I'm currently at Pitti in Florence steaming (real, sunny, sweaty summer at last, yay!). I'll obviously post about it all as soon as I can but right now I'm way too busy with work and eating, so in the meantime here's a little link to my new Tumblr gif diary, which you should check out right now as it's the most amazing Tumblr gif diary ever (and hey! It's not like every other person has a gif Tumblr). Let me know your thoughts!
A couple of months ago I interviewed the very lovely Lou Doillon (aka we met at a café and talked for two hours, mostly of our love of Leonard Cohen). The interview is featured in this summer's issue of Wonderland Magazine. I thought you might like to read it...
Sipping a
café crème in her camel hair coat, maroon fedora and unruly bangs, Lou Doillon
looks like the epitome of contemporary French chic. But as soon as she starts
talking - in perfect English, “bien sûr” - it becomes clear that the singer is
hardly the typical Gallic girl. “I feel very English whenever I’m in France,
and vice-versa. At home in Paris I constantly bake pies and we only eat British
food; I think that comes as a bit of a shock to my mother, who took up French
nationality in the sixties and knows the Marseillaise by heart.”
The 30
year-old daughter of Jane Birkin and filmmaker Jacques Doillon was born in Paris, yet grew up listening almost exclusively to American music: “I
used to sit at the back of the car on trips and listen to the tapes my father
played. That’s how I discovered Nina Simone, Patti Smith and, of course, Bob
Dylan. I remember the day I first heard him, I was amazed at the wittiness of
his lyrics.” All of these artists have unconsciously influenced the eleven
melancholy ballads that compose Places - Doillon’s first
album. However, the singer/ actress/ model had only one inspiration in mind
while writing her songs. “Unlike Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen had a real influence
on my album. Dylan might be the best songwriter, but he is never kind. Cohen on
the other hand is, as the French would say, 'bienveillant'. His lyrics are
rather raw, but there is never any viciousness or reproach in them. As I was
writing, I tried to remain as graceful as him… Although my songs speak about
heartbreak, I ended up taking all the anger away from them, and thanking past
lovers for the pain and the lessons they taught me.”
A rather unusual point of
view, considering today’s musical landscape. But then again, Doillon's upbringing
and family are hardly conventional. Her parents separated when she was nine
years old, and she spent most of the time with her mother. Doillon's close family also included Serge Gainsbourg and Charlotte, Jane Birkin's daughter by the legendary French singer.“My family had
different and sometimes difficult relationships, but they had a rare kind of
honesty about them. I had my father of course, but Serge was also very present
in my life; none of them were ever scared of using their relationships to make
their art. They didn’t believe in a simplistic interpretation of love where if
you are in a couple you are happy and if you are loveless you are sad. Things
are so much more complicated than that and feelings shift constantly.I think
the French are able to understand and accept that better than other people.” Has that shaped her music? “A sense of vulnerability in
love did, yes.”
Uncertainty,
frustration and longing fill her lyrics, which are perfectly complemented in the blue
notes of an accompanying piano and the hints of a western guitar. Her
low-pitched voice, far removed from Jane Birkin’s fragile soprano tones, vibrates with despair. “I’m not
a 20 year-old girl anymore. I’ve screamed, cried, laughed, smoked and drank a
lot in my life. I guess my voice reveals those extremes. Etienne Daho, my
producer, once told me it reminded him of Karen Dalton, the American folk
singer. I have been listening to her a lot since.”
Daho - one of France’s most
respected singers and music producers, who has worked with the likes of
Françoise Hardy, Air and Vanessa Paradis - was the first person to hear Doillon’s
songs. Under his wing, Places received critical acclaim upon its release. It was also an unexpected commercial success, selling more than 200.000 copies. But the singer remains somewhat puzzled: “I’m a newcomer. So far I’ve
only sang 10 gigs, and when I listen to the album I still can’t believe those
are my songs. Maybe that’s because I work very fast. The writing
process takes over me when I’m in a dark place. I never really look for writing
because as soon as I do I can be sure nothing will come out.”
Music is simply the
latest of Doillon's creative outlets (she's also worked as an artist, designer, model and actress), but it's definitely her favourite. “It
allows me not only to reveal myself in all my vulnerability and brokenness, but
also to understand myself better. Songwriting is a very unconscious process, sometimes
I don’t know where what I’m writing is coming from. Etienne says it takes three
or four years to understand your own songs; it is probably true. We’ll see!”
However, her plans still involve all kinds of different projects. “The need of expression is so powerful... Why explore it in just one way?
I think more than caring about getting really perfect at one thing we should
aim at being curious and exceptional and simply enjoy ourselves. After all...
we only live once.”
Everybody knows Keith Haring: his t-shirts printed with
radiating babies, red hearts and barking dogs became iconic in the
mid-eighties as he started selling them in his Pop Shop in downtown
Manhattan and are nowadays recognized by one and all. Yet few know about
the artist’s longstanding political engagement, his activism and his
fight against racism, environment destruction, homophobia and AIDS. That
is why the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris and Le Centquatre gallery have joined forces to present Keith Haring: The political Line. The exhibition – a comprehensive retrospective featuring nearly 250 works –
explores the messages of social justice, individual freedom and change
conveyed by the artist through his canvases, sculptures and graffiti.
Haring was exceptionally aware of the international political situation,
something he attributed to having grown up during the boisterous 60s.
Born in Pennsylvania in 1958, he took an early interest in art and began
studying at the Ivy School of Professional Art of Pittsburgh. However,
he soon grew frustrated with commercial art and decided to move to New
York’s School of Visual Arts. It was 1978 and Basquiat, Rauschenberg and
Warhol (who would become his close friends) were at the forefront of
the city’s art scene. It was during these years that he started doing
his subway paintings, which he humorously dubbed “urban guerrilla art”,
working frenetically and risking arrest every time he took the subway
downtown. These quick drawings, which became part of his everyday
routine (some of them have survived time and are visible in the
exhibition, even if Haring wished them to be ephemeral) were made in
chalk over publicity billboards. Sketched quickly in one lean line, they
would shape the artist’s visual identity, gradually turning into the
clean, naïve characters inhabiting his canvases.
Even through the use of pop art techniques (Coca-Cola logos, dollar
bills and Andy Mouse, a crossover between Mickey Mouse and Andy Warhol,
are recurrent in the exhibit), Haring could not hide the conceptual
nature of his work. His figures were drawn with an almost irritating
precision and their touching candour expressed paradoxically dark and
complicated realities, conveying his message in a very comprehensible
way. With cartoonish charm, a painting in the exhibition depicts the
United States as a muscular character with an erect penis and a tank
where his head should be. Another canvas features capitalism as an
oversized pig merrily devouring humans. Where one painting represents
media as a Technicolor monster trapping humans with its many tongues,
another reflects upon the atomic menace using only black, white and red.
Haring’s political engagement drove him to work mainly in the public
space (he famously painted the Berlin Wall at Checkpoint Charlie in
1986). In his opinion, art should be accessible: “the public has been
ignored by most contemporary artists”, he wrote in his journal, “but the
public needs art. Art is for everybody”.
On April 26, Dior Homme held its first-ever fashion show outside of Paris, and the spot chosen by Kris Van Assche for this one-off event was Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Arts museum.
The organic, airy building with curved walls hosted 600 guests,
including a long list of Chinese celebrities (from media mogul Hung
Huang to “China’s number-one heartthrob” actor Huang Xiaoming) sporting a
studied air of effortless elegance. “After having staged some events in
Shanghai, Beijing seemed like the logical next step”, Van Assche said.
“I love the momentum of China, and how people in this city pay a lot of
attention to the way they look.”
The show was a reprisal of Dior Homme’s A/W13 show which debuted last
January in Paris. Half of the impeccably groomed models were cast
locally and three new looks (which according to the designer will only
be available in China) were added to the show. Drawing inspiration from
1997’s film Gattaca, Van Assche created a rigorous collection with a
futuristic edge (“clothes for tomorrow”) leaning on technical fabrics
and functional details like safety belts and jackets equipped with zips
instead of buttons. “I have been very inspired by sport and the notion
of a healthy mind in a healthy body lately, that’s why I took Gattaca as
the starting point for the collection. From there I worked to achieve
an athletic silhouette, lean yet virile, following the masculine anatomy
in the cut of the clothes.”
In their austere, waist-belted black suits and tightly combed-back hair,
the models were the embodiment of inexorable physical perfection as they marched
down the catwalk. The show was a cavalcade of high energy, with the
added excitement of a black bat flying into the room and twirling around
over the models’ heads, in what many guests thought to be a deliberate
performance. After the show, a gig by synth-pop duo Hurts (dressed
head-to-toe in Dior Homme, naturally) got the crowd dancing. “I think
they are a great representation of contemporary dandyism”, said a
relaxed Van Assche as models challenged the crowd to a dance-off,
beginning what would be an all-night after party.
Two weeks ago I got the kind of phonecall we all dream about: Kris Van Assche's Dior office was calling, they were organizing a menswear show in China and would I be free to go to Beijing in 5 days. Well, would I! a very busy week ensued, which was spent basically doing paperwork and worrying that I wouldn't get my visa (let's just say journalists, even the ones who work in fashion, are not exactly the darlings of the Chinese Communist Party). However, everything worked out in the end and I found myself flying towards a city I didn't know much about...
I'm not really sure what I was expecting from Beijing; certainly a very (very) big city where tradition meets modernity. But what is really amazing about China's capital is its energy. It's impossible to describe, it oozes old time mystery and 21st century excitement (and endless pollution. Sometimes it's even impossible to see 100 metres ahead of you because of that). In the picture above is the view I got of the city from my room in the 49th floor of the Park Hyatt hotel.
Traditional China is still there, though, sometimes so idyllic it feels like a Hollywood setting. These pictures were taken around the Summer Palace a bit outside the city, where the Qing emperors used to spend their summers (and which was massacred by the "very civilized" English and French during the XIXth century and rebuilt later). Just taking a walk there makes you feel so zen and grounded - and the experience is enhanced by the fact that there are hardly any obnoxious Western tourists dressed in shorts and crocs. Seriously, that makes Beijing the perfect destination.
Posing in the Forbidden city with the lovely Noémie from the Dior team. We learned the most impressive stories about concubines and eunuchs there.
Some charmingly decadent traditional neighbourhoods still exist in the city, although most of them are being destroyed in order to build yet more huge towers to house banks and financial institutions while people are being relocated. It just doesn't make much sense to me how any self-respecting Communist party would do that kind of thing, but oh well. I think as a matter of fact one of the things that fascinates me about China so far is its political and socio-economic situation. Being able to talk to real people and see how they live was, for me, the most priceless thing about my trip. As was seeing senior citizens still dress as they did during the Cultural Revolution, wearing blue worker jackets and caps with red stars embroidered on them.
Yes, I did have the time to take a walk on the Great Wall. And there were no tourists!
The Forbidden City was really impressive and made me think of Ryuichi Sakamoto's music for The Last Emperor. Most of the pavillions in it are being restored, but there are still some decadent bits like this one, which made me ecstatic with aesthetic joy, much to the confusion of Chinese people who couldn't understand how a decaying wall could make me so happy.
Dior Homme's amazing show. More on that tomorrow, as it deserves a post on its own.
And of course we partied like crazy fashion people after the show, dancing to Hurts's live gig with Chinese celebrities (I admit I didn't know who anyone was, but they were all lovely and fun!). Here I am towards the end of the night, after too much champagne and too much jet lag, with Julien from Dior. For some reason at this point I was wearing Julien's Dior Homme outfit and he was wearing my Carolina Herrera leopard coat, which prompted our motto for the night (and our whole stay in China): what happens in Beijing stays in Beijing.
I met up with the lovely Dutch model Bette Franke a couple of weeks ago around tea and raspberry choux à la crème at the See by Chloé perfume launch to talk beauty and makeup. When not strutting the catwalks or fronting Stella McCartney campaigns, Bette is a laid back, fresh-faced girl who wouldn't look a bit out of place in the chicest spots of the Hamptons. Beauty treatment junkie as I am, I just had to get the lowdown on her beauty routine.
What's the best beauty advice you've ever been given?
After years of wearing dramatic make-up at work (and sometimes being made up several times a day), I can positively say the best advice I've been given is... to keep it natural! Make-up artists have often advised me against pancaking my face with foundation, lipstick and eyeshadow, so on a day to day basis I just wear a touch of blush and some pink lip gloss.
Tell me your anti-stress miracle remedy.
I'm not one to run to fancy spas when I want to relax... Instead, I enjoy biking around Central Park; exercising and looking at the trees really takes my mind off my day. Otherwise, I just make a cup of green tea and curl up on the sofa with a book. I am a big fan of cocooning.
Your favourite beauty product?
I have the same problem as most models: I tend to get allergies and reactions on my skin from all the make-up I have to wear... Luckily I've found a miraculous moisturizer, Nars's Crème Hydratation Lumière. I've been using it for several months, it's really thick and creamy and just feels incredibly comfortable. I've become addicted to it!
Who is your beatuy icon?
I don't really have one. I often find most of the people I meet (not just models!) are beautiful in different ways or have striking facial features. As I see it, anyone can be a beauty icon. Beauty is such a broad concept...
What's your beauty routine before a party?
It's not very different to my everyday routine, to be honest; just a little more sophisticated. I do wear foundation when I go out at night. My favourite is Calvin Klein, it's really luminous, which comes in handy after an exhausting day of work. I also wear a very light, sheer lipstick, also from Calvin, in a fuchsia tone. That's all. No eyeshadow, no mascara.
...And your anti-hangover plan the day after?
First of all, getting up. You start feeling sorry for yourself in bed and your whole day is automatically ruined! A shower and a home made carrot and ginger juice give me a jumpstart (I love juicing), then I make a point of getting out of the house and brunch out with friends.Works like a charm, every time.
Do you ever detox or diet?
No. I do eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables on a daily basis and I don't eat sugar often. I'm not a big fan of cake, so it doesn't bother me all that much. But I don't believe in dieting: all it does is make you desperately want what you're not supposed to eat. Indulging from time to time is necessary, just as eating healthily.
Nothing about the fashion industry makes us dream like haute couture
does. Extremely precise yet outstandingly creative, this discipline
(officially started by Charles Frederick Worth in the 1860s, although
heavily inspired by the flamboyant fashions and lifestyle of the court
of Versailles) oozes magic. And while today many question the current
influence and the future of couture, Olivier Saillard – director of the renowned Musée Galliéra in Paris – and Anne Zazzo
– art historian and curator – believe its evolution will only take it
to new heights. Together, they have written a book and curated an
exhibition (both titled Paris Haute Couture) exploring its history from Poiret to Saint Laurent, and its fascinating prospective. For my latest article on AnOther Magazine, I got together with these two true Parisians to discuss savoir-faire and creativity in today's couture.
Haute couture is so deeply associated with Paris… could it ever exist outside of the French capital?Olivier Saillard:
Couture is first and foremost the reflection of French heritage and
tradition, and a certain idea of savoir-faire transmitted from
generation to generation. Economically, it demands and enormous amount
of money and its profits aren’t big, so it takes a very passionate
investor – the likes of Dior, Gaultier or Chanel – to finance an haute
couture collection. In those terms, I don’t think it is possible to
produce couture outside of Paris today, especially considering the
current economic climate. However, I do believe other countries could
very well invent their own forms of couture, different from the French
and inspired by their own cultures; why not?
What are the “métiers d’art”? How essential are they to haute couture?Anne Zazzo:
Since in haute couture the basic rule is to make everything entirely by
hand and all kinds of materials are involved in it, the industry needs
experts to work exclusively in the treatment of feathers, embroideries,
gloves or buttons. These are what we call in France the “métiers d’art”:
ateliers like Lesage, Lemarié, Massaro
or Jean Clément who have become necessary to couture through the years.
They are craftsmen whose savoir-faire is unique, and their work adds to
the value of a couture gown. They are actually so apprised that couture
designers like Karl Lagerfeld have been sponsoring and supporting them
for years.
You say haute couture is paradoxically best revealed through what it conceals, what do you mean by that?OS: The
public in general – and even many people who work in the fashion
industry – tend to identify couture with precious, heavily ornamented,
embroidered clothes. However, the more a gown is simple, the more it is
haute couture: for it is through simplicity that we can best appreciate
the craft that goes into couture. Take for instance Madame Grès; it took
her years of work and experience to be able to think and execute her
trademark dresses, and ultimately that is much more important than any
amount of hours spent making a gown.
Can bad taste exist in couture?AZ: Haute couture is
heavily coded and traditionally follows a very strict etiquette.
Designers have always shown the clothes in a specific order, according
to the sartorial needs of women of the world 24 hours a day: morning
suits for both the city and the countryside, tea dresses, cocktail
dresses, evening gowns… Each occasion has its own outfit, and such
codification tacitly implies good taste. However, as Picasso said, good
taste is the enemy of creativity, and haute couture is a creative craft.
When a designer leaves his mark upon his collections, he inevitably
pushes the boundaries of taste. It happened with Worth, who dressed
1870s women in tapestry motifs (prompting many jokes at the time), with
Schiaparelli and her extremely sexualised collections and with
Galliano’s eerie proportions and ornament overdose. So in a way, bad
taste is very couture!
Is there a sense of nostalgia to today’s couture?OS: I see
more and more young designers trying to find new, sustainable ways to
work, and looking back to a time when couture was produced in a more
artisanal way. People like Bouchra Jarrar and Alexandre Vauthier have
built small teams and sometimes work with friends and family. They don’t
feel the need to grow exponentially or to open boutiques in every
street corner in China. Then, of course, there is a much less exciting
form of nostalgia in couture – aesthetic nostalgia. Some designers
create nothing but incredibly ornate evening gowns. Not only are they
perpetuating a false cliché of what haute couture is, they are also
creating dresses for a kind of woman who doesn’t really exist anymore.
What is so magical about owning a couture garment?OS: It’s
not about the price (I really think for people who can afford to buy
haute couture the investment is not that important). It’s about the
personal relationship of a woman – and her body – and a dress. Custom
made clothing, no matter whether it is couture or a very simple dress
that one has made for oneself, is always something we cherish, something
we are not easily tempted to throw away. It’s the radical opposite of
fast fashion. Couture dresses take time to make, several fittings… They
are executed with the utmost attention and tenderness and meant
exclusively for one person’s body. Dresses made by Azzedine Alaïa or
Chanel have a very special kind of lightness: they feel natural, almost
like petals. That’s where the magic of haute couture is.
What has prêt-à-porter inherited from haute couture?AZ: The
obsession of permanent creation. Designers like Yves Saint Laurent (and
later Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel) came from haute couture and developed
prêt-à-porter collections, transmitting the idea that a brand has to
have its own style and image. The cult of designers comes also from
couture… Today, Alber Elbaz and Hedi Slimane are just as respected as
any haute couture designer.
What should we expect from haute couture in the 21st century?OS:
It will of course have to change. We no longer live in a world which
allows us to be dressed in couture from dawn till dusk. We have entered a
new era, but that doesn’t mean this form of art has to disappear. Right
now a new, extremely creative way of making prêt-à-porter is emerging
which could take over couture houses (given of course that mass
production would slow down or stop). I personally think the French
government should be a lot more supportive and help finance small
ateliers with expert craftsmen and “couturières”, then invite one
designer - I’m thinking of Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo or some of the rising
talents of the London scene - each season to create a collection. That
would let them unleash their creative side without thinking of
production constraints… Wouldn’t it be wonderful?
I'm now writing for AnOther ... and I couldn't be happier about it, since it's one of my favourite magazines ever! So far I have published 2 articles in the past week (both about Spanish artists) and I can't help but sharing my latest one about Salvador Dalí. I know many people have trouble dealing with his work and his flamboyant personality, but I must confess I just adore him: he was deliriously creative, intelligent, articulate, hysterically funny, the king of overstatement... and he was hot when he was young. What more could one ask for in a man? In short: yes, he was a genius.
"Each morning when I awake, I experience again a supreme pleasure – that of being Salvador Dalí".
The man who once defined himself as a “cosmogonic genius” was second to
none when it came to controversy. Seen by most of his contemporaries as
an eccentric at best and a shameless buffoon at worst, he was judged by
an art industry that despised in him the very same things it praised in
Andy Warhol: megalomania, a taste for provoking and an audacity that
knew no bounds. Dalí was in fact a pioneer exploring performance art
ahead of his time, and his manipulation of the media has taken a whole
new meaning in this Internet-driven century: the timing couldn't be more
perfect for the retrospective
that is currently held at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, which
places the Spanish artist yet again right in the eye of the storm.
Salvador Dalí was anything but ordinary. From his childhood he had a
rare conscience of his own greatness: "at the age of six I wanted to be a
cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been
growing steadily ever since". His early years in the Catalan coast of
Empordà would arise in him an array of Iberian eccentricities that went
from food obsession to mystic outbursts and caught the interest of the
group of surrealist artists led by André Breton. However, the young Dalí
proved too outrageous even for them and was eventually expelled from
the group after presenting his scatological painting The Lugubrious
Game. From then on, stating "I am surrealism", he pushed the boundaries
of art to delirious extremes like a near-death experience inside a
diving suit during a performance. He never hid his appetite for fame and
fortune, going as far as to invent his own anagram nickname, "Avida
Dollars". From the 1940s he engaged in all kinds of creative projects:
designing dresses with Elsa Schiaparelli, imagining movie sets with the
also genial Alfred Hitchcock or even conceiving the logo of Chupa Chups
sweets, still finding time to appear in numerous TV shows and, of
course, to paint with a skill comparable to those of Velázquez or
Vermeer.
The exhibition at the Pompidou Centre looks back on the painter’s
life through more than 200 works of art comprising The Great
Masturbator, The Persistence of Memory and other iconic paintings as
well as readymade objects like his 1936 Lobster Telephone, films,
jewellery or pieces of furniture mimicking Mae West’s features. Visitors
will enter the exhibit through a giant egg symbolizing birth, and will
exit through a brain, having experienced the hallucinogenic cosmos of
this modern Renaissance Man.
Dalí is at the Centre Pompidou until March 25, 2013
Despite the fact that my life is an emotional turmoil right now, I can say I'm truly happy about one thing: I've reached a milestone in my career. Years of writing about British fashion and young talent for a French audience more often than not totally oblivious of any fashion made outside Continental Europe have paid off. My editors at L'Express must like my style, because they decided to have me cover London Fashion Week for the magazine. I was beside myself with joy, pretty much had to refrain from kissing everyone in the room. The British Fashion Council did the rest with the most amazing display of savoir faire: upon arriving to St Pancras (an extra-fancy train station if we compare it to the dumpy Gare du Nord), I found a lovely driver waiting for me (thanks for everything, Jim!) who took me to the official LFW 5 star May Fair hotel. 5 days of shows, running everywhere, crazy work, crazy fun and no sleep ensued.
These are just some of the highlights of the week; it was difficult to choose because really everything was perfect (except for a couple of gossipy French people): Mary Katrantzou's chaotic show, meeting Fred Butler and talking about her work, sitting front row at Christopher Kane and Paul Smith... It was all tons of fun and I hope to do it again next time!
Discovering Marques'Almeida
I had previously seen a couple of the pieces created by Portuguese designers Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida on I-D, but never a whole look. I was stunned at their show: I had never seen such distressed and such fabulous denim! I loved the dark green pieces with embroidered stars/ivy leaves. But what stroke me most was how well the collections translated to the street. There were several girls dressed in Marques'Almeida clothes at Somerset House and they all stood out, looking fantastic in a kind of grungey chic way.
Bumping into Vanni everywhere
Italian whirlwind Vanni, one of my best and dearest friends, abandoned me in Paris a year ago to find his luck in London... and find it he did! Vanni called me on the first morning of LFW to tell me he could meet me whenever I was free. Instead, I bumped into his fabulous self in Somerset House between shows by chance. He introduced me to some of his friends, including jewellery designer Mawi (guess where his necklaces and clutch in the picture come from), who was super sweet. During the next few days I saw a lot of him (although I have never enough of Vanni): we drank champagne together at Somerset House, he impressed me with his door bitch skills at the Jonathan Saunders show, we drank margaritas at a Mexican speakeasy/S&M dungeon in Soho and he told me all about his upcoming collection. Because on top of working for Mr Saunders and Miss Mawi and taking London by storm, Vanni is a talented designer preparing his first collection, so keep him on your radar everyone!
Meeting Iggy Azalea at the Moschino Cheap & Chic show
Walking into the Moschino C&C show on saturday evening all the mainstream media were drooling over Alexa Chung. My eye, however, was caught by an elegant blonde in a long leopard dress. Although her looks and demeanour reminded me of Golden Age Hollywood stars, it turned out to be outrageous Aussie hip hop singer Iggy Azalea. I couldn't help myself. I walked past her and told her how much I loved her work. I didn't want to bother her, so I didn't expect it at all when instead of behaving all diva-ish, she started spontaneously talking to me about her trip to Europe and how the fashion industry made her feel. So not only the girl has mad talent, beauty and style, she is also super nice! Here she is, among others, talking about how to dress for the front row.
Having lunch with Margaret Howell
I'm a lucky girl. On sunday I was privileged enough to be invited to a lunch with none other than British icon and designer Margaret Howell. It felt very much like an oasis in the middle of crazy day which at times seemed too fashion forward. Margaret and her team are zen and cultured and, as different as their respective styles are, they share with Paul Smith a philosophy about fashion that connects with traditional British know-how. For them, it's all about creating quality clothes in a respectful way, clothes that are timeless and so well cut that they make people wearing them feel confident. Here are two pictures from her show, which took place earlier that day. It goes without saying I would have worn every single piece of the collection.
Seeing Tate Modern at night (and the Jonathan Saunders show)
From the moment I got the ticket I knew it was going to be quite something: a show at the Tate Modern! How cool could that be? But what I didn't expect was to see the entrance of the museum deserted and dark at 9 pm. That was really rare. And cool. It felt almost sacred, like a temple. The Jonathan Saunders show was also pretty impressive. I've always liked his work, but this season it felt really next level and mature... See for yourselves.
Getting interviewed for Fashion TV Spain at the Crazy Horse x Marios Schwab event
For some reason upon entering the Crazy Horse party I caught the eye of the rad Fashion TV Spain reporters, which was cool as I was having a very patriotic day all dressed in Bimba & Lola. So here I am rambling on about I don't know what and sounding like a total #FashionRetard... Although in all fairness I must say I'd been running around since 8 am and this was 10 pm, so I think the need for food and sleep might have made me sound a bit more empty headed than usual. The Crazy Horse party was actually thrown to present a new lingerie collection by Marios Schwab. The clothes were, as I supected, "chic and a bit risqué", and the girls modeled them admirably. There's no footage of the actual show but the clip below will give you an idea of what it was like (it was the same show, only with Marios's clothes). You gotta love le Crazy Horse!
Sitting behind Suzy Menkes at Erdem and discovering something
I was placed directly behind Suzy Menkes at the Topshop venue waiting for Erdem's show to start when she took out her laptop and then I discovered Miss Menkes actually writes her reviews on the spot, while she waits for shows to start! I was so impressed, I mean, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, seriously. I know she has been working for decades, but I doubt that I'd ever be able to concentrate that much during the shows. The show was amazing (has there ever been a less-than-amazing Erdem collection?) and I was happy to see shoes that a human being could actually walk in (low heels and flats were actually a trend during LFW so yes, you can finally let go of all your 15 cm- torture instruments).
My first Burberry show
I literally had to run to make it, but it was worth it. During the last few years and thanks to Christopher Bailey's incredibly high-tech savvy social media team, the Burberry show has become one of the most important events not only of London Fashion Week, but of Fashion Month. It was actually really exciting to be there and have the honor of seeing the collection first-hand and of being deafened by the music (I hear it's always that loud. It's quite cool anyway). Later discussing the collection with fashion critic Godfrey Deeney, we both agreed on how smart and well thought it was, and how many desirable pieces there were (I personally loved the feathered dresses and trench coats). Christopher Bailey is one of the most interesting and clever personalities in fashion business, that's for sure, and his collections never fail to impress.
Thomas Tait's lush collection (and lush graffitis)
Tuesday morning. It was chilly outside and the first show was at 9 am after a 4 hour-night sleep. But all was forgotten as soon as I got to the skate park in which Thomas Tait's second ever show was to take place. It was all covered in multicolor graffitis. Coming from Paris, where the fashion industry is so grown up that street aesthetics would never be allowed on the runway, I was thrilled. I actually think that's when I decided I need way more London energy and vibes in my life and work. The show was fantastic and proved what everyone already suspected: that Mr Tait has mad talent and he's one to watch. Also, I would wear his organza bermudas and coats any day.
Drinking champers at Nasir Mazhar...
... and yes, feeling a little like Eddie Monsoon. Nasir's show was a hip hop performance that had everyone raving and jumping around at the Topshop venue; that mixed with the champagne and again the lack of food and sleep did make me feel like Eddie. I was just lacking her wardrobe. But seriously, the show was pretty cool, and it had a plus: the nails were done by the amazing artists at WAH nails!
My Bleach experience
After my very last show on tuesday, I headed to the Bleach hair salon on a whim (well, not really a whim, I had been wanting to do this for months) and asked for a green dip dye. It was a bit of a bold move, not so much because of the colour but mainly because I had a Eurostar to catch in about an hour and a half, which meant I had 80% chances of missing it #fashionUNconscious. But the ladies at Bleach are pretty much super heroes: they took me in and coloured my hair at a supersonic speed, making sure I didn't miss my train. They also gave me the exact shade of green I wanted. But what I loved the most about them was their enthusiasm and the fun they were having with their work! Which I guess it's kind of natural when you create such magical hairdos; it's a bit like creating unique works of art, no? I would have been all depressed in the Eurostar going back home if it wasn't for my amazing peacock-green do. All in all, I think losing my Bleach virginity has turned me into a Bleach addict... I'm already scheming on my next dye (pink and purple? Ombré blue?). Meanwhile, here's what I look like now.
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