Bomber jacket by PAUL SMITH

“We’re going to kill you. Sorry, you’re going to die.” Not Wonderland on Blue Monday, but the talent agent of one Luke Pasqualino, Italy-via-England’s new pretty boy soubrette. 2009 saw him shoot to fame as the weed-smoking, skateboarding adolescent Freddie McClair from Skins’ Second Generation, until his character met a grisly end. “They took me out to dinner to tell me,” he says. “I lost my appetite pretty soon after that.” This year, Camrbridgeshire-born Pasqualino bounces dramatically back, starring in both historical melodrama The Borgias alongside Jeremy Irons and sci-fi action thriller Snowpiercer – shot in Prague with “dear friend” John Hurt. Wonderland caught up with the actor just after he’d finished dusting off his barnyard-appropriate attire, playing D’Artagnan in high budget BBC series The Musketeers.

Shirt, jacket, trousers and embellished slippers all by PRADA

Explain your miraculous career bounce-back! Freddie is dead… long live Freddie.

I think just not losing your enthusiasm, basically. I was aware from the very start that you know you’re never going to get every role that you go up for. I think you have to be quite a resilient soul and if you can get over that, the rest of it will come easy. It’s never going to come easy, but easier for sure.”

The likes of Nicholas Hoult have used Skins as a really successful springboard. How did it help you find bigger and more interesting parts, do you think?

“Skins has got quite a knack to cultivating very good young talent like Joe Dempsie, Hannah Murray, Jack O’Connell, Kaya Scodelario… quite a few of those young actors who’ve come on to do really well. You never know until it happens, but you have to keep it in the back of your mind.

Hawaiian print jacket, shirt, trousers and belt all PRADA

Tell us about playing D’Artagnan.

It was one of my biggest roles to date. It’s up there. I was over the moon when I found out I got it: such an iconic character in literary history.

What sort of training was involved for the part?

They put us through a one week boot camp – which involved everything, really. From getting up at five in the morning, to getting down to the stables making sure the horses are washed and cleaned. Then we’d start riding lessons for a couple of hours, then two or three hours of stunts. Then we’d head out into the woods for a few hours and carry on sword fighting. Obviously, you learn as you’re going.”

If you had free reign to pick any role to play, what would it be?

I’d love to do a biopic… I’d love to depict someone like Marlon Brando and do more theatre as well. As the material is good and is something I can commit to and invest in.

Any words of advice for wannabe actors?

“The quote that my dad told me from a young age was: “successful people do what unsuccessful people can’t be bothered to do.” Amen to that!

Words India Blue Van Spall
Photographer Harry Carr
Fashion Madeleine Ostile
Grooming Louis Ghewy at The Book Agency using NIP + Man and BUMBLE AND BUMBLE
Fashion Assistance Charlotte Davy

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While everyone else’s minds turn to thoughts of lazing in the sun, work never lets up for the fashion industry. With London Collections: Men round the corner and London Fashion Week a scant two months after, there’s no rest for the wicked. During the AW13 show season, Wonderland grabbed some time to talk to those lurking behind the scenes, who make sure job Fashion Week runs smoothly.

Freelance fashion stylist, Natasha Wray, nails the hectic occupational hazards: “If monotony and schedules and knowing what’s going to happen every day if that’s what you like, you can’t do this job.” Meanwhile, designer Fred Butler talks about the work that goes into bringing a collection to life, and Goodley PR supremo Jamie Holloway shares his survival tips (forget champagne and ciggies, it’s all about Berocca, coconut water and sleep).

With that in mind, all eyes will be on the guys this week. Will anyone turn up with a fence on their face? Will any more blokes be wearing dresses a la J.W. Anderson? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see..

Words: Billie-Jade Thomas
Video: Harry Carr

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Saint Laurent sure loves being contrary. For his first autumn/winter RTW collection, contrarian extraordinaire Hedi Slimane gave us proper lesson in house evolution with a Saint Laurent collection that added a pleasant dose of rebellious grunge. The connecting thread lies, of course, within the attitude of Saint Laurent woman – she’s a smart, independent, fast-talking dame, who stands where she pleases and blows smoke in the face of her adversaries.

But instead of demure, Marlene Dietrich le smoking jackets of YSL past, it’s the grunge tartans and biker chick leathers of Saint Laurent present. A black dress constructed of bands of leather strips emphasises the bare essentials of modern womenswear. Tartan and floral print dresses with Peter Pan collars were given a Saint Laurent punch with empire waists and black boots, adding a Gothic twist to otherwise cutesy forms. From bejewelled, studded hotpants paired with floral blouse and a luscious fur coat, to a sheer, skimpy slip dress with oversized tartan jacket, the AW13 Saint Laurent woman brings the contrarian full circle from woman debonaire to anti-establisment dreamer.

Whether or not you like it (and some, like Cathy Horyn, didn’t), one thing’s for certain – to remake the much-loved image of a YSL woman takes guts. We’ll just have to wait and see what Hedi does next.

Words: Elise Marraro
Images: Harry Carr

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sophistication to the collection.

Sequential block patterns invaded form-fitting dresses, studded leather jackets trespassed on whimsical sheer skirts, brass metallic golds and silvers usurped sleek feminine suits, and a floor-length deep purple sheer gown accepted the rule of jagged, linear black piping. It would seem in the land of Gaultier, juxtaposing futuristic, military Amazonian women with the glamorous, but traditional, femme fatale isn’t just rule of law – it’s plain common sense.

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If you’re showing at the Savoy ballroom, you better bring class and power in equal amounts. Thankfully, Iliincic didn’t disappoint. While the designer may have been

attracted to a girly shade of icy candyfloss pink this season, the Roksanda Ilincic woman was all woman. Powerful, architectural silhouettes that harked back to 1950s power woman – Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and all the rest of those magnificent divas – predominated, with short-sleeved shirts tucked into flared skirts or pencil skirts.

There was some playful touches too, with a particularly adventurous approach to material: toying with a PVC front and a taffeta back, for instance, or patent and glitter fabrics nestling side by side, adding a contemporary touch. Amidst the sometimes willfully zany backdrop of London fashion, it takes a talented designer to remind us all of who we’re designing for: women, in all their glamour and femininity.

Words: Zing Tsjeng
Images: Harry Carr

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Gold Louis shoes, leather skullcaps, boxed leather jackets and the Edwardian nude and sheer black gowns melded Gothic romanticism and S&M eroticism, made even more apparent by the monochrome palate. Think Jane Eyre as a red-light district brothel madam. Heavy fabrics like leather dominated traditional feminine silhouettes.

But while in the first look its shiny patches hardened a sailor-white jacket, in another, the feathered leather neckline on a white dress added a romantic quality. We were mesmerized by the circular evolution from childish sailor cuts to sensual, womanly forms, and finally back to virginal white. Devoted to beauty in its strangest and most exquisite forms, Meadham Kirchhoff transcended themselves this season.

Words: Elise Marraro (follow Elise on Twitter: PardonMe_Lissie)

Images: Harry Carr

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For autumn/winter 2013, Claire Barrow, Ryan Lo (above) and Ashley Williams present their first Fashion East collections, giving the crowd a taste of the different, the strange, and the pop culturally fantastic from the great designers of tomorrow.

CLAIRE BARROW

Our first taste of Claire Barrow was certainly one we won’t forget. We were hooked after the first fish clutch made its way down the runway, accompanied by a tough, loose sack-dress reminiscent of a Biblical power woman. The Adam and Eve feel then transcended into full woodland goth, a dark, twisted fantasy world where Turn Of The Screw meets Midsummer Nights Dream. Forest greens, widow blacks, and Miss Havisham white gowns glided along in an eerily fun beat. It seems very clear that Claire Barrow will be a success, both in this world and the next.

RYAN LO

The Ryan Lo collection was true to its inspiration: if Bridget Jones and

Ally McBeal had a love child, the result would be a powerhouse kid with the coolest sleepovers in town. The first looks were plush pink and monochrome power suits that harken Jackie O – if she joined the grunge movement. Then came wonderfully soft, bathrobe blue jacket. But it didn’t stop there: polka-dot onesies, clownish skirts and colourful trainers brought the nineties back, and we’re totally digging it.

ASHLEY WILLIAMS

Through prints and pristine cuts, the Ashley Williams collection was an evolution of pop Americana. Her baby doll dresses evoked the blonde bombshells gracing Hitchcock silver screens. Homey gingham pencil skirts and heavy knit jumpers were something out of a Gidget fantasy, while the king of retro Americana, Elvis Presley, was everywhere – on dresses, skinny trousers, and t-shirts. But from double-denim to the popular references on dresses, Williams takes retro pop and gives it new life, proving that the pop culturista isn’t just always looking to the past, she’s shaping the future.

Words: Elise Marraro
Images: Harry Carr

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Every season sees a new Topshop space unveiled; this season’s concrete backdrop in the very heart of the Tate Modern was the perfect setting for the brand’s renowned androgynous aesthetic and muted tones.

Blur vaulted us back to the mid 90s, and toes started tapping as Cara Delevingne nonchalantly breezed past a glittering front row of Olivia Palermo, Pixie Geldof and Topshop campaign girl Kate Bosworth.

The show unfolded with a sleek sensibility; models paraded the catwalk in oversized long line bomber jackets, calf-length flippy skirts and court shoes paired with ankle socks. What started sensibly soon morphed into a parade of slivers of skin and sequins. Black outwear was injected with blood red. Textures were mish mashed together; matt slouchy jumpers sat upon glossy calf-length skirts, fuzzy fur snoods came married against satin pastel dresses. What begun with “girls who are boys”, as Blur so eloquently put it, ended on princess pink hues and glitz that would cause any three year old girl to turn green with envy.

The AW13 Topshop Unique girl is a power dresser; she’s the talk of the office with her classic style and structured silhouettes during the week but come 6pm Friday, she puts on her strappy pink shoes and sparkles and is the life and soul of the 90s Britpop party.

Words: Millie Cotton
Images: Harry Carr

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Continuing on from her LCM show last month, Margaret Howell presented a sharp yet understated collection of wardrobe staples at Howell HQ yesterday morning.

A workforce of models clad in fisherman’s funnel neck jumpers in bursts of red and mellow white, their hems drooping over pleated twill skirts, took to the catwalk. Waists were cinched in and pockets were seamless. Howell managed to capture the epitome of an everyday – but extremely well dressed – Brit in each piece.

What little extravagant detail there was left the eye to focus on the clean silhouettes offered for AW13. This was a collection of dreams; you could close your eyes and pick any two pieces and they’d effortlessly match together.

Practicality extended to accessories too; boots were black, knee-high and flat soled. Satchels were leather, equalling a both sustainable and utilitarian option.

Howell continues to prove each season that those rare times that you strip back the fuss away from fashion do work – you’re simply left with timeless pieces that everyone wants hanging in their wardrobe.

Words: Millie Cotton
Images: Harry Carr

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The Rihanna for River Island show was always going to transpire unconventionally; so on Saturday, The Old Sorting Office transformed into a theatre featuring a stage of five lit boxes for the first ever showing of a celebrity-endorsed high street collection at London Fashion Week. Riri was never going to do things by halves – after all, this was a girl who commandeered an Boeing jumbo jet for the 777 tour.

And Rihanna didn’t lack for support from her own celeb clique: Cara Delevingne and Jourdan Dunn were in the front row, pumping their fists to the beat of Jay-Z and A$AP Rocky. (After the show finished, they both bum-rushed the singer-turned-designer to flood her with congrats – that’s Delevingne hugging Riri in the picture above)

As for the show itself? Kicking off an hour after the scheduled start time, the first model appeared in a double denim ensemble that would have looked perfectly in place at any Rihanna gig of the night.

Clad in matching ensembles of monochrome prints, hooded crops and high neck dresses, Rihanna’s model army walked through the boxes in a ridged rotation. Slits were thigh-high, dresses were skin-tight and midriffs were bare – and did we mention, bras were strictly optional. Unless they were the only top you had on, of course. Minimal accessories featured in the show but gold hoops hung from every ear lobe and hair was slicked back with gel at the root and fell pin-straight past shoulders; these models oozed swag from every pore.

The hard bass of Phresh Out The Runway brought Rihanna for River Island to a close and RnB’s princess’ bow was met with mixed reactions. The show was certainly a performance that will be remembered; as for the clothes, only time will tell. But one thing’s for sure: given the superstar’s credentials with her young, adoring fanbase, these clothes will sell and sell.

Words: Millie Cotton
Images: Harry Carr

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