Spring Look Book & Chelsea Girls

I had the pleasure of meeting up with River Island press officer Keith O’Brien recently.  We have invitations for previews of the local kind and are also sent images and news from international designers.  But it was a pleasure to see the latest offering from high street favourite River Island.  Keith met me for lunch at Barocco and showed me the new looks for Spring.

Lovely stuff, lots of hippy chic and ’70’s looks.  And there was even a skirt named after me, the ‘Gwyneth’!  Nothing’s ever named Gwyneth! I couldn’t believe it! See the skirt below…

But apart from the new Spring/Summer collections, there is also the rather exciting launch, or should I say ‘relaunch’ of Chelsea Girl.  How many of you remember River Island was once Chelsea Girl on the High Street? Come on be honest now.  Well in the style of Biba relaunching some of its original designs for House of Fraser, RI is reintroducing some of the original Chelsea Girl designs.  Some of my favourite looks are below….

For those that don’t remember, (or are pretending not to) here’s a little bit about the label…..

Chelsea Girl evolved into River Island back in 1988, and before that the company was known as Lewis Separates.  The new CG range is a capsule collection of 40 pieces for SS11 and draws from 60’s, 70’s and 80’s designs from the brands history.

The collection was designed by National College of Art & Design Graduate Lucy Moller.  Lucy joined the team after winning a design room internship at River Island in 2006.  She created the CG pieces with guidance from RI Brand Director Farida Kaikobad, who worked on the original CG designs in the ’80’s.

All with a ‘bohemian aesthetic’ and at a lower price point than the mainline range, the CG collection includes mini skirts & shorts, crop t-shirts, wide leg trousers and printed maxi dresses.

The collection is in selected stores now.  Let us know what you think!