As well as designing and producing our own clothing line, House of Hirudinea also stocks select items from other clothing and accessory brands, so at this point in time we attend LondonEdge primarily as a buyer. One of our main stops at each show is the stand for the well known clothing brand, Lip Service, to view the latest collections (and we’ve yet to be disappointed!) and have a little chat with the designers and reps, who are always wonderfully accommodating.
As well as having a good look at everything to help us to decide what to order for HoH, we also make notes for the bi-annual Line Review, written for the Lippy_Addicts community on Livejournal. But this time round we wanted to possibly share the excitement and critiques (and, of course, add a bit more content for this new blog!) with a wider audience, so the Review is being posted here.
So, without further ado (and more waffling) lets get stuck in…….
This post we’ll be reviewing Industrial Vice, the new grouping for all the Lip Service lines that fall under the fetish/ industrial/ cyber styles. The new catalogue includes several lines that have been reviewed previously so we’ll be skipping those for the genuinely new stuff.
First up is Hyper Intelligence, which is pretty much Erotomechanics II but with a more anime mecha influenced print style, rather than the Giger design of the previous line. Same comfortable cyber styles perfect for casual everyday wear or dressed up for clubbing. This time round though the fishnet is replaced with a sports type mesh, and the prints come in three colours; pink (more like a magenta) and silver (silver grey) for the ladies items, and gold (bronze gold) and silver for the mens. All three colours have a muted metallic sparkle to them.
Items include a unisex scarf with built in sleeves, tank top, mini skirt, short dress, long sleeve hoodie and leggings for women, and a sleeveless top and long sleeve hoodie for the men.
Personally we weren’t as blown away with the print design as we were with the previous Erotomechanics, but the leggings are a definite thumbs up.
Technocracy
Wow! We spotted this as we walked towards the Lip Service booth and it was instant love! Designed by the lovely Salemphox, this is a smooth blend of cyber/industrial with a healthy dose of modern avant garde designer aesthetics. Made from coated stretch twill with contrast panels in neoprene mesh, one of the defining features of this line is the layered ‘fins’ as hip and shoulder detailing, and which really makes this line stand out.
Comes in three colourways; black with black mesh, black with electric blue mesh, and silver with pink mesh. Oddly enough the silver/ pink gives a distinct Barbarella vibe which will probably be a bit more niche, but we predict the black/black will sell out! If you’re short on cash and could only buy one item from this line we’d recommend the shrug- a classic in the making!
Definitely a firm favorite here at HoH.
Strictly Confidential
It is possibly somewhat telling that we remember very little of this line, apart from the items in semi-transparent chiffon with opaque diagonal stripes. It has a definite gothy hipster vibe. Not bad but obviously a bit forgettable for this poor crowded mind.
Why, yes, we can bring you gratuitous pics of hunky young men in nothing but kilts and boots.......
Dead Nation
Whilst Dead Nation isn’t a new line, it does have some new additions for the upcoming months. We’ve being really digging this line since it first appeared as it’s so refreshing to see something devoted entirely to menswear with designs that are more ambitious than the usual fare.
As well as the previously released designs the new items include an ingenious pair of suspenders with built in soft hood of soft sweatshirt material, ribbed jersey tank top with code number screenprint, canvas vest with zip up double breasted front and twill tape striping, and canvas trousers in a WWI/jodhpur style (same as the pair from previous Steam Machine lines) with some heavy duty metal hardware on the thighs. The whole of this line has a modern/ industrial vibe to it that’s sure to appeal to guys.
Circuit City
Ah, I hear you say, this isn’t a new line! Well, no it isn’t, and strictly speaking it actually has no name and isn’t listed in the catalogue. The story I heard from Bryn, one of the reps, is that Lip Service had a surplus of some of the printed fabric from the original Circuit City line, and to use it up they’ve designed an off the shoulder top (much the same as the one from Autopsy but without the corset lacing) and simple leggings. The samples we saw were only in the black/green fabric, so we’ve no idea if they’ll be available in the black/black but we think it’s unlikely.
Hybrid
OK, this possibly our favorite of the new lines, and we pretty much love everything!
What is Hybrid? Simple, it’s Alien Skin II.
But whilst the original line was more gothic in look, this is a sleeker, more futuristic, more vicious look to it, with cruel black talon-like spike details. And unlike the original, which was made mostly from the textured ‘alien skin’ PVC, Hybrid is matte foil spandex with contrasting panels of the same ( slightly thinner) PVC.
Like Technocracy, this line was designed by Salemphox and, as well as standing out due to the mix of materials, it stands out even more because of the incredible design work that has gone into each item. There’s not a duff piece in the collection. Highlights for us included the amazing short dress, miniskirt, mens harness and both the mens and womens trousers. This is certainly a line we plan to order!
And that’s all for Industrial Vice. Check back in a few days for Part 2 of our review!
