18 March, 2009

The Rock And Roll Public Library

This is turning out to be a week of scrapbook-mania, moodboard-making and ephemera-loving! Firstly, I decided to make some fashiony moodboards for my own pleasure so have started with the fun bit – namely deciding on themes and sorting all my relevant scraps into piles. To aid the creative flow, dear D came home this evening with a Waterstones carrier bag tucked under his arm. Therein was the Satchmo book, a present for us to share which is even better than I expected. Pages and pages of cut-out photos, hand rendered type and yellowing tape artfully arranged into beautiful, personal collages that tell the story of Louis Armstrong’s life. As if that wasn’t ‘WOW’ enough, an email just pinged in my inbox from PR pal R about The Rock And Roll Public Library.

This is an exhibition that opened today featuring a lifetime’s collecting of pop culture and ephemera by West London cool dude Mick Jones (otherwise known as iconic guitarist and songwriter from The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite and Carbon Silicon). Jones has collected and archived all his Clash-related videos, magazines, stage clothes, artwork and instruments as well as more personal letters and artefacts amassed in his studio over the last three (or even four) decades. The exhibition is on show for a month but Jones has longer term aims for the collection. “Ultimately I’d like to have a permanent place to exhibit the whole collection like a museum, like a library where you can come and see the stuff and maybe get a copy or sit there and read it. I also would like to bring artists there because it’s history really,” he said. It’s on until 18th April and I can’t wait to go!

Disneyrollergirl 2 Comments Books, Events, Music, News

3 March, 2009

Diesel/Christies SOUL i-D party

Lots of fun was had at last night’s SOUL i-D party to celebrate the launch of the SOUL i-D book. Everywhere I looked was a member of the i-D ‘family’, from eighties icons Caryn Franklin, Philip Sallon and Pam Hogg to Simon Foxton and his gorgeous gaggle of faithful followers.

I was mighty impressed with the PR’s tactics to ensure attendance at the bash – namely emailing not only a list of ‘confirmed celebrities’ (as is now the norm) but also a sneak peak at the menu. Now if there’s one way to drag me to an event it’s to entice me with some fancy canapes. Here you go:

CANAPE MENU
Parmesan shortbread with roasted cherry tomato, goats cheese & pesto

Black olive biscotti with aioli, tomato confit & tapenade

Fontina & prosciutto di san daniele with purple figs

Burnt mushrooms, shallots, & red wine drizzle on toasted brioche

Crab lemongrass & cilantro salad on brioche – topped with mango & red onion marmalade with beetroot cress

Beetroot cured salmon with crème fraiche & wasabi caviar on lightly toasted blinis

DESSERT
Raspberry, elderflower & champagne jelly on baby shortbread rounds (orange zest to finish)

DRINKS MENU

Champagne
De Nauroy Brut NV, France, Reims

Wine
San Rafael Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Chile, San Rafael

Libertad Red Malbec/Shiraz 2007, Argentina, Mendoza

Cocktails
Asian Tonic
Lychee Belvedere cocktail

Soft Drinks
Cucumber, lemon & ginger cooler
Strained cucumber with fresh lemon & topped with ginger beer

Rhubarb & apple
Muddled rhubarb & vanilla served tall with cloudy apple

Ty Nant still and sparkling water

Delicious!

Disneyrollergirl 6 Comments Designers, Events, Magazines, Photography

3 March, 2009

Joseph – it’s back!

The prize for best catering during LFW had to go to the Joseph shop relaunch in Westbourne Grove. Not only were the non-alcoholic cocktails delicious and plentiful but the food was a never-ending succession of crispy bruscetta bites, cheesy nibbles and delicate duck wraps. Usually you are lucky to get one or two of these tasty morsels all night but we seemed to be in prime position for a proper feeding (and it’s not because we were pitched directly outside the kitchen door – honest guv). Anyway, I did circulate a little bit. Just enough to get a good feel for the space which has been carefully curated by new artistic director (and ex-Colette buyer), Alain Snege. In amongst the Marni and Maison Martin Margiela, I discovered the chiffon-petal adorned cashmeres by Koi Suwannagate, Zero Maria Cornejo’s cape cocoon dresses and an impressive shoe department. Downstairs was the casual department boasting Jerome Dreyfus (AKA Mr Isabel Marant) suede bags of every description, Golden Goose tees and stripy boy-shirts and Joseph’s own lovely soft denim collection.

Back in the eighties and early nineties, Joseph was right up there in terms of the ultimate shopping experience. Its chunky handknit sweaters (80s) and boy-cut trousers in every conceivable finish (90s) were the mainstay of fashionistas’ wardrobes far and wide but somehow it went off-radar in the noughties. It just had no personality. The latest round of revamps aims to return the Joseph brand to its former glory, let’s see if they succeed.

Disneyrollergirl 4 Comments Brands, Events

1 March, 2009

LFW – the post-mortem

LFW has finished and the hordes decamped to Milan. So what did I make of it all?

It was a fun one! Early starts and late finishes aside, I find that doing fashion week hardcore stylee – as in back-to-back shows, not dipping in and out in between office visits/meetings etc – is the way to go. Granted, going without food and sleep is a tad inconvenient but the people-watching is excellent as is the eavesdropping and gossip-gathering. For example, who knew that international super-super-stylist for the Julien MacDonald show was such a prize chump of a drama queen? Reports of screaming and shouting from his corner have been flying round London’s fashion quarters faster than Kanye’s limo. Mind you, I’d be having a hissy fit too if I knew a certain rival stylist was hogging ‘my’ models thus delaying them for no good reason other than some lame power trip point-scoring. I had no idea styling was so political! Then there was the overheard news of one ex-executive fashion editor who has just nabbed the plum job of working for Armani in Milan but is dreading the prospect of her obligatory nothing-but-Armani work wardrobe. Does nobody like Armani?

Away from the madness of the shows, the exhibition tent was an oasis of calm. I was especially taken with the MAC stand where the PRs were super-generous with the goody bags. Why the heck did I not know about this before, pray tell? The Esthetica area is a section especially geared to promoting eco/ethical brands but most of them still ‘aren’t quite there’ yet. I did like the Izzy Lane stand though, everything is made in the UK and the shoes which I adore, and have used for shoots, are particularly fabulous. I’m assured they are supremely comfortable too which is always a bonus.

I also loved Beyond Skin‘s vegetarian shoes. They have been around for a while but just had a revamp and are now known for the excellence of their design rather than ‘aren’t they good… for an ethical brand?’ faint praise.

Knitwear is making a big noise in London. Not only are the likes of Mark Fast and Louise Goldin hoovering up all the headlines but newcomers on the block, Cooperative Designs showed great innovation in their bobbly, pom-pom-y jumpers and sweater dresses. Off the runway, I liked Elizabeth Lau’s supersoft tromp l’oeil dresses, not to mention her kooky knitted sign!

When I dropped in on my friends at Buba, they were keen to show me their new babies – fur handbags. Did I mention fur has been everywhere this fashion week? “I don’t think anyone does accessories in fur. I have a big fur coat that I wear every winter and I wanted some gorgeous sexy fur bags to go with,” explained designer Lesley Silwood, making me stroke the bags to hammer her point home. I know a lot of people are anti-fur and I have made a pact not to buy any more fur but if I’m being honest I can see these selling like crazy.

Opposite Buba was the wonderful Mamie stand full of ‘reworked high-end vintage’. None of your shabby chic tat here, this is a supremely elegant clothing and jewellery line from the people who own the Paul & Joe boutiques in the UK.

I greatly enjoyed the whole day dedicated to mens fashion, especially Wednesday evening’s soiree at the E Tautz presentation (and not just due to the goody bag literally overflowing with Penhaligons products). In the intimate surroundings of the E Tautz shop in Savile Row, it was nice to wash down liquorice macaroons with a cocktail or ten while bonding with Christopher Kane over our shared love of Church’s shoes. (Trying to explain the concept of Twitter to him and sister Tammy on the other hand was a complete and utter waste of time.)

Trendwise, fashion fell into two distinct camps. On one hand we have the obsession with youth culture – TopShop Unique’s crusty clubbers and Charles Anastases’s youth tribes sloping down the catwalk and Luella doing an about-turn from last season’s prim net-veiled suits and returning to the rebellious teens we know and love. Hell, even Emporio Armani seemed to pick up the baton on the first day of Milan Fashion Week with his schoolgirl shorts and knee-high socks. The flipside is the predominance of grown-up silk dresses that make up the mainstay of collections by London’s new guard – Erdem, Mary Katrantzou, Marios Schwab et al. It’s great to see that younger labels like Peter Pilotto aren’t just interested in producing creations of the crazy headline-grabbing variety. There was a time when this was all London was known for but this season and last, the newer crop proved they can do innovative and commercial in equal quantities.

Having a menswear day thrown into the mix is a genius idea. As menswear and womenswear cross over more and more these days it’s a great way to pick up on styling ideas and trends that may not otherwise immediately present themselves. On the subject of trends, these are the ones coming through so far for AW09-10 on the basis of the London shows.

Club kids – Topshop’s disco-grunge, KTZ’s preppie-punks, Ashish’s Super Super overstyling

Dried blood lips – Nicole Farhi, Charles Anastase, Paul Smith

Abstract print – Peter Pilotto, Erdem

Mohair – Betty Jackson, Peter Pilotto, Missoni

Velvet – Betty Jackson , Christopher Kane, Danielle Scutt, Roksanda Ilincic, Louise Goldin, Luella, Mary Katrantzou

Twinsets – Christopher Kane, Sibling

Shoulder action – John Rocha, Nathan Jenden, Betty Jackson, Jaeger London, Twenty8Twelve, Julien MacDonald, Peter Pilotto

Tromp Loeil – Basso & Brook, Mary Katrantzou

Alpine – Ashish, Peter Jensen

Russian/Constructivist – Jaeger, Christopher Kane

Biker – Armand Basi One, Julien Macdonald

Dolls – Erdem, Roksanda Ilincic