The King's Speech - Paris Premiere

There’s being delivered in style and then there’s being driven in a vintage, Bordeaux-coloured Rolls Royce that’s used to ferry the Queen around when she is in town - that’s how Colin and I arrived at The King’s Speech premiere in Paris.

With this type of transport you need to be smart and elegant, which is why - as you see - I went for this stunning dress. However its backstory is unexpected. For starters, it’s the creation of the very edgy refashioning label, Junky Styling – which is based in London’s Brick Lane district and which represents the antithesis of that sort of Hardy Amies royal couture. Secondly, the Junky geniuses have refashioned one of Colin’s suits - a beautiful suit, in fact - that had been devoured by wardrobe moths (my constant search for a “non chemical” and natural remedy to fight these wardrobe beasts has so far failed to turn up any solutions. Does anybody have any tips?).



Here’s the backstory of the dress/formerly man’s suit:



I have wanted to work with Annika Sanders and Kerry Seager - aka Junky Styling - since I discovered them at Esthetica two years ago (we also stocked some of their pieces at Eco Age last season). They started their venture in 1997 and make all their garments from the highest quality second hand clothing, which is deconstructed, re-cut and utterly transformed into a new piece. As the New Yorker put it: “They do a brisk traffic in body parts – dismembering the arms and legs of old suits and repurposing them… the result is an eccentrically chic line of mutant couture.”

Before Christmas, after the moth incident, I paid a visit to their headquarters. I am glad we left the piece with them rather than witnessing it being chopped up and reconstructed. I have watched Junky Styling and their amazing tailors perform their wardrobe surgery before - and it’s strong stuff. Collars are dismembered, panels sliced apart. Hems become collars and front panels become hems. It’s extraordinary!

But the results are stunning. And in Paris, Colin’s loss - he was pretty furious at the moths - was the Green Carpet Challenge’s gain. Annika’s design is totally individual but she also managed to make me feel “chic” (it’s a cliché but that’s how you want to feel in Paris).

Up next in the Green Carpet Challenge…

After a wonderful night in Paris, I’m really excited about next week in Los Angeles. We’ll be bringing you lots of eco and sustainable style from a huge number of events in rapid succession culminating with one of the Big Ones: The Golden Globes. Last year I wore a repurposed wedding dress (dig into the archive here to reminisce!).