Issa brings a taste of carnival to London Fashion Week

Daniella Helayel poses with her models backstage A Rio vibe reached WC2 today as Brazilian-born designer Daniella Helayel showed her dynamic label Issa London at London Fashion Week. Dancing up the catwalk

hand-in-hand with a swimsuited model shaking her feathered headdress, it was clear that Daniella does fashion week quite unlike anybody else.The show itself was a riot, sparking applause and hoots of approval from the usually cantankerous photographers' pit and excited cheers from the crowd, who grew more animated with each look.

Going back to its Brazilian roots, the spring/summer 2012 collection was rich in tropical tones and prints, samba-inspired fringing and jewel-encrusted fabrics, tempered with pastel hued or innocent white cotton and broderie anglais summer dresses that would be, said the show notes, 'sensational for Ipanema or Le Blon beach, or barefoot on a yacht, cruising round the islands.'
It was fun, vibrant - and appealed to the women in the room as much as the men, which is a nice benefit for Daniella.
'I design first for the woman. She wears Issa for herself. 'But I think it pleases both sexes,' she says, laughing.

Prints and palette were inspired by the nature and architecture of Brazil, with foliage motifs coming from the country's lavish Jardim Botanico juxtaposed with the architectural lines of iconic Rio landmark Christ the Redeemer, both appearing on cinched-waist dresses or on languid kaftans.
 

The flirty, feminine dresses in figure-hugging silk jersey that are Issa's staple - and have become synonymous with the Duchess of Cambridge's style thanks to her fondess for them - were here for another season. One - a floor-sweeping, sleeveless maxi dress in flamingo pink - was almost identical to one Kate wore some years ago. A tribute, perhaps?
Others appeared in bold block colours; elsewhere printed with the leaf motif that ran through the show. And why not? They are, as Daniella says, the 'bread' of Issa.
'People don't get tired of bread,' she says, defending their appearance season after season. 'You eat bread every day, you never get tired.
'I want to have as many bread dresses as possible. You can never have too many, never have too much.'
'But you need to have the novelty, to add a different and new thing every year.'

And there was certainly novelty. It was there in the shape of a white sequined dress, with bunches of bananas and grapes picked out in glittering jewel tone; in the flowing maxi dresses embellished with dancing samba girls, and in the feathered and crystal necklines that adorned the artfully printed fabrics.
'It was nice. It was a good vibe, a good energy,' Daniella told MailOnline after the show. It was a good theme - very much the landscape, the nature, the mood of Rio.

Camilla Al Fayed, who recently purchased a controlling share of 51 per cent of the brand, sat front row, dressed in an inky black jumpsuit from the label, along with father Mohammed Al Fayed, who has just bought the invitation-only fashion website Cocosa (a new fashion empire in the making for the Al Fayeds?).

Camilla was, she said, thrilled to be working with Issa, which retains Daniella Helayel as creative director, while Mr Al Fayed said he had no doubt Issa 'will do wonderful things.'
'Daniella is a great artist,' he told MailOnline. 'She has great potential. The website will be an enormous asset,' he added. 'If you have a website, you reach the world.'
For her part, Daniella says to have Camilla as a partner is 'a dream'.
'It frees me up to spend more time on the creative side of things,' she said. 'It's amazing to have someone taking care of the administrative and financial side.
'I'd like to open more shops around the world, and to have an amazing online shop. I have a trillion ideas.