FOALE & TUFFIN EXHIBITION...

(The famous 'Double D' dress, 1966)

It's swinging in 60s style at the Fashion & Textiles museum, London, with a focus on the fabulous work of Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin. The exhibition follows the journey of the design duo, from their very first meeting at Art College to the formation of their Carnaby street shop, ending in Knitwear and Chinaworks (the two art forms, the pair create today.)

(Original design sketches)

Interestingly, the exhibition showcases a reconstruction of the Foale and Tuffin boutique, located just off Carnaby street in the 1960s. Scaffolding was used as rails and the 'mod' colour palette of red, white and blue, was dotted around the store as well as the light bulb shop sign.

ONE TO WATCH: THE MORNING PAPER...

From Sweden...

Epic synth sounds...

Beautiful melodies...

'Nuff said!

A VERY BRITISH GLAMOUR...

To celebrate the work of fashion photographer Norman Parkinson and launch of 'A Very British Glamour', the book which showcases his most famous portraits, Somerset House is holding a small exhibition of his work in the Terrace Rooms. I went along yesterday, as have been a fan of Parkinson's work for a while now and thought it might be a good place to start for 'inspiration' for my FMP at uni...

Most of Norman's photographs are based around his key idea which was to take models out of the studio and into the street, creating some of the most beautiful location shots of the 40s and 50s...

DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL...?

I really like the concept that Terry Richardson has worked into the latest issue of V magazine. In the feature 'One Size Fits All', Richardson has photographed the latest looks for spring 2010 on both a typical size zero model and a plus size one, proving that they can work on any figure! Being, not a twig, but a size 10/12 girl myself, I do find that some clothes just don't suit my figure, but is that really true or is it because we are only familiar with tiny shorts and crop tops being paraded on stick thin models as apposed to the size of an average girl in the pages of our fashion magazines?

Recently the argument against size zero has risen again; with Mark Fast choosing to use size 14 girls in his shows this September and Alexandra Shulman writing to designers demanding they send larger sample sizes...now this... It will be interesting to see what happens in a couple of months during the a.w 10/11 shows...

ONE TO WATCH: JOSH WELLER...

Singer-songwriter, Josh Weller, had his first taste of fame in 2006 when he used to perform in a group headed ‘Josh Weller and the Availables.’ After moving to London in 2008, Weller later began work as a solo artist, playing small venue gigs and house parties. Josh has recently been featured on fashion and street style blogs as a notable style icon: It may have been his melodic Elvis-Costello-style pop rock songs that got him noticed, but it is more likely to be his iconic vertical quiff hair style, geek-chic glasses or maybe his vast collection of vintage bow ties one of which he is always seen sporting.

Weller’s witty, fun and thought provoking lyrics are inspired by the works of Woody Allen and Richard Pryor; comedians which he says have a strong influence when it comes to song writing. This is reflected in his satiric latest single ‘It’s Christmas and I Hate You,’ featuring Paloma Faith, another rising pop musician, who also happens to share Josh’s vintage inspired style.

Josh’s style takes the classic, tailored look of legendary Hollywood and Broadway ‘Rat Pack’ stars, such as Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra and gives it a contemporary-cool, eccentric edge. Dress sense is something that Josh is often asked about, so much so that he fears it is becoming more important than the music he makes. Last month Josh told Clash Music that his style ‘...came about purely from the music I like… It is a reflection of who I am and I sometimes feel that if my music was a person then it would probably dress like me.’

Josh is currently finishing writing and producing his debut album, which is due for release next year, so watch this space...

(This is part of an article I wrote for Mpdclick)

THE BRITISH FASHION AWARDS...

Firstly, no I wasn't there...I wish (my invitation must have got lost in the post or something...?) But some really really cool people were... Kate Moss, Georgia May Jagger, Vivienne Westwood and Grace Coddington (my inspiration) were among the most stylish Brits out in force last Wednesday night to celebrate the best of British fashion talent at the British Fashion Awards 2009. The night, held at The Royal Courts of Justice in London and sponsored by Swarovski, saw an array of designers, editors, stylists, models and industry VIPs united by their love for fashion and outstanding creativity.

The event presented 11 awards in total including Collection of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Design and the special, new for 2009, London 25 honour which was won by Kate Moss.

2009 certainly has been Burberry chief creative officer, Christopher Bailey’s year: If his latest Burberry collection being the most talked about show ever, due to the brand’s triumphant return to London fashion week this summer and receiving an MBE from the queen wasn’t enough, he also managed to bag 2 awards on the night. Bailey collected the prestigious BFC Designer of the Year as well as receiving Best British Designer Brand, for Burberry; a well deserved recognition for all his achievements for the fashion house.

After a slight tumble off the stage into the Orchestra pit below, model Karen Elson presented American Vogue’s Creative Director and ‘The September Issue’ star, Grace Coddington, with the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator. In her acceptance speech Grace portrayed a modest outlook and a trivial look of confusion after questioning if she was truly deserving of the honour, stating that she doesn’t design the clothes, she doesn’t do the make-up, she doesn’t wear the clothes, so why was she winning the award? Grace might not recognise her own creative greatness but her amazing eye for style means she is undoubtedly one of the most inspiring and talented stylists of our time.

The British Fashion Awards, seen as the ‘Oscars’ of the fashion industry, was a brilliant way of rounding up the year’s celebrations that commemorated 25 years of London Fashion Week.

[This is part of an article I wrote for mpdclick during my on going internship...]

(from left: Kim Jones, Kate Moss, Vivienne Westwood, Grace Coddington, Daisy Lowe, Christopher Kane, Christopher Bailey.)

IMAGE SOURCE: http://www.britishfashionawards.com/

A NEW WONDERLAND...

Althlough I have 3 months to wait, I am so so so excited about Tim Burton's contemporary adaptation on the traditional fantasy tale, 'Alice in Wonderland', which is due for release in March 2010.

The film extends on Lewis Carroll's original story, portraying a grown up Alice who returns to Wonderland, only to discover it has changed into a darker, scarier place under the reign of the dark red queen. This almost 'sinister' approach is typical of Burton's style, which I love!!!

ONE TO WATCH: WARPAINT...

At the moment, everyone is loving LA based band ‘Warpaint’ and so am I! The band was founded a coupe of years ago by Emily Kokal, Theresa Wayman, and Jennifer Lindberg. Lindberg’s sister, Shannyn Sossamon (yes that’s right- THE Shannyn Sossamon!) used to play drums, although still performs with the band occasionally and even appears on tracks ‘Elephants’, ‘Stars’ and ‘Beetles’ on their debut EP ‘Exquisite Corpse’; a beautifully composed record, which has been mixed and edited by Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist and LEGEND John Frusciante! (It just gets more and more exciting doesn’t it?)
Warpaint has just recently re-released 'Exquisite Corpse' last month (and available to buy on CD on 7th Dec) most likely due to their rising interest and popularity. They described their sound to Dazed and Confused as ‘an eclectic collective of people and sounds running and dancing and screaming and crying!’ My personal favourite track is their cover of Mary Wells' Motown classic, ‘My Guy,’ which, is just like the girls themselves…Beautiful!

The girls are currently recording their new album, which is due for release in late spring next year so they are no doubt going to be working the festival circuit next summer!

THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE...

So The September Issue is out on DVD; I didn’t get a chance to catch it previously at the cinema so instead decided to buy it. Various reviews tagged it as ‘the real Devil Wears Prada’ which of course it is; portraying Editor in chief, Anna Wintour not as a fictitious ice woman like Meryl Streep’s character, Miranda, but as a real life stern, stubborn, ‘hardballs’ business woman.

“I don’t find her to be hidden, I just don’t find her to be accessible to people she doesn’t need to be accessible to… she’s busy and she’s not warm and friendly; she’s just doing her business.”
Tom Florio, Vogue Publisher.

Above, just one of the many fascinating and interesting quotes I got from the documentary… Not only did I find watching it entertaining but also educational; an insight to how a magazine works and the roles of each editor helped me gain a better understanding of this industry and made me even more determined to be part of it.

At the forefront of it all is Anna, who quite possibly has the biggest influence on fashion in the whole of the industry. The September Issue highlights this, when she tells world renowned designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Yves Saint Laurent’s head designer, Stefano Pilati, what she really thinks of their collections and what they should (and shouldn’t) put in their shows. It’s her brutal honesty and emotionless approach which has allowed her to not only succeed but survive this harsh industry.

“You have to learn the way to beat your path through to make yourself felt and make yourself necessary and find a way that works for you for Vogue. Because a lot of people have come and a lot of people have gone, they just couldn’t take the heart break; you have to be fairly tough to withstand that.”
Grace Coddington, Vogue’s Creative Director.

Some fabulous advice from Grace Coddington there… I think it is Grace who I find the most inspirational and aspire to be like. Her passion for her work and fashion itself is so strong and so genuine, even after over 40 years in the industry… and everything she produces, every image and every ‘look’ is so original and inventive (you would have thought after 40 years she would be starting to run out of ideas!)

“Grace is without question the greatest living stylist, there’s no one better than grace; no one who can make any photographer take more interesting, more romantic, more just stunningly realised pictures than grace… She comes from the idea that fashion is this world of play and make believe; it’s as if some one has gone to the dressing up box and found the most wonderful personal things and put them together.” Sally Singer, Vogue’s Fashion Director

(The 'Vogue team': Candy Pratts Price, Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, Virginia Smith, Sally Singer)

I could actually talk about this forever but I think this post is already quite long enough now… but if it fits in with my topics/themes, I would definitely love to include some of the inspiration I have gained from The September Issue within my dissertation or other projects this year…

An inspirational sign off…

“In my early years as a fashion editor, I worked with Norman Parkinson, who was a really big photographer and he taught me to always keep your eyes open, never go to sleep in the car or anything like that, just keep watching, because whatever you see out of the window or wherever, it can inspire you…”

Grace Coddington

JIMMY CHOO, SHOES AND 72...

A lot is going on at the moment in the world of Jimmy Choo…

After their successful collaboration with Hunter this June (which provided us with the most glamorous festival wellies EVER) Jimmy Choo have also lined up a capsule collection with high street retailer h&m which is set to arrive in store on 14th November, with not only shoes and accessories on offer but a full clothing range too!

Most currently, the luxury footwear label has joined forces with the Elton John’s Aids Foundation, to launch Project PEP; a collection of shoes and accessories designed by Jimmy Choo with 25% of net sales donated to the charity. This initiative will help the Simlela Rape Centre in Cape Town to stay open day and night providing 24 hour/7 days a week access to the vital life saving treatment ‘PEP’ that has to be administered within the first 72 hours of exposure to HIV.

(Jimmy Choo for Project PEP collection)

A social media campaign named ‘You, Your Shoes and 72’ has also been set up and there is a chance for us to get involved too; Jimmy Choo wants people to submit photos showing their best shoes and the number 72 to raise awareness of the PEP project. The winning images will be showcased at the global launch of Project PEP, which will be held at Selfridges in London on October 29th… the winners will also receive products from the Jimmy Choo collection.

Enter here: http://www.jimmychoo72.com/