I love TV and it’s always fashion-related TV that I watch: biographies of designers, music videos and shows like Sex In The City, Ugly Betty or Gossip Girls - any TV that influences fashion. I also like shows that have an otherworldly/surreal feel to them like Twin Peaks - I loved that series.
I just finished watching the HBO series Carnivale. It’s about a carnival that travels across the dust bowl during the great depression and the struggle between good and evil. I love the whole look and feel of this series. It cost $4 million US per episode; it was one of the most expensive shows to produce. There were an estimated 5,000 people costumed in the show’s first season! The clothes are great. I love the neutral colours, they are faded, dusty, worn and authentic-looking: they tell a story.
What I find most interesting about costume and period clothing are elements of the clothes that are recreated in modern clothes to create retro feel to them. Clothes that look fashionable and hip often have a historic reference to them, sometimes it’s very subtle, but it can also be very obvious, to the point were elements of the authentic period costumes in Carnivale look strangely current.
I was recently interviewed by Harriet Reuter Hapgood about trends for 2008 for today’s Independent on Sunday! Whenever I’m asked about trends I always end up thinking not just about recent trends, but trends over the past few years, what they mean, their influences, their impact, and really everything that gives them a context: news, political events, etc. They all have a huge influence on fashion, and vice versa!
I lived in Paris for quite a few years and I became addicted to cafe life. I love people watching while having good conversation. I’d met Alison Whelan several times over the past few years and always had wonderful but short intense fashion conversations. We never really had the opportunity to have a really long chat, so we agreed to meet for tea on the Kings Road! Alison’s super cool and one of my favourite people. I find her totally inspiring and truly interesting, I can chat and listen to her for hours as she’s a great story teller. She is also a very talented art director (she’s worked with Tank, Prada and Liberty) and she’s a co-founder & chairman of Fashion Business Club.
I’m a terrible knitter so I’m very appreciative and awe-inspired by people who can knit. When I saw this wedding dress in Harrods (displayed at the “Origins” counter) I just loved it! It’s called ‘The Elizabeth’, and it was designed and hand-knitted by Jemma Sykes for Butcher Couture. The dress is made from 100% certified organic wool and dyed naturally in soft pink. I really love the name ‘Butcher Couture’ and their specialty is 100% organic bovine leather!
I love leather gloves but I always lose one of them. I keep the other glove just in case I miraculously find the mate, which of course I never do. Now there’s a website called One Cold Hand that’s here to help; this site reunites gloves that accidentally went their seperate ways. Right now it’s just for NYC or Pittsburgh, but there are plans to launch sites in Philadelphia, as well as Italy and Canada. Maybe they’ll launch a site in London!
Selfridges is one of my favourite places to meet friends and go shopping!
Shopping is something we all do; it’s an activity that seems so natural we don’t realize that shopping for pleasure rather than necessitywas invented, and much of that has to do with Harry George Selfridge.
Harry George Selfridge was an American retailer who was unimpressed with the snooty shops of London. He understood the changing political climate and saw an opportunity to create a unique place for the female shopper. On March 15th, 1909, Selfridges Department Store opened on Oxford Street in London and changed the way we’d shop forever!
Selfridge put perfume counters near entrances to entice customers: he introduced the in-store library, restaurants, the roof garden and he turned the window display into an art form. Selfridge believed that a department store could be as important to the individual as great landmarks; he wanted his store to be a meeting place for people. He’s credited with creating the slogan “the customer is always right” and“…shopping days left until Christmas“. He was a true genius!
The Selfridge legacy is greater than his wildest dreams. We go shopping for fun, we visit department stores for their architecture and design and of course for their sales! Ok, so it’s Boxing Day, let’s go shopping! Yahoo!!
It’s important to shop wisely though…after all, Selfridge also died penniless and the UK credit card debt is £56.35 billion and counting!
Best steel drum version of a Christmas carol ever! The Ebony Steelband Trust was playing on Oxford Street in London during the Christmas eve shopping craziness - so festive!
I’d like to be the kind of girl who could dress my dog in this Gucci hat. I know that the hat is kind of silly and it’s the type of thing you’d expect Paris Hilton’s dog to wear but there’s just something so wonderfully pretentious about it.
Starting this weekend, Season 6 of Sex and The City will be playing again, on the Paramount Comedy Channel in the UK.
Ever wonder what all the designers are that they’re wearing? Well, HBO’s website has the fashion credits on their website. It’s pretty complete, especially later in the series, although some of the credits from the first season are missing - there aren’t even any fashion credits for episode 1 (!) but it’s a fun way to watch anyways…well, if you’re fashion-obsessed!
Just in case you haven’t seen it already, here’s the trailer for the upcoming Sex and the City movie, to be released May 30, 2008:
Louis Mariette is a fabulously delightful milliner and i-D magazine stated that he was one of the 250 most influential creative professionals in the world. He is probably most famous for designing the world’s most expensive hat, valued at £1.5 million.
Most importantly, whenever you visit Louis’ showroom you’re offered a cup of tea and you feel like you’ve been transported into a magical world, and you know what? You have! I feel very naughty when I’m there, I have to try everything on and I can stop giggling. I think it’s all the glitter, it effects you somehow!
A few weeks ago I styled The Feeling’s video for their upcoming single “I Thought It Was Over”. It was wonderful working with them again (I styled the video for Rose as well) - they have a great sense of style (…and Paul’s dog is the cutest dog you’ll ever see)!
Above is the album artwork for “Join With Us”! It’s going to be released Feb 18th.
Channel 4 has the exclusive first showing of the video this weekend ! It will be shown Saturday night (ok technically Sunday) at 12:25 AM and then again Sunday Dec 23rd in the afternoon at 1:15 PM.
Today (Dec 21) is the final day for the Chris Moore exhibition at the London College of Fashion. I went yesterday, and it’s worth seeing, if only because there is no other catwalk photographer as famous, or as worthy of his own exhibition!
We don’t start a fashion show if the photographers haven’t arrived. There’d be no point. Yes, a picture really is worth a thousand words, and sometimes the photographers are all but forgotten - we never really think that the show is for them, it’s all about the front row, the editors, the celebrities (and the buyers!) but there they are, all squished together at the end of the catwalk, jockeying for the best position while holding heavy equipment. It doesn’t matter if the lighting isn’t optimal or the model forgets to pose at the end of the runway - it’s the photographers’ goal to capture every look. If you don’t have a good photographer shooting your show it’s almost not worth doing.
Amazingly, Chris Moore has been shooting catwalk shows for over 35 years. He shoots everything from Paris couture shows to new designers at Vauxhall Fashion Scout. If you haven’t seen this exhibition, the next time you look at a catwalk image check the credits - it’s probably one of Chris Moore’s!
I never go to a show without taking a picture of the photographers, it’s actually one of my favourite parts of the show!
This is hilarious! A reporter asks the Venezuelan Interior Minister if it isn’t a contradiction to speak against capitalism while wearing Gucci and Louis Vuitton…his reaction is priceless.
[source, includes a translation]
I’m a fashion television junky. I’ll watch any and every fashion show at least a few times and if I like the series and I think it’s important I’ll watch every episode!
I love How to Look Good Naked with Gok Wan, and I started watching Queer Eye for the Straight Guy when it first came out in 2003, so when it was announced that Carson Kressley was going to host the US version of How to Look Good Naked it kind of made sense! Oohh, how will it compare to the UK version? I think the British women are really brave on Gok’s show especially knowing they are going to end up doing a naked photo shoot and it’s going to become a huge billboard somewhere. I just can’t quite imagine American women doing this! What will they do? I’ll just have watch and find out. It airs in January 2008! Source
This shoot was for Luxure Magazine. I was really happy to do a shoot for Luxure because I adore the Fashion Director, Alexia Somerville. She’s an amazing stylist and has a really good eye for spotting new talent. The shoot was about “The Ones To Watch” so we focused on several up-and-coming designers. The team is also so worth watching. Hamilton is a great hair stylist, he actually reminds me of a rock god (I think he is a rock god…) I ran into him back stage at Prince, and his client list is endless (Nicole Kidman, Linda Evangelista, Cate Blanchett…). Alex Babsky has made up every famous face from Naomi Campbell to Victoria Beckham. He’s a genius, and so generous with his make-up advice. I really loved the make-up he did on Poline, her eyes looked so amazing that I couldn’t stop looking at her! I loved her look, it was a cross between Cindy Lou Hoo and Sandra Dee! I’d been wanting to work with Carlos again for ages and we were just waiting for the right project. It’s important to work with someone that you really trust because you know whatever they do it’s going to be great!
One of the things I like most about my job is that I have the opportunity be in the company of such talented people!
Photographer: Carlos Lumiere
Hair: Hamilton @SLR
Hair Assistant: Graham Tilley
Make Up: Alex Babsky @Frank
Fashion Assistant: Io Takemura
Model: Poline Geereeva @Premiere
I styled this video quite a while back for Artcha and I just saw it on youtube for the first time! How fun! The video & song “Raise your Hands ” is quite upbeat and happy - you might not think the shoot day was like that but it actually was! The video was shot at a super hip club called The Lost Society. Most of the people were friends of Artcha or friends of friends so everyone really wanted the day to be a success. It felt like a party; everyone was really happy to be there and worked so hard.
I love working on a video and then seeing the final edit. We set up the food fight; we had so many cakes and éclairs and of course lots of whipped cream. In addition to dressing all the leads in the video, I think there were over 30 extras and several dancers to dress. Fortunately, I had several fashion assistants that helped out on the day: it’s so important to have a good team - it makes a huge difference!
I went to see The Golden Age of Couture exhibition at the V&A. Before going in I had a look at the permanent fashion gallery and I never expected to see a Juicy Couture tracksuit in the V&A, but there it was… I actually like these tracksuits but I don’t think they should be worn in public unless you’re a model, on your way to a shoot. There are several benefits when a model wears a tracksuit to a shoot: it doesn’t leave any elastic marks so her skin looks smooth and there is less retouching to be done. Also the model is warm & cozy while she gets her hair and make-up done, and the jacket has a front zip so she doesn’t have to lift it over her head and ruin her hair! But really why would anyone wear a velour tracksuit on the streets of central London? I hate it when I see girls on Oxford Street with big logos on their bum and they’re usually wearing knockoffs and a fake LV bag - which is even worse. Maybe it’s just that they want to feel like a model or a celebrity for a day…
Saturday Dec 15th 2007, 6pm: I was on my way to Harriet’s Muse in Kingly Court on Carnaby St. here in London (to pick up some clothes for a photo shoot), and all of a sudden I realized I was being followed by 20 Santas! Hm, I thought, that’s odd…
I went into Harriet’s Muse, and soon we heard A LOT of noise coming from outside, so we looked out and there 200+ santas show up as a flash mob! They were generally jolly (and drunk) and well-behaved. They hung around for about 30 minutes chanting and partying, and then dispersed to all the pubs around Carnaby Street!
We managed to shoot our very own video of a flash mob - enjoy! Merry Xmas!
I saw these two fabulous girls across from the Ritz and I just had to take their picture! They are both wearing such great shoes and even though it was chilly the girl on the left wears open toe heels with sequin leggings. Both girls happen to be shoe buyers for Office!
It’s just been announced that Hannah Marshall will receive a New Generation Sponsorship to show her autumn/winter 2008-9 collection at the London Fashion Week Exhibition!
I love Hannah’s work; in it’s simplicity it’s true luxury. You always feel great when you wear her dresses. Above is a picture of the silk chiffon trapeze dress from her lookbook, which was shot by Carlos Lumiere and styled by me. Hannah’s the type of person that you can’t help but adore. She’s not a jaded fashionista; she’s sweet, extremely hard working and
very funny.
I asked Hannah for a quote, and here it is!
I have been in business less than a year, so to receive recognition and support from the British Fashion Council is so exciting, and I am really looking forward to exhibiting as part of New Generation sponsored by TOPSHOP this February.
