Alexander Mcqueen for Vogue Nippon...how I love...

Following the sad death of the world's favourite designer, Mr Lee Alexander Mcqueen - this photoshoot was revealed. AND OH MY! It is quite possibly the most stunning thing I have ever seen.... take a look.... appreciate the etheral feeling of the shoot - it couldnt be more ironic...








Thanks to Vogue Nippon for the images... I will treasure them forever! <3

Global uniforms? What next... sliced bread?

Writing an article on global uniforms is harder than you think.

Firstly the 'globality' of clothing nowadays is become a key factor in every design... so what the hell makes a piece of clothing unique anymore?

My question exactly... personally i love the decorative and fun elements of cultural dress, but granted it does look a little silly completely out of context. For example, if i was to wear a sari or a kimono round at home - people would look at me like 'WTF!?' Well... to be honest 'out of the norm' in Cornwall is more like wearing a pair of shoes that arent chav pink.

The bland outfit of a T-shirt and jeans is kinda boring... yet its everywhere - you look at kids in Africa playing football, what are they wearing? You look at workers in sweatshops - what do they usually wear? You look at the builder across the street, he'd usually wearing the same, except he may need a belt. (builders bum is never sexy)

You look at fashion designers too - expecting them to wear some fantabulous creation with all the trimmings and to be completely avant garde...in fact they're wearing baseball caps and tracksuits. What a crime! It's often the spectators that put on the show with fashion - I've even seen one girl attach barbie heads to her leotard just to make a statment.... talk about desparation to get noticed... yet no sense of culture whatsoever! Culture has been lost on this 'new generation' of teens, tweens and 'fashionista's' who actually have no idea where the trends for their garments came from in the first place.

This superficiality is getting dull if you ask me, its time the cultural influences were brought back into mainstream fashion - who were the British before we became 'Americanised'? Quaint, rather tweedy is the cliché.... but was that really us? or were we more rough and ready?

Actually culture is defined by placement in a country as well.... out in the sticks - fashion is definately not regarded like it is in London...so it is completely wrong to stereotype the whole country as one particular style.

Balenciaga, Zaitsev and Kenzo all keep their cultural traditions in their clothing yet design for the Western world through generally just being simple!

Is it that funny to think that simplicity is the key to cultural transition? Well...quite frankly no... its kind of predictable.

But hats off to these designers for making the effort to preserve what they define as important in THEIR culture through fashion, not everyone has enough passion to do this & can pull it off... it is for appreciators like me that they design, not for the blasé folk that only believe in consumerism and whats coming next. Culture is a style, but fashion will pass.

LONG LIVE CULTURE!

?

What do you do when you're just not passionate about something anymore?

This whole writing process how drained the hell out of me & I don't know how to get the quirky style back into what I write...it's so flipping frustrating!!

Thoughts i've had:

I want to look at pictures all day and not see more than 3 words beneath it (yes, that's how sick of words i am!)

I am craving pop tarts, and ice cream... then more pop tarts... and then sugar mice.... really can't be good brain food but it's comforting when i want to rip my hair out with frustration!

OVERLOAD on online shopping... i even spent £30 at asda online yesterday just so that i could have a ton of stuffed crust pizza's to comfort me some more. (can you see a pattern here!?)

I have tried to read fashion writing books to tell me the answer, they tell me NOTHING. Damn you fashion books and your vague overviews, you are no help!

Ideas to be more quirky:

Quirk it up by thinking about funny dance moves. (like the running man)

Wear bright pink dms everyday just for the sheer hell of it.

Open my window and listen to the music from two doors down, and watch the cats watching birds. (thinking mmm dinner)

Get drunk? I wonder what creativity will flow then...or will i just write an abomination of curses instead of real words?

Watch passionate movies - get in touch with the drama again.

Hmm...now drama is an interesting idea really - Maybe it's this part that is missing?

Or maybe I need to find little quirky facts about each topic.... like i wrote for Viv W: she went knickerless to pick up her OBE (oh my!)

OH SHUCKS.

I scan my sweeties...

<3 A bit of a sweet tooth....yumskies. It's very cool how this looks so vintage... where are my parma violets?

I love to lick cake decorations off perspex.

Yum. Thanks to Marilyn Minter for the pics.

Home comforts...

Back home for a week....


how nice it is to have a little break from everything! Saw all of my favourite girlys last night for a cheeky bottle (more like 3) of vino and some tequila shots.

Although being home doesn't quite come without its stresses, i have 2 long interviews to transcribe and then about 9 interviews to write up and 4 articles to write... all in two weeks. Possible?

It would be... if I didn't have to keep a sketchbook, relfective journal and do an evaluation report all at the same time.

Oh dear, oh dear.. I hope I manage to graduate this year!

The original mad hatter

... except probably not so mad. Just real and knows what he likes and what he does not.


Yes tomorrow is the day I interview the one and only Mr. Philip Treacy!

My oh my, today has been a long 'un, watching SHOWstudio all day long counted as 'research' into this upcoming interview, as it was the day Mr. Treacy created a unique hat live on camera to be sold after April 3rd on the SHOWstudio Shop.





Images of Philip Treacy hats, thanks to google and the websites involved.

I have drafted the questions I am dying to ask him... only problem is, they're 3 bloody pages long. Which will take me forever, and I only have an hour to spare before having to rush back to the train station to (hopefully) make it to Waterloo in time to catch the train back home.

Great news though, we are visiting his studio in Battersea... there's just something about studio spaces that I love, I find that they are much more personal than a home setting for some reason - it is where the energy is, where the magic happens. Maybe it's got something to do with me being a hopeless creative... and yes, that is me re-inventing the term 'hopeless romantic'.

Well Mr. T, we can't wait to see you, and please for the love of all things fashion, please please like us!

I always get nervous before an interview, because you don't know the person. First impressions count for everything, and hopefully we will make a good one tomorrow, hopefully Mr. Pig will like us too :-)

I LOVE Jackie Dixon!!

Well...

had my interview with the lovely Miss (Soon to be Mrs) Jackie Dixon on Monday....and my... what a lovely LOVELY person!

We chatted away for around an hour and a half integrating interview questions into conversation, and i'd like to think we both had a great time, I know I did... it was one of the easiest interviews I have ever done, and the most fun! It felt like old friends chatting away about their lives, and even ended on me showing her the dress I had bought earlier as I arrived into Kensington High Street Tube station around an hour early!

Being a stylist, you would have thought that she would have looked down upon my 'cheap as chips' H&M number... but she actually really liked it!



Image of Jackie Dixon, from professionalphotographer.co.uk

I can't wait to write up the interview, as we talked about some really interesting stuff.

All in all... a very good day.... plus the coffee was lush too.

Barbara Hulanicki, Chau Har Lee & Ben Westwood

Yesterday I ventured into the depths and bredths of London for a jam-packed day full of interviews...first on the agenda was the one and only Barbara Hulanicki.

It was an amazing experience meeting such an icon, and was so refreshing to meet someone that is so easy-going, fun to chat with and just an all round top lady! Her laughter was infectious as we chatted for over an hour at her friend's London home, and felt sad that it had to end! She has to be one of the nicest and most genuine people I have ever met and am throughly looking forward to seeing what she will come up with next... having designed fashion, founded Biba with her late husband Fitz, turned a hand to interior decorating, collaberated with Italian handbag brand Coccinelle... I wonder what will be on the cards next!?





Pics: Barbara Hulanicki being photographed for 3rd Floor, Me and Barbara, The mirror that hung in Biba (Barbara has given many of the old pieces from the store to her friend, who was her first assistant)

After leaving Barbara, we made our way to visit the breakthrough footwear designer Chau Har Lee at her studio near Shoreditch. She was once again, so lovely and helpful and you could tell she has such passion for what she does... which is great to see in someone who is obviously very intellectual as well, given that she trained herself to use complex computer programs to create 3D models of her collection of mixed material footwear.

Finally, we made it to Ben Westwood's place... unfortunately we got so lost around Battersea that we were quite a bit late, and not being from London doesnt help either! After profuse apologies when we arrived, we chatted away for over an hour about how he likes to escape to the countryside - the unpredictable landscape, it offers something completely different from the 'shithole' he calls London (and i'm sure many would agree!), though despite the bad points of the big smoke he does have an incredible view from his 12th floor flat... spanning almost all of the London skyline. We identified Big Ben, Crystal Palace, the London Eye, and many other key points. We also touched on subjects like the misconception everyone has had about him launching a clothing line, and how everyone expects him to just design fashion because his mother, Vivienne does. Soon it was time to go, and he offered both myself and Pippa to take one of his homemade 'porn badges' as a souvenir... deciding to choose the least raunchy I could see, I opted for a cheeky Bettie Page number, whereas Pippa got given two with a models legs spread in knee high pvc boots and leopard panties.

All in all, quite an interesting and eventful day! Also learning that I would be adding the legendary Phillip Treacy and Jackie Dixon to my list of interviews for next week, came as rather a fantastic surprise when I got home... now to draft up more questions for next week and transcribe these 3 interviews!

Be sure to watch out for them in Issue 3 of 3rd Floor - launch date June 2010.

xxxx

I saw this and thought of you...

Thanks Stephen Lui for the pretty picture....sketchy talent. I like.

Interviews with Jason DeCaires Taylor, Barbara Hulanicki, Rob Ryan and Chau Har Lee...

Wow! What a busy week it has been.. i've been hustling and bustling everywhere.

This afternoon I had an interview with Jason DeCaires Taylor, such a lovely guy!

You can find out more about the interview on the 3rd Floot blog - http://3rdfloorpublication.blogspot.com/

be sure to watch out for my upcoming interviews with the infamous Barbara Hulanicki, Rob Ryan and Chau Har Lee

Now i'm excited...

Acting Sketchy...

I've been drawing... :-)

Master Journalist in training... first step... new thesaurus.

Well I never...

Over the weekend got some really great news and it's to do with my work for 3rd Floor, the up-and-coming fashion publication for creative professionals, kind of an inspiration bible... but more cutting edge than vogue.

Back to the topic... sorry... I do tend to babble alot but that's only when I get really excited/nervous/downright hyper about something...oh dear i'm at it again.

There's going to be a very VERY special interview taking place mid-march with one of the fashion Icons of the 20th/21st century... care to hazard a guess who it is?



... bet you won't get it, but I'll be very happy to take your money in the meantime.

3:1 for any guess

I really don't think I understand this betting malarky, back to the roulette and poker tables for me then.

Au revoir

xxx

Interning at London Fashion Week Daily Diary

London Fashion Week, the notoriously busy time on every fashion elite and design enthusiast’s calendar. You can walk just about anywhere around Covent Garden and be bombarded with promo guys and girls ushering bottles of water, leaflets and goody bags into your hands, hoping to attract buyers and press to the shows that await.

Caught up in the spirit of Fashion Week, I decided to bulk up my C.V a bit by interning for Vauxhall Fashion Scout whilst getting an insiders view of the preparation involved in producing a show.

Arriving into London on the Thursday morning, everything seemed surprisingly calm… perhaps this is due to not having my caffeine fix for the day yet, it was only 8.30am! I promptly made my way to my hotel, leaving my suitcase before running back to the tube to head to Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden to start my first day of the internship.

Little did I know, the first problem was just around the corner, how to actually get into the building? I saw a small collective of people who appeared to be waiting just around the corner of the building, so headed over in the hope they would be interning as well and were just as lost as I was.
Luckily, my judgement was right and we were swiftly met by a representative from Fashion Scout who led us inside the grand building.

The floors were tiled in a mosaic fashion, with marble staircases sloping in all directions. It truly looked like a scene from a movie, so luxurious and an utterly gorgeous venue to hold a fashion show. Making my way down the corridor, I spotted a huge line of other interns waiting outside a grand hall with massive wooden doors – this is where we were to receive our briefing for the week, and were split into teams of Front of House and Backstage interns.

I was extremely relieved to be allocated to the Front of House, as many horror stories of rude stylists and designers has tainted my view of becoming a dresser for the models. As the week progressed though, I learnt that this was not the case for every show… I guess there are just a few bad apples?

The first day was basically a short tour of the building, followed by moving stacks of boxes to different locations around the building and preparing the catwalk and goody bags for the busy Friday ahead.

Friday 19th February 2010

Got to Fashion scout at 12.00, late for fashion week I thought, but I’m not complaining! Was then assigned to direct visitors around the maze of a building, before organising the foyer and catwalk area for the approaching David Koma show. Rumours were that Hilary Alexander was to be in attendance, so when I saw her take her place on the front row in her blood red kimono tunic I was elated. Susie Lau from Style Bubble was also present.

The show was incredible! We only just packed everyone into the hall, and with everyone scrambling to get a peek at the high profile collection I was quite glad I could just stand back and watch from the sidelines. Zigzag designs were prominent features of the collection, which fused rather well with quite neutral tones of fawns and blacks. Also Koma’s use of what appeared to be zip teeth as detailing on cocktail dresses was pure genius. If I could afford, I would be snapping up one of these dresses within minutes, but sadly a student loan doesn’t tend to stretch that far.


Image courtesy of Asos.

The final highlight for the day has to be the Ones to Watch show, featuring 4 up-and-coming designers: Eudon Choi, David Longshawe, ASKH, and Florencia Kozuch. The majority of the buzz centered around Kozuch’s collection of loop knit sweaters teamed with wide brimmed parson’s hats, with people raving about the collection for much of the week!


Image courtesy of Vauxhall Fashion Scout.

Daily Rumours:

Nicola Roberts and Rachel Stevens at Body AMR.
Katy Perry rumoured to show…didn’t attend so designer took her seat and said ‘Oh well, her loss!’

LFW Vids... check them out.

Celeb spotting at LFW....

Who was spotted at Vauxhall Fashion Scout at LFW this feb?

Lets have a sneaky peek...

London Fashion Week, it's all happening at Vauxhall Fashion Scout!

Well, for the past week I have been somewhat absent from the blog as i've been interning with Vauxhall Fashion Scout for LFW, and my what a week it has been! Here are a few snaps of us interns hard at work preparing for shows, and be sure to keep an eye out for footage, photographs and diary entries from the week in the next few days!

Enjoy!

God bless Sophie Callé...

My goodness what a long week it has been, I have missed my social life so much, not to mention my Mac...am extremely thrilled to be back in contact with the world again, I swear by this time next fashion week Vodafone WILL give me a blackberry.

I forgot to mention this last week before I shot off for London Fashion Week, but I discovered the most amazing little (well, its actually not so little) book by Sophie Callé entitled 'Take care of yourself'. A rather interesting title would you not say?

Well, whilst flipping through the crisp yet almost transluscent pages of this book, I discovered that it was all centered around one significant moment in Ms. Callé's life - a letter she had received from a man, breaking up with her.

Now... this was no ordinary letter... no no no... it was kind of encrypted, so much so that if many people were to read it they would all have a different opinion and viewpoint of what the situation was. So, the author did just that and asked a selection of around 107 different women, from different professions and backgrounds to interpret this letter in their own style.

It was interesting to note that not everyone analysed this text in the same way. Some preferred to annotate and draw meaning from that, whereas some used the letter as inspiration for a piece of art. One person even used the letter to play a game of chess.

I have to say, I love this original method of creating a large piece of writing and it will certainly be something I am keen to take forward for use on '3rd Floor'.

Some images of the book:

Hangover day!

Well.... following a night out... i decided to have a bum day and drink tea, eat cake and make funny little photoshop montages of myself wearing obscure items like umbrellas as fashion....ENJOY! Kind of feel guilty for not doing any work though.... hmmm....




Clothing images from Topshop, Miss Selfrige, Google etc etc cheers! :-)

A fresh start...

Me again...


..and can I say how relieved I am to have now handed in my final year dissertation.... YES! HANDED IN.. ON TIME... major kudos has been earned I think.

So.. now that leaves my final major project - the publication.

So far, I've been doing a little research into the market... how the publication is performing atm and all that, just casual stuff really. But one thing I really want to get focuses on is devising a theme for the next issue to be based around.

Ideas so far:

- Kaleidoscope: Metamorphisis, Transitions and Evolution... Change basically!
- Taboos & Fears: Playing on my old idea for a theme.. but developed further so that it includes challenging the boundaries, not sure if that quite makes sense... so i'm gonna go with 'pushing stereotypes'. Lol.

Need to get a few more down on paper today, and start 'reflecting' my progress in this journal we're supposed to keep for the duration of this.

Also, have to present all these ideas on Tues 26th (which actually counts towards the final grade), so am a bit nervous so just hope it all goes well and to plan!

I'm kind of in a strange place at the moment... lack of motivation.. so I guess i'll just have to push through it to get things done... I think when I finish my market research it will fizzle out a bit, as I find that part quite tiresome.

So, wish me luck...and with the new season of ANTM due to start and offer major distractions, I am praying I stay on track!!

As for work experience goes.. i've applied to all the publishers that I can physically find after weeks of scouring the internet, hopefully some will get back to me. If not, then hmmm I may be doomed. Bloody hope not though, so if there's anyone out there who can help, give me a buzz :-)

Thanking you!

Jo Clair
xoxo.