"Clean, Edgy and Chic - it's MATH!" - Mr. Darkwah

So there was only one show I really and truly loved this season - MATH Collective showcased beautiful British materials and an understanding of the modern woman to look good but effortlessly.

"Thanks dude! I really wanted it to just be simple and something that any woman could wear!" says designer Shahzad Mohayudin as I congratulate him on a beautiful collection. It was so very refreshing speaking to someone who I could tell was completely in love with what they did and aimed to keep learning and improving as they went on in their work. 

Looking at the collection, I could see all different types of woman in the garments. From the high-power Pigalle-wearing business woman to the teacher donning her sneakers in the peak time rush to get to school and change into something more fitting. It was a breath of fresh air to have seen a collection that embraced every type of woman in both the look of the clothing but also the styling. (I didn't mention sneakers for kicks - some models were actually in sneakers!) That too spoke to me. A designer who is willing to put his or her works which are beautiful and have clearly had a lot of work go into them with a pair of sneakers is not on an ego trip at all - they just want to get the work out there and get a response. 

Shaz - as he is known more commonly - made me feel as though I had known him for years and had it not been for the fact that there was a crowd of people waiting to congratulate him on his work, I can assure you, I would have stayed and spoken to him for much longer!

There have been too many seasons of try-hard extravagance, over-the-top 'innovation' and desperate attention-seeking styling so a show this pristine and clothes this beautiful were a welcome breath of fresh air, I just wish that they had been shown in London Fashion Week's runway space. It needed that clinical feel and Freemason's hall, as beautiful a venue as it was, could not do any justice to this collection - yes, that's how strongly I feel about MATH Collective's' show!

Once more, congratulations Shaz! I look forward to seeing more of your beautiful creations!


Live Beautiful, Stay Vogue!


Ciao Bellissimi!


Mr. Darkwah
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"Don’t give up on Polanksi, or the cast" - Hector J-S

Carnage

Dir – Roman Polanksi

Starring – John C Reilly, Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz

At some point or other in every life, you find yourself trapped in a terrible, awkward or boring situation, as you’re too polite to leave. It’s natural. Someone’s boring aunt, or at a bad party: if you’re unlucky enough on a long flight to have a verbose neighbour my heart goes out to you. But there is no way – No WAY - that it would take me 80 minutes to leave such a situation. Yet I, and everyone in the cinema, was forced to endure this farce. And pay to do so. 


You see this is one of those films when everyone’s stuck in a room together, and the prolonged exposure leads gradually and subtly to tension and aggression, finally over the limit into something drastic and rash. Pushing people to psychological breaking points does make for good cinema, and it has been done well – The Shining, Lakeview Terrace or Changing Lanes works better as an example. But this film never quite makes it to that level of madness that we, as savage spectators, really want to see. The recurring theme in the other films I’ve mentioned, however, is attempted homicide, but by the end of this film you’ll be wishing the characters would just get on with it and at least strangle each other, not just throw up and drink grumpily. Let me summarise before I go on, lest I fail to draw a conclusion. This is not a good film. And that breaks my heart, because I never want Polanski to stop being good (as a director, not a person – never forget that he pleaded guilty for kiddy fiddling), but it just isn’t. It starts so promisingly, with subtle hints at oafish rage (in the reliably hilarious John C Reilly) and dark undertones of sadistic genius (Christoph Waltz, who reminds you of just how damn evil he can be) pointing to the carefully planned character arcs that will lead to the titular ‘Carnage’ we’re all waiting for. But it never comes, and the whole thing deflates bitterly. It’s depressing watching such a talented pair as Jodie and Kate being so boring, but there is no enjoyment to be drawn from watching a film that manages effortlessly to be tedious and unbearable at the same time.


Don’t give up on Polanksi, or the cast. And I’m sure that the Yasmina Reza play which this is based on is terrific, but the translation is flawed at best. The film, funny in parts and occasionally promising, disappoints. 
I’m just going to stick this on at the end. Take the 10 pounds you’ve saved by not seeing carnage, get on amazon and buy a copy of the Norwegian monster movie Troll Hunter. Would that Hollywood could make such funny, scary and completely engrossing movies reliably.