Dans La Vie SS12: Clash Beauty, My Pop Madonna

The Dans La Vie show was the first time I stepped into the Freemasons Hall which was the Vauxhall Fashion Scout location at London Fashion Week, and oh wasn't it gorgeous! The upstairs show space which you can see here was particularly lovely and added historic character to all the shows.










The designer behind Dans La Vie, Rira Sugawara, stands out with her bright and bold collage effect prints which posess a Pop Art quality. The print theme for this SS12 collection began in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit and devastated Japan in March, it then developed with Madonnas defiantly overcoming the situation, serenely offering protection and hope in the chaos. Then modern female music icons came into play as muses.
First stepped out the Camouflage Print garments to Madonna's Like a Prayer. The print has a rather citrus colour theme to it featuring a Madonna figure harshly cut across with stripes and flowers.
Then there were the Red Angels to Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, a more sombre toned fabric with large red flowers and angels. A romantic yet strong print.
The most colourful, and my favourite, section was the Rose Madonnas to Rhianna's Only Girl. It's the happiest print in the collection with pinks in contrast to cheerful blues. Here the angels are more picturesquely sweet amongst roses and hearts and the Madonna occurs again.
Lastly were the more sombre but visually fascinating City Tokyo prints to Lady Gaga's Born This Way. Within the print city skyscrapers loom in contrast to old religious art along with an ornate floral print and green apples, the latter highlighting the slightly sour yellow colour in the print.
The skin of the models was kept quite bare but the eyes were given a flick of eyeliner and pops of blue lipstick stood out with the City Tokyo print. The hair was scraped back in a high bun for an elegant look with a kooky twist. I also loved how the looks were finished with accompanying handbags in the vibrant prints.
I absolutely adored the voluminous skirts with nipped in waists for a 50s feel, but with very modern and unusual fabric choices with a glossy feel to them. The black skirt with layers of tulle underneath had a dramatic prom dress feel to it, and was one of my favourite pieces. Then there were structured cropped tops paired with cute shorts. The prints were absolutely fabulous and the cut of the clothes only enhanced them, with a few sheer warm toned fabrics thown into the mix. I came out of the show a cheerful bunny inspired by this very shiny new take on the 50s housewife look, which is pretty but in a complicated way.

I've decided I'll be posting the full SS12 collections from London Fashion Week on the Intrinsically Florrie Facebook Page. I fear the blog would become far too image heavy if I posted them all, but it's such a shame for them not to be seen and the Facebook photo albums are lovely and neat to do the job.