Last night over 2000 people gathered to celebrate the successes of the fashion industry in 2014, with guests such as Samantha Cameron, Anna Wintour OBE, Valentino Garavani, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Lewis Hamilton, Lana del Rey and Courtney Love.

Many of Twin‘s favourite designers and brands walked away with awards, including Marques’Almeida who were recognised as Emerging Womenswear Designer of The Year. Other winners on the night were Prism – Emerging Accessory Designer, Nicolas Ghesquière – International Designer, Simone Rocha – New Establishment, Victoria Beckham – Brand and Cara Delevingne – Model of the Year, unsurprisingly.

For the full list of winners head to britishfashionawards.com

Tags: 2014, British Fashion Awards, Cara Delevingne, Marques Almeida, Prism, simone rocha, Victoria Beckham

For our final London Fashion Week Backstage Access installment , Twin decided to venture to Simone Rocha’s eagerly anticipated A/W 13 showing,  a nostalgic yet modern collection in shades of bubblegum pink, cream and lemon as well as leopard prints, accompanied by those infamous brogues. Originally inspired by the designer’s Irish and Chinese grandmothers, the result was anything but old fashioned.

Photography by Piczo

Tags: simone rocha

With a week’s worth of womenswear and menswear shows kicking off today, a new crop of fresh design talents will be making their London Fashion Week mark.

For this season, expect to see the collections of David Koma, Holly Fulton, J.JS Lee, J.W. Anderson, Michael van der Ham and Simone Rocha on the runway, as well as Christopher Raeburn, Thomas Tait, Nasir Mazhar, Sister by Sibling, Huishan Zhang, James Long, Lucas Nascimento, Tim Soar and Palmer//Harding presenting their unique designs in installations and exhibitions.

Helping them flourish in the fashion capital is the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN initiative, founded in 1993 and sponsored by Topshop. The scheme offers young creatives a platform to showcase their designs at Somerset House, as well as offering financial and business support.

With past recipients including Alexander McQueen, Matthew Williamson, Christopher Kane, Mary Katrantzou and Meadham Kirchhoff, the future is looking more than bright for this next generation of fashion talent. After all, there’s nothing like a new kid on the block to shake things up.

britishfashioncouncil.co.uk

Tags: Alexander Mcqueen, British Fashion Council, Christopher Kane, Christopher Raeburn, David Koma, Holly Fulton, Huishan Zhang, J.JS Lee, J.W. Anderson, James Long, london fashion week, Lucas Nascimento, Mary Katrantzou, Matthew Williamson, Meadham Kirchhoff, Michael van der Ham, Nasir Mazhar, NEWGEN, Palmer//Harding, simone rocha, Sister by Sibling, Thomas Tait, Tim Soar, Topshop

For her debut feature film, Irish director Alexandra McGuinness has created a bacchanal of fashion and fast-living reminiscent of Antonioni’s Blow-Up and Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. Inspired by the story of Odysseus’ sailors losing all desire tfor home after tasting the fruit of the Lotus

plant, Lotus Eaters, follows a clique of privileged sybarites living an increasingly decadent and vacuous London existence.

Among them is Alice, an ex-model and struggling actress who is jaded by her friends hedonistic lifestyle, tired of the unbridled excess and the white-noise of the morning after. Her path negotiates the fracturing relationships of her friends as she struggles to find a life that will make her happy.

Shot in black and white and featuring a host of hot young fashion designers such as Simone Rocha, alongside nascent acting talent like Antonia Campbell-Hughes and singer/songwriter Johnny Flynn, Lotus Eaters is more than just a beautiful film, it’s a paean to contemporary London.

But while the backdrop of local cafés and boutiques immortalises the capital’s vibrance, the overall effect is more fantastic than real. Like Evelyn Waugh’s Bright Young People before them, McGuinness’ lotus eaters belong to a perennial epoch of youth, where despite beauty and riches, all that glitters is not gold.

Lotus Eaters premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
lotuseatersmovie.com

Tags: Alexandra McGuinness, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Blow-up, Evelyn Waugh, Johnny Flynn, La Dolce Vita, Lotus Eaters, simone rocha

The times they are a-changing. The third issue of Twin is all about ambition: We ask Immodesty Blaize, Sloane Crosley, Simon Rich and Kristin Hersh to consider the meaning of female ambition, mega-model Dree Hemingway takes a ride in Simone Rocha’s winter collection, musician Alison Mosshart reveals the secrets of life on the road, set designer and artist Gary Cardsculpts an irresistible gang of bijoux-loving sloths, grande dame of fashion photography June Newton discusses life after Helmut, and Gia Coppola – the granddaughter of Francis Ford and niece of Sofia who’s next in line for Coppola fame – shoots an exclusive photo diary.

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Tags: Alison Mosshart, Ambition, Dree Hemingway, Gary Card, Gia Coppola, June Newton, Kristin Hersh, mmodesty Blaize, Simon Rich, simone rocha, Sloane Crosley