What’s in my bag: styling assistants’ edition



Assistants book 3rd Cover
I recently interviewed Caroline Baker (former super-stylist and fashion editor) for my next book and we talked about her favourite styling ‘tool’, the safety pin. Returning from a Nova magazine shoot in Japan via Thailand in the 1970s, she spent 24 hours in Bangkok where she noticed a recurring styling detail on the locals; their blue jackets fastened with safety pins.

“So I did a spread with Harry Peccinotti. Nova loved double page spreads, so we did a safety pin over a double page spread, holding together this sweet little jacket. I love safety pins, so when John Lydon came out, that was his symbol and suddenly safety pins became it. It came to be an outside thing and it was OK. Because [previously] if you safety pinned your clothes, you would hide them if you were a well bought up girl. And as a stylist, you become aware of safety pins, because you have to safety pin the clothing to fit the model, so that you never shot anybody from the back.” (more…)

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On Timothée, the PCC and Darius Khondji



Timothée Chalamet in Raf Simons archive

A somewhat random post today. I was alerted last week to a special screening of Marty Supreme followed by a Q&A with Timothée Chalamet at the Prince Charles Cinema (aka the PCC, one of central London’s few remaining old-school indie cinemas). As I’d already seen the film I wasn’t tempted to go, but I thought wow, props to Timmy for carving out time to promote a tiny cinema who really needs the support.

Of course, I also thought, fuck me, you’re brave PCC! In order to buy a ticket, one had to be a PCC member and then try their luck booking online Glasto-style at an appointed time to secure a seat. What could possibly go wrong? Visions of hundreds of teens trying to bum rush the PCC website to  the Willy Wonka-esque goods had me sending thoughts and prayers to the PCC’s IT and PR teams in advance. And yes, in the event, despite shoring up its servers, the inevitable happened. At the crucial moment, the site crashed, people were beyond devastated and the PCC’s IG comment section went into meltdown. (more…)

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Coupling up (continued)



Tommy Ton double bag

In an era of post quiet luxury careful consumption, styling becomes all-important. Some say stylists were the unsung heroes of the recent menswear shows (I concur!) and they demonstrate plenty of ways to invigorate an existing wardrobe without extra outlay.

One of my favourite tricks is doubling up and I’m seeing this play out a lot on runways and IRL. I’ve already covered double shirts and the layered tees from Celine SS26. Some other easy multiples to consider…

Double belts are becoming a regular feature of Michael Rider’s Celine collections (below) and there’s also an argument for wearing a belt on naked skin, with another looser one over your clothes for an erotic charge à la Hermès in Harper’s Bazaar (more…)

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Quote of the day: Véronique Nichanian



Véronique Nichanian Hermes AW26

“Last time, my team showed me something: ‘Do you see that? It’s so nice’. And I said, ‘Yes, I did that at Cerruti in 1988.’ So I think, okay, it’s time to stop when they’re bringing me my old things.”
Hermès men’s artistic director Véronique Nichanian on stepping down from the RTW role after 38 years, Business of Fashion

This ‘exit interview‘ is full of nuggets on how 71 year old Véronique Nichanian progressed from “tiny, shy and discreet” newbie at Cerruti (hand-picked by Nino Cerruti from college) to creating the Hermès men’s universe almost from scratch. While retiring from designing men’s RTW (the relentless pace is too much to be enjoyable), she’ll continue to consult on the maroquinerie and scarves. (more…)

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