London & Osman Y

Sometimes I take living in London for granted. I guess that is the nature of anything you become too familiar with. Last week, I was reminded of one of the reasons why London is such an awesome city… its museums.

Entrance to the V&A

Last Friday, the Victoria & Albert Museum, in all its glory, played host to an Osman Yousefzada show as part of it’s Fashion in Motion series. The series gives visitors to a chance to attend a free fashion show that provides a retrospective on the chosen designer’s body of work – with the simple aim of bringing high fashion to a wider audience. This time it was Osman Y, not all that widely known but one of fashion’s hidden treasures. In fact, as A from Disco Nap London, who was also at the show pointed out, the dress Sarah Brown wore when hubby Gordon resigned as Prime Minister, was an Osman Y number.

The show reflected Osman’s Afghan roots with dancing at the start.

Opening dance

I was sat on the second row with A and V of Disco Nap London and we nattered away as if we were highly paid fashion magazine editors. It’s all part of the fun I guess.

And now for the clothes. There is a certain beauty in the simplicity of the colours and shapes he uses and there is just something about the clothes that you know is special. They seem as though they have the power to transform you. The draping and the way the clothes hang on the body reflects Osman’s confident understanding of the female form. The show was beautifully put together with dark coloured clothes broken up by loud pops of colour. The detail on the clothes (and shoes) were subtle and simple yet effective – one of my favouites was a floor length long sleeved blue dress with one embellished sleeve, modelled by Ben Grimes.

Ben Grimes and the embellished arm via Style Bubble

The jewel-embellished wedges were another favourite. The ultimate statement shoe.

via Style Bubble as my Point & Shoot couldn't capture this

After the shoddy pics that I manage dto salvage, I’m considering getting a new camera, though, I may just need to learn how to use the one I have.

A Little Gem on the King’s Road

When I was at uni, for my sins, I worked on the King’s Road. At that time, (though it was not so long ago), the infamous Chelsea street was home to a sprinkling of stores including, long-standing department store, Peter Jones, of which I have fond memories of buying school uniform with my Mum and arguing about the colours of my sew-in names tags. As well as some great eateries, namely, old school haunt, Chelsea Kitchen where I spent many a Sunday lunch break nursing a hangover with spag bol and the best apple crumble ever. Fast forward three years and the street has changed. It is still the playground of your stereotypical Sloane rangers, yummy mummies and the odd member of the Royal family but now there are plenty of stores and a small selection of great boutiques including Austique.

Last week I attended a fashion show and party held by Austique to celebrate their 6th birthday and raise money for Too Many Women Breast Cancer Charity. They showcased pieces from the upcoming drop of their High Summer and Autumn/Winter ’10 collections. Some of the clothes they showed were fab, including pieces from Nicole Richie’s new clothing line, Winter Kate and stunning numbers from Austique’s own line. The room at exclusive member’s club, Beaufort House, was full of beautiful people, albeit, very similar looking people wearing very similar clothes but beautiful nonetheless.

Winter Kate A/W 2010/11

Austique S/S '10

Zimmerman S/S '10

For these and more, particularly hard to find Australian and American designers, check out their online boutique here or visit their store at 330 King’s Road, London, SW3 5UR.

Oh and a big thanks to Sandra for being my unofficial photographer for the night.

Colette does Superhero

I often have nightmares about this Luella t-shirt and recall how just as I go to enter in my card details on net-a-porter.com, it sells out. Then I wake up and realise that this nightmare is a dark and depressing reality.

Now thanks to Colette and DC Comics, I may be able to own something even better. DC Comics, think Batman, Superman, etc is celebrating their 75th anniversary and Colette is serving up a serious birthday pressie. Colette has commissioned a range of superhero-themed designer accessories and clothing items for its latest window, due to be unveiled tomorrow. The line features these Catwoman thigh-highs by Roger Vivier, Green Lantern gloves designed by Karl Lagerfeld and a Dog Batman T-shirt by Lanvin men’s wear designer Lucas Ossendrijver.

I think these boots might stop the nightmares.

my-wardrobe.com do denim

There is good reason for this picture of a park bench, promise. If you can figure out where this is…

Where am I?

…You can be the proud owner of the brand new pair of Nudie jeans hiding underneath courtesy of my-wardrobe.com and their Denim Dash. This London-wide treasure hunt is to mark the opening of their online Denim Bar. The new my-wardrobe.com Denim Bar aims to show shoppers how they can make each jean style work for them.  With collections from eight denim brands; J Brand, CURRENT/ELLIOT, 7 For All Mankind, Nudie, Paige, and Nobody and new designers for Autumn Winter 10 such as the new Vivienne Westwood/Lee Jeans collaboration, the Denim Bar sets out to simplify and translate the styles of the season.

To celebrate the launch my-wardrobe.com are desecending on Carnaby Street with London’s debut pop-up bar made entirely of denim on the 27^th – 28^th May.  Designed by Mark Lawson-Bell, the creative mind behind Conduit Street’s Sketch’s interior design concept, the pop-up bar invites shoppers to enjoy a Tanqueray No.10 my-martini in style, whilst browsing denim collections from the site.

Follow @mywardrobe on Twitter or check out their Facebook page for clues on where the jeans are hiding – there are five pairs to be found and they are popping up everywhere! Not only will you win the jeans, you’ll also get tickets to the exclusive Denim Bar launch party!

Valentino: When Gods walk amongst Men

Whilst most common fashion-minded folk are planning little shindigs for the eagerly awaited launch of Sex and The City 2 on May 28th, the more seriously fashion-minded amongst us have  got a couple of champagne bottles on ice for the screening of Valentino: The Last Emperor on the small screen. Every self-respecting designer should have a documentary. Valentino’s was filmed in 2008 and captures the closing act of his career with fabulous dresses, fabulous people and the expected hissy fits.

The full documentary airs on BBC Four on Bank Holiday Sunday at 10pm. Move over The September Issue!

Jefferson Hack presents Digital Cover Stars

If there is one person that gets it in the fashion industry, it’s Jefferson Hack. He recently told The Business of Fashion, “The old media model is a frozen moment in time; a monthly magazine, a seasonal trend — it’s over. Digital culture is a constant stream. Either you adapt to it, or you are a dinosaur and you will die.” He added: “This is a new era of digital beauty.”

Enter Digital Cover Stars. A monthly online feature from AnOther magazine profiling stars who are worthy of gracing the cover. According to the statement, “the digital content will be completely independent of the revered print biannual, while maintaining the same spirit and high standards of storytelling and subject matter.” Meaning that there will be film content, exclusive pictures and more.

Charlotte Gainsbourg’s up first. The actress/singer is profiled by Jessica Hundley and stars in a short film by Melodie McDaniel that captures her LA hotel room stashed with rows and rows of Balenciaga’s pre-fall collection that can be seen here.

Magazines do not have a choice but to adapt or fade away into non-existence at the moment. There has already been a rise in online content, such as the short film of Jennifer Lopez for Vogue Italia and behind-the-scenes film of Rosie Huntington-Whitely for GQ. Jefferson Hack is onto a winner with Digital Cover Stars. It is more than just an nice bit of film of a woman gyrating for an editorial. It is real exclusive content that people will want to view. This is how you adapt to the changing times, decline in magazine readership and increase in online content consumption. Who will be next to step up to the plate?

The takeover continues: Fashion bloggers turn designers

Brands want to tap into the influence of fashion and style bloggers. Many meetings are being had right now on how they can do this. The American handbag and accessories designer, Coach, has beat most to it. They’ve gathered four of the most well known and popular style bloggers from New York and collaborated with them to create a fun editorial, My NY. The bloggers from My Style Pill, What I Wore, Where Did You Get That and The Owls are Not What They Seem represent their different styles and New Yorks through their different choices of Coach handbags.

Coach are taking it one step further by collaborating with four bloggers -Simpson of What Is Reality Anyway, Kelly Framel of The Glamourai, Karla Deras of Karla’s Closet, and Emily Schuman of Cupcakes and Cashmere to design limited-edition bags. The styles will be available for pre-order online from May 19 (prices range from $398 to $498).

It is a pretty cool collaboration but one that I suspect will be both admired and hated by fashion folk. Personally I wouldn’t be running out to be any of the bags but just in the same way that I don’t run out and buy anything that has been celebrity endorsed unless I really love it. Will we be seeing more of these brand and fashion blogger collaborations in the future? And if so, who is the target market? I guess it has to be the readers of these fashion blogs… thing is I wouldn’t be spending that much money on a bag designed by a blogger – sorry!

Thoughts on Gucci Couture

Haute couture is for the fashion big boys. Not anyone can just decide they want to get involved in this high fashion game. In fact, haute couture is a protected name that can be used only by firms meeting certain well-defined standards set by the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Paris. That hasn’t stopped Gucci though. Earlier this year, there were rumours doing the rounds that Gucci were planning their debut couture collection. This week, Gucci Premiere, was unveiled on the opening night of the Cannes film festival by Salma Hayek.

The line was launched in response to the strong demand for one-of-a-kind designs for the red carpet. Gucci does not have plans of showing the creations on the catwalk, Frida Giannini describes the collection as “more [of] an intimate approach between the house of Gucci and the stars and the celebrities.”

Gucci used the World Restoration Premiere of Il Gattopardo to showcase even more Gucci Premiere. Originally premiered in Cannes in 1963, the film “Il Gattopardo” starring Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale received critical acclaim and won the festival’s top honor, the Palme d’Or. With Gucci’s support, the film has undergone an extensive 4K digital restoration at Sony’s Colorworks Digital Facility.

This time Kate Beckinsale joined Salma Hayek in Gucci Premiere.

Kate Beckinsale can do no wrong and she really shines in this dress. Not sure that I love it but it works on her for the red carpet.

This dress is stunning and is much better than the dress worn on the opening night. I’m not bowled over by Gucci Premiere but I am definitely looking forward to what more it as to offer. Frida Giannini understands the business of fashion and that often translates in the collections so I’m sure she is using Cannes to whet our appetites and the best is yet to come…

Industrie Magazine: When Editors become Cover Stars

There is nothing THAT whets my appetite more than a good magazine. Flicking through the glossy pages, coveting designer wares and inspired by the long and lean physiques of the gazelle-like models. Given these recession times we’re in, I don’t expect the birth of many new mags but where they do pop up, they need to have a gimmick. Enter Industrie Magazine. A magazine dedicated to the culture of fashion, snapshots of the personalities and moments which shape our industry with Anna Wintour featuring as it’s first cover star. I’m already hooked.

This is the next step from fashion blogs that have given us normal folk an in when it comes to the fashion industry. Now the industry is claiming back some control and providing us an insight into some of the movers and shakers. The first issue features designer Rick Owens, fashion mogul Natalie Massenet of net-a-porter.com fame and a ‘how to look good naked’ shoot featuring Dana Werbowy and Lara Stone.

I’ll be queuing up for my copy on 24th May, when the first issue goes on sale worldwide.

No Back-up Plan Needed: Jennifer Lopez does Vogue Italia

Okay, I know the reviews of  her new movie, The Back-up Plan, have been well… not very good to say the least but this, this is breathtaking. Jennifer Lopez rocks it out in an editorial for the May 2010 edition of Vogue Italia shot by Michelangelo di Battista and he kindly put together this short film of the shoot.

If all fashion editorials can be captured as beautifully as this on film, this could be the future and if so, the future is very bright.