It’s day one at London Fashion Week and the energy is electric. The fashion posse is decked-out in their most-Instagrammable ensembles and designers are waiting with bated breathe to show off their latest wears. What caught our eye the most today? The extensive array of new and up-and-coming international accessory designers. Like magpies, we scanned the show space for the most exciting, contemporary and charming designers to add to our collections. Below are three designers to get to know, straight from the LFW show space. Now, on to show number five of the day..
Stargazers, €152.65 from Paredeyewear.com
Hailing all the way from sunny Australia, Pared Eyewear is the creation of founding duo Samantha Stevenson and her partner Edward Baker. The brand’s ethos is high-quality accessories at an accessible price point. This is built around “premium materials, smooth shapes and lasting comfort” and we were impressed by the quality of the hand-made glasses. Pared Eye focuses on twelve standard glasses types – far more than most designers – so there is ample selection to choose from if you’re unsure what frame suits you best. It’s handy to note that they also provide prescription lenses too should you want to take them from beach to dancefloor (and funky frames like the stargazers above deserve a place on a Saturday night dancefloor, right?). The brand has an impressive rapport with the world’s biggest personalities including Beyoncé, Brad Pitt, Cara Delevigne and Lupita Nyong’o, to name a few. Their retro-style ads are also a scream…
What about rings for wrists and cuffs for noses? With their portfolio of experimental jewellery, German jewellery designers Räthel & Wolf are revolutionising how jewellery sits and interacts with the human body. Their simplistic, but radical designers are exploring the idea of gender roles through body jewellery, and the result is a contemporary collection that is adaptable, clean and energetic. It’s interesting to note that the brand has refashioned the stereotype of “clip-on” earrings. Do you remember the painful stinging of your ears? Not to mention the blasted things never actually stayed clipped to your ear… While clip-on earrings are not revolutionary, Räthel & Wolf has refined and modernised the concept to be comfortable and discreet. They also look effortless to wear. The brand regularly collaborates with new and established designers – like Paula Knorr and Charlotte McDonald – so both the brand and their products are constantly evolving.
Harvy Santos is a London-based milliner who creates hats and couture headpieces that fuse traditional techniques with new materials, and timeless elegance with 21st-century fun (nothing says fun more than a two-foot bow on your head, right?). Featuring exquisite details and fine lines, his fearless fashion pieces are all unique creations entirely handmade from luxurious materials in his London studio.
Santos is having a great year so far, having appeared in multiple international titles like The Financial Times, Vogue Japan, Vogue Turkey, Vogue Netherlands, Harper’s Bazaar China and Cosmopolitan, and we’ve no doubt that there’s room for him and his dynamic designs here in Ireland.
