London Edge is always guaranteed to be an amazing day, filled to the (rather impressive) rafters of the Business Design Centre, with awesome alternative brands, showcasing their new lines and trading to buyers (it’s not open to the public guys!). 

It’s always abuzz with excitement as the doors open, we all start to mingle amidst those we admire and new brands we’re inspired to follow. The vibe is always super friendly and you meet so many like minded people all striving to offer the industry the best alternative products.

Obviously my favourite when I visit is always Collectif. Their space always stands out and looks great – like an alternative and vintage haven! With a constant stream of lovely buyers, it’s always great to see them doing so well. So I made a beeline for them first and caught up with the team and their goals for the forthcoming seasons.

My previous posts about AW19 (and here) and SS20 previews (use the category search at the top of the site for SS20 and you’ll find all of them) will fill you in on what’s to come, but there were a few additions which are absolutely worthy of a mention. 

I’m so happy to see some more seasonal bits coming in for this Halloween (along with what’s already been launched), so this is a great opportunity for anyone that loves to be a casual member of the ghoul gang to pick up a few pieces for Halloween, or indeed, any other day! 

I really love this bright pink and green check too on the new Rochelle skater dress which is will also be available in a trouser. Tartan is awesome; super bright tartan is even better!

Continuing with the checks, this red and black dolores will be a good staple for most this season.

And this Arwen Woodland Pine Check Swing Dress feels so lovely and soft, it’s definitely been added to my list as I hadn’t realised what a lovely fabric it was and feel it’s been overlooked previously. I’d highly recommend this one as an Autumn staple.

We had the pleasure of viewing some of the new Autumn/Winter 2019 collection strut down the catwalk, courtesy of the beautiful Miss Deadly Red looking as gorgeous and sassy as ever.

Wearing the Mimi Pumpkin Check Dress, Lulu Hun Maria heels and carrying the Carrie bag

Wearing Barbara Pom Pom Jumper, Alexa Rainbow Star Skirt and other model wearing Matilde in Wonderland Skirt

As well as the Autumn Winter stock, we also had another glimpse of the Spring Summer 2020 collection. I blogged previously about this but a couple of extra key pieces caught my eye. 

These are, the night sky Dolores with super sparkly stars for night’s out. It has those lovely velvet buttons too <3

And the stunning Faye Starlight Swing Dress which has the prettiest navy ribbon trim and sheer top with gorgeous twinkling stars. This is a real headturner and will be so perfect for all of next year’s summer events.

Additions to the Lulu Hun brand include this fruity and fabulous Alexandria Watermelon bag – I mean, come on! we all need this!

Also the Rock and Roll heart shaped bag in red which will match perfectly with the Charlene Rock and Roll cardigan – and many more outfits your little rebel heart desires!

I was super happy to find pockets in nearly all the dresses and skirts – something I know which is important to us all. Fingers crossed lining is next and that would be the icing on the cake!

Also hitting the runway was the popular brand Sheen and I particularly liked this vintage styled dress from them.

As well as Hearts & Roses, whose poppy inspired frock was very pretty. I like the higher neckline and matching belt too.

Over at Banned Apparel (Banned Retro) I was surprised to see a print which was inspired (and approved) from a popular Michael Miller fabric I bought a couple of year’s ago. Here I am wearing my custom Candy Cane Cocktails skirt by Violets in May back at Christmas in 2017 (which is, consequently, a great place to buy off the peg or have something custom made).

The Banned version is now available as a range of Christmas/New Year items, called Christmas Cocktails! I’m going to snap up a cardi to go with my skirt.

They also have a very cute range of foxy numbers. This skirt with it’s fox pockets was adorable <3

And speaking of foxy things, it leads me to my final favourite trader of the event. I have followed Oh So Flamingo for some time now and love the range of handmade, laser cut, acrylic jewellery that this creative gal dreams up. It always seems to fit what I have in my mind as a perfect piece to finish an outfit.

This was Rachel’s first time exhibiting at London Edge and her stand was full of current and brand new pieces which was very exciting to see.  

Here are a few I think you’ll love:

 

When I popped over to say hi, I was very kindly gifted these beautiful black hoop earrings with silver glitter studs and atomic star design. They are immense! I can’t tell you how in love I am with these. Obviously, I had to get home and try them on straight away with something semi glam.

Meeting Rachel in person (and her lovely Mumma) was one of my personal highlights from the show. Please go and have a look at her site and show her some love on Instagram. Her pieces were also worn by the Collectif models as they came down the catwalk (see if you can spot them on one of the catwalk pics above), which was a really special moment to watch Rachel experience. I was so excited for her!

I had the best time as always at London Edge and was very lucky to receive some goodies from the Kat Von D stand (mini lipstick and tattoo liner) along with the guide and bag which I always keep as they’re super useful (all hail reusing your bags!). I’m really looking forward to being at the next one – if you see me, come say hi! I hope you’ve enjoyed my tour around and have found a few ‘oh my gawd, I need that!’ items, because…. ya know, I can’t be the only one throwing all my cash at them this season, we all need to be skint ha x