The Ted Baker AW12 Show

Fashion Week is great for giving designers the opportunity to present their collections as they intended: they can show off whole looks rather than single pieces, styled the way they envisioned. A show can really create an atmosphere around the collection to explain their vision and inspiration behind their collection. That’s why I think it’s a shame high street brands don’t really feature on catwalks – granted, their collections are a lot bigger and work on different time frames, but I do wish more brands would do it.

Ted Baker organise a team day every season, where the new collection is presented during a fun catwalk show to the entire Ted Baker staff – who get all dressed up and really enjoy the party. It’s the second time I’ve been lucky enough to get an invite, and both times I’ve left very impressed with how Ted Baker functions as a company. It reminds you that even behind a high street collection there’s passionate designers working on every single piece, and they clearly take a lot of pride in seeing their vision come to life.

For me, TB is all about the girly dresses (which I love, for the record), but whilst there was still plenty of them in the collection, I also saw a surprisingly sophisticated look. For AW12, the Ted Baker girl has really grown up into a sexy, grown up woman. As a brand like TB has hundreds of pieces instead of 20ish looks like high end designers, the show covered lots of different themes, from Seventies inspired looks to grown-up separates, tons of great accessories and even a series of fun and flirty prom dresses, complete with Prom King and Queen.

It excites me to see that a huge British brand like Ted Baker isn’t about copying the big name designers and trends, but really creating its own vision and style, and by doing so, even creating their own trends. And best of all… the AW12 collection has already started landing in store, so I don’t even have to wait 6 months before getting my hands on it. More of this please!