Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large
In the same week that Aimé, the boutique which introduced Isabel Marant to London, opened a new outpost in Shoreditch, H&M announced that their latest designer collaboration would be with.... Isabel Marant. You might think that Val Heng-Vong, who founded Aimé in Notting Hill with her sister Vanda fifteen years ago, might be indifferent to Marant's new venture. But indifference would be the attitude of a mere stockist, someone who just sells Marant. It's quite clear though that Val lives and breathes the Marant life which we are all getting so excited about being able to buy into for £30 come November. "The collaboration is great. Isabel is a real artist. Even now that she's under so pressure, she never has a bad season" Val tells me, just days after the announcement, "she always has what you want. She's amazing."
Isabel Marant at Aimé, Redchurch Street
More Marant at Aimé
In many ways, Isabel Marant's story underlines why you should be excited about the opening of Aimé on Redchurch Street. They brought her to the UK in the early days, so we can probably trust them to introduce equally exciting discoveries as they make them. The boutique is about a lot more than the impeccable Marant edit. There are plenty of other labels too which Val and Vanda scout out when they go back to Paris-"We love Merci", Val says. Don't we all? Masscob, with its silky printed pieces, and Forte Forte (think light, crisp boho summer dresses) were looking particularly great when I visited last week. The new store isn't a straightforward copy of its Notting Hill sister, there's a bespoke edit for the "young and creative" new customers who will undoubtedly be passing by as well as some great homeware including glass, prints and chairs. The decision to open was easy, the sisters simply couldn't find their favourite labels over East.
A great silky jacket by Masscob
Aimé has evolved with the Notting Hill times over the years. "When we opened the only other shops in the area were antiques and newsagents, it's changed a lot" Val says of Ledbury Road, where Matches and Village Bicycle are now among their neighbours, as well as their kids shop Petit Aimé . Redchurch Street could be going the same way. It's a sleek area already, backing onto Shoreditch House with Aesop and APC among the others along the road. There's a huge building project going on just down from Aimé and there have been rumours that the likes of Prada and Christian Louboutin have their eye on spaces on the street. When I went for the store's launch, it was bustling. A crepe van was parked outside, people were hanging out on the sweet little bench at the front of the shop. You can imagine it being quite a hub.
Like all the best shops, Aimé is about more than products. Val is acutely aware of the thrown together yet immaculate Parisienne chic thing whose poster girls are Marant and Emmanuelle Alt and of which she and her sister are possibly London's most authentic example."We're pretty classic in our style, it's the grooming which is important. You would so rarely see a Parisienne with chipped nails, or anything like that. It's how we grew up" explains Val when she's asked to proffer advice on style. She can't sell you her elegant but ruffled brunette hair, nor her bright skin. But her Isabel Marant embroidered top is hanging on the rails in Redchurch Street right now.
Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large
I have a soft spot for Teatum Jones. Designers Catherine Teatum and Rob Jones create cool, elegant, easy clothes which you really want to wear, immediately. Of course, there are plenty of designers and labels which do that but each collection which Teatum Jones create comes with an intricately woven back story which appeals to the English graduate in me, as well as the fashion writer/ lover.
For Autumn/ Winter '13, Rob and Catherine immersed themselves in the world of Lolita author Vladimir Nabokov and his love of butterflies. They read Véra: Mrs Nabokov, Stacy Schiff's biography of Nabokov's devoted wife, incessantly read and listened to his poetry and finally decamped to The Natural History museum. There Rob and Catherine were given access Nabokov's own huge archives of butterfly specimens- "it was like a graveyard of butterflies" they told me. As a lepidopterist (a new word I learnt), Nabokov seems to have made almost as much of an impression as he did as a writer. A group of butterflies, Nabokovia, are named after him and he formulated a hypothesis about the Polyomattus Blue species which has more recently been found to be correct. It is these kinds of intricate, almost academic levels of research which Catherine and Rob undertake before they start on the clothes themselves.
Back in the studio and prints were created from photographs the duo had taken of the butterfly collections, some pieces were printed with lines of poetry and the entire presentation, a gorgeous affair at The Dorchester, was based on the bringing to life of the research Rob and Catherine had done. Of course, it's not just about making clothes out of poetry and butterflies. "We wanted women to be able to relax into everything we made" Robs says, a promise which plays out in the draped, silky dresses and shirts, trains of chiffon and super-wide trousers. There are clues in the styling too with lots of flat preppy brogues and loose, long hair.
Teatum Jones is getting the word out there too; Jane Shepherdson is a big fan and supporter and they were recently photographed for American Vogue. They are also part of the Centre for Fashion Enterprise's Venture scheme which they describe as "brilliant... There are consultants on the end of the phone. It's helping us to become really business-minded". A state of mind designers cannot be without today. Savvily, Rob and Catherine tell me that they quizzed Liberty's shop assistants about what customers were telling them about the collection. "We loved hearing the feedback and have responded. This season, we've dropped some of the necklines a bit to make them easier to wear" Catherine tells me. The new Nabokov inspired collection has just arrived in Liberty. I have my eye on the navy pony biker and one of the A-line skirts- they let me borrow one of these to wear for fashion week and it was one of the loveliest things I've ever worn. It might seem mad that Autumn collections are in the shops now, but do we really care about the season when the clothes are this great?
Teatum Jones Autumn/Winter is in Liberty now. Prices start at £295.
Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large
It's been a mega fashion news week that I barely know where to begin. So let's start at the very beginning...
On Monday morning, before most of us had washed the weekend out of our hair Mulberry announced that Emma Hill would be leaving after six years as Creative Director. Initial reports suggested that it was due to some strategy disagreements between Hill and company bosses. In an interview with Vogue, CEO Bruno Guillon said, "I was respectful of her decision - it is perfectly natural for a designer to want to move on and try new challenges after six years. She did a wonderful job, but we have to see this as a new opportunity - a time of new ideas." Specualtion has already begun as to whether Hill may be up for the Creative Director vacancy at Coach, following Reed Krakoff's departure earlier in the year. Industry thoughts have already turned to who might replace Hill when she leaves later in the year. Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley were among the early favourites, but the fact they have recently signed up to Marc by Marc Jacobs might take them out of the running. Fashion insider favourite Sophie Hulme has also been tipped for the job, a choice which would almost certainly take Mulberry in a sleeker, chicer new direction. Watch this space.
Emma Hill with her famous Mulberry Alexa (image via bahighlife.com)
H&M made lots of girls very happy and very excited on Tuesday when they announced that their latest designer collaborator would be Isabel Marant. It's a move which makes sense in many ways for Marant, given that her wedge trainers, ikat printed dresses and jackets, boho tops and skinny jeans are so copied that you're almost guaranteed to find some "version" in any high street shop you go into. The collection will be available to buy from14th November. Expect queues and sell-outs.
John Galliano continued his carefully PR orchestrated comeback this week with his first TV interview. He spoke for an hour to Charlie Rose (you can watch the whole thing here). Galliano apologised for his anti-semitic rants but also speaks in depth about his design aesthetic, his career and how he's spent the past two years. It's a must-watch. Last weekend, Cathy Horyn wrote a very interesting post for the New York Times on Galliano's comeback efforts thus far and how he might proceed in the future.
Annabel Tollman who died last week (image via elle.com)
Last week's Fashion news was published just a little too late to cover the sudden and sad death of stylist Annabel Tollman. This is a fantastic tribute and précis of Tollman's career.... "Make a fairytale and go and live in it."
Scarlett Johansson dressed by Tollman in 2004 (image via nymag.com/thecut)
In more news of fashion house comings and goings, Jason Wu has been appointed Creative Director at Hugo Boss. Wu said "I have long been a fan of Hugo Boss's vast tradition and lineage in extraordinary tailoring. With the state-of-the-art facilities that are unique to the Hugo Boss design labs, I plan to develop a strong, feminine womenswear collection that reciprocates the brand's authority in menswear."
Alexa Chung has been dropping hints about her forthcoming book for some time now but it was properly unveiled for the first time this week. Aptly entitled "It", the book looks like it'll be a guide to how to be Alexa Chung. The description goes something like this:
"With influences that range from Jane Birkin to Mick Jagger, Alexa Chung is a unique fashion icon. Her first book, It, provides her legion of fans with a long-awaited inside look at her world.
A truly one-off collection of Alexa's personal writings, drawings and photographs, It covers everything from her thoughts on life, love and music to her favourite looks and how to decide what to wear in the morning. With wit, charm and a refreshingly down-to-earth attitude, this gorgeously-designed full-colour book is a must-have for anyone who loves fashion, music and just about everything Alexa Chung."
Prada unveiled its AW13 men's campaign this week. If you recall, the collection was all about the most perfect pieces. Nothing outlandish, just simple but done precisely. Ben Whishaw, Christoph Waltz and Ezra Miller star in the images, shot by David Sims. And don't they look handsome?
And finally, a very bad picture leaked on Instagram of Robert Pattinson's forthcoming Dior ads...
R Patz x Dior, leaked on Instagram (via fashionweekdaily.com)
Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large
At Graduate Fashion Week, we came across the work of Fia Yaqub who has just finished studying Fashion Photography at the University of Salford. Her work is beautiful and she's already achieved a terrifying amount for someone who's just graduating. Fia is a regular contributor over at SHOWstudio and spent some time in New York with Richard Kern. Here's an insight into Fia's world along with lots of beautiful examples of her work. A name to remember.
"I first got into photography in my early teens. At first, it was more just admiring photographs and artwork than taking my own photos and then I suppose I was about 14/15 when I began taking my own. I used to tear images out of magazines and incessantly save things from the internet in folders and just collect a myriad of images that I admired or liked for some reason. Most were Fashion Photography but I had quite a lot of Fine Art in there as well."
Fia on what she reads, and writes:
I'm inspired a lot by poetry and literature and my own letter writing- I have various penpals. In terms of poetry and literature, some of my favourites are Warsan Shire, Clementine von Radics, Slade Gibbs, e.e cumming, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, Pablo Neruda, Rachel Perkins, Fleurishes by Kristina Haynes, Anais Nin, Margaret Atwood, Ben Okri, Shamim Sarif, Leonard Cohen, Rumi... I could go on. I collect journals full of poetry and quotes so it's normally quite extensive and out of nowhere as they're singular little entries.
The softer, sensual side of femininity and the darker more violent side always seem to go in tandem for me. I know that's not necessarily true for a lot of people but I think it's just different sides of the same coin. Not all women and not all femininity is soft. There are darker, baser desires which transpire and are just as important. I think it's quite funny really- people can expect you to be this sweet, coy person and you can be completely the opposite. You just keep it more secret, more hidden. It's just human nature. I like looking at the darker things, things people might think they should keep hidden. The things you wouldn't necessarily think a woman was into, even though it's 2013. I always think of Sasha Grey, as left field as that might be. She was doing porn, hardcore porn at 18. She was this beautiful young girl but she had all these kinks, so to speak. She didn't keep her desires hidden, but engaged in them and experimented with them to learn about herself. I think that's great. She made it OK for women to want that kind of thing. Not that all women do, and using a former porn star is probably a strange reference but it's how it see it.
It was amazing to intern with Richard . I was in New York with him for 7 weeks- it was a dream come true for me. He's my favourite photographer and was literally and seriously the first person on my list of people I wanted to intern with, so when he said yes to me working with him, and to just come on out to New York, I couldn't quite believe it. It still seems surreal that I spent all that time there and still speak to him. I really enjoyed my time with him, seeing how he works and helping him with his edits. He's a really cool, down to earth, nice guy and it was just refreshing and lovely to meet someone you admire and have them still live up to that ideal you create out of them. Working with him also made me confident in the type of photography I wanted to create, since doing nude photography was something I really wanted to do but wasn't quite 100% sure about before I went. It's hard to get into that and have the confidence to carry it out, but working with Richard made me realise it is doable. I really enjoyed my experience with him, and then working on his wife's project on my very last working day. He even offered for me to work for him again in the future if I wanted to. New York as a whole was great too. I'd never been to America and I'd never really been very far on my own before either, so it was a learning curve for me being that independent and far from home. The entire thing just made me grow as a person with the experience of it all. I really liked New York, Brooklyn especially. I really like the art vibe there, it's somewhere I felt at home.
Now that I've finished uni, I'm going travelling. Afterwards, I hope to move to another city and start working but I'm not sure where yet. I like the idea of Paris, New York or London maybe even Toronto or Tokyo. I honestly want to just get a job in the field of type of photography I do. So maybe work with Richard again, or photographers like him. I wouldn't mind interning or being an assistant. or working somewhere like Purple magazine or Mirage or even Irene erotic fanzine which is my new favourite. I'd like to just stay in my type of photography to be honest; feminine nudes and fine art/fashion photography female sensual imagery.... although I am open to other internships/industry jobs of course. I'll still do my own work on the side, no matter where I end up. But honestly I just want to do something I enjoy in fashion/fine art photography, whether it be a magazine/site or an actual photographer I admire.
Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large
Stella Gibson, played by Gillian Anderson (thebelfasttelegraph.co.uk)
I think we can collectively agree that The Fall was pretty great, even if the series did come to a bit of a rubbish end last night, probably as a ploy to make us all hyped for the recently commissioned series two. Much has been made already of the silk shirts worn the detective lead Stella Gibson, played meticulously by Gillian Anderson, with articles in both The Observer and the Evening Standard reporting increased demand for the luxuriously feminine and really quite sexy button-ups which Anderson's character wore throughout The Fall's five episodes.
The silk shirt component of Gibson's wardrobe is pretty accessible. A five minute swoop around Matches/ Net-a-Porter/ Zara and you've bagged one. For me, the most compellingly mysterious aspect of the DSI "look" is her perfect, artfully tousled (but not too much) blow dry. It's just neat enough to look professional and just voluminous enough to enhance the sex appeal which so frustrated/ enticed many of the show's characters. Now I know this is a fictional drama- even if some of us did start worrying what would become of us on our way to bed- but how exactly did Gibson manage to pull off such unfailingly perfect hair when her character was allegedly working all hours, kipping in a sleeping bag in her office with no more than the swimming pool changing rooms or police station loos as hair doing places?
This isn't the first time I've considered this how-does-she-do-it conundrum. In Borgen, Birgitte Nyborg is portrayed with a strikingly similar gently blow dried waves to Anderson's The Fall character. Even in the midst of all-nighter crisises, Nyborg manages to emerge to her morning press conference with her artful blow dry still impeccably in tact. This is the power style which says the woman beneath is wielding just as much control over her hair as she is over her murder case/ government.
Valerie Trierweiler (via guardian.co.uk)
The artful blow dry exists IRL too. The French President Francois Hollande seems to be particularly fond of women sporting the look. His current partner Valerie Trierweiler is never seen without her shoulder length hair gently tonged into a perfect tumble of just the right amount of volume and waves. Meanwhile, his political rival and ex-wife, Segolene Royale is of a very similar school of coiffing thought, though often appears a bit more strait-laced, with fewer waves and more tucking behind the ears- but who can blame her when she has a regional council to run and political allies to keep on side? After all, the artful, lasting blow dry is so much harder to achieve- and keep- than a nice silk blouse.
Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large
A weekend of sunshine awaits us but before that let's get you all up to speed with all the fashion happenings this week...
John Galliano has given his first interview since the anti-semitic rant which saw him fired from Dior. In the Vanity Fair exclusive, he talks to Ingrid Sischy about his feelings when he saw the video of his tirade (he threw up), what he's been up to in the past two years and what the future holds.
On life as Dior Creative Director, he says:
“I lived in a bubble. I would be backstage and there would be a queue of five people to help me. One person would have a cigarette for me. The next person would have the lighter. I did not know how to use the A.T.M.”
Kate Moss on the wedding dress he designed for her soon into his recovery:
“When my dad gave his speech he thanked everyone and then he referred to the genius of Galliano, who made his daughter’s dress. Everyone stood up and gave John a standing ovation. It was the most moving thing, because suddenly John realized he wasn’t on his own.”
It was off to Earl's Court earlier in the week for Graduate Fashion Week where new talent from across the country gathered to show off their work to the press, public and industry. Sadly I couldn't make it to every single college's show but I hugely enjoyed seeing all the finalists on Wednesday and particularly loved Angus Chiang's bright silk kilts and tuxedoes, Jospehine Pettman's badge covered biker jackets and William Baxter's printed suits. Melanie also discovered some great talents when she judged the media award- we're excited to see winner Rebecca Chambers' Annie magazine go online soon. Suzy Menkes, who was honoured with a lifetime achievement award, wrote about the winners and the ever-changing nature of the UK's creative output here.
The Proenza Schouler boys with their CFDA (image via telegraph.co.uk)
A bustier and skirt from the first ever Proenza Schouler collection (image via wad.com)
Givenchy won't be showing at Couture Week in July, after also skipping last season. Riccardo Tisci is too busy to organise a show but the atelier is continuing to take commissions, should you be interested.
Film star and swimmer Esther Williams passed away yesterday at the grand old age of 91. In tribute, Harper's Bazaar have complied this beautiful gallery of shots of the Dangerous When Wet star.
Esther Williams (via harpersbazaar.co.uk)
This week marked 15 years since the beginning of Sex and the City. Sarah Jessica Parker decided to mark the occasion by announcing that she is working with Manolo Blahnik CEO George Malkemus on a new line of shoes, bags and trench coats which will be available at Nordstrom next year. SJP (as the line will be called)will be about new and surprising fabrics which recall the old-school charm of labels such as Maud Frizon and Charles Jourdan.
SJP will be inspired by styles like these by Maud Frizon (image via etsy.com)
A date for the diary... Next Sunday, London Collections: Mens will take place for the third time. The three days of show are set to be brilliant. If you'd like to get in on the action then the only place to be is Thomas Pink's Jermyn Street store which will be transformed as part of LVMH's Les Journées Particulières series. There will be the chance to explore the artisanship behind Thomas Pink's signature shirts with made-to-order consultations, live seamstress demonstrations, personalised monogramming and much more. Get down to Thomas Pink on Saturday and Sunday to get involved.
Finally, begin your weekend with Dior's delightful Versailles film, showcasing the beautiful AW13 collection.
Posted by Bethan Holt, Junior Fashion Editor at Large
As I was on a course last Friday, fashion news didn't happen. If it had, then it would probably have been dominated by my excitement that Luella Bartley is making a return to design with a new post as Design Director at Marc by Marc Jacobs, alongside Katie Hillier as Creative Director. Luella holds a special, if slightly silly, place in my heart. In my early teens I was quite obsessed with her collections and so decided to make a skirt inspired by this graffiti dress from her SS01 collection for my Textiles GCSE. I even wrote her a letter which, sadly, I never received a reply too. I pored over a Vogue feature she had written about designing the collection and always remembered that she said the shape was supposed to look a bit like a pillowcase. The effect I achieved was nowhere near as authentic as Luella's- my method was fabric paints in squidgy tubes- but it was thrilling to me to be able to make my own catwalk tribute anyway. Bring on Luella 2.0.
The Fashion Editor at Large blog is the independent work of Melanie Rickey, the views are my own. The Fashion Junior at Large is Bethan Holt. PORTRAIT: Neil Haynes
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