Why fashion show front rows are more important than models, clothes or catwalks.

Forget the models on the runway, the big business at London Fashion Week is taking place on the front row, otherwise known as the FROW.

The days of simply producing an outstanding catwalk collection are over. To remain at the helm today, a designer has to attract a star-studded, media friendly FROW. This is where the potential money lies, so assembling the perfect line-up is paramount for any designer’s success.

Since London Fashion Week Spring/Summer ‘18 is in full swing, what are the ingredients for the perfect FROW?

Well for starters, you need the magazine and newspaper fashion editors. Upset them and you’ll never get your clothing featured again, so designers know to tread carefully here. If only medium-grade hacks grace your show, and not the editors, people will talk. In short, the ascending hierarchy is everything.

The arrival on the scene of fashion “influencers”, Insta-Elite, uber stylists and bloggeratti hasn’t changed the status quo. There are only a limited amount of seats on the front row, and only the best occupants will do.

For designers, the more star power in the front row, the more social media sharing opportunities they’ll have at their fingertips. It’s only by creating this perfect social media storm that a show will be streamed live around the world to generate global publicity.

So how does Christopher Bailey at Burberry get A-listers to attend his shows? Welcome to the world of celebrity endorsement. Some brands pay celebrities in clothes or cold hard cash to pledge their allegiance. I’ve even heard of designers gifting (very expensive) handbags to celebrity PRs to encourage them to persuade their clients to attend their shows (it usually works, BTW).

Topshop boss Sir Philip Green has the midas touch when it comes to lining up the next big thing. He’s the visionary who gave Kate Moss her own Topshop collection and has had the likes of Olivia Palermo, Suki Waterhouse, Jourdan Dunn, Karlie Kloss and Lara Stone, to name but a few, at his shows. Sir Philip even goes the extra publicity mile by achieving the remarkable, and getting his FROW celebs to wear head-to-toe Topshop. There’s a reason the man’s a billionaire.

My advice – avoid the indignity of the second row and watch it all live via Youtube in the comfort of your own home.

Is it the most romantic time of the year, or yet another “Hallmark Holiday” aimed at sending us overdrawn again, straight after Xmas?

Yes, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and the colour RED is in your face. Every shop window has a red themed window display, from knickers and camisoles to lipsticks and chocolates.

This week’s instalment brings you a definitive guide to the coolest and somewhat less predictable gifts for him and her, plus we explore the background behind crotchless knickers – a particularly popular Valentine’s prezzie in some “quarters”.

On the subject of Red, one constant in every fashionista’s life is the red sole of a pair of Louboutins.

But not for much longer.

Christian Louboutin has lost the exclusive rights to his famed red soles. The European Court of Justice has sided with a firm challenging Louboutin’s trade mark over the red colour of the heels.

Dutch company Van Haren argued that the French designer should not have exclusive rights to the red, because EU law does not allow trademarks for colour and shape, and won.

Louboutin, who registered the scarlet soles as a trademark in the Benelux nations in 2010 said “The shiny red sole has no function other to identify the shoes are mine”.

This will be a real shame. But I’m sure Louboutin will come up with a fresh and more original design to adorn their heels.

Anyway, enjoy this week’s Zip’s It Up, whatever you end up doing this Valentines Day. x

Are crotchless knickers just the thing for spicing up your sex life? I took a look at Ann Summers’ huge range of crotchless underwear to try and answer the question.

One things for sure, there’s huge variety, for raunchy nights in and naughty nights of seduction. But where did ‘crotchless knickers’ come from?

Here’s a ‘brief’ history…

A couple of years ago a pair of Queen Victoria’s bloomers went up for auction. They had a fifty plus inch waist, with her embroidered initials and a crown (perhaps in case Victoria left them in the changing rooms after her swimming lesson and couldn’t remember which ones were hers afterwards).

A key (and essential) design feature was that they didn’t join up between the legs. In that era, no one’s did. When you’re wearing a chemise, a corset, a bodice, stockings, multiple petticoats, a dress and various other layers of clothing, pre the invention of elastic, your bloomers had to be rigidly tied on to your waist (under your corset). So your toilet choices were simple – stripping naked or not stripping at all.

Before the 1800s “polite” women went completely commando; only prostitutes bothered with pants (presumably because their legs got colder?). Then came pantalettes, aka “two tubes tied on with string, which tended to come undone and fall off one leg at a time.

Knickerbockers, that joined up completely, started appearing in the 1850s, but for a long time they were considered terribly unfashionable, impractical, and, frankly, unhealthy. By the late nineteenth century knickerbockers were beginning to pick up in popularity, if you were the sort of woman who did “man-ish” things like gardening, bicycle riding or anything practical. But the gentry remained un-keen. Though they joined up underneath, they were difficult to remove, so trapdoors were introduced in the back.

As dresses got tighter and more streamlined, underwear became an all-in-one proposition, camiknicker-style. Some sported trapdoors, whilst some stuck to splits.

By the end of world war one open crotch drawers were on their way out – skirts got shorter and dancing got wilder. Apparently, flashing your parts at the French Diplomats was no longer the done thing – and with elastic becoming readily available, it was even possible to get them on and off with some ease.

Fast forward several decades and we have this in 2018:

So there you go. Kinda takes the sexiness out of it all, doesn’t it?

Sorry.

The latest A-list beauty obsession is sculpting your smile.

Whether its Kim Kardashian flashing her sparkly grill or Rhianna promoting her Fenti beauty range and its gorgeous lipsticks, the one common denominator is set of perfect teeth.

The best way to slow down the ageing clock is to invest in your smile – an approach that has seen the dental market increase in value to £2.4bn, up 73% from 2012. But instead of simply whitening your teeth, some new treatments are extreme.

Gum Botox

The shorter your teeth, the older your smile looks. Six million Brits suffer from teeth grinding and jaw clenching, so we’re losing teeth space, literally. Enter Botox, injected into the jaw to stop you biting down with force. It’s as effective as a mouthguard and costs £695 with Dr Tapan Patel, every three months.

www.phiclinic.com

Teeth Expansion

Think braces are just for teenagers? Think again. Teeth tend to drift inwards towards the tongue as we age, which results in loss of facial form. The newest technique to combat this is Sure Smile, which reduces brace time by up to 40% by using NASA technology to pre-bend teeth, so the tooth is encouraged to go from A to B faster. From £750 at www.ellevendental.com

Dermal Contouring

Gum fillers are set to be the dental trend of 2018. Injected into gums, they increase volume and fill out any gaps. As we age, we lose tone and volume of the skin, including the gums around the teeth, whereas young people show about 2mm of gum. Costing around £300 and taking 10 minutes to complete, this could knock years off.

www.londonsmile.co.uk

At Madison Square Garden last weekend, the 2018 Grammy Awards got underway, the first time it has shifted location to NYC from LA in many years. We’ve Zipped up the best looks from the red carpet, who stood out from the pack and what trends took center stage.

Old Hollywood glamour, power(ful) suits, a bumper crop of floral motifs — a nod to the white roses being worn as a symbol of Time’s Up solidarity — were among the big takeaways.

Pretty powerful black velvet and white roses in honor of the Time’s Up movement ruled the red carpet, as both men and women took a stand against harassment and inequality, and performers, attendees and nominees like Kesha and Lorde let their outfits — literally and figuratively — do the talking. Kesha sang in protest of her recent troubles with abuse within the music industry.

Beyonce and her brood didn’t walk the red carpet, but that didn’t stop her from making a statement once inside Madison Square Garden. The star’s black velvet Nicolas Jebron custom couture hat and gown, accessorized with retro Alain Mikli sunglasses, a sparkly Judith Leiber clutch, Jimmy Choo heels and nearly $7 million in Lorraine Schwartz diamonds, was an ode to the Black Panthers of the 1960s. The bold shoulders and dramatic slits were meant to evoke the power and strength of the social justice movement.

But for me, the red carpet winner was singer Lana Del Rey’s beautiful Star gown and star tiara – which I’m desperate to have myself.

Here are a few of my other favourites.

It’s all about the power suit

Next up – The Oscars.