AW11 First Look

So we have finally put the Sara Berman AW11 collection online. I wanted to quickly blog about it because this collection is one that we are particularly proud of as it is uncompromisingly Sara Berman. 

Amiee and I were in Paris last September and it was at this time that we felt the vibe for AW11 and decided to go for it. So we equipped ourselves with a good bottle of red, a packet of cigarettes, some Earl Grey tea and holed up in our little Marais apartment for 2 days and got creative. 

At that time the grip of the recession had very much dominated the fashion world for a couple of years and we had had enough of the austerity. For AW11 we wanted to go a little bit wild, be a little bit selfish and design a collection that was not about anything other than pleasing ourselves and going to the roots of Sara Berman. We have used our favorite winter palette of jeweled colors and rich hues. We have been feminine and retrospective with our dresses and prints, playful with our big collars and of course there is plenty of our beloved Harris tweed. 

As you know, Sara Berman has always favoured a retro vibe and this is very obvious in this collection which takes much inspiration from the 1940’s. However the last few years have seen us develop a love affair with leather which comes through strongly in this collection. These 2 factors have combined to give a modish vibe. 

We have taken much of our British heritage –from the Queen to cult movements such as Mods and Rockers to offer you a collection which is as feminine as it is strong with a healthy dose of Sara Berman’s trademark English eccentricity.

I hope you like it. You can see more of the Sara Berman AW11 Look Book here and shop the collection at www.saraberman.com.

A Catch-up!

Apologies. It has been too long... But it is only now that I am lying on a beach and sufficiently recovered that I feel the urge to put finger to blackberry and fill you in on the past month. It has been a bit nuts to say the least. We started with Handsome’s 40th birthday party which he shared with his twin bro. We decided to recapture their youth and throw an old skool house party in their family home in Holland Park. Dan Williams DJ'd and frankly brought the house down with his 80's mixes and 70's funk and at some point in the early hours the council took it upon themselves to pay us a visit... Nothing changes! Everyone was on great form with some rocking outfits and dancing into the wee hours. Mum is now best buddies with Jade Jagger and Amiee and I left for Paris with no voices and major hangovers!

The Paris show at RMO showroom was 2 weeks of full on fashwani. I am pretty fluent now. I realised that I had graduated to a whole new level when I heard myself telling my friend Olivia that I was 'really driven by trousers right now'. I kid you not- shoot me now...

The Showroom in Paris 

Parisian Fashion Finale

My oh my how time flies when you are having fun! I can’t believe how the past 3 weeks have slipped by and at the same time it feels as though we are somehow at the end of the most epic selling season ever! It started with London, then to NYC and now finally we are finishing in Paris. And it has been great. These last 2 weeks we have been ensconced in our Paris showroom watching the great and good of the fashion world ebb and flow through the doors. Honestly the best people watching ever. You know it is a good crowd when the man in the suit is the one that stands out like a sore thumb. I mean honestly - a suit on planet fashion! The only conclusion I can come to is that the guy must have thought he was being ironic. 

Our collection set out in the showroom

Amiee and me amongst the rails

May in our Dan Baldwin Tux Dress

Back of the dress!

The great thing about being in the showroom is the mix of people. You get your full on fashionistas who as one buyer said are ‘living the trend’ (this particular one was from a Japanese store whose seasonal trend was gothic chic and entailed her wondering around in a silk dressing gown, loads of black eyeliner and a monobrow!) to the serious buyers with the weight of their budget on their shoulders (and the weight of their fabulous bags on their arms) to the uber trendy boutique owners wondering around in Rick Owens AW 2012 collection.  

Katie and Amiee

Me and Harris Elliot

However my personal favourite fashion moment was when a buyer from Singapore came through. Big hair, big shoes, big bag, huge, huge fur coat. So I asked her what it was-you know rabbit, fox, beaver... Givenchy she deadpanned. There was a moment of disconnect and then I got the giggles and she looked at me like I was literally about to be her next victim! Obviously Cruella didn’t buy from us this season.

Katie and Amiee working hard

Models in the showroom

The other great thing about the showroom is the action. There are always great appointments and it is like having a constant catwalk show going on as the models wonder round in Markus Lupfer, Jonathan Saunders and Emma Cook. I can tell you now that Emma Cook’s new AW10 collection is fab and the Clements Ribeiro cashmere is literally to die for. I am also coveting a laptop bag from H by Harris (purple), the whole Dominic Jones collection (bugs and slugs) and a pair of Prism glasses. There is also a lovely leopard print (you know our love for the leopard) bag by Anya Hindmarch which I am grappling with my conscience over...Working in fashion is very, very expensive.

Gret and Jemima - the uber fabulous sales team at Anya Hindmarch

Lovely model Catherine

Model Magic