Third gender dressing

These two pieces from the graduate (from London College of Fashion) collection of Alexis Housden do two things. First, they illustrate how the runway can act as a bad change room for even the most beautiful of pieces, as I don't think these photographed well at all in the catwalk show, yet incredibly well in the editorial shots. Second, they provide a couple costume options for Sulpicia, as the mixture of tailored masculine shapes with feminine detailed fabrics and neutral colours create an androgynous aesthetic that is, as Alexis says, fashion for a 'third gender'. I.e. a portrait of a poet as a young (wo)(man). Perfect.

(Runway photos via UK Vogue, others via here)

Seabrook and Bent

While looking for photos of my friend's nephew's graduate collection from Monday's London College of Fashion BA catwalk show, I fell for a graduate collection which is the collaboration of two other students, namely Shanna Bent and Lucy Seabrook. Though each of them separately are nothing new, the twisted detailing, the layered suit jackets, the simple shapes, the laid back palette, and, yes, even the platform flip-flops, just all work together rather effortlessly. As for the collection being a collaboration, from what I can tell (and forgive me/correct me if I'm wrong), the design, development, and twisted pieces are Shanna's work, and the colour palette, tailoring and tailored pieces are Lucy's work. Being a bit anal myself and considering group academic projects to be the worst invention ever, I wonder how it would work to collaborate with someone on something so important as a final project. But collaborating with many others is how it typically works in the fashion world, so Shanna and Lucy have already got one foot solidly in the real world. And they have a great collection to prove it.

(Photos via UK Vogue)