I came across fashion brand Marc Cain at Fashion Press Week. The quality of the fabrics, the sensuous silhouettes and the contemporary yet glamorous detailing, completely reflect the brands aspirations to be a label that places an importance on style and elegance.

The brand was named after Marc Cain, an Italian couturier with an American passport, he had two great passions: beautiful, well dressed women and fast cars.  He went through fire and water for both, and they cost him his life. He died in a fatal accident in his Ferrari.

Marc Cain boasts the highest of expectations in terms of design, quality and the materials used.  The innovative spirit and distinctive characteristics of the collection stem from the German factory. For this reason, Marc Cain successfully maintains a factory in Bodelshausen.  

Particular emphasis is placed on the extremely modern sewing workshop, the textile machinery and the print shop. It is precisely the prints in their AW11 collection that I particular love. Ethereal, fluid and exhibited on dresses, jackets and skirts they appear in abundance.

London College of Fashion showcased their talented students on Tuesday at their annual BA Catwalk show, held at The Studio, in central London.

The show highlighted the work of 25 up and coming womenswear and menswear designers.  As a previous student myself I am proud of LCF’s reputation for nurturing fresh talent and developing designers to not only set up their own labels but also work within the industry designing for our fabulous British high street.

Among the guests were celebrity Jo Wood, founder of iconic store BIBA Barbara Hulanicki and New Young Pony Club vocalist Tahita Bulmer.

Awards were presented to Charlotte Barry who won the Barnett Lawson Award for Best Use of Trimmings and incredible detailing.  Stine Riis was presented the Biddle Sawyer Silk Award for her innovative use of silk with wool, chiffon and patent leather, although Collection of the Year went to Nova Chiu from Hong Kong, commended for her “phenomenal technical skill and creative flair”.

I was impressed by all the collections on show, although the highlights were winning designer Nova Chiu for her use of colour, texture and silhouette and Charlotte Barry’s sensational surface textiles collection.   As a surface textiles, for fashion graduate myself, I was in my element watching Charlotte’s intricately embellished collection.

Over the past seven months Charlotte has spent time in Philadelphia designing prints for high street store Anthropologie.  Her graduate collection was based on Pompeii and Herculaneum, inspired by a fascination for “the famous body-casts, and the intense colours and textures throughout the cities.  I wanted it to have a perfect ruin feeling” she said.

To find out more information on all the students and further events in the 2011 Graduate season, please visit the London College of Fashion Website for more information.