GIRL CRUSH: MARY KATRANTZOU

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Today is 'We <3 Mary' day here at FEAL HQ- last night I was lucky enough to meet the fabulous Greek designer herself at an event hosted by My Daily. This morning, the FashEd and I have been singing the praises of her bubbly, all-embracing approach to interacting with her fans, as well as her talent for combining print and shape in ever more visionary ways. Basically, Mary Katrantzou is our new girl crush because she can be a consumately professional design extraordinaire and a really nice person all at the same time! In this spirit, Mary has joined My Daily as a Contributing Editor; alongside her avid tweeting and enthusiasm to build the best possible website this makes her one of the most web savvy, and accessible, young designers out there.

Me, the Fashion Junior, with Mary Katrantzou

 MyDaily editor Libby interviewed Mary last night and they covered everything from Mary's switch from studying Archtitecture in the US to Textile Design in London to the difference between a size 10 Mary dress and a size 14 ('the bigger the lady, the more print she gets'). Mary had plenty of snippets to divulge about how her business will grow in the future. Next June, she is hoping to launch her first pre-collection. She also wants to respond to all the interest men have shown in her designs- her SS12 blazer has been a popular order from the boys- by launching her own men's line in time. Bigger ambitions include a stand alone store in the middle of London, in a space which she can change all the time to suit the prevailing themes of her designs.

This blazer was inspired by simple Helmut Lang shapes from the 90s (image from catwalking.com)

Actually, Mary is a big fan of London. She claims that she would not be in fashion at all if it weren't for the world-renowned MA course at Central Saint Martins; she was tempted to stick to Textile Design but couldn't forego the opportunity to study under the guidance of Professor Louise Wilson whom she says 'gave me the confidence to talk about my work and forced me to develop a signature'. Mary was adamant that she'll be staying in London and showing her work in the young design context of London Fashion Week rather than trying to compete with bigger labels in other cities.

The final look from Mary Katrantzou SS12- The shape of a flower was the silhoutte which underpinned this collection (image from catwalking.com)

After the interview, I asked Mary how she was feeling about the timing clash of London and Milan fashion weeks in February. She acknowledged that it would be difficult but her spin made me think about situation differently. From a buyer's perspective, she suggests, London designers are currently among the most attractive because they pose less risk and can be more flexible than big, well-established labels. In the current economic climate, in which retail is taking quite a bashing, buyers like the fact that they can negotiate more on delivery times and minimum orders with the smaller labels, many of which are based in London. Crucially, their commerciality and growing reputation as exciting designers mean it's not a compromise for customers. Mary was also quick to point out that her designs and those of her peers are frequently being included in big editorial shoots around the world. The Katrantzou show is usually scheduled for the Tuesday of fashion week, by which time 'all the models have left for Gucci' so facing obstacles because of schedule clashes in nothing new for the Katrantzou team to deal with.

Mary Katrantzou AW11, photographed by Sean and Seng for POP

The FashEd interviewed Mary for the current issue of POP- I've included it here and we defy you not to have developed a full blown girl crush by the time you've finished. When I mentioned to Mary that I worked with Melanie, she was full of love for this piece. My Daily is also offering the chance to win a dress from Mary's SS12 collection- and if you're not a lucky winner and budgets don't stretch to the real Mary thing, you only have to hold out until February when her capsule collection for Topshop drops, hurrah!

POP: PETER COPPING TALKS TO FASHED

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Among the FashEd's many guises is her role as Contributing Fashion Features Editor at POP. For the new Autumn/Winter issue, the theme was The Lady. So, it was only right that Peter Copping, Creative Director at Nina Ricci be featured, given that his collections are the epitome of ladylike prettiness. My first job as Fashion Junior was transcribing this interview, strange that such a highlight could come before I'd even made my desk my own. In my humble opinion, you cannot fail to fall in love with Copping after reading this...

Portrait of Peter Copping by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin

Photography by Ronald Dick, Fashion by Isabelle Kountoure

 POP is out now

MEET MY PT

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

The Fashion Editor at Large (in Falke) with The Wedding Trimmer Suzanne Mallaghan (in Sweaty Betty) 

Being naturally tall and slim is akin to winning a genetic lottery. You can happily stuff your face with food, live an inert existence and nothing visibly bad or ugly happens to your body. The downside is running out of breath when dashing for a bus. Then you pass the 35 years on earth mark and everything changes. For me the upper arm wobbles came first. Years of naturally taut and tiny upper arms (a large wrist bracelet was a snug fit up there) collapsed when, over the long winter, a loose hammock of flesh took residence there. Then my 28waist skinny J Brand jeans wouldn't go further than my hips. I did not recognise my own thighs or rear. These physical events wiped out half of my wardrobe, and with it my identity. In a flash I could understand all those women who favour dresses over trousers and wear long tops with leggings. Which makes me sound like a stupid skinny bitch with no idea about what it is like to have a real woman's body; and I was.  

All this forced me to find a personal trainer. With a personal trainer there is no option but to turn up, especially when said PT is pressing your doorbell and saying "come on!" three mornings a week and if you cancel you pay anyway.

Suzanne demonstrates how to build triceps using a Kettle Bell.

My search for the perfect PT ended when I found Suzanne Mallaghan. Suzanne runs two programs - one is straight personal training, the other targets brides-to-be and is more deadline driven. When I began working with her four months ago I was not planning a Civil Partnership this summer. I was thinking of a December event, but when Mary surprised me by setting the date for next Sunday (heyulp!!!) The Wedding Trimmer side of her business kicked into play. Suzanne is a qualified personal trainer and Pilates instructor as well as a nutrition consultant. Being the daughter of a poet plus a brainy ex-city girl and an ex-national league Basketball player I reasoned she would be perfect for me. And she is! The sessions are varied, and fun, and hard. Mary also gatecrashes a session at least once a week.

The Fashion Editor at Large using theTRX resistance contraption

My training has been difficult. I was weak as a kitten at the beginning, Suzanne had to build me up slowly. It took ages to get the feeling I was fit, but at the beginning of April when she announced "You now have a basic level of fitness, next step is to pump out workouts three times a week until D-Day" I nearly cried with happiness. 

The biggest change is in how I hold myself; my posture is improved, I feel more together and confident, and I can get my arms out again. They don't look like SJP's, but rather appear just like how they used to. I can run for 30 minutes no problem, and also be able to conduct a conversation while running after 30 minutes and sound normal, not remotely out of breath. My strength is now considerable, and I can booty dance and bogle to Beyonce and Dizzy like the best 22 years olds, but obviously only do this home alone. 

The Pilates work is the most difficult, and where I need to focus my energies. My stomach is not wash-board by any stretch, but come next Sunday, I'm ready for my close up.  

 

WHAT I DO WITH SUZANNE:

We do three sessions a week incorporating cardiovascular, resistance,  flexibility components and she splits sessions according to muscle groups

Day 1: Cardio = boxing, Resistance training = chest, triceps, shoulders

Day 2: Cardio = interval training (walk, jog, run), Resistance. Training = back, biceps

Day 3: Cardio = hardcore kettlebell training mixed with ladderwork, stepwork etc. Resistance training = legs, core, abs

What I like about the sessions is that while they are working set muscle groups, the work itself is extremely varied. She says it is to keep me distracted while I work hard. So we might be using TRX suspension training, weights, kettlebells and resistance bands one day, and medicine balls, dumbells, a bench press, skipping rope or ladder the next time. Suzanne loves to go shopping for new equipment; she gets as excited about a new contraption - eg. TRX I am using above - as I do about a new Celine handbag. So it is all good.

The Wedding Trimmer

So there you have it. The best kept secret PT in London is no longer a secret.

http://www.suzannemallaghanpt.com/

http://weddingtrimmer.co.uk/

Photographed on location in Paddington Recreation Ground by Fashion Editor at Large

DOES VANITY KILL?

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Don't worry, my narcissism will stop today, following this. However, the fashion junior at large urged me to show you the beauty shoot I appeared in within the pages of this weeks British Grazia. Sadly, the issue goes off-sale today in time for the new issue tomorrow. However my mother assures me all the aunties got their copy, so that's OK then.

Doing this shoot was interesting. I was pleased with the results. Part of me (the part that has had a few glasses of wine on a Thursday night in Shoreditch House) wishes I was an 20 year old supermodel.

WHEN I MET MY MIRROR AT GIVENCHY

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Vanessa Coyle mirroring Fashion Editor at Large

It is not often that I will post photographs of myself on this blog but I was going through my shots from Paris and there was this crazy one of me and my old friend Vanessa Coyle of Harpers Bazaar. It was taken straight after the Givenchy show, and Vanessa and I were thinking along the same lines with our look of the day, don't you think?  The jacket is - surprise, surprise! - by Celine.

Celine was by far the most popular label amongst fashion editors in Paris, and spotting it became something of a sport for myself and yet another British journalist who has this jacket, Fran Burns from Love magazine. It is unfortunate that Frannie wasn't wearing her jacket at the Givenchy show - that would have been a great picture!

That wasn't the end of the Celine-athon. This evening Sarah Mower and myself attended the press event for the Central Saint Martin's MA graduate show. Sarah was wearing the very beautiful Celine coat in camel; she also has it in black. The coat has a very particular look which Ms Philo described to Alice Rawsthorn for the New York Times last month: “It’s cut very specifically like a double-breasted coat, but worn open like a single-breasted coat,” she explains. “The cut of the shoulder and sleeves is twisted at the front, so you get this feeling that it’s sitting on your shoulders.” 

Like me, Sarah is not alone amongst her colleagues in ownership of the same item. She tells me Brana Wolf, [Harpers Bazaar USA], Aliona Doletskaya [editor-in-chief Russian Vogue] and Alex White [W Magazine] and Phoebe Philo regularly wear theirs.   

Sarah Mower looking fabulous in one of her TWO!! Celine coats. She also has it in black.  

Over the course of Paris Fashion Week, Fran Burns said she counted 17 individual women wearing the below jacket - both this length and the shorter waist-length version. I'm torn between being glad I don't have one, to jealous of those who do.

I buy my Celine from Matches. www.matchesfashion.co.uk

On another note the caramel and nude pink colour vibe ushered in this season by labels such as Celine, Stella and Chloe - to my eyes the three most influential labels for AW10 - have inspired the beginnings of my proper Spring wardrobe, which I will explore and share through this blog as it happens. Hence why, during my lunch hour from Grazia HQ today I bought this silky nude-coloured shirt from Zara for £49.99. The girl in who served me said they came in-store today. I love it! What do you think? 

  

Excuse the pose, I was camping it up for my friend Angela Buttolph, Grazia's web editor.

Picture credits:
Chris Moore/Catwalking.com
Fashion Editor at Large

IF YOU ARE VISITING AFTER READING TODAY'S TELEGRAPH....

Click here for my fur story.
And to read more about Sarah Mower, click here!

A BIG DAY FOR FASHION EDITOR AT LARGE TODAY...

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large


We have moved into our office! We have email addresses and telephone numbers!

Unfortunately, this is not our office. Think two tables facing each other and enough room to swing a kitten.

The Fashion Editor at Large is at melanie@fashioneditoratlarge.com 
+44 207 291 0330
I am, of course, still fully contactable at Grazia where I am Fashion Editor-at-Large via my email and mobile number, but I will be using both emails from today. The Fashion Editor at Large blog will be hosted by Graziadaily.co.uk from mid February.

The Fashion Junior at Large is at
Esme@fashioneditoratlarge.com
+44 207 291 0333

THE TUMBLE OF MY MIND AS WE ENTER A NEW DECADE

                                       May I suggest you read this post while listening to the above.

I went to Africa to see in the new decade. I love Africa. It's a good place to clear the brain. I was very VERY glad to say goodbye to the noughties, and this new decade feels so full of promise. I've been back from my Africa jaunt for a few days now, and still my brain is scrambled. It's churning like a washing machine with visuals from films, fashion references, music, books, sights, sounds, smells, thoughts each appearing at intervals as they would if you were staring into a little round door.....

Today is the first day for the rest of my blog. A day will now not go by without at least one post. So I've been wondering what to start with. This is my best offer: a glimpse inside the washing machine.

LISTENING
I'm obsessed with The XX, and the track above especially. This number is a bit old hat now if you are on the edge of the edge of new music (I listen to NME Radio when I'm not tuned into Radio 4 so I'm doing OK). If I were 22 now I would look like the singer in The XX. In fact when I was 22 I DID look like the singer from the band. I love this track; I listen to it on repeat. Also can't stop playing Exlovers cover of Wicked Game by Chris Isaak.

THINKING ABOUT THE 90'S
Selfridges opens a concept store dedicated to the 90's tomorrow morning. The 90's were my formative years, I did it ALLLLL in the 90's, and I'm going to Selfridges tomorrow for a walk-through of the space with the creative director and can't wait. Reading about the store and its products - original 90's fashion supplied by Rellik, bumbags, CK One, Nevermind by Nirvana etc - has given me all sorts of flashbacks, so I went down memory lane for a walk............

As you can see this was me in 1991, just after I left home. (I'm NOT the girl puffing on a large reefer). All we wore was puffa jackets and novelty jumpers with coloured jeans in the winter (even indoors as you can see, no heating), and in the summer Stussy T-shirts, high-top trainers, and cut -off jeans. Not so different from what I've been wearing today in the sub-zero temps.

Not long after the previous picture I cut my hair off and wore tiny cotton vests and boyish jeans for quite a while loving Helmut Lang (and wearing Muji copies) while listening to Massive Attack, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Portishead,  oh and worshipping Kate Moss (just a year younger than me) and generally working the androgynous look that the 90's was all about. The other girl in the picture (on the right) is my gorgeous sister Jennifer.

 

Yeah, I know I look hilarious. But things got better for me as the decade wore on. By the end of the 90's I was working for the Sunday Times Style as Fashion Features Editor, was dating a fashion designer (Sonja Nuttall), and wearing labels like Helmut Lang, Yohji Yamamoto, Hussein Chalayan, McQueen and of course copious amounts of Ms Nuttall's gear. I also unfortunately streaked my hair blonde (see below), lived in an east london loft on De Beauvoir road, right around the corner from where Giles Deacon now lives (I will never live in a loft again - so 90's, so loud, so cold) and listened to a CD walkman on my way to work at Wapping. I also wore CK One and my favourite film was The Matrix.

   

Here I'm wearing minimalist Sonja Nuttall and some denim wedges I think they were from Russell & Bromley.

Other things on my mind: (I will be exploring all of these more this week)

1. What will this 90's shop look like?

2. New dressing for a new decade - our wardrobe staples have changed - I think I've pinned down the new essentials

2. African prints - aside from the pastel mania that has been reflected prettily on the February covers from British Elle and Vogue, I am seeing Africa everywhere, and NOT just cos I got back from there.

3. I'm getting bored of Lady Gaga - I thought her hat hair this weekend was just stoopid. Not clever or funny, or a statement - just bla.

4. My Tax Return

5. Why am I re-reading The Fashion System by Roland Barthes?

CHUFFED WITH SELF TODAY

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large


Last night at the Campaign Media Awards in London Grazia was given an award for the best campaign in the media and home shopping category. Triple yay! What did we win for? The fact that just over a year ago we moved the entire magazine - desks, computers, phones - to a pop-up office in Westfield, and actually created an issue from there. People thought we were mad, (we are) but it was a brilliant, exciting and ground-breaking project and the entire team worked their buns off.  It was a huge group effort - and though I am truly crap at logistics, I have my good points, and one of them is that I came up with the idea to do it in the first place!  This is where I can allow myself a little nod of satisfaction. And maybe a little jig around my office. Oh sod it, I'm gonna do a Jensen Button and spray Champagne around. But think I will save that for the Team Grazia Christmas party....

FASHION & WISDOM FROM JANE SHEPHERDSON

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

My favourite black trousers from Whistles SS10

Last night I honoured an invitation extended by London College of Fashion (of which I am an alumnus) to sit on a debating panel to discuss whether women can succeed in the world of fashion. My fellow panellists were Jane Shepherdson, CEO of Whistles, Zowie Broach one half of Boudicca and Danielle Scutt. The debate was chaired by Professor Penny Martin, who also happens to be the editor of forthcoming new womens's magazine The Gentlewoman (from the same publishing house as Fantastic Man). We had a full house of eager students.

You might think, as I did, when I first heard the topic for discussion "yeah of course women can succeed in fashion, fashion is mainly a woman's arena." I was wrong to think that. When I relayed that thought to Rebecca Munro of LCF she batted the below back at me.

"The talk is timed to coincide with Women’s Enterprise Day on November 18th, which is part of a national campaign, Global Entrepreneurial Week UK (identical weeks run globally) and is all about celebrating successful female entrepreneurs and business leaders to inspire our students (the majority of whom are female) to take risks and be confident in their careers choices. Although I agree women are a dominant force in fashion – the majority of shareholders and CEOs are male and many women in fashion (like many other industries) have experienced some sort of discrimination during their careers. Of the 4.7 million UK enterprises, only 15% are led by women which I think is one reason why we have to encourage our students, especially our female students, to not be afraid of setting up businesses and turn their skills into money making enterprises."  

Very interesting, no?

ANYWAY. The debate turned out to be lively, compelling and I found it genuinely inspiring. Jane Shepherdson had a lot to say. All of it very telling. Here are a couple of her choice comments. All food for thought.

ON HOW SHE GOT TO THE TOP...
"I had to buy my own business to be a CEO; that's how hard it is to run your own company in fashion."

ON THE GLASS CEILING...
"I came up from buying and merchandising to become a CEO.  At Arcadia Group 95.5 per cent of the buyers and merchandisers are women. But when you go upstairs to see who is running the business, it is all men."

ON HOW TO SUCCEED...
"Be single minded. There will be shit, deal with it. Think "I'm going to show them". Do it your way. Accept confrontation."

ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WORKING WITH WOMEN TO MEN...
"Women work harder and spin more plates. They tend to be more collaborative."


And while we are on the subject of Ms Shepherdson, here is more from the SS10 collection of Whistles.

The fashion junior at large put these on her wishlist for SS10.

WHAT DRESS SIZE IS BEYONCE? You'll be surprised....

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

You know who David Koma is, right? That's him, above. He is the just graduated from the Saint Martin’s MA designer dude who in the space of a week had not only the most powerful female musician in the world wear one his dresses, but this followed the “nation’s sweetheart” Cheryl Cole (currently the most famous woman in Britain) also wearing one of this dresses. One wore it well (Beyonce, shown wearing it, top), the other did not (mainly because the metalwork on it weighed the dress down).

ANYWAY. Look, this isn’t why I am writing. All the stuff about David being the Next Big Thing has been said. But, still, he and I were chewing the fat the other day, talking about what it feels like to suddenly be pushed into the limelight when it is something you have wanted for ages. His reaction: “Of course it feels amazing, but the stress!!!"

David, who is 24 and was raised in St Petersburg, told me he was too nervous to actually watch the MTV music awards and celebrate seeing his dress being beamed to an audience of millions. That he went out with his friend and waited for a call to say Yay or Nay. It was too much. He also told me Beyonce’s people found the dress in the September issue of V magazine, modelled by Lady Gaga. It’s gratifying to learn that Beyonce is just like us pointing to a dress in a magazine and saying “Want that one...”

What surprised me most, and it has to be said what Koma also found incredible - having not actually met the Diva in person - is her dress size. Beyonce, the bootylicious, super-curvaceous woman who made many grown men (and many grown women, me included) lose sixty seconds of their lives each time they watched her bogleing in the Single Ladies video, is a UK dress size 6 to 8. Yep. She is tiny. “It’s incredible but true,” says David. "I sent a size 6-8 dress. A model size."

With David Koma what we have seen is just the beginning of what will hopefully become a body of work that will make him a designer to take seriously. “I want to show people there is more to me,” he told me. “I am not about dressing celebrities; I am about dressing strong inspirational women, that is my focus. I want to show good fashion season after season. I want to build a solid background.”

Well, David, you’ve got our attention now. But on the Beyonce front, a few hours after hearing this factoid on her dress size, I am still finding it hard to believe.

Why is this I wonder? I think its because I thought Beyonce was a size 10-12. And that she repped the more curvy women out there.

On reflection I feel both slightly let down by this, and rather inspired. Let down becasue Beyonce is the same dress size as all the "skinnies" despite her curves. Inspired becasue you can look curvaceous and strong, no matter what size you are.  What do you think?

Photo credits:
Beyonce:  PGR Sven Hoogerhuis
Dabvid Koma: Telegraph Group

STOP THE CLOCKS! Nick Kirkwood does FLAT shoes!

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

How happy am I? I was wandering through the uber-slick press day held by Relative MO at London's Fashion Central aka Somerset House this week (where everything is happening - even a Tiffany sponsored ice rink, if you please) when I happened upon Nicholas Kirkwood's new shoe collection for SS10.

I am a huge Kirkwood fan. His shoes are beautiful. Wearable sculptures. My friend Yasmin Sewell has the sexiest pair he ever did, black grosgrain high heels with a pearl wedged inbetween the heel and the sole. And he is lovely. A real gentleman; even when we are falling out of Le Baron at two in the morning on one of those very rare Paris nights out at the end of the show marathon.

ANYWAY. The point of this post was in the headline. Up to now Nick has always done very high heeled shoes. And he did do lots of them for SS10 too. But I'm not showing you them, sorry, I was so excited by the flats I forgot to photograph the high heels.

Reason is I'm five foot nine and a bit, so I don't need to wear high heels in my daily life, only when I'm going for car-to-bar/restaurant, an awards ceremony or something - so about once a week. But I do like a beautiful flat shoe, and lo and behold here are Nick's! He obviously picked up on the new fashion mood in the air for a shoe that is not so ridiculously high.

I love how Nick has made his flats so feminine, but not too girlie. He even paid attention to the heel and gave them that sculptural edge he gives his high heels. So without further ado, lets feast our eyes on them. Ok, so "feast" is not really the word. A flat doesn't give me fashion goosebumps, but there is the large advantage that here are Kirkwood shoes we can wear all day and can feel more pleasure than pain.

I like the ones with the contrast tips.

 

The Fashion Junior at Large (who you will meet very soon) loved these.

These are the sculptural heels I was telling you about.

NEXT BIG THING....a bit more Katie Rowland

I've been getting asked more about Katie Rowland, and her Ring Me ring. So here are more details and more gorgeous Rowland jewellery. Oh and she has just delivered her first jewellery collection for Agent Provocateur. Can't wait to see that.

I rather adore the amethyst knuckleduster, (below) of if you prefer there is also smoky quartz one in 18 ct gold plate. Both cost £250 from Katie Rowland.

This is the amethyst one:

This is the quartz one:

And just because inside all of us lurks a Cheryl Cole fan, Katie told me that Mrs Cole had worn the below at the Manchester auditions for X-Factor. Oooooohhh! It costs £460.

AND FINALLY..... In my previous post I failed to mention the price for my favourite Rowland product, the Ring Me ring. So here is the image again.

The Ring Me is available in silver (pictured on the left) from £395 and in18ct gold/black (pictured above right) from £960 - each come boxed with a mini printing kit containing two mini ink pads for your purse. All you need to do is contact Katie so she can make it for you with the words or digits of your choice.



BASTA!

THE NEXT BIG THING....IN JEWELLERY

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

The SS10 press days can be a stress to get to when you're juggling deadlines, but are so worth it. Especially when a designer you haven't considered before talks you through their work and you get that internal jolt of inspiration/recognition that tells you that you are seeing something new and exciting or clever and fun. I’ve seen so much exciting stuff which I will bring to you between now and the end of January when the collections actually come in. And when the January sales are on – BELIEVE ME – you will need this blog to keep you going. ANYWAY. Top of my mind over this last week are Katie Rowland and Jordy Askill two young jewellers  I encountered at Blow PR and Starworks respectively. Jewellery is definitely having a creative renaissance. I was going to put my good friend and charge Dominic Jones on here too, his new work is so insanely beautiful, but he made me promise not to - well it is his AW10 colllection!! Guess we will have to wait for that, but I'll get first look!

KATIE ROWLAND

It was her “Ring Me” ring that did it. Katie is a 28 year old London jeweller who this year has won a string of prestigious awards (see below) but her stroke of genius for me is a ring that, in back to front text, has Ring me and your number stamped into it. All you need to take out with you is a tiny ink pad to make it work. When you see a boy or girl you like just rotate the ring on the ink pad, and in one slick move roll it up the arm, (of whatever body part is available to you) of the person you desire. “It’s really naughty”, giggles Katie. “It makes me quite bold. When I made my own version with my mobile number on I went a bit crazy with it. The next day I got a few calls, but I couldn’t remember who they were!” The idea behind the Ring Me ring was the calling cards of Victorian Ladies who would hand out cards with just their names on. “My Ring Me ring brings the idea of a calling card bang up to date,” says Katie.

http://www.katie-rowland.com/
WINNER OF COUTTS NEW JEWELLER AWARD 2009
WINNER OF LONMIN'S DESIGN INNOVATION AWARD FOR PLATINUM 2009
WINNER OF THE SONAMA-CUTRER DESIGN AWARD 2009



JORDY ASKILL

Meadham Kirchoff SS10 Image courtesy of Catwalking.com

Jordy Askill is one of those rare artist/jewellers who use their creative experiments to inspire very pretty

commerical pieces, and some thought provoking high fashion work too. Jordy is a an Australian who worked with Tusbi/Ksubi in Sydney before moving to London. Now he creates these anodised sculptures from animation programs he develops on his computer. How amazing is that horse sculpture? I love it. He told me its costs £1000. As does the People sculpture below. I think they are worth every penny. From them come his adorable heart rings (above), and can't wait to see whether his Meadham Kirchoff sculptural headpieces (yes those are lots of little people, plus for the Meadham Kirchoff brogues he placed said mini metallic people to the back heel of the shoe like spurs). I can see how his thinking process works. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more of Jordy in the coming months. He is one to watch.

http://www.askillprojects.com/
His work is available at Dover Street Market
He is represented by Starworks.

THE FASHION EDITOR AT LARGE UNMASKED

My friends and work colleagues say there is no point in me being anonymous for this blog as everyone knows it’s me anyway and whats the point. So, OK, my name is Melanie Rickey. I love being a fashion journalist. But “fashion journalist” is not what I write when I’m filling in forms under “occupation”. I write “journalist.” That is what I am. I am driven by a need to understand the world around me and inform or explain it to those who don’t have the time to find out, but are still curious, interested or maybe just a bit obsessed. My specialist subject is fashion. I totally love main-lining the zeitgeist but equally what I do is about respecting the integrity and creativity of the people who make fashion happen. It’s also about recognising the good and the great from the bad and the ugly. Oh, and exercising my trend divining gene. I love to sniff out a trend. I’ve been writing for print media for twelve years and have worked for everyone you can think of in the British press including The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times Style and have been with the amazing Grazia since its very first issue nearly five years ago, and my current role there is as Fashion Editor at Large. Hence the idea for my blog. A fashion editor out and about and at large is what I am, and that is what I bring to Grazia and my blog. I also write for American, Australian and Japanese press. Yet despite my hard earned professional status, there is still something of a teenage fashion superfan about me. I really enjoy the infectious excitement of Bryanboys blog - he is a bonafide superfan pressing his pretty nose up against the window of the industry – and now he’s in it too. Likewise, look at the success of Susie Lau’s Style Bubble blog. Both of these bloggers have crossed over into the industry from being amateurs. And I’m in the industry and sort of crossing over by adding blogging to what I do. I’m a professional journalist and editor working in the heart of the industry. Yet, this parallel of reporting and blogging feels totally right. There's so much that I store for later use in print that never makes it to publication. Or stuff I want to talk about with my friends, except that they are not interested in what model I've got a crush on this week, what shoe I can't stop wearing, or more important issues as to where fashion is going, how it is changing and who is changing it. Who ever heard of someone making their career their hobby aswell? Not me, but what I do know is that my blogging life has begun.