Pringle of Scotland Spring Summer 2012

Model Abbey Lee Kershaw leads the models at Pringle SS'12

The undoubted kings of cashmere and knit, Pringle of Scotland, unveiled a contemporary collection for Spring Summer using graphic archive and vintage prints.

The two hundred year-old brand has recently welcomed a new head designer, Alistair Carr, who ventured back into the label’s history to look forward for SS’12.

Carr joined in March after a stint at Balenciaga and you can see utterances of his previous work for the Spanish brand in his Pringle collection. The beautiful textured Sixties knit lace dresses had sleek black leather sleeves which created the perfect juxtaposition of tough and feminine. Balenciaga for me – is all about softness with edge.

The look

Alistair Carr’s statement of intent began with his use of models, the ethereal Abbey Lee Kershaw opened up the show. She was wearing a luxe knit of which the background colour was grey, to breathe life into this classic piece the designer brightened it up with multicoloured geometric squares around the neckline.

Links and chains were the print du jour, seen on tops, dresses and granddad cardigans; and in an array of colours from black, bronze and a brilliant turquoise.

The pièce de résistance had to be the nonchalantly flirty, split back dresses and tops. Little buttons were done up at the nape of the neck, then the material curved down models backs revealing a flash of flesh. This look is guaranteed to bring us all out of hibernation next spring. I think we’ll see it cropping up on celebs (Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss and Kate Winslet) and on the High Street – our backs have never looked so good.

The people

If you can name them, they were there. Editors Anna Dello Russo in a super sexy green sequin mini, Eilidh MacAskill (editor of Instyle), Jo Elvin (Glamour ed), Trish Haplin (Marie Claire) were all cosying up. As for the celebs, Pringle ad-favourite Tilda Swinton was front row in a beautiful argyle jumper with skinny trousers and sky-high stilettos; as was Harry Potter star Bonnie Wright and actress Rosario Dawson in one of the amazing knit-lace and leather Pringle creations.

The item

The most lust-worthy item at the show for me had to be the eye-wear. These specs were a mixture of John Lennon-esque frames and swimming goggles – all in a bright and spring-like array of colours.

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Inside InStyle – From Retouching to Wrapping Christmas Presents

InStyle HQ - Students meet the team

 

From one of the most stylish magazines whose production no doubt comes with a lot of pressure Emily Dean, deputy editor of InStyle magazine tells all.

Far from the sartorial Anna Wintour of the British fashion scene she is – Emily Dean. Personable, down-to-earth and definitely in style.

Midway through our talk the equally amiable photographic director Wendy Hinton and senior fashion editor Natalie Hartley pop in to chat.

Multi-Media Journalism and the Future of InStyle

Emily Dean is aware of the importance of the internet for print publications and says they need to do more.

‘We have to accept that the times are changing and we have to move with that in terms of the internet and our website.’

She continued to say that editors must accept and usher in the new generation of young journalists.

The focus of magazines is now very much on multimedia platforms and the fresh ideas that will continue to involve readers in magazines.

Posting behind-the-scenes footage from shoots on the website, is fast becoming routine for InStyle.

 

 

Blogging

Natalie Hartley, senior fashion editor at the magazine writes a popular blog for the magazine and she is- as Emily Dean notes- ‘very cool’.

Dressed in a black long sleeved t-shirt and a beautiful muted green maxi skirt she proceeded to talk us through the art of blogging.

Fashion writers and the magazines they write for are generally expected to blog she says, opening up their fashionable lives to the public.

Wendy Hinton added the importance of ‘sharing the love’, using online links when you blog to direct traffic your way.

For affordable fashion and style inspiration check out Natalie’s blogspot at Natalie Hartley Wears.

 

Retouching Celebrities

The controversial issue of retouching also came up in the meeting.

The art of editing photographs to create sleeker, smoother images is used in the industry and in the past has created some unrest.

A few bright sparks might remember the GQ shoot of Kate Winslet.

Winslet was apparently appalled in 2003 to see stick-thin legs attached to her body on her GQ cover. Hello magazine reported her response;

‘The retouching is excessive. I do not look like that and more importantly I don’t desire to look like that’.

 

Where is the Line?

Wendy Hinton told us that retouching is used at InStyle, but only minor changes are implemented.

She revealed that a few of the classic ‘English rose’ celebrities coming in for shoots are often covered in tattoos.

The function of retouching according to Wendy is to create a smoother image without loosing a sense of who the person in the picture is.

Natalie Hartley and Emily Dean

The path for an aspiring fashion journalist has never been easy, it was nice to hear a deputy editor admit this.

The best anecdote was offered by Emily Dean herself who once had to wrap a previous editors Christmas presents to get ahead of her competitors.

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