Rose Byrne and new her new bob attend the Pringle of Scotland LFW show

She wowed us with her chic new bob and Elie Saab jumpsuit at the recent SAG Awards. Now Rose Byrne has impressed us again with an appearance at the Pringle of Scotland AW12 show yesterday in which she wore an asymmetrical red dress featuring a splodgy print.
And what an effort she made too! The Aussie actress sat front row at the London Fashion Week show just hours before flying back to New York to finish filming on season five of her TV series, Damages. Since her brilliant performance as snooty Helen in the hilarious Bridesmaids, Rose has been roaming all over the world for different film projects.

Speaking to WWD, she told of her ability to acclimatise to the cold temperatures on both sides of the Atlantic. "I'm not really a sun and sea person - I don't need to lay outside and bake," she admitted whilst playing down speculation as to why her complexion is so flawless.
"No, actually, I think that's the lighting in here," she said. Hmm... me thinks not.

Spotted! Kate Bosworth and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley at Burberry Prorsum

Two of our very favourite gals were spotted together at the Burberry Prorsum AW12 show yesterday during London Fashion Week. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Kate Bosworth seemed very chummy while being snapped by photographers on the front row at the show. Both were dressed in knitted jumpers, with Rosie pulling on a pair of brown velvet trousers and a pair of black suede heels.
Kate meanwhile was gushing over the owl motif sweater given to her by Christopher Bailey: "I was lucky to get this little owl to wear today. Christopher decided it would be perfect for me, and I love the way it peeks out. It's cheeky." She teamed it with a tweed skirt
with black velvet bow belt and a pair of tan suede lace up shoe boots.
The girls were surrounded by a cavalcade of stars at the show including Alexa Chung, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Clémence Poésy, Holly Valance and Eddie Redmayne, who is also the face of Burberry.

Margaret Howell's military touches at London Fashion Week AW 2012

Margaret Howell's show is always a joy to attend, away from the hubbub of Somerset House at her Wigmore Street store. The 9am start weeds out any blaggers or showponies and everyone is a little more relaxed and rough around the edges. Mussed up hair, topknots and flats were the order of the day as the fash-pack piled in to catch the show.
Howell doesn't pull out any gimmicks or surprises, but instead refines and redefines her classic English aesthetic with every season and it obviously works. A front row featuring Hilary Alexander, Grazia's Paula Reed, Imogen Fox from the Guardian and Gentlewoman's Penny Martin confirm Howell as a big-hitter. Indeed now that nearly every brand is wearing their 'heritage' status on their sleeve this is one designers who is the real deal.


The collection kicked off with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes 'Home' remixed as jaunty a whistling march, conjuring up soldiers, little boys off to boarding school and wartime evacuees, perfect for the military-inpsired looks that streamed onto the catwalk.
Vintage-style boiled wool belted trenches were topped off with Tam o' Shanters, their pompoms bobbing to the music.
The palette was much more subdued than in previous shows, fitting the military theme. On the whole it was a sea of khaki, navy, charcoal and black with flashes of bright white, royal blue and forest green punctutating the neutral tones. A few Fairisle knits provided pattern and silky fabrics added textural interest.

The Margaret Howell girl this season feels very outdoorsy; carefree side ponytails and fresh-faced makeup complemented the simple shapes and pared-down colours.
More military inspiration came in the form of cute little navy dresses with a scholarly feel. Pleated checked skirts and neat fitted jumpers threw a bit of a Balmoral vibe into the mix, all that was missing was a corgi and a headscarf to complete the Royal overtones.

The outerwear was a real highlight, Howell's duffel coats, sheepskin jackets, leather bombers and blazers are all highly covetable pieces that can easily be translated into any wardrobe. Celeb Margaret Howell fan Alexa Chung was absent this season, but the jackets were pure Alexa-at-Glasto.
Fashion has had a bit of a love affair with a very French, classic design aesthetic of late, but Howell's show proves that us Brits have as much chic in our DNA as our Gallic neighbours.

Mary Katrantzou's new silhouette for AW12 at London Fashion Week

This morning saw exciting new print designer (that everyone is talking about) Mary Katrantzou show her Autumn Winter 2012 collection at London Fashion Week and exciting it was. Over the past few seasons, the fashion world has really sat up and taken notice of the young new Grecian designer, who has had the backing of NEWGEN sponsorship for the last six seasons which appears to have taken her from strength to strength.

After a series of overwhelmingly well received collections, expectations for the Autumn Winter 2012 collection was high as to how Katrantzou would progress, develop and move on her offering into a fresh new season. The first few looks that came down the runway had less colour than we're used to seeing from this designer employing a series of pale
golds and pastel monochromes; at first I feared this was Katrantzou's new take on the season. Such fears soon disappeared as subsequent looks in the collection contained just as much vibrancy strength and boldness as we're used to seeing in terms of colour; the cleverly arranged finale looked like a rainbow covering the spectrum of colours.

Where the designer did experiment this season was with shape; renowned for her trademark lampshade skirts and well defined structure, which was still very much present on the top half of looks, the bottom half of dresses and skirts gave way to much more movement than we've seen from this designer before. This created a new sillhouette of flowing chiffons and sheer fabrics. Prints remained as exciting, innovative, creative and graphic as ever. Katrantzou quoted "Still life, crayon box and Victoriana" as areas for this season's inspiration, we saw this in the more novel prints with pencils and typewriters.
After a collection like that and with collaborations with Longchamp and Topshop both set to launch this February, we suspect Katrantzou will continue to be a household name with the fashion crowd.

David Koma opens his eyelets at London Fashion Week AW 2012

If there's one thing you won't be seeing in Autumn / Winter 2012 from David Koma, it's cleavage. With the exception of a couple of round-neck jackets, his entire collection featured high necks and stand-up collars, not unlike the ones worn by a certain Mr Lagerfeld.

Aside from the collar, an oversized oval-shaped metal eyelet was the key to this collection, and it appeared not only on coats and dresses to create punch-out holes (often with vibrant colours poking
through), but also in the models hair, holding ponytails in place. The shape was also recreated in prints and textures, and the show closed with a white dress covered in the eyelet motif in glittering pale aqua and silver.

We saw lots of peplums, many of which were attached almost like an afterthought in shimmery striped fabrics on plain coloured structured dresses, protruding from those eyelet details. In places, the dresses had an unfinished feel - a lot of the fabric frills and volume detail was only on the front, while the backs were simple, fitted sheaths - a little like they're designed to only be seen from the front.

Elswhere there was a touch of fur - most dramatic in a thick belted coat - and sheer panelling with curvy piping, a look we've seen at a lot of London Fashion Week shows this season, and an easy way of making an otherwise summery dress a little more covered-up for Winter.

Overall, this was an incredibly cohesive collection with a clear theme running through and some beautiful dresses in incredible shapes. But on occasions, it missed some of the 'wow' factor of Koma's previous work, and I was crying out for a really bold shape or decoration away from that eyelet.

My first London Fashion Week - Amy's CQ adventure...

With our brilliant Editorial Director Jess busy cycling across Kenya, team CQ needed some extra help during London Fashion Week this year. So we called upon the fabulous Amy Hill to help us out. Now she's had time to sleep and digest, here's what she thought of her first LFW experience...
When Catwalk Queen invited me to cover London Fashion Week with them, I think anyone within a 10 mile radius heard me squeal with excitement. A chance to work alongside professional writers and photographers, to interview designers backstage, and watch next season's collections come to life in front of me? How could I say no! I wasn't about to let a broken big toe break my spirit, even though it meant I couldn't wear any particularly fashionable footwear...


In favour of extra time in bed, I picked out suitable outfits a few days before, which above anything else, stopped me from having an emotional "oh-my-god-everything-remotely-fashionable-I-own-is-in-the-wash" breakdown. Knowing that days were going to be long and chaotic, I always made time for breakfast; although I was running on so much adrenaline on the first day that it wasn't until I got home in the evening that I realised I hadn't eaten anything at all!
Each day was completely different - sometimes I was up at 6am, others I worked until 1am, furiously typing and attempting to string together coherent sentences before falling asleep at my computer. The week began at Somerset House where I met Editor in Chief, Gemma Cartwright and our videographer, Liam Southall. After quickly obtaining our press passes and exploring the press lounge, I was ready to eat, sleep and breathe fashion.
I quickly discovered your phone becomes your lifeline and your enemy rolled into one! It's your alarm, your touch stone, your backup camera and your Dictaphone, with emails flying backwards and forwards, it would be in my hand before I'd stepped out of bed in the morning.

The shows buzz with electricity and creativity, both on the catwalk and backstage. No matter how aware you are of how much time and effort goes into a show, it's still a shock to see one model sat in a chair with four people backcombing and styling her hair at once, two people applying all new make-up, and someone on their knees taking off and re-applying nail varnish. At the shows I had to learn fast how to juggle my phone, camera and notebook at the same time. Reviewing from the office was equally feverish, hunting for livestreams for any shows we couldn't attend, using Twitter like an informal press release to assess the tone and inspiration behind a collection from blurred photos and 140 characters, and writing up reputable reports before anyone else.
Highlights of the week include swooning over the Burberry show with Gemma, celebrity spotting at PPQ, people watching in general, going backstage at Jean Pierre Braganza with Beauty Editor Steph Powell, and enjoying DAKS with Shopping Editor Kate Williams.
It's been physically and mentally exhausting in the best possible way, and I feel so privileged to have worked alongside some extremely inspirational people over the last few days. After all of the sweat, blood and tears that is London Fashion Week, in the end the reward comes from getting to work with a fantastic team who support and encourage you.

Paris Fashion Week Autumn / Winter 2012-13 season is here!

Oh the excitement of it all! I am delighted not simply because Paris Fashion Week (the pinnacle of all fashion weeks) has started, but because very soon fashion bloggers, editors and buyers everywhere put finally be able to put their feet up and enjoy a nice cup of tea after another very jam-packed Fashion Month. And that's always worth being happy for!
On that note we say bonjour to PFW for another season which officially kicked off yesterday. With so many big fashion stories floating around at the moment, e.g. Raf Simons
leaving Jil Sander, Jil Sander returning to Jil Sander, Stefano Pilati departing YSL and plenty of other rumours as to who will replace him, the scene has been set for one very big week of delectable fashion morsels.
On the schedule front we are looking at shows today from Dries Van Noten and our boy Gareth Pugh followed by collections tomorrow courtesy of Balenciaga, Balmain and Nina Ricci. Friday sees shows from Isabel Marant, Lanvin, and Christian Dior (who will be named the new creative director at Dior? The bets are still on!)
This brings us to a weekend of goodies from the likes of Viktor & Rolf, Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano and Givenchy. The last three days should also not be missed with shows from Stella McCartney, Chanel, Valentino, Giambattista Valli, Chloe, YSL, Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu all helping to round out PFW.

As for us, well we'll once again be bringing you round-the-clock coverage from the catwalks to the front rows to backstage and beyond. Make sure to check back regularly for all of our show reports and more candid musings from Gemma, Andrea and myself on Twitter via @catwalkqueen
Hold onto your peplums folks because this one is going to be a epic!

Front row from Milan Fashion Week A/W 2012

My first London Fashion Week - Amy's CQ adventure...

With our brilliant Editorial Director Jess busy cycling across Kenya, team CQ needed some extra help during London Fashion Week this year. So we called upon the fabulous Amy Hill to help us out. Now she's had time to sleep and digest, here's what she thought of her first LFW experience...
When Catwalk Queen invited me to cover London Fashion Week with them, I think anyone within a 10 mile radius heard me squeal with excitement. A chance to work alongside professional writers and photographers, to interview designers backstage, and watch next season's collections come to life in front of me? How could I say no! I wasn't about to let a broken big toe break my spirit, even though it meant I couldn't wear any particularly fashionable footwear...


In favour of extra time in bed, I picked out suitable outfits a few days before, which above anything else, stopped me from having an emotional "oh-my-god-everything-remotely-fashionable-I-own-is-in-the-wash" breakdown. Knowing that days were going to be long and chaotic, I always made time for breakfast; although I was running on so much adrenaline on the first day that it wasn't until I got home in the evening that I realised I hadn't eaten anything at all!
Each day was completely different - sometimes I was up at 6am, others I worked until 1am, furiously typing and attempting to string together coherent sentences before falling asleep at my computer. The week began at Somerset House where I met Editor in Chief, Gemma Cartwright and our videographer, Liam Southall. After quickly obtaining our press passes and exploring the press lounge, I was ready to eat, sleep and breathe fashion.
I quickly discovered your phone becomes your lifeline and your enemy rolled into one! It's your alarm, your touch stone, your backup camera and your Dictaphone, with emails flying backwards and forwards, it would be in my hand before I'd stepped out of bed in the morning.

The shows buzz with electricity and creativity, both on the catwalk and backstage. No matter how aware you are of how much time and effort goes into a show, it's still a shock to see one model sat in a chair with four people backcombing and styling her hair at once, two people applying all new make-up, and someone on their knees taking off and re-applying nail varnish. At the shows I had to learn fast how to juggle my phone, camera and notebook at the same time. Reviewing from the office was equally feverish, hunting for livestreams for any shows we couldn't attend, using Twitter like an informal press release to assess the tone and inspiration behind a collection from blurred photos and 140 characters, and writing up reputable reports before anyone else.
Highlights of the week include swooning over the Burberry show with Gemma, celebrity spotting at PPQ, people watching in general, going backstage at Jean Pierre Braganza with Beauty Editor Steph Powell, and enjoying DAKS with Shopping Editor Kate Williams.
It's been physically and mentally exhausting in the best possible way, and I feel so privileged to have worked alongside some extremely inspirational people over the last few days. After all of the sweat, blood and tears that is London Fashion Week, in the end the reward comes from getting to work with a fantastic team who support and encourage you.

Naomi Campbell leads the charge at the Roberto Cavalli A/W 2012 show

It has been a big couple of days for Roberto Cavalli. Not only did he dress a slew of celebrities including Alessandra Ambrosio, Cindy Crawford, and Bar Refaeli for Sunday night's Oscars events, he also just unleashed his Autumn 2012-13 collection onto the catwalk at Milan Fashion Week.
And wasn't it a show to be talked about!


The Italian designer closed his show with bang by inviting Naomi Campbell to make her comeback appearance during the finale. Although according to some, the supermodel's presence made little impact on a show with WWD referring to Campbell's inclusion as "the caboose on a train with no steam." Ouch!

What it seems WWD was talking about were the bright "bubble gum" youthful dresses which seems to take over Cavalli's vampy collection. Of course we saw many of his usual glamorous staples - fur, leather, animal skins, and feathers back again, but this time he seemed to want to mix these with more girlie baby doll dresses in bright colours such as fuchsia and teal. Along with the minidresses there were an equal amount of long hemlines with billowing skirts dropping to the floor in metallic sequins and animal prints. For evening, he unveiled tiered maxi gowns which exuded a gypsy, Stevie Nicks type of quality. Mystery may be what Cavalli intended for this collection, but for some they were simply left mystified.

Gareth Pugh's dark knights roam Paris Fashion Week A/W 2012

It was another runway show which greeted buyers and editors at the presentation of Gareth Pugh's Autumn/Winter 2012-13 collection. The British designer opted for the runway instead of his usual video installations, but they were no less dark and moody.
Set in a disused garage in Rue de Turenne, Pugh's models traipsed along as black leaves fell from the ceiling - very Autumn-like indeed. In typical Pugh architectural styles, he sent his warriors out onto the stage in over-the-knee boots, sharp shoulders, high leather cowl necks, folded tunics and giant coats. Based on a palette of mostly black and grey. Incorporating fur and fringing, the collection was set on a shape of cinched in waists, full skirt coats, as well as zip-up capes.

For the celebs in the front row which included Daphne Guinness and Jefferson Hack, the sculptured nature of this collection didn't fail in delivering the drama. Pugh's tendency to add a strong, bold and brooding feel is one that has become a unmistakable part of his design mantra. For someone like Rooney Mara in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, almost every piece could have made it into her wardrobe. Wouldn't that have been brilliant?