Keepy Uppy Mish Mash

Whilst I'm no seasoned pro at going to shows, having really only been in a season's entirity in the past one or two years or so… I have come up with a fairly stable set list of shows that have the 'giddy' factor.  The 'giddy' factor doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the collection but more that the production of said show normally involves big punch of theatricality that has gets the 'giddiness' inside of me rising.  Y-3 surprisingly and unsurprisingly falls into that category – surprising because the source of giddiness comes from aDidas HQ and unsurprising because of course that's where the big $$$ is, hence why they can pull off japes like getting Zinedine Zidane to take a penalty and have Yohji Yamamoto try to save it.  Don't ask me why that moment in the S/S 10 show got my heart thumping when I don't actually give too much of a damn over footie.

The keepy uppy game with Zidane continues for the A/W 10-11 campaign which once again ticks both surprising and unsurprising boxes.  It's a startlingly bleak campaign, focusing not on clothes but on a mood that consistently pervades parts of my autumn/winter periods – walks on grey sludgy beaches wrapped up in kagouls, curling up in huge knits, pulling collars up and wrapping scarves around your face so that you end up getting wooly hairs in your mouth – all of that compacted into an image that is surprisingly and beautifully stark for Y-3.  It evokes other more obvious image/styling tracts too – Layers and Swathes compares the images to some by photographer Martin Brading.  Then of course, it all becomes clear and unsurprising when you find out it's been shot by Alastair McLellan and styled by Nicola Formichetti as well as Yamamoto's own input: "Recently the trend has been for tighter and shorter and sexier clothes, I wanted to wrap the body again."

However, meandering moody imagery aside, where does that leave the clothes.  How for instance, do these disinctly colourful, supremely shiny heel/wedge/trainer hybrids, the ones that immediately caught my eye in the show because laser lights were dancing across the catwalk, fit into the understated mood of the campaign imagery.  First off, I'm glad the shoes went into production because apparently a chunk of the stuff that goes out in the Y-3 show don't actually make it into stores and for a shoe that has a whole lot going on with purple, fluro pink/orange, silver and black mesh panels along with a dainty heel to, escape the chopping block is definitely good for peeps like me who perennially crave elements of sportswear in the wardrobe without ever crossing over to doing the whole shebang.  But back to the conundrum of mixing rave-tech feet with slouchy layers that make you think the world might be a better place if you cover yourself up a little bit more. 

Having only got these 'Torsion Heels' shoes recently, this is probably the baby step in reconciling the two… more grey days to come of course… distinctly UN-sporty layers with shoes that actually can pound the pavement with runs for the bus (good for catching the 43 bus driver's eye…), augmented by a few accessories that took a wee bit of inspiration from the superhero theme that also pervaded the Y-3 A/W 10-11 show…

Heroic Accessories including…

These Hayley Lai origami bracelets mysteriously turned up on my stand at Graduate Fashion Week and I never got to meet Hayley Lai, the graduate from Westminster who made them.  I thought I had lost them but somehow they resurfaced reminding me that I needed to look up Lai's work. Spirograph-esque detailing was quite popular in amongst the knitwear designers at GFW but Hayley amps it up a notch with some sculptural elements.  I also get to use the word 'tessellated' today with regards to Lai's collection…

Cher de La Cruz was also very kind to send me her glasses, which I wore a while back in a Time Out feature.  I think they're still selling in Machine-A – a new collection of glasses is on its way me thinks which I'm sure will blow my little brain out with their sunny madness…

More from Hayley Lai…

(With vintage plaid wool jacket, vintage lace dress from The Urban Collection, Topshop Boutique grey dress, Cher de la Cruz sunglasses, Haley Lai bracelets…)