books

Quote of the day: Jeny Howorth on Neil Kirk



Jeny Howorth by Neil Kirk for Honey

“We had lots of great times together. Neil was great fun to travel with. I travelled far and wide with him, from Sri Lanka to Key West. He could be difficult at times with a warped sense of humour that definitely appealed to me. I remember being in Hemingway’s bar in Key West [Sloppy Joe’s Bar] with Neil and the very wonderful Anne Boyd [fashion editor, The Observer]. There was a severe rain downpour and we were up to our knees in water, drinking margaritas. All in a day’s work. I loved my adventures with Neil. One of my first and favourite covers was for Honey magazine, November 1983 [above]. As far as I can remember, it was shot on a beach in The Hamptons. We had run out of clothes, so we used what I was wearing—my father’s old sweatshirt and my favourite white shirt. The sun was going down. Bang. Bang. Bang. Done. I still love it.”
Jeny Howorth, model, Neil Kirk in Vogue: The Supermodel Years (more…)



Ode to a revitalising scarf



The Sartorialist

I said a few weeks ago that I didn’t think Michael Rider’s Celine would radically change the way we dress. I still don’t, other than I think he’s succeeding in shifting the tyranny of ‘quiet luxury’ into a more colourful direction.

And one key way he’s doing that is with the silk square scarf.

Formerly Hermès territory, the Celine scarf feels more sporty, vital and graphic. Hermès scarves can also be graphic but there’s often a lot going on in them. (Some have as many as 47 colours, requiring 47 engraving films, as I once discovered on an Hermès workshop tour.) My favourite Hermès scarves were always the geometric ones I loved the Sugimoto (below), Josef Albers (below) and Natalie Rich-Fernadez’s Delaunay-esque ones of a few years ago. (more…)



Trend report: What to wear for SS26



The Row SS26

SS26 was the now infamous ‘reset’ season of mega designers taking up residence at new houses. The result is a broom-sweep of schloopy silhouettes in lieu of sharper cuts, bold injections of colour and a menu of fashion archetypes to choose from, rather than one or two overarching directions.

1/ PALETTE CLEANSER. One thing designers did agree on: this is a season for pure primaries in abundance. It’s a look that works really well on simple, architectural silhouettes which was especially clear at Jil Sander (below), Loewe and Celine as well as The Row (top). Just one piece can energise your everyday since primaries play so well against grey, beige and denim. The Loewe ‘Sports Walkman’ yellows (below) are pure summer holiday vibes and I love a red cardigan to offset khaki, white or grey. (more…)



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…)