SUPERSWEET's BIG DOG IS BOWING OUT... HOWL!!

Big Dog, hard at work in the SUPERSWEET office

Readers, compatriots, allies, fellow dogs, paramours...

After 3 devoted mad-cap years, this is my final entry for SUPERSWEET. Shucks, a tear is forming. BIG DOG, aka Sucksweet, aka Creative Director-cum-Editor Tiffany, is officially leaving (along with some other office oldies). It's the end of an era for staff, but also for SUPERSWEET Digital.

Huh? What? Yes! We have a NEW website! So a new era is dawning in the absence of old dust.

If you haven't noticed, we've just given birth to a new website, split down the Siamese center into two halves: a magazine we call ZOO and our new SUPERSWEET Shop! It was a long and painful labour for our chief ed, 'Little Dog Pekanan', but after blood, sweat and moon-howling, she and her enslaved web-programming cat pushed out a real beauty with only minor teething probs.

You guys can enjoy roaming around on all fours in our ZOO, reading the usual gumpf on art, music, fashion and culture like you always did (laughing at Grinderman or singing along to Best Coast). As for shopping with us - it's slick, stylish, quick, easy and ooooh sooo SUPERSWEET. There's also a Monkey Postman so you can keep in touch. We still welcome contributors, and by god we need them now that key doggy members of the SS board are going walkies.

Now I've finished plugging the new SS site, it's time for tributes. It's been a great 3 years. I've learnt a great deal and unlearned a lot too (like how to spell, think, walk on two feet and eat proper food like a human being). Yep, half my brain cells are dead from sugar overload, but hell, the super sweet rush was worth it. I've interviewed some ace bands (Franz Ferdinand, Thomas Truax, Animal Collective), hung out with some cool kids (Charlie Le Mindu, School of Seven Bells, Good Shoes, Pity Party) and sat second row at London Fashion Week to watch some pretty hot and bitchy shows. There's a million stories in my brain and I'd love to share them all, but simply can't! Maybe I could sneak them into SS ZOO somehow, but that's only if you want to hear back-alley gossip...

This has turned into a bit of a essay, and you've probably stopped reading by now so it's time to close up shop. I'll miss you all but I won't vanish completely. Big dog will always be on the periphery, prowling for SUPERSWEET treats and head pats. See? I've utterly lost my mind. Woof! Gone barking mad. Woof! So I'll close off with this quote from Jason Bourne:

"Look at what they make you give!!"

Signing off,
Big Dog.
x x x

London Fashion Love Letters: J. Maskrey

Hi Perm,

Dearest pen pal, thank you for penpalling with me during the Fashion Week. As the last goodbye, I’ll present you a little film showcasing the SS11 collection of J. Maskrey. It might not be sentimental enough to be used in a goodbye context, but hey, sobbing is overrated anyway. Lets just start waiting for the next Fashion Week: hopefully it’ll be as provocative and sparkly as this film.

Here’s a handful of Rita Hayworth’s Hollywood glamour and the hallucinogenic aesthetic of Jimi Hendrix! (No, that wasn’t just random, it was J. Maskrey’s own description for the film)

J. Maskrey SS2011 from SUPERSWEET on Vimeo.

Emmi

London Fashion Love Letters: Orschel-Read

My very dear Emmi,

This might be the last, last letter I write to you. I have been enjoying myself with your updates, especially whilst queuing to get into another catwalk show. It's such a relief to know there are other people out there (and those standing in front of and behind me) who suffer for fashion. God bless you and I pray we'll meet again in London in half a year's time.

But, before we bid farewell, I've got you Orschel-Read, the last ever show I attended this year at London Fashion Week.

When I was informed (by the PR) that Orschel-Read's SS10 piece was worn by Lady Gaga, I couldn't anticipate more for his brand new catwalk show at LFW SS11. Sadly, perhaps I was expecting for too much, the show titled "The Spy Who Becomes Me" did not quite hit the right note.

The collection toying the quintessential James Bond glamour, displaced onto an adolescent physique, fuses several manly styles, such as safari, military and playboy. Suits, jackets, coats appear in cotton and dupion silk and are paired with bamboo fibre knit and wools. Trousers are high-waisted referring back to James Bond's golden era.

Some of the silk pieces and printed shirts, I admit, are eye-pleasers.

Despite my ambivalence to Orschel-Read's collection, I find his suits and tuxes to die for.

With its fine tailoring, harsh silhouette, structural shoulders and some modern twists on the collar, all mellow into one boyish man's body. This subtle struggle from boy to man shows some real attitude implicit in the collection.

And, to view the entire collection, check out my VDO clip.

It's time to say good bye now. I hope you enjoyed your shows at LFW.

Mwah! Mwah!

Perm

London Fashion Love Letters: Sibling

Hello (again) Emmi,

You know, who say models have to be handsome? Look at these 'peeps' at the Sibling SS11 presentation at London Fashion Week.

Renowned for brightly coloured and jauntily printed knitwear, Sibling presents something no other than themselves at the Portico Room, Somerset House. The collection is in favour of a soft silhouette, light weight material and lots of eye-catching prints. And there you see, Sibling's obscene sense of humour, them mannequins with no pants on. All I could wish for is that they were human models!

But, I must say, Sibling's centrepieces for their SS11 collection are even more daring. Tracksuit tops with matching bottoms embroidered in swear words--'wanker,' 'cunt,' 'bitch,' and so on--encapsulating male anger and frustration and re-executed for the anti-gentlemen of taste and fashion sense. A chav in Mayfair, perhaps? Or, Kensington?

Just plainly rude but awesome!!

Cheers,

Perm

London Fashion Love Letters: Pringle of Scotland

Hello Perm,

Pringle, the knitwear brand from Scotland dropped their Spring/Summer 2011 collection in my mailbox today – apparently they want to be my pen pals as well! I don’t really mind that: concluding from their letter, the brand seems to be one of the cool kids of fashion as they got Alex from Franz Ferdinand and Marina together with the Diamonds to come and hang out at their show. In addition to that, Pringle of Scotland wrote me that also Olivia Palermo, the girl who has a lot of drama going on on MTV attended the show. Not sure how I should react on that one.

When it comes to the collection, it seems to be as eclectic as the audience at the show was. For their new collection, Pringle has mixed the classic black and white colour palette with some country tints. There are tailored silhouettes, ruffles, feathers, sheer materials and geometric shapes. Even though this could have turned into one big mess, the brand did manage to pull all the different influences together into a collection with a surprisingly coherent classic feeling.

Here’s some knitwear inspiration for you:

Emmi

London Fashion Love Letters: NEWGEN MEN + FASHION EAST MEN's Installations (2)

Hi Emmi,

Departing from my beautiful boxers, I walk into Omar Kashoura's SS11 installation. This is quite jazzy with musician-models playing the trumpet and the saxophone--and some less modelesque musicians playing the electone in the background. This SS11 collection features some nicely tailored suits, shoes and accessories.

This guy, or his shoes and bag, is my favourite. It's so nice to be watching a guy when he blows, isn't it? :-9

On my way to Christopher Raeburn's installation I stumble on this.

It is a knitwear collection by Morgan Allen-Oliver, also to be matched with high-waisted shorts. It looks in next summer in London there will be jumpers and jumpers everywhere.

And, perhaps, there will be plenty of Christopher Raeburn's raincoats and macs, too! They are groundbreakingly colourful, with polka dots and some taping effect on the outside.

The installation is, more or less, like you walk into the tailor's workplace, though I'm not sure if at Raeburn's, there will be plenty of these hanging rabbit dolls.

Raeburn also includes some of his women's pieces in this presentation. Smart, eh!? Emmi, I'm sure you can do with one of these in your wardrobe.

That's all I've got to share on the NEWGEN MEN + FASHION EAST MEN's Installations.

Ciao,

Perm

London Fashion Love Letters: NEWGEN MEN + FASHION EAST MEN's Installations (1)

Hi Emmi,

LFW SS11 has come to its end. I'm not sad but excited. Why? Because LFW concludes with the menswear day!! First up are the NEWGEN MEN + FASHION EAST MEN's installations. The event taking place on the Terrace of Somerset House gets many bloggers, journalists and buyers flogging. I am early and among one of the very first to get in!

The first installation I come across is that of Katie Eary. Eary showcases her SS11 collection hiring some 10 youthful boxers to model and, of course, box on the set. Rather exciting! These boxers are robed in coutured combat kits: leopard print tops and jackets, blood red tartan bottoms, studded kneepads, (again) leopard print boxing gloves and some really funky trainers. The blood-thirst, raw motif is blatant--predator, blood, fighter, etc.--and brilliantly executed.

Oh! I forgot to mention, there are some extraordinary jumpers, too.

And the detail shots of the trainers. Love them!

Next up and not straying far from the 'fighter' theme is James Small. His SS11 collection is a fresh take on camouflage prints. No, no! Not just the military ones, Small offers some wonderful flowery prints as well as some updated leopard prints. His silhouette is soft, actually a lot softer once compared to Eary's collection.

Here are some samples.

Looking at the style on the mannequin, Small goes for a high-waisted look, which some other LFW designers in the like of Topman Designare also in favour of for next year men's fashion. This waist conscious trend seems to be everywhere. Don't believe me? Check out our earlier menswear SS11 trend report here.

I'm blogging my Part 2 soon.

Perm

London Fashion Love Letters: Jasper Garvida

Hello Emmi,

Your hidden exhibition looks very cool, actually! I think it’s nice to have a breath of fresh air outside the official venues. To be honest, I’m a bit tired of walking up and down the stairs at Somerset House.

Anyway, yesterday I went to the Jasper Garvida SS11 show at Vauxhall Fashion Scout. The collection he calls “Belle” is, I must say, sweet and pleasant. Garvida reinterprets and recreates the dresses seen in Degas’s ‘Ballet Dancers’ paintings coupled with elements of the beatnik movement. Human language? Well, let’s say pleated bouncy skirts, streamlined tops, and a lot of hand-embellishment accessories.

The colours and prints are also reminiscent of French Impressionism, while the materials used are fine luxuries of silk organza, brocade, jersey, voile and cloque. Scales, tribal prints and textured looped organza are so beautiful and well-made.

I have some detail shots of them for you too.

The downside of this collection is, apart from being inspired by the French, that the pieces are rather dated. Some of the scaled and printed pieces look as if straight out of Missoni. That said, the skirts and dresses are pretty and will end up being worn by discerning ladies of leisure at the Royal Ascot next year!

I’m off for the Menswear day tomorrow! So excited now ;)

Perm