (although the *ahem* slightly expensive drinks did shake us up a little bit). The compere worked. She provided the right amount of humour and spontaneous wisecracks that the event required. It also helped that she was dressed to kill! The music was the clear winner again! They always get it right. Always.

The models required some fine tuning. But then, when have we been satisfied with the models. *sigh* Bring back the Jesse Randhawas and the Bhavna Sharmas!!

Anyhoo, getting back to the fashion aspect of it all. The designers deserved a pat on their backs for a complete collection (shoes, makeup, hairstyles etc al). The show started with a boom and out walked the models in cupcake printed tutus and balloon shorts and pretty dresses.

Chantal Gibbs-Jones

The collection was cohesive in terms of theme and infused some humour into the clothes. Of course, if it weren’t for the show-opening model, it would have lacked that zing. She came out with an air of arrogance blended with innocence. Good job girl! Chantal Gibbs-Jones, the designer took a bow amidst thunderous applause. Wish the cupcake print was used in a more creative way though. The collection left us asking some questions. Although overall, great going!

The rest of the evening gave us the chance to witness some innovative ideas and some unsuccessful attempts. A special mention has to be made of Kerry Knowles. Now this young lady, the recipient of several awards including Best Womenswear Designer of the Year 2007 at the UK Urban Fashion Awards, blew us away by her concept. Her collection (called Permutation) revolved around the concept of clothing that could be worn by women and men, with certain changes in the way it’s worn.

Kerry Knowles

When the collection was introduced, we were all intrigued and started craning our necks to see what we were in for. We weren’t too disappointed with this one. Extremely interesting and she appeared to have given it a lot of grey matter. There were male and female models to do complete justice to the theme. After all, we had to see how a man’s vest could be worn by a woman or how a skirt would find place on the male form! So thumbs up! We like you Kerry!

The other designers showed lingerie and more womenswear collections.