A Child Of The Jago AW10 show - The Fallout

Wednesday 24th February saw the close of London Fashion Week and the last of the Autumn Winter shows from British soil! The official final show was A Child of the Jago, the menswear label from Joe Corre and Simon 'Barnzley' Armitage.

With front row guests including Vivienne Westwood and Janet Jackson, this was one of the hottest tickets in town and the show did not disappoint.

Illamasqua's art team consisted of Lucie, Helen and Francesco [Helen worked on the Spring Summer 2010 A Child of the Jago show] and with the variety of clothes and themes from the designers, it made for an interesting mix of make-up looks; from clean-cut libertines to Gangs of New York-inspired grit and grime and Victoriana highwaymen.

The historical references were as rich as the velvet jackets and the social spectrum of the characters represented created a feeling of free artistic licence - which we at Illamasqua obviously celebrate!

As you may be aware, the brand's HQ is located above ours in East London, so it's been fascinating for me to sneak up there now and again to watch them put the finishing touches to their clothes. As I was making my way to the show [I got some great backstage footage, so look out for a video to be uploaded to Youtube soon!] I saw Barnzley [co-owner of the brand] packing a van with the pieces from the collection, so I squeezed in with them to the show and managed to introduce myself. He is a real character and absolutely embodies the aura of the brand which is really inspiring. He told me all about his colourful life and also mentioned he is up for wearing make-up, so I will try and get some pics up if he comes good!

Breaking News!! Joe Corre Joins Illamasqua...

Avant-garde, beautiful, daring, creative, explosive, inspirational, provocative. Words that you may well relate to Illamasqua.

At Illamasqua, we also relate them to Agent Provocateur, one of the world’s leading underwear brands. Agent Provocateur has always been a brand that we have been inspired by – unique, quality, luxury pieces, cutting-edge advertising, evocative, controversial and boundary-pushing campaigns. Who can forget the Kylie Minogue bull riding film or the orgiastic passion of the collections starring the voluptuous figures of Alice Dellal, Helena Christensen, Kate Moss, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley to name but a few?

You can imagine how thrilled I am, then, to announce that Joe Corre - co founder of Agent Provacateur and son of the British fashion icon Dame Vivienne Westwood - has become a formal shareholder at Illamasqua! He also owns the explosive menswear label A Child Of The Jago - you may remember that we provided the looks for his brooding models at London Fashion Week in September.

I am so excited to work alongside such a genuine legend [did you know he turned down an MBE from Tony Blair?!] and to help us look in to launching our own stand-alone stores!

Joe tells me that Illamasqua is “a British brand like no other! The heritage of [Illamasqua’s] products and formulation show that [Illamasqua] are the only colour cosmetic brand in the prestige market that can truly claim the word 'professional'. Born from visionary, passionate energy, which it exudes from every pore, Illamasqua celebrates the fundamental human desire for individual self expression. It is therefore a brand which transcends all boundaries. I am extremely excited to be on board and helping to make it a brand to be seriously reckoned with”.

Julian Kynaston, founder of Illamasqua, tells me “We know that we have turned many heads since we opened our first counter in Selfridges Oxford St back in November 08. To have turned Joe’s to the point where he really wanted to invest and become a part of the team however is an achievement and one I am very excited about.”