Jil Sander x Uniqlo = The Perfect Winter Coat

1st October. That's the date for the most anticipated high street/designer collaboration of the year finally drops. I have long been a fan of Jil Sander, after leaving her own label in 2004 it seemed that she may not return to fashion. But she has returned with a new collection in collaboration with Uniqlo and with price points starting at £14.99 and ending at £99.99 this, for once is an affordable range.
There is so far only preview images of the range, but this coat is an absolute stand out:


It's the type of coat you see in a magazine season after season it's usually by Calvin Klein or a Dior Homme, but finally an well made cheaper alternative comes along. I'm going to be first in line on October 1st at the Oxford St store when the line finally hits the stores. Update on my progress there to follow.

all images from thefashionspot

Where the ELLE have I been?

I can't remember ever picking up a copy of Elle US. I subscribe to Elle UK, and have done since I was 14, not because I particularly enjoy the magazine but it's more a family tradition of an Elle magazine subscription every Christmas.
Usually I simply skim over Elle US, with cover stars such as Miley Cyrus & Victoria Beckham I admit to judging this magazine by it's cover. Like Pop before I judged it a little too harshly, because the September issue of Elle is fantastic, coming in at just under 490 pages and with six editorials including a Karlie Kloss/Marc Jacobs feature, what more could you need from a September issue?

I'm just going to skip over the cover choice (Jennifer Aniston), ensuing interview (I'm not lonely honest!) and photoshoot (black&white, vaguely provocative) and get right down to the editorials. Firstly, there was a Camilla Bidault-Waddington styled shoot. 'Age Of Englightenment' featured the perennially underrated Elsa Sylvan.




The editorial had such a dream like state, like Elsa had nothing better to but to slink around in the forest dressed in beautifully delicate clothes. It makes it feel so organic, with her make up free face and unstyled hair it leaves you free to focus on just how intricate and interesting the clothes are. I mean seeing this architectural shoulder dress from Dolce & Gabbana lying rumpled on a bed; out if it's usual runway setting, and how it's usually styled makes it look positively soft and femine:



Elle US also continued with a twenties inspired editorial shot by Richard Bush. 'Away We Go' struck me as such a simple concept but the styling and the model once again made it what it was.


I love how this editorial transports you back to an age where you said goodbye to your darling at the train station, and wore cloche hats. We now live in an age where a Facebook message is the closest you get to such drama now, but somehow these clothes seem so appealing. They're practical: it'll definitely keep you warm in the autumn, the heels aren't too high and yes, it could still be worn to the office. But somehow this editorial just isn't boring. Far from it:

all images from thefashionspot.

Pop vs Love: Round 1

I have never been a fan of Pop magazine, something about it was just too whimsical, and throw away. The random d-list celebrities that were featured never appealed to me, even if they were being used 'ironically'. So when, the new cover of Pop dropped, and featured child star blogger Tavi Williams I thought my avoidance of Pop would continue.

I continued to check The Fashion Spot to see what the new Pop might be like, mainly as I was intrigued at how Dasha Zhukova would begin her new approach at Pop magazine. Being a fan of her clothing label, Kova&T I wasn't expecting good things from her. But not necessarily a great, memorable issue of Pop that sets itself apart from other magazines. However, I was wrong. So wrong.



The first editorial is Kinga by Viviane Sassen a wonderful photographer who has worked with Vogue Nippon and i-d Magazine. The surrealist mood created in this editorial is such a wonderful change from the Guy Bourdin 70's inspired look that every single magazine seems to be shooting month after month. Kinga looks natural, young and playful. It doesn't look forced or too styled in spite of the intricate clothes by Jil Sander, Yohji Yamamoto & Hussein Chalayan.

However, what really struck me most about Pop was it's sheer variety. Next to an interview with Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female head of state is a photoshoot with current rising model Constance Jablonski.

Such an editorial isn't an uncommon theme; beautiful girl in a garden, wearing very little. But instead of using the go-to-models for shoots like this, such as Anja, Natasha or Lara a new girl gets given the chance to shine. Oh, and I love the dark lighting to this shoot, making it look like it was shot on a stormy day somewhere.

However, the new Pop still found time for two old favourites; Lily Cole & Jessica Stam. Shot by Paolo Roversi, the eternally youthful faces of both Lily&Stam became older women dressed in fabulous clothes in Spent!



Both models who came to fame in the doll face era of modelling, are utterly convincing, love this shot of Lily with her rolled down taupe coloured socks with her feet just resting in her comfortable slippers.



Love on the other hand features such bastions of style as Pixie Geldof, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Momsen and The Jonas Brothers. I'm a teenager, and I don't even care about these 'teen stars'. This, of course is a twelve year old's dream, which was maybe the point of Love, to catch a brand new audience's attention by using their favourite stars, and slowly introducing them to the Love brand of fashion. Which is smart thinking. But for now, I'll stick with Pop.

Peek a Boo

(Apologies for the terrible headline that belongs in The Sun)

All girls obsess over their underwear, so it seems like a logical trend that having a bra poking out from underneath a sheer top would become a trend. Admittidely it's not for everyone, but if done right I think it can look very cute and flirty. One of the best red carpet examples I've seen so far is on January Jones:

I'm sure Betty Draper wouldn't approve, but by keeping the look all one colour, and having details on the pocket, it makes what can be a very bold look alot more subtle and intriguing.

On the runway, the looks have varied from Balenciaga having a flash of lace underneath a power suit:
Repressed romance at Miu Miu:
But it was Givenchy that lead the way with using a bra as a top trend, which has had a huge influence on the editorial scene:

(images from thefahionspot. taken from; W September 2009, Vogue Espana 2009, i-D Pre Fall 2009, Vogue UK September 2009 & Elle September 2009)

Giles Deacon at the Museum

Giles Deacon is a designer I've followed with great interest, as his collections although chaotic are always unmistakably Giles. I love looking back to his early shows, and especially his use of older supermodels in his show, to insure maximum coverage for his collections.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to go to a Giles Deacon retrospective at the Victoria & Albert museum, which meant a runway show and a best of Giles. The show was fantastic, staged in the dramatic Raphael gallery, and luckily enough my friends and I secured second row seats behind Hilary Alexander and Barbara Hulanicki.

Watching the clothes go past was a real honour to see the incredibly intricate detail that is often overlooked, stand outs from the show included:

   

The last look in particular inspired spontaneous applause from the audience, but one of the most fascinating things about seeing all these looks together was realising what a fantastically strong designer he is. Even the Pac Man heads doesn't seem gimmicky when you see them walking down the runway, there's a beauty in the chaos he creates in his collections, something that I think London Fashion Week thrives on. 

After the buzz of the show calmed down, my friends & I took a brief respite sitting on the steps of the V&A. But for who to walk past? Giles Deacon himself. We all congratulated him on the show (for which he thanked us for attending!), and he took the time to talk to us, and take a few pictures too:

Is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery?

Sometimes you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Finally, a new model graces the cover of W magazine, and not just any model but the bombshell Lara Stone. Not many models will ever get this honour - models such as Jessica Stam, Natasha Poly & Raquel Zimmermann have never even had this. So to see Lara Stone as the model that W magazine want to push to an American market is quite frankly groundbreaking.



So when I saw the cover I couldn't help be disappointed. Yes, it's aesthetically beautiful to look at - the soft focus and the coy look from Lara but it's just too Bridget Bardot inspired. This, at the beginning of Lara's career (2005) was a real selling point - a model who resembles Bardot in her prime! So a slew of Bardot editorials followed all backcombed hair, smokey eyes and gap toothed grin. However, people started realising that Lara was more than this; a Givenchy campaign followed, regular spots in Vogue Paris and then came the inevitable Vogue Italia covers. This year Lara has shot to stratospheric new heights - making her Vogue US debut by appearing on the cover, and followed that up with a frankly adorable editorial with Morgan Freeman for Vogue US.

So to see her just all dolled up as Bardot is disappointing to say the least. The reason Gisele, Kate, Daria, Natalia and even Gemma broke new ground when it came to modelling as that they were allowed to be themselves, the magazine's they were appearing in didn't try to mould them - as they face, modelling ability and talent was more than enough. I think the same is true for Lara, with her less than conventional runway walk and by her own admittance her dislike for even doing runway, surely that's enough to separate her from the slew of supermodels that have gone before her?

all images from thefashionspot.com

The Row

Any celebrity line makes me feel a little weary. I admit some of my style icons are celebrities, but it just feels so cheap to cash in on their own style (or a style that has been created for them by their stylist). That's all a celebrity fashion line seemed to do: want colourful and trashy? Go to Jessica Simpson. Want trendy but not too fashion forward? Go to Kate Moss.
So when The Olsen twins - sorry, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen - announced they were creating two fashion lines it made me a little uneasy. Mary Kate & Ashley's style is difficult to replicate well, and to be honest unless you are a billionaire it's hard to run round purposefully looking like you don't earn any money. However, as there style has developed from the layered NYU years a real dichotomy has developed between their style, and as they have grown older I err on the side of Ashley's classic minimalist look. Something I think her line - The Row has actually created some interesting garments without just aping Ashley's style.


It would have been far too easy to manufacture some plaid shirts and imitation Balenciaga boots and sell them for half the price to their many followers.
The Row was a line I followed the progress of and through reading interviews with Ashley it's clear how much real involvement she has through it. From her Marie Claire interview from 2008 when the interviewer followed her around sourcing materials and changing hemlines it seemed, from the outside at least that Ashley was more involved than the average celebrity producing a clothes line.
So, when an interview with The Hampton's magazine came out this week with Ashley it was interesting to get an update on where exactly her position within The Row was currently at.

"That's the thing about celebrity brands these days," Olsen says. "People think they can define a brand by just a name, but the product has to speak for itself. It doesn't really matter whose name is on it. That's the truth. It's the work behind it. It makes you step up to the plate."

Firstly, the price points within the brand (T-shirts start at $600) have meant a level of exclusivity to the brand, the average Olsen fan simply can't afford these clothes. As a result of this the line has been popping up in Paris Vogue editorials as well as being worn by the likes of Lauren Hutton (who modelled the lookbook) but the clothes have best been modelled by Ms. Olsen herself, who showcased her talent and eye for creating clothes beautifuly at this years Met Gala:


The Row is stocked at Harvey Nichols, La Bon Marche in Paris and Barney's in New York and this, Ashley says it something she is very proud of. For the child star turned fashion icon she also describes her typical day in the office:

Olsen and her team will introduce a men's collection this fall, and she's at work every day from 8 am to 8 pm editing look books, draping garments and running the company. "I understand what it takes to make a brand and to have an eye for product that sells. I don't have the time to step away for a month. I hold myself accountable every day."

If what Ashley says is true then I think she maybe the only celebrity to create such a respected brand, I really hope this will become a model of how to create a celebrity brand - through hard work and building up the brand and not using the celebrity to just promote the brand. Unfortunately, I don't think this is a likely occurrence but I, for one think The Row is one of the most promising new brands there is.