Milan Fashion Week

Fashion months last leg has landed at its final destination; Paris. Paris is always an exciting part of fashion month simply because its home to some of the largest fashion houses in the world, much like Milan. Milan for me is always the highlight of fashion month, their focus is on everything luxurious, stylish , fantastic tailoring and attention to detail. D&G always put on a great show and their shoes are always intricate and show great versatility not only in their look but what they're able to do with the traditional footwear artisans in Italy - truly an inspiring brand. Others that displayed an equally jaw dropping collection were Dsquared2, the twin head creatives showed a clear collection with under water themes. Gucci introducing satins and flower appliqués,  Fendi with gorgeous leather flowers on their footwear and Marco De Vincenzo. Today I leave you with some of the great shoes and collections that caught my eye during Milan fashion week!



Alberta Ferretti
Bottega Veneta





D&G




Dsquared2




Emporio Armani






Fendi




Gucci


Marco De Vincenzo
5 Reasons 
to visit the Louis Vuitton Series 3 Exhibition NOW!!!



1) A feast for your eyes, this exhibition is all about moving picture, and interactive catwalk shows with the use of digital media. My favourite part (naturally) was a recording of the bag making process, from leather cutting all the way to a full blown handmade bag. You also have the opportunity to meet one of THE Louis Vuitton bag making artisans - all french speaking so brushing up on your french may do you wonders.





2) Shoes - OF COURSE! Most of the shoes I see on the runway during fashion month come and go in a blink of an eye. The exhibition has a room dedicated to its accessories where you get to touch and feel the footwear and clothing in more detail, sometimes revealing shoes that I may have missed watching the show - one of my favourite rooms by far.





3) Staff - an odd thing to comment on but the staff were so polite and passionate that you actually noticed it! Which sounds weird to hear but it totally made our experience - they were all happy to help and talk about the exhibition.

4) At the end of the exhibition the final room opens up into a open plan cafe with a gorgeous view of London. The cafe had some beautiful cakes and sandwiches on display with Prosecco to accompany them.

5) The exhibition is FREE! I mean what isn't there to like about that? Knowledge is power my friends, who says fashion isn't educational?! I gained a real understanding of certain leather processes that I can't wait to put to good use in the studio. At the end you are also treated to 4 motifs of LV's most memorable accessory products - A cute touch to mark the end of a great exhibition.



#LVseries3


SHOE of the WEEK

Brother Vellies - Beaded Maasai Sandal







I have been following the progress of this amazing handmade footwear brand for the best part of a year. I know with summer officially over sandals are totally out of the question, BUT! there is no harm in admiring a pair of sandals that can get you one step ahead of the game for next summer, I mean after all fashion month is all about what to wear next season. These beautiful Beaded Maasai sandals tick all the boxes. To top this the brands whole ethos is about sustaining footwear artisans in South Africa, Kenya and Morocco, which whacks their 'cool' points up tenfold. They have had a big month with fashion week in NY, where their presentation went down a storm. The Beaded Maasai Sandal were by far my favourite, I have a thing for tribal prints if you hadn't noticed already! The whole collection was a success, the styles reflecting the fashion of where they were made. I absolutely adore the textures used on all of the shoes creating a fresh new look in footwear. I can't wait to see what they have in store for us in the seasons to come!


5 Tricks To Wearing Heels Without Pain!



Women all over the world have at one point suffered from ill fitting shoes, and this isn't always because of the heel height - I've worn a number of flat shoes that have completely crippled my feet too, even converse and sneakers have  given me pain. While being a model years back, there were many a runway shows where I would have to shove my feet into shoes 2 sizes smaller or bigger than my own feet. Even though it was totally fun walking down the runway inside I'd be terrified of doing a 'Naomi' and face planting the floor in front of crazed photographers. BUT! through these experiences, speaking to other models and backstage stylists I've learn't tonnes of tricks that not only help other models but the women that surrounded me on a daily basis, along with all the tricks I have learnt while interning. So I give you.. 5 tricks that will change your life...you'll never have crippled feet ever again!

1



Cotton Wool - always keep a couple cotton wool balls in your handbag. They are easy to get your hands on and don't cost much to replace! Most leather shoes give after a while so in time they tend to get a little bigger than you'd like them to be. Simply stuff some cotton wool balls into the toe of your shoe until the shoe fits like a glove. It works a dream! 




2



Hairspray - rough up the soles of your shoes with a scourer and then spray some hairspray - it'll make walking in shoes ten times easier!




3



Hairdryer - In bespoke footwear the trusty heat gun is an absolute god send. At the back and front of a shoe there is a thermo plastic thats placed in between the upper and inner to keep the shape of the shoe rigid. To get this plastic in place its heated and moulded onto the shoe - not all but most leather shoes work this way. Since the back and front of shoes are usually the problem areas - using a hairdryer, lightly heat the front and back of the shoe and then place a shoe stretcher in, and then you've guessed it apply some more heat and let them stand for a bit and HEY PRESTO - comfy shoes!




4



Ever had a new pair of shoes where the soles are just so shiny and slippery that walking on any surface is the difference between walking like a new born deer (I always think of Bambi taking his first steps) and being slumped on the floor? I learn't a trick backstage, and the answer - Coke - or any other fizzy drink you can get your hands on. All the girls back stage would go through the process of dabbing fizzy coke with cotton wool or tissue onto the sole of the shoe and waiting for them to dry before we hit the runway. When the coke dried it left a sticky residue (all the sugar) which made it easier to walk on any of the surfaces that came our way whatever show it was.




5
Avoid oily/greasy lotions - I hate dry feet! Im constantly creaming my feet but when it comes to wearing heels the lotion I use tends to make my feet slip and slide inside my shoe causing all sorts of pain! The trick is to use a non oil based lotion OR once you have creamed them rub a towel over them  to wipe away excess cream! A little spray of deodorant inside the shoe also works a charm!

Sophia Webster SS16 Presentation








LFW is well and truly underway and with only a few more days to go before it heads to Milan, I thought it's only best to talk about the lady of the moment; Sophia Webster. The new SS16 doesn't fail to impress, inspired by the mystical under sea theme the collection reflects everything you could think of when the word mystical comes into play, mermaids, bubbles, shells, coral, seal life and tropical plants. She has left no stone unturned (sorry for the pun but I just had to) in the efforts to really inspire your SS16 wardrobe. Loving the collection would be an understatement. Through out the week I have been glued to the Sophia Webster snapchat as they prepared, in the run up to yesterdays presentation, it was bloody amazing. As an aspiring footwear designer watching how the company works; how sophia webster works (the moodboard for the SS16 collection was phenomenal) gives me so much inspiration and motivation, and to top it; a huge insight into organising a presentation; firstly the shoes then the castings, fittings, location, backdrops, themes, invites, special guests, performances....the list  endless, but one thing is for sure, Sophia Webster knows how to execute a flawless (jaw dropping) presentation - and I managed to figure this all out from social media - hooooooraaaayyy for social media. (I'm going to speak it into existence - I HAVE TO, I WILL BE physically there this time next year - fingers crossed!) So for now I leave you with all the Instagram posts I saw through out out the day yesterday revealing a little more about the presentation. ENJOY!















SNAPCHAT! - sophiawebster