PHOTO BY FARAN KRENTCIL
FIRST LOOK: MEADHAM KIRCHOFF
If Courtney Love went to India and slept on glitter in a caravan...
(SEE THE WHOLE SHOW IN OUR PHOTO GALLERY)
At London Fashion Week, there are luxe labels like Burberry, there are up-and-coming hot tickets like Christopher Kane and Jonathan Saunders, and then there are the new kids. This year, those "kids" are Meadham Kirchoff, a design duo whose bold use of texture and color had stylist (and street style icon) Kate Lanphear proclaim, "This is the only show I'm dying to see."
We were killing for a runway view, too, so we got there three hours early and hid out backstage. Here's what happened.
Three Hours Before Show:
The Bumble & bumble hair team arrives with Grooming Creme, Thickening Spray, and big squares of cardboard. "We wrap the girls' hair around the cardboard, then flat iron it to make it look thick and textured, like yours," says the stylist. Cool, except my hair is in a ratty bun, code for "I just woke up and I have bed head." But the models pull it off.
Two Hours Before Show:
M.A.C makeup artists begin slathering the girls' hands and feet in fuscia confetti. "It's meant to be instead of sand," explains the makeup artist, "Like they've been sleeping in a glitter caravan."
One Hour Before Show:
"I'm about to put on this giant cape," says model Ali Carr, whom you might recognize as Look #54 from Marc Jacobs. "They told me it's a thousand pounds. I think they mean it costs a thousand pounds, not that it weighs a ton. At least, I hope that's what they mean..."
30 Minutes Before Show:
The girls don massive pink tiaras, because the designers were inspired by Courtney Love. We approve.
15 Minutes Before the Show:
Topshop PR Guru Andrew Leahy asks if we've seen Meadham Kirchoff's collection for their store. "It's coming out this Spring," he says, "And it's amazing."
10 Minutes Before the Show:
Hole blasts on the speakers. We majorly approve.
The Show:
Is nuts. Hot pink mantillas. Hand painted biker jackets with rosettes and pink puffy lettering that says "I HATE YOU." Stacks of neon and metal bracelets with black lucite hearts - one of which flies off a model and into the lap of British fashion critic Sarah Mower. Long, sheer skirts worn with Doc Martens. Ali opens and closes the show in the mysterious black cape, which must cost a fortune because it looks eerily weightless on the runway (which is actually just a giant rolled carpet).
After the Show:
The British Film and TV Awards are happening right outside the runway venue. Editors and stylists spill into the streets... and into a bizarre red-carpet view of Kristen Stewart, who wears Chanel Haute Couture. Because this whole thing couldn't be any more surreal.
--FARAN KRENTCIL
At London Fashion Week, there are luxe labels like Burberry, there are up-and-coming hot tickets like Christopher Kane and Jonathan Saunders, and then there are the new kids. This year, those "kids" are Meadham Kirchoff, a design duo whose bold use of texture and color had stylist (and street style icon) Kate Lanphear proclaim, "This is the only show I'm dying to see."
We were killing for a runway view, too, so we got there three hours early and hid out backstage. Here's what happened.
Three Hours Before Show:
The Bumble & bumble hair team arrives with Grooming Creme, Thickening Spray, and big squares of cardboard. "We wrap the girls' hair around the cardboard, then flat iron it to make it look thick and textured, like yours," says the stylist. Cool, except my hair is in a ratty bun, code for "I just woke up and I have bed head." But the models pull it off.
Two Hours Before Show:
M.A.C makeup artists begin slathering the girls' hands and feet in fuscia confetti. "It's meant to be instead of sand," explains the makeup artist, "Like they've been sleeping in a glitter caravan."
One Hour Before Show:
"I'm about to put on this giant cape," says model Ali Carr, whom you might recognize as Look #54 from Marc Jacobs. "They told me it's a thousand pounds. I think they mean it costs a thousand pounds, not that it weighs a ton. At least, I hope that's what they mean..."
30 Minutes Before Show:
The girls don massive pink tiaras, because the designers were inspired by Courtney Love. We approve.
15 Minutes Before the Show:
Topshop PR Guru Andrew Leahy asks if we've seen Meadham Kirchoff's collection for their store. "It's coming out this Spring," he says, "And it's amazing."
10 Minutes Before the Show:
Hole blasts on the speakers. We majorly approve.
The Show:
Is nuts. Hot pink mantillas. Hand painted biker jackets with rosettes and pink puffy lettering that says "I HATE YOU." Stacks of neon and metal bracelets with black lucite hearts - one of which flies off a model and into the lap of British fashion critic Sarah Mower. Long, sheer skirts worn with Doc Martens. Ali opens and closes the show in the mysterious black cape, which must cost a fortune because it looks eerily weightless on the runway (which is actually just a giant rolled carpet).
After the Show:
The British Film and TV Awards are happening right outside the runway venue. Editors and stylists spill into the streets... and into a bizarre red-carpet view of Kristen Stewart, who wears Chanel Haute Couture. Because this whole thing couldn't be any more surreal.
--FARAN KRENTCIL
This story was published on February 22, 2010.
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