‘STYLE HAPPENS SOONER, ON ‘LATER’!’

We have a lot to thank Mr Jools Holland for! Not only does he bring us the most eclectic of live, global musical offerings, from established and emerging artists, alike, but with them, come a plethora of stand-out, sartorial selections, from the style-spectrum! For instance, you’re as likely to see and hear the hauntingly melodic, ‘Amadou and Mariam’, bedecked in bold, traditional Malian dress, playing in the-round, as you are the infectiously-anthemic synth-pop of ‘M.T’, in their eponymous multi-coloured, tie-dye-tees!

Case-in-point has to be a recent episode, featuring, Goldfrapp, James Blake, Franz Ferdinand and Kanye West!

 Backlit in a pure-gold aura and engulfed, full-length, in a column of black chiffon-drapery, the ever-ethereal, Alison Goldfrapp, held the audience, spell-bound with her melifluously reed-like, vocal perfomance of ‘Annabel’. The timeless gown, simultaneously, captured her effortless, idiosyncratic grace, whilst also paying homage to SS14 runways, with its pintuck-peephole bodice.

The unnervingly-talented James Blake delivered an equally-classy rendition of the stunning ‘Retrograde’. With hair, windswept, in defiance of the stillness generated by his unfolding-wall-of sound, he was an example of understated style, surrendering to sonic substance. In a ‘1-800 Dinosaur’ T-shirt-and-jeans ensemble, Blake also seamlessly combined product-placement of his new record label and a pinpoint performance, with ease and flair.

In stark juxtaposition, was the riff and quiff-friendly, Franz Ferdinand. Already well-known for their unique fashion statements including the sharpest of Savile Row-silhouettes, the band showed that they had lost none of their couture-creativity, teaming the gusto of, lyrically, ‘right words’ with the ‘right action’ of donning fashion-forward Hawaiian-prints with rock-a-billy attitude! Very D-Squared-2!

Kanye West’s performance of ‘Bound To’, with the outstanding ‘Uncle’ Charlie (Gap Band) Wilson, more-than-referenced the fact that he had graduated, magna-cum-laude, from the School-of-FROW! The ‘College Drop-Out’ star stamped his artistic authority on the programme, with all of the swagger for which we have come to love him. Punctuating the pitch-black studio with dramatic spotlighting, which served to accente his choice of a laid-back, layering trend, a play-on-neutrals of black ribbed-tee and low-slung, loose-fit, trousers, was complemented by a three-quarter length, khaki parka and desert boots in a pop-of-camel-colour. The entire look was topped-off by the trademark, heavy-gold, diamond-set, belcher-link chain, de rigueur for ushering in SS14’s metallic forecast! Uncle Charlie was certainly in-the-house, with his own, distinguished, take on double-denim, accessorizing with shades, as blacked-out as the windows on a one-off, customised Bugatti! It was, undoubtedly, a fitting backdrop to the soaring, silky-smooth, vocal-runs and devastating musical prowess of such a living-legend of U.S Funk/R&B!

So, the next time you tune into ‘Later… with Jools Holland’, keep an eye out for a new class of ‘artist-interpretations’… I think you’ll find that, on closer inspection, they are, in fact, rather more original!

©AFROW2013-2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

MFW DELIVERS A FUTURE/ R-ETRO FASHION-FEST!!

Now, aside from pulling-off next year’s styles with poise and panache, the Milanese Fashion Week also has a penchant for providing ampitheatres as show auditoria! Never before have I witnessed collection-after-collection being displayed in such gargantuan spaces and it was no different at Etro!

The vastness became noticeably apparent when front-of-house assistants seemed to take on Borrower-like proportions as, flanked by mountains of onlookers, they peeled back the wedding-train of cellophane-covering from a glacier-white runway!

So done, so began a stream of Etro-consciousness of a distinctly paisley-inspired, retro feel! Colourways revolved around a pastel-blue/ mint-green/ coffee-cream/ lemonade-yellow/ powder-pink palette and were dreamt-up on jumpsuits, handkerchief-hemmed separates and dresses of midi and maxi options. Print-clashing proved popular and a truly inventive ensemble-for-the-eyes were a knee-length skirt with the aforementioned pattern, topped by a ‘tsunami-wave’ design. The antithesis, a veritable repertoire-in-rust included a midi-dress and skirt, both adorned with a black, ‘vine’ motif, which would be later presented magnified, upon a sheer blouse of the same shade. Metallics were also seen, with hints of gold, shot-through a particularly playful backless dress and a jumpsuit which looked as if it had leapt straight from the days of psychedelia!

Drapery was de-rigueur and artfully-incorporated as a ‘scarfed’-neckline, accompanied by a distinct love-of-layering, which was charmingly portrayed, tumbling into voluminous flares. Fringes, whilst exaggerated, were tastefully used to enhance plunging v-necklines and a single-strapped, ‘tube-form’ added extra interest to the dress silhouette. The label also showed a single-take on coats, it being of oversized ilk, in two-tone, mint-green and silver, a finishing touch which surely sets-out their optimistic stall for scorching  weather next year!

  So, I’m packing my bags with some of those splendid r-Etro spring/summer styles, because I, for one, want to be wherever they are in 2014!

©AFROW2013-2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED