There's a chill in the air and a big "FASHION WEEKS START" note creeping ever closer on my calendar which means summer is drawing to an end and it's time to pull our socks up and get on with some major immersion in new season shopping and next season trends. It feels like everything is cranking up a notch or two already which means there is plenty of fashion news to share this week. Without further ado...
JONATHAN SAUNDERS T-SHIRT JUST £18
Vogue's now legendary fashion night out is taking place next Thursday evening and as always there's a packed calendar of events from oriental dressing up at Beyond Retro to a talk by Fran Burns and Bronwyn Cosgrave at Chanel and fun times with Richard Nicoll, Jonathan Saunders, Roksanda Ilinicic and Manolo Blahnik at Liberty. This year, Mr Saunders (as Vogue Fashion Fund winner) has the honour of designing the official t-shirt for event in aid of Refuge. That's a bonus for us as we can get out mitts on a bit of Saunders for just £18... Get it here at Gap Online
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| Vogue girls Emma, Sarah and Tilly in their Saunders tees (image from vogue.co.uk) |
The Burberry designer/ magic brand maestro is reportedly marrying his boyfriend Simon Woods (a.k.a Mr Bingley in 2005's Pride and Prejudice film) in Chelsea next month. The chosen venue holds just 38 guests so it's bound to be a smaller, more intimate affair than Burberry's famed, celeb-packed fashion shows. The handsome pair wouldn't look out of place in a Burberry ad.
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| Christopher Bailey and Simon Woods (image from dailymail.co.uk) |
One of the most exciting things about fashion is the anticipation of the catwalks- how will everything look? What will the mood be? We all know that Marc Jacobs and his three collections (Marc byMarc Jacobs, Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton) tend to sum up the season's key trends and general feeling pretty well- for SS12 there was saccharine lady and for AW12 it was all about big gems, Edwardian and covered up. In a new interview for Garage, Jacobs spoke to artist John Currin about what we can expect in the next few weeks. He has been asking himself "How am I going to make this sexier?" and looking at Currin's Gold Coast nude painting. Maybe we can expect more skin for Spring/ Summer?
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| John Currin's Gold Coast painting- a Marc Jacobs favourite (image from artnews.org) |
It's true that President Obama has been one of USA's most fashionably popular heads of state ever what with the support he's garnered from the like of Anna Wintour and Sarah Jessica Parker. And, yes, girls tend to be in the majority when it comes to being interested in fashion and shopping but it doesn't mean we can't also hold our own when it comes to talking about undoubtedly more important things like war, the economy and welfare (to name but a few). Some political commentators don't see it that way however. After, POTUS gave an interview to Glamour magazine he has attracted criticism that he is avoiding tougher questioning from hardcore politicos. The interview isn't available yet but I would bet that Obama didn't get a completely easy ride from Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive nor should we take with anything more than a pinch of salt the accusations that fluff interviews aren't what Obama should be doing. Talking to Glamour is actually a great way to engage with a huge proportion of voters who may not otherwise encounter political journalism. I'd like to see Mitt Romney try to explain to Glamour readers why members of his party don't think you can pregnant from rape.
NEW LOOK FOR FASHION EAST
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| Rihanna in Claire Barrow (image from tumblr.com) |
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| Designs by Ryan Lo (image from stylebubble.co.uk) |
SALLY SINGER LEAVING T MAGAZINE
Sally Singer is to leave New York Times T magazine it was announced this week. NY Times editor Jill Abramson said "Sally's contributions are clear to anyone who's read the magazine during her tenure. Gorgeous visuals, interesting stories and enterprising features — both in print and online — have been hallmarks of her stewardship. We wish her every success." Sadly it seems the sudden departure is down to disappointing advertising revenues with the number of ad pages dropping from 1,600 in 2007 to 1,087 last year. Although her literary approach seemed like a breath of fresh air, it seems it wasn't good enough to keep commercial interest in the publication.
SWAROVSKI SS13
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| NEWGEN designer Huishan Zhang who will be incorporating Swarovski crystals into his work this season (image from vogue.co.uk) |
VOGUE AIRBRUSHES GAGA
As soon as we saw US Vogue's September cover with Lady Gaga in a Marc Jacobs gown, we all knew that a teeny bit of touching up must have been done but now Vogue have released a video of the Mert and Marcus shoot and some careful pausing and screen shots show a pretty stark before and after.
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| Image from buzzfeed.com |
GET THE ANDY WARHOL LOOK
Nars has teamed up with Andy Warhol's foundation to create a make-up collection in honour of the artist's signature beauty regime. The collection contains 29 products and takes inspiration direct from Warhol and his many muses (think Edie Sedgwick smokey and Debbie Harry super bright lips). Check out Nars's website for more details and to be the first to get your hands on the collection.
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| Andy Warhol make-up from Nars (image from magazine.nytimes.blogs.com) DUCHESS OF ALBA HITS THE BEACH This is probably one of my favourite beach looks of the Summer- the brilliant Duchess of Alba in Formentera sporting a bikini plus digi flower print kaftan and huge shades and hat. Brilliant. |
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| (Image from huffingtonpost.com) |
A quick shout out for the Fair Fashion Fair which is taking place on 8th and 9th September on Westbourne Grove in aid of MIND, the mental health charity. The event promises to have plenty of brilliant bargains from vintage and designer fashion to furniture on offer. The organisers are working in partnership with charity shops to highlight all the wonderful things a charity shop trawl can dig up. it looks like it'll be a really fun few days- find out more here .
One of my first tasks with the FashEd when I began work here last year was to help research a feature on Cambridge Satchel Company which she was writing for The Guardian. So it was great to come across the video of the label's founder Julie Deane. It's a promotion for Google Chrome but charts Julie's progression from Mum looking for a school bag for her daughter to fashion mega success story.
Happy Weekend!
