Maarten and Me: Part 2

>> It's been a while since the first part of mine and Maarten van der Horst's Peroni Collaborazioni video documentary came out.  Every time I say the word 'collaborazioni' in my terribly exaggerated Italian accent, I also want to say 'Mamma Mia, the Dolmio sauce is tasty!'.  Best then to keep the dodgy Italian cliche out so I'll just call it a a collaboration.  Just to recap on the project.  Three London fashion bloggers.  Three young up and coming London designers.  Three very different interpretations of our own warped ideas of Italian Style that will result in one collaborative fashion piece from each blogger/designer pairing.  None of them involve Dolmio sauce or utterings of mamma mia thank god. 

Maarten Van Der Horst was Fashion East's S/S 12 show triumph and has had my head permanently fixated on Hawaiian prints even if the season for blaring out with tropicana prints is starting to wane.  The second installment of this collab here takes us into Maarten's debut show at Fashion East at the Haunch of Venison as well as a development of the piece which has taken a bit of a dramatic turn.  I know I'm supposed to be building up suspense but to pretend that I haven't seen the final collaborative piece would be a total lie.  I have.  It's awesome.  I'd like to wear it and do twenty consecutive star jumps in it, some roly polys and maybe a few herkies even though I'm not entirely sure what a herkie is.  Still, this work-in-progress videos is a wee taster and all will be unveiled in the final as well as at an event tomorrow night in Whitechapel.  I'm looking forward to seeing what menswear designer Shaun Samson + Disneyrollergirl + and jewellery designer Jessica de Lotz + Fashion Foie Gras have come up with.  

I wore this particular Maarten van der Horst piece from his graduate collection in the height of an elongated Indian summer during New York Fashion Week.  People asked me if I was hot and I answered "No" with a weak smile and sweat dripping down my forehead.  This not yer' average Hawaiian specimen where sweat seeps through the armpits, and instead it's a heavy cotton shirt has been lined and then adorned with tulle ruffles down the back, lending itself well to the autumnal change.

(Worn with Steve's Dries Van Noten shirt, Valentino x Gap trousers, Topshop boots)