Here are some behind the scenes photos from the shoot I posted on earlier this week. Great team, great shoot.
Shooting in Da Club
March 22, 2013Sharing the Future
March 19, 2013I worked on this editorial back in January and it has now gone to print in Numero China. It is titled ’2 future 4 u’ and was shot by Stefan Khoo and styled by the lovely Jason Leung. The hair was done by Cher Savery, who is a top hair stylist and drives around London in an amazing vintage car. (She also just gave me the coolest hair cut, as I was a hair model for her at a teaching day.) We had two great girls for this and it was a good two day shoot with lots of prep and lots of returns! We were in a very cool space because the studio had been converted from a nightclub so for once there were lots of loos which they hadn’t replaced when they refurbished it, and they had also left the sound system plugged in, so we raved all day to various people’s iPods.
Source: Models.com
March Madness
March 15, 2013March has been a superb month for covers, I am impressed. Most of them come from Europe, so big up to my side of the world.
Here is Harper’s Bazaar Poland, with model Malgosia Bela photographed by Koray Birand. I love how Grace Kelly this looks, all Riviera, rose wine and flirting with French/Italian/Spanish/Greek waiters. The pale pink is very romantic and the fact that you can see both eyes through the hat is so clever.
Czech Elle with photographer Branislav Simoncik and model Karolina K. This Spanish-themed shoot feels so springlike with all the fun of the fiesta. The colours and patterns immediately jump of the page and I love the strong lip and big gold earrings.
Elle Netherlands with model Agnes Nabuurs. Another quite feminine cover but I think the short messed up hair makes it edgier as does the crosshatched header and scribbled headlines. Great use of a ruffle.
Elle Germany, model Gisele. This is Gisele being Gisele, a Brazilian Supermodel. I love the feline face, the strong pose and loose sleeves. The wind machine is working over time! It could almost be a Gucci ad.
Vogue Paris, photographed by Mert & Marcus, modelled by Suvi Koponen. A completely different cover from all the rest. Very stark, very minimal but I like it. It has a Vermeer quality.
InStyle with Agyness Deyn photographed by Rankin. This is so Twiggy it hurts. I like the seated body shape which you don’t normally see on covers and the hands are great too.
Purple Fashion, cover photographed by Terry Richardson, modelled by Miranda Kerr. Although this seems more of a summer cover to me, I love the leg and how sultry but simple the concept is. I’m not a Terry Richardson fan but I couldn’t ignore this cover.
And finally Vogue Germany, photographer Daniel Jackson, model Doetzen Kroes. This fresh faced post shower look is great and suprisingly atypical for Vogue covers. She looks healthy and happy which is what March is all about!
Source: TelegraphFashion
Oscars 2013
February 26, 2013Did no one care about the Oscars this year? Is that why so many stars stayed away? Someone was clearly told to scrape the celebrity bucket quickly and invite Olivia Munn and Chris Tucker. It was all so underwhelmingly ‘meh’. Where was the colour? Too many stylists went down the grey/gunmetal/pewter/ route. And that’s true for the jewellery too – where were the stunning for-one-night-only pieces? Nothing was standout interesting, nor even horrific and I have had to take looks from the Vanity Fair after party in order to find something to write about.
Jennifer Lawrence in Christian Dior Haute Couture. How much nicer is her Calvin Klein dress at the Vanity Fair party? It’s interesting and young, sexy and modern. Her Oscar dress is bridal, doesn’t highlight her great figure and it desperately needed some large jewellery to make it cooler and more wow. I only found out recently that she had moved on from a stylist she’d been working with for a while to work with Rachel Zoe; that explains a lot as I used to like how she dressed but really haven’t enjoyed anything of her’s during this award season. Just because it’s Dior doesn’t make it right.
Anne Hathaway in Prada. This comes dangerously close to Gwyneth Paltrow’s pink satin disaster all those years ago. It’s doing a bizarre thing of making her look old and young at the same time. It’s matronly and yet also little girl shiny. I didn’t like the backwards necklace with the strap detail at the back, and if Rachel Zoe styled her as she normally does, then that’s two backwards necklaces on two different clients (see Jennifer Lawrence above) which is SO poor. Also I know she got a lot of heat about the nipple situation but actually I think it’s much more about the darts creating a bag shape more than anything else. I would have loved to have seen her in a colour, perhaps teal, maroon or even dark green.
Naomi Watts in Giorgio Armani. I really like this look, hoorah. It’s modern and sophisticated. I like the slightly messy hair. Her Emilio Pucci number for VF looked great too so Top Marks for not only getting one look right but two. Impressive.
Sandra Bullock in Elie Saab. Having reviewed the Elie Saab collection for my blog I know it was full of lovely colours that would have looked stunning on her and I really don’t like the hair, it’s too straight and too heavily one sided.
Halle Berry in Versace. This is rather art deco but I quite like it. It’s an interesting shape and so much better than her tacky look from the Globes.
Charlize Theron in Christian Dior Haute Couture. You have to worry when one of the best dressed people at the ceremony is not even a nominee. I love her short hair and this is a perfect example of how to be simple but sexy, please take note Anne Hathaway. She looks amazing. Although I would have styled coloured studs on this.
Reese Witherspoon in Louis Vuitton. This is simple and effective and finally a colour, made just that bit more interesting with the clever contrast panelling although you wouldn’t call it high fashion. She always does great old Hollywood hair and generally pulls off looking dressed up but relaxed on the red carpet.
Marisa Tomei in Valentino. This is my best dressed, shock horror. I love this jumpsuit and I don’t even like jumpsuits, certainly not Sarah Jessica Parker’s at the Baftas! But this is a stunning colour with gorgeous bead work and a great fit. And note that her hair looks relaxed but done, unlike Jennifer Aniston’s which barely even looked washed and combed.
Miranda Kerr in Valentino. Unlike the suprise of the jumpsuit above this is the typical disappointment I have come to expect from the design duo at Valentino. It’s an unflattering colour and shape, it looks cheap and a real departure from her normal chic style.
Zoe Saldana in Givenchy. This is horrible too! I hate with a passion skirts that have a deep frill on the bottom, it is almost never flattering and frankly has too much of the Little House on the Prairies home dressmakers about it. The cheap looking negligee-teddy top with the shiny lining material skirt should just never be worn on a red carpet.
Helen Hunt in H&M Conscious Fashion. I support the idea of ‘green’ clothes but this does nothing for her figure. The bodice needs to be much more up lifting, if you catch my drift, which would then lengthen and make a waist, and would flatter and enhance her curves rather than hanging off her. The material also hasn’t passed the sitting-in-a car-on-the-way test. I don’t like the necklace either, it’s far too boring for such a simple dress, which could have taken something more eye-catching. Also, give this woman some coloured lipgloss, please, it would do wonders! Pretty hair though.
Amy Adams in Oscar de la Renta. I haven’t even bothered with her Oscars dress because it was huge and frilly and a flat grey and that’s all I have to say about it. But this is gorgeous. Flapperesque and really figure flattering, it’s interesting and I would imagine all that beading would move beautifully.
Jane Fonda in Reem Acra. She certainly did colour for the Oscars, wearing a very loud yellow dress for the ceremony, well done her, but I much prefer her after party wear. She looks stunning in this patterned dress. Showing the younger ladies how it’s done!
Jennifer Aniston in Valentino. I was watching a Friends last night and honestly her hair was exactly like this! I understand she’s a California girl who’s found a style that works for her but really, could she not have done something to it? Even though it’s a classic Valentino red dress she somehow manages to make it look casual and unflattering. Why she was there I don’t know, but she could have at least made an effort, specially as she won’t be winning an Oscar any time soon….
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Valentino . I didn’t know Vanity Fair had a Wild West barmaid theme? Or maybe only RHW was told. Far too many ruffles, frills and swathes in an old-fashioned half-mourning colour and the black choker is very distracting. Top marks for make up though.
Jessica Chastain in Armani Prive. I’m a tad bored of her trying and failing to play the Hollywood siren. I don’t like the colour of this dress with her hair tone and the fact that her nails were a similar shade is a major no no for me.
Source: Zimbio.com
Jean Paul Gaultier Couture Spring 2013 Paris
January 29, 2013Flicking through a Jean Paul Gaultier couture collection is a yearly pleasure. Always interesting, inventive, often provocative, it’s everything I look for in a couture show. It won’t please everybody but I liked the way it moved from Spanish references to eighties shoulders, to cowgirl fringing, to Paris boudoir, to Bollywood. It’s theatre, refreshingly irreverent and just a little crazy.
Source: Style.com
Valentino Couture Spring 2013 Paris
January 29, 2013The beginning of this show had potential with the unimaginable amounts of hand-rolled piping creating wrought iron patterns over sheers but then went too quickly into rich little convent girl formality before descending into the predictable flowery, floaty, unremarkable dresses that for me have come to define Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli as the head designers of this company. Where you would have picked out a Valentino dress for its grownup sexy sophistication, now you do the same for something that is confusingly girly-matron.
Source: Style.com
Armani Prive Couture 2013 Paris
January 28, 2013This collection was dramatic and chic. It has a Silk Route feel, with a possible narrative of the rich well-travelled woman with an outfit for every Sultan she meets along the way. The stick-toggle that was referenced throughout, apparently as some sort of sceptre, was used very imaginatively, suggestively barely holding a jacket together in one look, securing a dress on the collar or twisting a skirt at the waist. The reds, greys and black were sophisticated, if a little dark for spring and the jewellry was incredible… I can see this collection being used for editorials and red carpet which is the perfect combination.
Source: Style.com
Elie Saab Couture 2013 Spring
January 28, 2013I enjoy how easy it is to write about Elie Saab, nothing shocks, nothing jars, nothing underwhelms. Overlooking the rather clumsy title of An Ode to Delicateness, the beautiful creations in this collection are again glorious examples of beading, lace, drape and subtlety. They look light and effortless and will be very popular with stylists and actresses alike.
Source: Style.com
Chanel Couture Spring 2013 Paris
January 23, 2013It’s me, it must be me. I must be missing some chromosome that means I don’t get Karl Lagerfeld’s vision because I think this is truly awful. Let’s start with the dead bird that appears to be sitting on all these poor girls’ heads or perhaps focus on the horrible make up or those silver (latex??) legging/shoe things. Nothing here speaks of Coco, nothing. These shapeless dresses do a woman’s body no favours. He has fixated on a very horizontal aesthetic, with width in the cut at so many points: across the body at the shoulder, at the waist, the hip and the cuff, then added to the effect with horizontals in the tweed, in the ruching and the pleating. The wide frame at the shoulders particularly made the models look like American Football players and then instead of adding some element of tailoring to give balance, the dress and skirts and coats flare back out again. Astonishing.
I’m sure the workmanship and the fabrics and the detailing are stunning but if they don’t translate into photos then it doesn’t work. Clearly you don’t look at couture for what’s going to be in the shops next season, but you do look at it to be inspired by wonderful creativity and imaginative reach. This makes me laugh and cry in equal measure, especially when the fashion journalists eat it up without a word of discontent.
Source: Style.com
Met Ball 2013
May 9, 2013Wow! Is really my first reaction to going through the Met Ball photos. Was the dress code on the invitation not written clearly enough or do people not understand what Punk means, opting instead for either the dullest dresses of all time, or even more bizarrely, gothic-Renaissance. I am usually so excited for the fashion at this event; all the designers get to be as creative as they want, models and actresses are prepared to push the boat out, because it’s a themed gala for goodness sake!!! I will just post a couple of pictures of punk for reference and if you honestly think that anyone got close to this era/ethos/movement/ let me know, because for me this was an EPIC fail. We will start off with the few good looks and then fade into the plain wrong.
Anne Hathaway in Valentino. I actually think she looks amazing in this dress: the blonde hair really works and the excessive amount of flattened side boob doesn’t take away from the fact that she looks sexy which is something she hasn’t rocked before. Although just because it’s black and see-through DOES NOT MAKE IT PUNK! And no punk would be seen dead with feather sleeves.
Cameron Diaz in Stella McCartney. Another blonde rocking a very different look from their normal style. I think this works as a look but, and I really am going to be repeating myself over and over again in this post, just because you have a token couple of spikes on your belt DOES NOT MAKE IT PUNK.
Allison Williams in Altuzarra. This had the lace, see through and black components that seem to be the fashion industry/stylists limited understanding of punk. As I said in the opening paragraph, this is more gothic but I think she looks good in a Miss Haversham sort of way.
Hailee Stein in Donna Karen. I love this! Love love love. It is a touch angelic but with the safety pins made to looks like a flower pattern this is what I hoped designers would be clever enough to do, take a reference, even if it is the obvious ripped fabric, fishnets, spikes and studs but run with it in a modern way. Well played!
Taylor Tomasi Hill, fashion editor, in Mr Browne. I love this too. Again, simple touches that don’t involve the cliches of black or lace can still make something punk. This dress has an uneven torn and frayed hem which is cool, as are the spikes that go round the shoulder and cup under the cleavage. I really wasn’t looking for someone to be in torn denim and a mohawk, just a designer being clever with the theme and this is a perfect example of that.
Sienna Miller in Burberry. I know people liked this but a studded jacket over a white dress, is that really the best Burberry can do? Really?! A British label and the whole outfit hinges on a jacket? I don’t like her hair either, just because it looks dirty DOES NOT MAKE IT PUNK!
Beyonce in Givenchy Haute Couture. This is so awful, especially as she was co-hosting the event. She is someone who could have carried off something super edgy, super sexy and super punk. The dress does not flatter her at all and looks like a Pucci throwback and the horrible matching boots really didn’t work either. Why didn’t she wear black lipstick or do something crazy with her hair? Another trend of the evening was over the elbow gloves, which DOES NOT MAKE IT PUNK!
Gwyneth Paltrow in Valentino. I almost can’t bear to even comment on this horror. Why did she wear this? She’s had a disaster with breast flattening pink before. This manages to be both odd and dull. And the casually ‘just put my hair in a ponytail in the car on the way over’ is totally wrong. I have seen her look so much cooler and it’s a disgrace anyone could turn up to an exhibition entitled Punk: Chaos to Couture in this. She has the fashion world at her beck and call, for heaven’s sake.
Jennifer Lawrence in Dior. Another person who completely missed the boat. Just because you are the face of the company does not mean you have to wear their dullest option. Why, oh why, does she have a wisp of a veil over her face? How is that a punk look ever? No, really, EVER? So disappointing of Christian Dior I have to say, it’s like they sent the most average dress they could find.
Karlie Kloss in Louis Vuitton. This probably is the worst look of the evening for me (thanks Marc Jacobs) purely because she is a stunning 20year old top model and this looks like she’s breast feeding her third child and used some curtains to make the dress! Truly horrible. I can’t believe she looked in the mirror and thought this was ok. It’s so unflattering in both shape and colour and has no reference to punk whatsoever. I loathe it.
Katy Perry in Dolce & Gabbana, one of the many examples of Byzantine references. What’s with the crown? What’s with the saint? This is not punk at all and frankly pretty random.
Linda Evangelista in Marchesa. Ouch! This is one of the top super models of all time, all short slicked hair smouldering in a white shirt and this makes her look like they have just found the Russian Princess Anastasia.
Sarah Jessica Parker in Giles. She thought she was being so clever in the Philip Treacy headpiece that looked like a mohawk but the effect is more Roman soldier. As this also has weird Maria Antoinette overtones, I just don’t understand the look at all.
Other people to quickly name and shame: Michelle Williams, who made no effort in a plain black dress and tiara, Gwen Stefani who really should have done better and was an embarrassment to her No Doubt punk persona, Jennifer Lopez in predictable animal print, Uma Thurman channeling Poison Ivy in Zac Posen, Diane Kruger who decided her contribution would be to dip dye her hair pink tut tut tut, Carey Mulligan who added ONE safety pin to make her otherwise dull black dress ‘punk’, Blake Lively in a prom dress, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley for finding a dress that doesn’t flatter her amazing body at all, Karolina K looking like a cheap stall-bought scarf, Solange who seemed to think the theme was 60′s Motown, Madonna for all of it, Heidi Klum for wearing a wedding dress and Kristen Stewart for highlighting the important rule that jumpsuits don’t suit everyone. At least Anna Wintour wasn’t disappointed with the turnout for her party: her upbeat floral Chanel couture dress was resolutely everything Punk does not represent.
Source: Zimbio.com
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