THE WEEK IN FASHION 8/8-12/8

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Happy Friday and welcome to our round-up of the week's fashion news. Our aim is to provide you with some relatively light relief from the horrid stories making the headlines this week.

First of all, can I remind you to support our campaign to #bringmcqueenexhibitionhome. Please sign the petition, comment on the blog about why you want to see Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty brought to London and use the hashtag to spread the word on Twitter.

    Petitions by iPetitions.com | Get Widget

Christian Louboutin have lost their case against YSL. The Judge decided that a colour cannot be monopolized as a trademark by a single brand, especially in an industry like fashion which depends on the freedom to use colour innovatively. Of course, most people who see a red-soled shoe now automatically associate this with the Louboutin brand. Thus we wonder if any designer now choosing to use a red sole will not confuse the customer anyway, or engender an immediate link with the Louboutin branding. Although you might expect to go a high street shop and buy red soled shoes to imitate the Louboutin look, what would be the motivation to buy a red soled YSL?

Balanciaga's red soles for men (Image from oo0oo.blogspot.com)

The fashion musical chairs saga continues. Now Marc Jacobs' name has been thrown in the hat as a possible contender for the Dior job. The mutterings began after Brazialian site Glamurama claimed that Jacobs has been in talks with Bernard Arnault for a while now and that he may be set to make a choice between his current position at Vuitton and the Dior job. Watch this space... (we wonder when we'll be able to stop saying that?!)

If he moves to Dior, he'll have to scrub that Louis body art right off! (Image from www.johnnyikon.com)

It was worth the wait. The pictures of Kate Moss' wedding are finally in and they are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. If you haven't seen them for yourself yet then we suggest that you get a a cup of tea and set aside ten minutes to pore through the ultimate wedding album and read Hamish Bowles' report. According to the interview, it was watching 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' which finally inspired Kate to say Yes to Jamie. We're hoping that the happy couple might make a cameo appearence in the next series!

Kate with her gaggle of flower girls. The new issue of American Vogue contains even more images

Kate and Jamie do Mick and Bianca (Images from Vogue.com)

The latest issue of LOVE magazine features an absolutely breathtaking shoot entitled 'What Lies Beneath', which is by far the highlight of the issue. The setting is a dark and eerie lake. The ensemble of models Lara Stone, Mariacarla Boscono, Saskia De Brauw, Kristen McMenamy, Paul Boche, Anais Pouliot, Jed Texas, Guinevere Van Seenus, Xiao Wen Ju and Angus Whitehead pose amphibiously in and around the water world styled by Katie Grand. It has come to our attention that the shoot bears more than a passing resemblance to art photograher Jeff Bark's WoodPecker series. While the LOVE shoot features more acid colours, the shoots share their use of cars and birds as props for their scantily clad models to entwine themselves around. Bark's photos feel more classical and ethereal but the similarities between the two shoots are undeniable. Not sure whether Katie, and the photographers Mert & Marcus intended it as an homage to Barks work, or not. As was asked on beautifully-invisible.com is this inspiration or plagiarism? We're plumping with the former.

LOVE magazine's editorial, shot by Mert and Marcus (Images from www.touchpuppet.com)

A shot from Jeff Bark's Woodpecker series. See more of his work at www.jeffbark.com (Image from dreamersofthedream.blogspot.com)

A car comparison-  the Mert and Marcus shot

Jeff Bark's use of the car/ woodland dichotomy (Image from spreadartculture.com)

Yesterday, the Fash Ed and I popped over to Soho to have a peek at Sarah and Lily Allen's new Lucy In Disguise shop on Lexington Street. Sarah and her Mum, Alison were working their socks off to get everything ready in time for today's opening. The shop has its own hair salon and private shopping area for a more exclusive vintage and Lucy In Disguise own-collection experience. We heartily recommend that you pop down for a browse. You can't miss it as the front is covered in gold sequins so shiny that you really don't need to be a magpie to be drawn in!

Sarah and Lily are embarking on a new era in their Lucy in Disguise project (Image from wardrobemag.wordpress.com)

 We have been highly entertained by the Twitter account @condeelevator this week which delivers delicious snippets from inside the offices of Conde Nast magazines, notably American Vogue. Highlights include-

'Vogue Asst &; AW in packed elevator. VA: Blah blah Duke & Duchess of Windsor-- AW: Cambridge. Duke & Duchess of CAMBRIDGE. VA: I'm sorry.'

'[silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] Summer Intern: "Was that...?" Intern #2: "Yeah" #annawintour'

[SILENCE] [SILENCE] [SILENCE]  (Image from www.matthewstasoff.com)

The account gained a whopping 66,400 followers after just 36 tweets and five days. However, we are devastated to report that the account is already no more. Despite the writer's clear amusement at the goings on in the Conde Nast New York elevator, the Tweeter still 'loves their job' and so decided to stop tweeting. Devastating yes, but understandable given that the powers at Conde Nast were on the hunt for -and closing in on - the culprit.

NEWS JUST IN: Kate Bosworth is starring in Vanessa Bruno's beautiful new campaign video. I'm not sure whether Kate, the clothes or the horses are more stunning. The FashEd is a big fan of director Stefanie di Gusto.

LØV from Vanessa Bruno on Vimeo.

Have wonderful weekends and don't forget to spread the word about Fashion Editor at Large's campaign to #bringmcqueenexhibitionhome.

Share the petition on your own websites, and pass it on.

TECH-CESSORIES FOR FASHION WEEK

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Hopefully the Fashion Editor at Large and I will both know how to mobile blog by Friday (in fact we are just this second trying to teach ourselves). If not I'll have no choice but to drag my chunky Toshiba PC (a cheap emergency purchase after my last computer was stolen from my empty house during Nottinghill Carnival) from show to show in a disgracefully ugly laptop bag. Please god don't let it come to that!

In an ideal world I would be carrying one of these:

 

YSL, Downtown Laptop Case, $1795

  

Mulberry Bayswater Sleeve £349.95

Aspinal, London Ladies Laptop Bag, £375  

  

Mulberry Daria Tote Laptop Bag, £599  

Fendi Laptop Sleeve, £255 

Credits: apple.com, net-a-porter.com

IF HALF NAKED MEN WEARING YSL OFFEND YOU, LOOK AWAY NOW (well, of course you won't!)

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

Whether you love it or hate it, films like these are the future of fashion communication. I like how Bruce Weber's sensibilities totally translate to the film medium, and the way you can really see how Stefano Pilati's YSL menswear lives on a man's body. Marvin Gaye on the soundtrack always helps things along too. I do wonder, though, how the young buff ridiculously beautiful boys can be so unselfconscious in front of the camera.

Photo by John Scott for YSL

http://www.ysl.com/

WHAT THE WORLD'S TOP MODEL TOLD ME OVER BREAKFAST THIS MORNING..

Posted by The Fashion Editor at Large

Oops. I forgot to say the world's top HAND and body part model. But, you know, I really feel it is my duty to bring you stories that illustrate the other side of the fashion bubble. There is a lot more to being "in fashion" than being a designer, catwalk model, photographer, stylist or fashion editor.

Gemma does Avon nail colours

One of the many careers available is as a body-part model. A fact that was highlighted to me when I came across a party invitation in my email in-box from Body London sent by a certain Gemma Howorth. Upon rsvp-ing, and then cancelling due to snow, I eventually met the 25 year old for breakfast this morning and I had a most entertaining start to the day with a charming girl who is so obsessed with the upkeep of her perfect hands she wears white cotton gloves (99p from the Boots the chemist) while on holiday (see below). "That is on top of wearing factor 60 on my hands," she confides, before adding "People nudge each other and point when I lie on the beach. They think I've got leprosy or something. I also moisturize my hands 30 times a day. They get thirsty...In fact they are thirsty now." Then from behind me Gemma spots Pat McGrath (the world's top make-up artist) pop into the cafe for her coffee (she lives around the corner from me) and practically fizzes in excitement.

Gemma sunbathing in her white gloves on Ibiza

I'm laughing, she's laughing, but she's deadly serious too. Hand modelling is big business, lucrative enough that her hands are insured at Lloyds of London for seven figures. Her hands are so precious to her that famously at her wedding 18 months ago, she asked her husband not to squeeze her hand too tightly for a wedding photo, saying it loudly it enough for all her wedding guests to hear. They laughed.

Gemma modelling for British Vogue

Gemma Howorth started her agency Body London a year ago with three models, herself being the "top hands" of the agency, oh and she models her feet and legs too. Now she has 70 models on her books, and in the last six months her men Renato and Ashley have become the top earners thanks to demand for gorgeous man-hands for Blackberry and i-Phone commercials.

In the last year Gemma has been the hands of Kate Moss, Lily Cole for Rimmel, (see below), Lizzie Jagger, Natalie Imbruglia, Kylie Minogue and has worked for Vogue and YSL. "I slip my arms around them from behind and become their hands," she says. "I think its important for girls to know that you don't have to be stick thin to be a successful model." The earning power is good too - a top body part model can earn between £200 and £2000 a day depending on the client. It's not all fashion and beauty: Gemma has been the hands of Sainsbury's and Felix cat food too. She recently spent several hours breaking a chocolate bar for a TV commercial. "What I didn't get was that the model before me said she couldn't do it. How can you NOT be able to break a chocolate bar??!!". It seems there may well be sme diva's in hand-modellling... Not Gemma though.

Gemma's hands masquerading as Lily Cole's hands

"One of the funniest shoots I had to do recently involved my lying on top of the actress Rose Byrne and placing my little finger in her mouth for Max Factor," she says, "Rose was so much fun to work with."

Gemma's hand on Rose Byrne's mouth for Max Factor

A less funny incident was when a naked gold-painted model who was sitting on a high stool with her back to the camera, while Gemma had her arms wrapped around her from front to back, fell asleep on her. "I was basically sitting between her legs, and her breath stank of alcohol."

Gemma at work on a shoot for Intelligent Life

"I did a YSL campaign shot by Solve Sundsbo and they has this absolutely stunning supermodel and I was the hand model... I have to get my hands and arms to look like they belonged on her body. Not as easy as one would think! So I have to crouch down behind her and get my arms underneath her armpits and make them look like they should belong on her body; this is a very common position for a hand model. It is extremely hard as the model is constantly moving and I cannot see what my hands are doing. But as I have been doing it for so long, I know exactly which poses to do and what works."

So how did she get started in the business? "A family friend told me a I had beautiful hands when I was 15, and took me to an agency. I started doing hand modelling and thought it would be a job to finance me through my studies, but I became quite good at it. After doing a marketing degree at LCF I came back to my beginnings and set up the agency."

Essential hand model skills are, according to Gemma, steadiness, patience, great-looking hands and nails, being able to hit your mark under immense pressure and a good, easy-going personality.

Out of curiousity - oh OK, because my nails are crap and her are amazing - I ask Gemma for her hand-care tips and here they are:

1. My wonder product is almond oil. SO good for hands. I also advise my models to eat a handful of almonds a day.
2. For my cuticles I religiously use Phenomen Oil by Jessica
3. L'Occitanne Hand Creme
4. Chanel nail colours. I love them!
5. Drink a lot of milk
6. Avoid doing housework.

Gemma is one of the most energised, positive and together 25 year olds I have ever met, and I wish her all the success with her business.

http://www.bodylondon.com/

SS10 CATWALK: INTRODUCING TRENDS THURSDAY!

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Christopher Kane incorporate lingerie detailing into his good-girl-gone-bad collection for SS10

At the end of each month of catwalk shows in February/March and September/October I come home and immediately closet myself in the study to create an enormous and comprehensive trend report. It helps focus the mind on what I've been doing for the previous few weeks. And when intensely using Chris Moore's brilliant catwalking.com you see what you missed in the flash and rush of a runway show. I love Chris.

Yesterday afternoon, while scrolling through my opus to SS10 it occurred to me that I could now serialise my trend report on FEAL. So I welcome you to the very first Trends Thursday!

I'm kicking-off with the mega-trend for lingerie, corsetry, and visible underwear. So many designers picked up on this visible/invisble, body-contouring, uber-feminine trend; each in their own unique way.  Likewise we can also adopt it in our own unique way.

So here is my personal edit. Let the pictures talk to you.

   high fashion super gorge lingerie fashion inspirations for ss10

Sophia Kokosalaki - love the way she has created the corset top with bra detail underneath. SO beautiful.

Loewe - Stuart Vevers mixed orange lace with khaki, a colour blend to take note of, methinks

Just Cavalli - who knew putting a satin bra over a tank could look so sexy.

YSL - this is demure, yet sensible and you don't need to share your midriff with the world

Ferretti - how pretty is this? The lingerie trend can be as sexy or innocent as you want it to be

Dolce Gabbana - I have seen Stefano and Domenico's corsetry up-close, and the workmanship is flawless

Justin and Thea of Preen are superb designers - I love their dresses, and this blends the corsetry theme with a light touch

Jean-Paul Gaultier - hmm. Love this shot. If I was 22 again I would wear this clubbing

The brilliant Giles Deacon corset dress - his SS10 show was my favourite EVER Giles collection. Can't wait to wear it!

Louis Vuitton - just drink in this outfit for a while....The tassled shoes, the duffel, the denim corset. It's brilliant!

 

I was lucky enough to have Antonio Berardi talk me through the making of this corset on Grazia Daily. It was created by hand and then built into the the dress. His work is exquisite and totally contemporary

Bottega Veneta - this is how I will be wearing the lingerie trend. So chic! To me it looks like a new beginning.

Christian Dior - for me John Galliano was on total form for SS10. When I saw this in the showroom, it was actually an all-in-one.

Christian Dior - another one from John. This is a dress, and when I got up-close to it, it looked like a silken treasure from the trousseau of a forties Hollywood starlet that had been re-shaped for the 21st century

Fendi - a modern way of showing the underwear trend.

Dolce Gabbana - love the way they did this play of sheer/opaque goodgirl/badgirl. Modest sexiness is where it's at

After viewing this you should be an expert, and when you see the trend highlighted in print media you can nod sagely and say "Oh yes, I know all about the lingerie trend for SS10!".

Blogging is all about comments, so don't be shy, tell Fashion Editor at Large what you think about all this....



THANKYOU TO CHRIS MOORE & CATWALKING.COM FOR USAGE OF ALL THE LOVELY CATWALK IMAGES

YSL vs The London Lite - huh?

Every weekday in London on pavements near tube stations nice Indian looking men - charming and polite all - shove free newspapers into commuters hands. There were two London freesheets until this week - London Paper and London Lite. London Paper closed this week. So now I only have to feel sorry for one desperate vendor, and read one paper instead of comparing two in order to judge which has the better interpretation of the news. (All journalists do this, we can't help it.) I think this should make me happy - less paper waste, less mindless reading of popcorn journalism etc. Truth be told though, I like getting free information given with a smile. It's part of the buzz of living in a great, teeming, vibrant city like London. Which brings me to the point of this post - the fact that Yves Saint Laurent will, on September 12 at selected London locations (and many other cities besides) be giving away a free newspaper called Manifesto. This paper will be within a specially designed canvas bag, the back and front of which is shown above, and will feature visual highlights of the label's Autumn collection. For YSL fans it will be something to seize with intent, and there will be great smugness and satisfaction in ownership. But what if you just happen upon a YSL Manifesto vendor by chance? What if like thousands of busy commuting Londoners you just take it mindlessly? This is how I'd love to get my copy - just by chance, unknowing of the content. What a pleasure it would be to be greeted by striking imagery by photograhers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin of the most beautiful of the supermodels Christy Turlington wearing YSL. Getting a copy of Manifesto on the off-chance and being blown away by it, is an experience someone will have. And I think I'm jealous. I like how YSL creative director Stefano Pilati is just putting it out there. He's also doing the whole SocMe thing on Twitter and FB. Who knew high fashion could be so democratic and random in a good way? Bring it on....