London Fashion Week catwalk report: Noir

High-end fashion label Noir mussed up London Fashion Week today with a rock chick chic AW09 collection that had this editor buzzing and relieved to have found another ethical collection she aches to wear. It was a packed, high energy show too, with a good fashion press turnout. See the pictures and our report here. Greenmystyle.com’s London Fashion Week coverage is sponsored by eco fashion boutique DeviDoll.com.

Greenmystyle.com editor Sarah Woodhead writes: I’ll be honest, I see a lot of eco fashion ranges as editor of Greenmystyle.com. A press release or fifty will drop in to my mail box each week, and too often I’m left with the feeling that while the ethics are inspiring the actual pieces are less so. The question I ask myself, as another woodland nymph floats in, is ‘yes, but where is the collection that me and other style-loving modern urban women would actually wear?” Well, I found it yesterday, and it’s Noir.

There’s a clue in the name; Noir is a collection for girls who go out at midnight and get home as the sun comes up, and for girls who still want to, but now have proper grown-up jobs to go to (c’est moi). It’s rock chick chic, hard-edged and attitudinal. It cares about people and the planet, but it looks as though it rolls up the ‘look at me, I’m whimsical and kind and I live in a forest’ ranges and smokes them for fun.

The turn-out was great. A massive queue gathered to get in the show, the photographers’ pen (see pic) was appropriately huge and scrum-like and the front rows were full. We name-checked The Telegraph‘s Hilary Alexander, Marie Claire‘s Elizabeth Walker, Lucy Yeomans from Harpers Bazaar, Emer Dewer from Glamour and Sarah Bailey. Eco fashion supporter and model Erin O’Connor showed up too – now there’s a woman who’d look great in Noir.

The label showed both Bllack Noir and Noir. Models strutted the catwalk to a haunting version of Radiohead’s Creep sung by a children’s choir (totally twisted and totally great), wearing studded black jeans, dogtooth check swing coats, deceptively prim-looking dresses that stopped too short, fell off the shoulder or were missing sleeves, skirts that split way too high, shimmering vests with harem pants, chiffon blouses, leather-look cropped jackets with angular collar shapes, metallic this, metallic that. It was really very hot.

The colour palette was dark and inky, of course. What did you expect? Grass green and nut brown, hey it’s an Autumn collection afterall? (“I know, it’s an ethical range, let’s make it all the colours of the forest. Yipee!” Sorry guys, you know who you are, and no, you weren’t at Estethica.) Deepest inky blues, met black, met burnished gold. I mean, Noir’s tagline is “In darkness, all colours agree.” That’s almost Emo. The only print or pattern on show was a spyrograph pattern on a blue tunic and a black and white graphic print scarf.

Ruching, tucking, draping and pinning was done in such a way, on tops, dresses and coats, as to make it sexy rather than soft and floaty. Oh gosh, and the zips. Have I told you about the zips? They’re everywhere, on skirts, trousers, jackets, arms, legs, heads, mouths. No, not mouths. These girls would be mouthy.

Hair and make-up was grown-up Avril Lavigne meets punk prim, all dark smokey eyes and centre-parted iron straight hair, or scraped-back buns gone tatty, snow white faces, coal for eyes and ghostish nude lips.

Shoes were kind of bondagey – towering platforms, the kind of pencil-thin, spiked, skyscraper heels that get men wincing. And bravo for the thigh-length leather-look spats. Rock. Almost as bondage as the neck cuff. Yep, get ready for the neck cuff. Wear it and feel like Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary, I dare you.

Noir’s promise with these collections is to “Do no harm” and “Do good”. It keeps its promise through the choices it makes in relation to sourcing and production. Noir ensures that workers rights and environmental protection represented in the UN Global Compacts are adhered to and partners sign the Noir Code of Conduct on behalf of themselves and their suppliers.

The Code of Conduct on this collection? Tear up the party then leave. I’m off out, now. See you in the morning. Maybe.

More from London Fashion Week

Catwalk report: Noir
Catwalk report: Julia Smith
Catwalk report: Ada Zanditon
It’s London Fashion Week Dahling! We hit the ground running (in high heels)
Party pictures: Ada Zanditon pre-show drinks
Backstage beauty items the models can’t survive without
LFW talent tip for the top: master innovator Mark Liu
LFW hottie: Fifi Bijoux
Exclusive interview: Estethica curator Orsola de Castro
Green behind the scenes: Lighting, tickets, production, is it so green?
Love style? You’ll love Estethica at LFW
The only bag to be seen with at London Fashion Week
Greenmystyle.com interviews Ada Zanditon