Miss Selfridge introduces the three-way collab




Another day, another seen-it-before high street collaboration, or so I thought. But when I rocked up to the Hed Kandi for Miss Selfridge launch I got a pleasant surprise. There in front of me was a new idea! I kid you not, Miss Selfridge has embraced an original take on the collab theme – hooking up two brands that genuinely have the same audience via an illustrator rather than yet another celebrity-in-inverted-commas. The three-way hook-up, it’s the future I tell you!

Do I sound jaded? I guess I’m just a little bit over the bandwagon-jumping of the ‘Fearne Cotton/Peaches Geldof/insert any other name here designs exclusive collection’ ilk, complete with predictable interview quote of ‘I couldn’t find anything I wanted to wear so I designed my own’. Snore. Instead, we have the creator of Hed Kandi’s iconic club babes (you know the ones, their almond eyes and lithe figures are all over the London Underground) designing a collection with the Miss Selfridge team inspired by the girls on the record CD covers. 

Not only are the ten dresses suitably sexy and body-con – perfect for the target Ibiza-loving audience – but the prints are all inspired by the graphics on various Hed Kandi compilations so everything ties very nicely together. The Hed Kandi girls are almost a story in themselves. Illustrator Jason Brooks has been sketching these long-limbed lovelies since 1999 and over the years has managed to keep up with fashion yet transcend it at the same time – no mean feat. Apart from anything else, I’m a massive fan of fashion illustration but beyond that, I love a clever marketing concept and this one is genius. Pats on backs all round…

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In: New Look, out: Borders



Bloody hell! There I was popping in to Borders on Oxford Street to ‘use the facilities’ and I was greeted by the world’s biggest queue for the tills, coiling every which way around the ground floor. There must be a new Harry Potter book out, I thought, but no, it’s much more sinister than that. New Look has bought five Borders stores and the Oxford Street branch is one of the unlucky ones. Almost everything is half price (but not the magazines, natch) hence the frenzy.

The photography section looked tantalising on first inspection but when I returned for a proper recce two hours later, everything was on the floor.


What a sorry state of affairs. What on earth is going to happen to the rest of our bookshops if this is happening to Borders now? What can we do? I don’t have anything against New Look but there is already a flagship store in Marble Arch (unless they are downsizing and swapping sites), is our appetite for jazzy leggings so great that we need two branches of the same store in the same street at the expense of a bookshop? It’s all too sad!


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It’s here! When You’re a Boy…(spoiler alert!)



Apologies for the protracted absence, I’ve been flat out working 15 hour days on a shampoo commercial coinciding with a run of ‘Christmas-in-July’ press days. I’m pooped!

Anyway, Simon Foxton’s much anticipated exhibition, When You’re a Boy was finally unveiled yesterday at The Photographers’ Gallery. The menswear stylist has worked with Penny Martin to create an insightful exhibition which shows the different sides of his arresting work. What attracts me to Foxton’s work? I think it’s the always-human element present in his styling. Much of it is portraity and the work that isn’t will have a humorous or playful element or be somehow more than about just the clothes and more about the character. I guess I like his street casting a whole lot too.

My favourite Foxton i-D shoot, ‘Strictly,’ featuring a boyish Edward Enninful poses ‘questions about ethnicity, Englishness and masculinity’ and looks as fresh today as it did when it was first published in 1991.



The wall of framed portraits by a range of different photographers provides a genius personal touch – I love the one of the boy in double denim with his back pockets overflowing with colourful bandanas (no close-up unfortunately, I didn’t want to ruin the surprise).

In the centre of the room is a long glass cabinet housing Foxton’s precious scrapbooks which I decided to save til last. Ever the scrapbook fiend, this for me is a crucial part of an exhibition like this and I’m glad Penny Martin as curator decided the scrapbooks were worthy of inclusion. As with photographer Tim Walker’s scrapbooks and sketchbooks, it shows something of the artist’s inspiration and creative thought process. Apart from this, it’s fascinating to be reminded of long-lost male faces from the 80s fashion scene and rather sweet to see Foxton’s ballet ticket stubs and 80s club flyers so neatly archived.


For those interested, there is a programme of accompanying events. Check on The Photographers’ Gallery website for info.

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