Levi's Is Right On The Money

Today I had the privilege to be my invited to a tour of the new Levi's store on Regent Street, London before the store opens at midday tomorrow. I've had a long running appreciation of the Levi brand, my first pair of jeans when I was two years old were a pair of mini 501's, and that was closely followed by a jean jacket from Levi's as well. I still wear 501's now in the acid wash and they are the perfect jean. Not many brands have such a rich and long history.
It was a seriously cool affair, the whole store is designed to look like the inside of the Levi's factory, with bare brick walls and overheard lights to show case the clothes. There was also rolls of fabric and scissors displayed in glasses cases.
The first thing you notice at the front of the store as it's laid out like a gallery, celebrating real Londoner's in creative jobs:

This girl happened to by favourite, as she had the best blue hair I've ever seen.
The store had a very indigo theme to it, as the manager explained that they wanted the store to have an almost industrial feel to it. Yet, it certainly wasn't a sparse or intimidating store.

The array of jean's was dazzling, every cut was organised into sections, and below it you could see every wash you could get from it. From there you were given a style number, like M6 and then you could select the jeans from a stand behind you. Which, if you know what you want sounds like it's going to take the stress out of shopping for jeans.

The staff there are also there to help you find the perfect fit, and also a little bit of a history lesson about the brand. The bottom floor has a whole section dedicated to my beloved 501's:

The store seemed to cater a lot more for the customer than just to make sales, they have encapsulated Levi's rich history under one roof (check out the pair of Levi's found in a mine in California ten years ago that turned out to be from the 1920's , when you visit!), and it's worth having a look just to check out such an interesting store.

all images courtesy of Levi's, and the first is taken by myself.

Rodarte x Maggie Cheung x Swarovski

What a perfect way to start the weekend, an amazing collaboration. The Rodarte dresses underwater look unreal, I love it when fashion collides with film like this. Enjoy:



Oh, and the best bit? This is a charity project, for every click on this video at the source HK$1 will go to Unicef.

After posting this video I got to thinking about some of my favourite fashion films, and by far the best I've ever seen is Daria for Prada, reading an old Buddhist poem called 'Thunder Perfect Mind' she has a perfect narration voice, and the advert is long enough that it runs like a short film.

Changing Direction

I love US Vogue. I truly do, it's a magazine that cannot be judged by it's cover, but I've been buying it for the last five years. As an aspiring journalist the writing style of the magazine is something I really appreciate, and I think it has definitely improved my writing. I love how consistent it is, too many magazines waver with trends and rarely product anything truly memorable, but I always look forward to picking up a copy. The model casting too is fantastic, they may not feature the new girls - but rather the great movers, it's no surprise that the likes of Raquel, Karlie & Caroline are all featured in Vogue so often. So, I just had to share this editorial with Karlie in the April issue of Us Vogue - with her fantastic movement and facial expressions she makes what could be a dull studio shoot come alive. And as always, perfect styling from Grace Coddington.



The first shot is especially interesting to see Ann Demeulemeester styled to look so formal and clean, and I much prefer full length skirts now, especially for day wear, they are just so easy to style up or down.

all images from nextmodelblog via The Fashion Spot

Anne Valérie Hash Fall 10 & Louis Vuitton

Sorry for the lack of posting recently, I've been snowed under with work, and am still sifting through all the Fall collections. I'm loving the laid back approach to Fall for day wear, because by night I want to dress like a Louis Vuitton girl, and by day this collection is one of the most appealing for casual wear:

Anne Valérie Hash:

I adore the way the tulle has been layered with sweatshirts, and the great pair of brogues that would be sure to become a wardrobe staple. The simple plait and barely there make up just adds to the look.

But as always I can never stick to one style of clothing, and Louis Vuitton was just a dream collection for me. I love it when Marc decides to go for glamour because he always pulls it off beautifully, the closing dresses could even be Oscar gowns - this was such a strong collection from Marc and one that will stay with me when I start building my Fall wardrobe, it was just wonderful:

Louis Vuitton:

I don't think it's too much to ask to be casual by day and Betty Draper by night, right?

Giles Deacon A/W 10

This show had by far the best model casting of the season thus far, what a show it was! I'm so glad to see the likes of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley returning to the runway, their return reminds me of the Fall 2005 season when I first started looking at runway shows. It's not a skinny vs less skinny debate, but it's just so nice to see the Victoria's Secret lovelies back at Paris Fashion Week.
Giles has always carefully selected the right models for his shows, right back to his early days when he featured the likes of Adriana Lima and Karolina Kurkova, and this show seemed like a 'best of' of models.



L-R: Karolina Kurkova, Alessandra Ambrosio, Ana Beatriz Barros, Jeisa Chiminazzo, Izabel Goulart, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Carmen Kass, Jessica Stam, Marija Vujovic.