A sneaky peek at 1205 AW10

After a long, lazy weekend jaunt to the seaside it is time to return to the blogging mix and we have a treat for you. Following on seamlessly from Friday's introduction to Paula Gerbase's capsule collection of menswear, womenswear and unisex pieces for 1205 we can now offer a sneaky peek at the sophomore collection for AW10...

A sneak peek at 1205 AW10

Once again, regardless of gender the collection showcases Gerbase’s trademark sensitive use of luxury fabrics and erudite pattern construction for a modern-contemporary muse. When I spoke to Paula about the evolution of the label she professed that 1205 was a natural progression from what she had learned in pure tailoring and returning to her original design passion. Her mantra of "I think if something is well made and the fabric is great then it should not matter whose wearing it" is still ringing in my ears as I admire the latest collection. For the SS10 debut collection released, Paula broke free from the confines of designing strictly for the tailoring world of Kilgour and experimented with lightweight fabrics, feminine cuts and prints to exciting effect. However, AW10 sees a welcome return to a more familiar world of tailoring. Having learned the strict rules of tailoring at Hardy Amies and Kilgour alike, Paula is now in the knowledgeable position to ignore a few of them along the way.

Norwegian explorers Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen are the inspiration for Aw10.

As a designer she is inspired by real people and for the coming cold, wet months ahead she looked to Norwegian explorers Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen. Amundsen led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912 while Nansen was an explorer, scientist, diplomat and proud wearer of a fantastic moustache. "These are people who used clothing for utility and necessity as they explored the South Pole I was and still am particularly fascinated by their highly functional wardrobe which protected from the bitter cold, yet still maintained a sense of occasion."

A first look at 1205's Aw10 look book.

The balance between menswear and womenswear or masculine and feminine has been an intriguing and thought provoking facet of both collections.

"With the AW10 look book I took the decision to shoot it on a female model only because so many people have questioned the idea of a unisex piece and I wanted to surprise people and it will hopefully make people that bit more open. I like the idea that people might be confused a little at first because it means they are thinking about it. For me, it is great being able to play with fabric in a menswear way for women and it is nice to experiment in a womenswear way with cutting." 1205's Paula Gerbase

The look book was shot at suicide hot spot Beachy Head in Eastbourne, thankfully no clothes were harmed.

Paula's work process begins with fabric, looking at everything in a microscopic way, resulting in a unique, modern, almost clinical point of view. For Aw10, Paula looked towards creating texture and pairing different textures together while using more functional fabrics and traditional fabrics like Harris Tweed.

A collection full of fabric play.

Throughout the collection Paula plays with tweed and different structures, making it more modern but at the same time respecting the heritage element the fabrics. After the interview I actually returned to Kingly Court the following day to see the collection once again. My appetite was whet and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. This time I took John with me and could not resist making him model a few of my favourite pieces in front of the wall of origami leaves...

The cut of this jacket is just beautiful and I love the contrast trim detailing

This is a Harris Tweed jacket but not as I know it. It is one of the foundations of a timeless and utilitarian wardrobe. While at the Studio Paula modeled it and it looks great on her as well.

Once again, Paula's tailoring is masterfully cut and exudes the classic English tradition of mixing fabrics.

With each season you only ever encounter a couple of collections which take your breath away and raise your heartbeat a notch or two. This is certainly one such collection. I am already saving up to enable me to invest in one or two of pieces of 1205's utilitarian wardrobe...

The tempting AW10 collection flirtatiously hangs on one of the rails inside 1205's Kingly Court store.