Best Designer Fashion Ads this Spring ....

Four of our favourite designer fashion ads for Spring 2014.  We love Trussardi's play on their logo, Prada's 'family' , Kenzo's colourful break up and Celine's ability to rein in their followers with stylish 

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The Parisian luxury menswear brand Berluti is breathing new life into Tati’s universe: To mark the opening of its boutique store, the shop’s awnings bear the work of illustrator Sempé, collaborator on Tati’s original animated films; Berluti is also helping in the restoration of the star’s acting debut, Soigne ton Gauche. “What characterized his work is the attention to detail in each frame, costume and color,” says Mallez. “He had a sense of humor and tenderness. Everything was done with a craftsman’s approach.”

 Jacques Tati on Nowness

Barbie Goes High Fashion at Selfridges

Barbie has called on fashionable friends to dress her for the opening of her new space at Selfridges. Her new home will feature three dolls whose brightly coloured ensembles have been created by three of London's star emerging labels, Fred Butler, Nasir Mazhar  and Sister by (one of our favourites) Sibling (see image below) 
The dedicated Barbie department is situated on the fourth floor of Selfridges within its new Toy Shop, which opens later this week. Fans will also be able to buy collector's dolls launched throughout Barbie history.

New Collection from Belinda Earl for M&S: Great!

Belinda Earl's first collection (AW 13)  for M&S is pared down stunning.  Can't wait for it to reach the stores and only hope the pix are not for publicity purposes only and the items don't actually exist!  When does it arrive instore??

Kidman for Choo

 

We love the styling for Jimmy Choo's latest campaign using Kidman, who seems to have carved a new image for herself since playing the lead in The Paperboy with Zac Efron as you've never seen him before

Cats Eyes from Zac Posen for Illesteva

Great Shades from Zac Posen as featured on Luxury Culture, one of our favourite sites.  Available from Moda.Operandi.com

And .. So It Goes Magazine

http://www.soitgoescreative.com/

Love the look of this new magazine which  went on sale in the UK yesterday for the first time.  Follow the link for a better look.  We wish the magazine many more copies to come!

Versace and JW Anderson Collaborate

New York saw the launch of a capsule collection for Versus, the result of a collaboration between JW Anderson and Donatella.  Acclaimed by the fashion press it looks to us like a rewind to the Punk era rather than breaking new ground ....,

Dressing Up for the Secret Cinemas

We love the Secret Cinema (and of course the outdoor Nomad, our favourite!).  Gives us a chance to scour our wardrobes to dress fashionably in keeping with the event.  Book now for the next one or lose out  ...

Time Out says

Tue Apr 9 2013 True to their name, the notoriously tight-lipped team behind Secret Cinema won’t say a word about what to expect from the hugely popular film series’ twentieth instalment – beyond promising ‘the biggest cultural event of the year’. We can’t promise it will be that, exactly, but we can tell you Secret Cinema never fail in providing an exceedingly impressive alternative night out.
The film and theme is kept hush-hush until the day, but expect to see live music and DJs, hundreds of actors who recreate the film as you stumble across the set, food stalls and impressive set decoration. The effort these guys go to is definitely worth the ticket price, even at a hefty £43.50. Booking is most definitely essential.
Read our five tips for Secret Cinema here.

Maarten Van Der Horst - Hot Hot Hot

Central St Martin's graduate, Dutch designer Van Der Horst brings his tropical prints to Top Shop TODAY!  Snap up as many pieces as you can as they are so HOT they won't be there tomorrow.  Bring on the heatwave.

Powder Play at Pretaportre

Just discovered a site we like on Tumblr - PretaPortre.  We've borrowed the image they've taken from the March issue of Vogue entitled Powder Play

Simons v Sander: The Rift

Who knows why Raf is "leaving Milan FOREVER", or where he might go, but he has not only managed to retain the Jil Sander ethos for design but built the fashion house into a must have label for those who love his pared down style - as we do!  Check out his last collection for Sander before Jil returns to take over the design helm.  Beautiful, simple, stylishly designed pieces for the sophisticated woman who appreciates less is more ....  Let's hope his next stop is an eponymous womenswear line or a hop to Dior.

Desire for Dries

http://21arrondissement.com/about-le-21eme/
LOVE these trousers spotted in New York by 21 Arrondissement, a New York street style blog

Denim Rules

Love this dark dark denim tunic from Uniqlo's Spring collection.  Belt it over leggings, jeans or shorts and team with a white T for chillier days.  An inexpensive route to updating wardrobes and a great transeasonal piece.

Seeing Red for Christmas!

Just spotted the perfect dress to make an entrance in at the Christmas party (we wish!).  For the opening of Art's Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition, Brazilian Beauty Gisele Bündchen turned heads in a breathtaking McQueen gown.
Image from Vogue.com

Get £50 off Karen Millen Trench Coat!

Love this classic Trench from Karen Millen which is offering a £50 reduction on the £325 price tag for a limited period.  Buy it or regret it!

Link to this coat:  http://bit.ly/pCamr8

New York Fashion Weeker Does Vintage

And our favourite visitor to New York Fashion Week was a shop owner dressed head to toe in vintage.  We love the look from Peter Pan collar to chunky chain necklace.

At 90, Fashion's Latest Pop Star

Check out the story on 90 year old fashion icon Iris Apfel in the New York Times!

The Lyon roars at J.Crew

For those of you who have not yet heard about J. Crew and Jenna Lyons (pictured) - you soon will!  Shortly to arrive on these shores J.Crew is about to embrace British fashion lovers in a very big way and Jenna is the quirky young creative force behind the name.  Learn more from the interview below which first appeared in the National Post, Canada:

When the venerable American retailer J.Crew was born as a catalogue business in 1983, it was an ultra-preppy brand. Who could have imagined their signature look would evolve to include both madras stripe and saucy leopard print? Jenna Lyons started as an assistant designer in 1990, and as she ascended to become the company’s president and executive creative director, J.Crew’s glamour quotient grew accordingly. The opening of the retailer’s first Canadian store in Toronto on Thursday (with more stores to come in key cities across Canada) coincides with the launch of a new Canadian catalogue and website. Lyons and her much-admired personal style were in attendance, bringing with her the clinking of bracelets and an arresting Astroturf-green sequined pencil skirt paired with gauzy Breton-stripe sweater. Nathalie Atkinson sat down with Lyons to talk value, colour and feathers. Click images below to enlarge.



Q Styling plays an important role in the brand, both in merchandising the store and in the catalogue.


A And there’s a lot of personalization here [in Canada], which I love. That works really well for us because so much of what we do is about that, making things your own. We try to show a similar item in many different ways. One of the nice things about having a catalogue is that every month we’re able to show maybe the same sweater but completely differently. One month it might be with little shorts and ballet flats and really casual, the next a pencil skirt, more jewellery and more tailored, and the next might be with a slouchy men’s trouser. We also might be giving you a way to wear it that you hadn’t thought of, that moment of ‘I already own that sweater, maybe I’ll buy those pants.’ Or, oh gosh, you’d forgotten about a piece and pull it out and wear it a different way. That’s so important — that people feel that they’re getting value and quality out of something and not just style. I think everyone works really hard — we know what it means to part with your cash and want you to feel good about what you’ve bought. And also that there’s a quality of timelessness so that you’re not shelving it three months later and feeling just, ugh.


Q Since 2008, there’s been a monthly feature called Jenna’s Picks, singling out non-J.Crew products that you love. This seems to be a time, not just at J.Crew, but places like Net-a-Porter, when retailers are edging more and more into creating editorial for their customers.


A I think there is a need to make things feel a little more intimate and exciting and people are looking for a level of integrity, and a different level of interest, in something. For instance, we’ve been selling branded products that we buy like Sperry, Alden Shoes and Lulu Frost jewellery. One of the things of having that curated element and things feeling a bit more, to your point, editorialized is that it’s not all about us. It’s about our point of view on all kinds of things. I think people want that — most people don’t have the time to really shop and find things on their own, so being able to have something curated for someone well, nine times out of 10 you’re interested in the same things your friends are interested in. That’s how it works, right? So if you like the group of people who are making the clothes, chances are very good that you’re going to like some of the other things we’re looking at, whether it’s the best lipstick we think is out there or the right nail polish, the book, the sunscreen, the perfume or the record.


Q The approach to women’s collaborations seems a bit different from the mens heritage brands like Red Wing or Thomas Mason.


A There’s also for us, I think, a generosity of spirit to talk about somebody who’s maybe a young and unknown designer and give them some exposure that maybe they didn’t have. That is important to us, the idea of being generous, supporting those who don’t have the same voice, audience and exposure that we do. We mail three million catalogues a month so there’s a lot of people who get to see your name if you’re on a page! And that’s a nice thing to be able to do.


Q On the runways and in designer fashion, colour is the new neutral. J.Crew went heavy on colour this fall, too. How do you know when the core customer is ready for that trend, to make fuchsia pants the new basic?


A When we think about it too much, I think we stumble. We do what we think is right and there is a pulse that we feel inside the office. Do I think that [customers] were as ready for the fuchsia pant and the blue or red pant as we thought? They were actually so ready for it that we don’t have any more stock in it, which is kind of a bummer! I think we can under-estimate in some cases what the customer is ready for.