Temperley London Autumn Winter 2010 Collection

One of the first things I noticed when walking into the Temperley London presentation Feb. 16 at New York’s Milk Studios was the hosts standing at a table handing out literature describing the line and promoting designer Alice Temperley’s latest cause, raising funds for Oxfam to educate girls in West Africa . A crowd wearing mostly black stood around sipping drinks and looking at both the collection and fashion portraits hung on two walls. Alice Temperley, a thin woman with wavy, below shoulder-length hair who was taller than many of the guests, mingled among them answering queries and posing for photographs.

Temperley said her fall collection was inspired by previously unseen photos by the late Norman Parkinson, one of the United Kingdom's foremost portrait and fashion photographers. Parkinson shot for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue in the late 1930s to 1960s.

Further influenced by Parkinson's work, Temperley garbed modern-day celebrities in her fall line, and then photographer Adam Whitehead shot their photos, styling and posing the models to reinterpret some of Parkinson’s most striking and impressive shots. The models included Annie Lennox, Liberty Ross, Rosamund Pike, Sophie Dahl, Yasmin Le Bon and Laura Bailey.

Temperley’s presentation featured Parkinson’s photos, and Whitehead’s work, which was hung behind mannequins wearing the actual garments. With a predominately black-and-white color scheme similar to that of her Spring 2010 line, the autumn collection had a more British feel. Some garments, such as a form-fitting dress, featured the Union Jack flag, while a uniform-like leather waistcoat was studded in silver. Temperley showed bold, broad shoulders and nipped-in waists. Some blouses had ruffles, and the pieces were worn in layers. I liked a black-and-white vertical striped suit with fitted, collarless jacket cinched with a wide black belt, topping a straight skirt.

Many of the pieces featured hand-embroidery and embellishments. These same finishes were applied to Whitehead's photos, adding texture and dimension to his portraits, which had been printed lifesize on canvas. Temperley London will auction off the canvas images in London this spring, with the proceeds going to Oxfam to support women in West Africa.

Temperley said the fashion industry and fund-raising are fickle. She thinks more money should go to women's causes. "I'm very passionate about women's charities," Temperley said. "Women raising money for women is a fantastic thing."

Temperley's passion for women shows in her line, which emphasizes a woman's figure. Parkinson's photos captured glamorous women of his time, Temperley said. "We're doing the same with women of today."