Wetsuit in the city

Some trends are interesting, exciting even, on the catwalk, but in the harsh reality of the high street strip lights makes me glad that I'm not a slave to fashion.

Rosa Cha, Sao Paulo, SS11

When trend-forecasters Mudpie proclaimed that neoprene, the fabric used for wetsuits, would be turning up on the high street in spring/summer 2012, I just couldn't imagine it.

“‘Water Footprint’ examines the delicate ecosystems beneath the ocean, the value of hydro-energy and the benefits of a coastal existence,” they wrote of the emerging trend earlier this year. “Neoprene becomes a fashion fabric for skirts, shorts, ballet pumps and beach bags for a casual “surfer chic” look.

“Body-con jerseys featuring hyper-ethnic prints provide a refined wetsuit identity , while body-contouring seams display a more obvious reflection of the theme.”


Wetsuits in the city? Ridiculous, I thought, absolutely ree-dic. But, as usual, they were right - in fact the coastal invasion has already started. See exhibits A and B: Zara, Oxford Street.


Click here to see where the trend has come from.

Catwalk image courtesy of MPDClick.com

London Road Co-op - Before I Sleep and fashion installation

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from hat designer Joanna Zara, telling me to get myself down to the old London Road Co-op building. There, apparently, I would find the fashion showcased in the windows to be part of the set for a site-responsive theatre production. Odd.

As it's somewhat out of the way, and the concept confused my little brain, I didn't give it much more thought, until I was invited to a free fish supper at Bardsleys (post now up) and found myself peering in the windows at the aesthetic delights on display.


Of the fashions on offer, I was particularly impressed with Brighton-based designer Lucy Faulke's cosy knits, with bright and intricate tribal-detailing, from her BA collection - for which she received a First in Fashion Textiles with Business Studies from Brighton Uni. Faulke, who has already worked for John Rocha, is currently studying at the Royal College of Art for an MA in Knitted Textiles and is no doubt destined for great things.


While I was snapping a way, a man approached me and began enthusing about 'Before I Sleep', the Brighton Festival production based in the building that has enjoyed such success that it has been extended until 4 July.


The production, so the Brighton Festival website says, sees "the characters in Chekhov's greatest plays inhabit a world on the verge of collapse. They look out to the future and wonder what life will be like in years to come, unaware that, for them, it is about to change dramatically and irreversibly".

"The starting point is Firs. Left alone at the end of The Cherry Orchard, the elderly manservant unwittingly traverses an entire century on an odyssey to retrieve his past. As we journey alongside him, we experience a richly inventive and ever-changing landscape of performance, film and installation created and inhabited by performers, architects, model makers and art designers."


Indeed, while I was there, a man, who I assume was Firs, could be seen washing his face and wandering around the mannequins as if they were trees in a wood. It was all very intriguing and while I was talking to the unofficial promoter man, a woman walking past also chimed in that "it's great" and that I "really ought to see it".

Unfortunately, my week is ram-packed so I will be unable to, but if you can, do check it out. See Editor Bella Todd's review in the Latest 7 if you need further persuasion/explanation. And if you're down that way, take a minute to admire the fashion in the windows, the below maxi dress by Dina Malkova, is particualrly stunning.