Purple Haze

Generally, the colour purple or any derivative of it, such as lilac or lavender, instantly makes me think of two things.

1. Being at secondary school in South London when, for some inexplicable reason, green/purple was THE colour combination to covet. Pencil cases, book covers, stringy cylinder-shaped Benetton bags. Nothing escaped the discorded combo, unfortunately, and I would love to get my hands on the silly girl who started that trend - my shoulders still bare the dent of my purple Benetton bag drawstring.
2. Sweet Valley Twins, specifically The Unicorn Club. Lila Fowler was the cool, beautiful and mean leader of the gang and if my memory serves me correctly, membership / initiation dictated you had to wear top-to-toe purple every day. As a bookish 11-year old and definitely more Elizabeth than Jessica, I found this fascinating but slightly scary, and hoped it would never catch on at my school due to me being translucently pale and mildly ginger.

Yet, I am really pleased to say that purple's back - and is currently being seen on all the cool girls and street stylers, fresh from the catwalks, and championed by designers and the fash pack alike.

Dusty lavender is the shade to be seen in and could well be a match for its sugary counterpart, pink. It is flattering and fresh and a refreshing alternative to monochrome and primary colour

Add florals for an injection of summer dew or my preference is to keep it subtle and simple and add neutrals to key pieces - a bomber, an embellished sweatshirt, a jacket. Shoes. Clean lines and block shades of violet and mauve to make the candied colour really pop.

Start your own Unicorn Club today.

Kate Moss x Topshop - A Mossoholic's point of view

"The British high street has always been one of the strongest in the world, and I love that the Brits are not scared to experiment". 

Kate Moss, Company Magazine, May 2014

Brace yourselves fashion fans (and any unwitting pedestrians in the Oxford Circus area). The fifteenth collection of Kate Moss x Topshop will soon be upon us. *squeal!

London's Evening Standard tonight reports of 'The great Kateover'. Magazines have been giving us a nudge for weeks and Topshop's social media campaign has quite rightly gone into overdrive, building Moss Mania to a thundering crescendo causing Hysteria! and Panic!...Kate's back!

I absolutely, 100% have been swept up in the frenzy. Every time a mention or a peek of the collection appears in a magazine or pops up in my Twitter feed, I get a bit panicky, my stomach lurches noticeably. I am gloomy already at the thought of missing the chance to secure a Kate-style frock, a star-sequined cami or THAT fringed leather jacket, or anything for that matter from the new drop inspired by her favourite pieces in her own wardrobe. (Sometimes at night I am kept awake with thoughts of that wardrobe. How big is it? Is it organised by colour? By defining era? Do things get lost?)

The most coveted items are expected to sell out in hours and so I am not hopeful of adding a piece to my existing collection - a black vest and delicate sequined dress from the inaugural 2007 collection.  Regular Material Whirl readers will know I Look to Kate and that my success in securing designer/high street collabs has met with mixed success. Versace for H&M in 2011? Not a chance. Isabel Marant Pour H&M in 2013? Two hopes (Bob Hope and No Hope). Peter Pilotto for Target? Yes!

Time Out recently featured a fantastic piece by Miriam Bouteba with tips gathered from Topshop staff, insiders and whistleblowers on how to get a piece of Kate. I take matters of fashion very seriously and so I have done my research and worked out what I want. I have read and studied all the articles. I have watched the videos. I am prepped and ready.

I am unable to camp outside or spend the next few days in queues or with my elbows out (I have a job). I simply cannot face the scrum and furore at Topshop's flagship Oxford Street store tomorrow, where the launch of the collection will take place before other stockists and sites launch the next day. It is rumoured Kate Moss will make a personal appearance. Which makes me feel a bit funny, but alas I cannot be there.

Instead I will be safely and securely ensconced in a pub with my best friend. I will, however, attempt to follow the live streaming launch event on Grazia Daily and I will be online shopping from 8.00 am on Wednesday 30 April from the comfort of my own Macbook Air.

The collection is super-cool. I particularly love the Pyjama Dressing collection - Delicate Prints and Soho Silk - and rock-influenced pieces; the fringed leather jacket is amazing (reportedly her 'gig' jacket that she has worn to three Rolling Stones concerts).

My favourite pieces I hope to get my hands on are below.

I still look to Kate. I still am keen to covet her inspirational wardrobe, her unbeatable style, her presence. The way that her collections are always music-focused. She is fabulous at 40 and still culturally relevant.  Tell me your success stories. I'd love to know how you get on.

For all the hoo ha, forgive me.  I'm unashamedly a Mossoholic.

The collection will be available online and in-store at Topshop, as well as Nordstrom, Nordstrom.com and Net-a-porter.com for the first time from 30 April 2014. 

You can see every piece from the hotly anticipated collection here by visiting Vogue.co.uk 

References:

Time Out London No. 2274, April 22 - 28 - A big piece of Kate by Miriam Bouteba

Look Magazine, 14 April 2014 - 'My Hot Picks from my New Topshop Collection by Lucy Wood

Revisited: Chanel - The Little Black Jacket Book and Exhibition

'It has become the symbol of a certain feminine elegance, nonchalant and timeless, which means for all time'.

Karl Lagerfeld

Back in November 2012, I visited the Saatchi Gallery in London to see The Little Black Jacket: Chanel's Classic Revisited Exhibition by Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld.

The book is Lagerfeld and Roitfeld's reinterpretation and celebration of Chanel's iconic little black jacket. Over 100 beautiful black and white photographs of Lagerfeld's favourite muses filled four expansive rooms at the Gallery and the pictures, in black and white portrait format, were taken by the designer himself and styled by Roitfeld, stylist and former French Vogue editor.

The exhibition was lavish and impressive and I can remember studying each photo very carefully, and with the due absorption that it deserved to soak up every detail. Each photo, whether of a man or a woman, captured the individual style and personality of its subject, all wearing the iconic Chanel black jacket. A range of accomplished models, actors, singers, rappers, fashion editors, and designers are styled with their own individual flair.

The exhibition, and the beautiful book of the same name with Roitfeld gracing the cover, celebrates the versatility and classic endurance of an inimitable item, designed for women but worn by men also.

If I am ever lucky enough to own my own Chanel Little Black Jacket, I will definitely take inspiration from one of these stunning shots.

A girl can dream...

Website

Book

Smiley London SS14 Bloggers Event

A few weeks back I was  invited to an exclusive bloggers event hosted by Smiley London to introduce their Spring Summer 2014 collection.

This was the first time Smiley had held this type of event, and my invitation from Smiley's PR Executive, Victoria Soraf, was eagerly accepted.

If you didn't know already, or have been living on another planet and don't recognise the ubiquitous yellow face, Smiley is a unique lifestyle brand that was born out of the London rave scene. It is immortalised forever as the icon for the global explosion of house music in the 1980s and is the adopted brand of both the digital and DJ generations.

Bringing a rebirth to the years where Smiley ruled the dance floors, Smiley London revisits the days of old and brings back to life the simplicity of keeping the music alive. Back then it was about unity and togetherness. It didn't matter who you were or where you came from. In the last five years, electronic music has exploded back onto the forefront of mainstream culture bringing with it a renaissance for the brand.

Smiley London pays homage to over two decades of UK dance music and DJ culture and draws influence from the block rocking beats, raves and the unforgettable fashion that continue to keep London at the forefront of street culture.

Smiley London welcomes you back.

Smiley London has a retail outlet in BOXPARK, a pop-up mall in the heart of East London's trendy Shoreditch that is jam-packed with fashion and lifestyle brands, galleries and bars and cafés. So it was on a mild Thursday evening that I scooted from the day job over to the other side of town. For the first time in ages, Spring was faintly but definitely in the air and a heap of Londoners in great clothes adorned the pavements with a beer in hand.

On arrival at Unit 18, I was greeted by Victoria who was super-friendly and made me feel immediately at ease. A range of drinks were on offer that instantly conjured up sunny images of holidays and good times. I opted for a Malibu-Coke mixer with absolutely no persuasion needed; I always was a sucker for coconut rum.

Only a small selection of fashion bloggers were invited to attend the launch and the house music provided by DJ Jorge was uplifting without disabling conversation, so we could be mistaken for feeling we were at a very cool party somewhere Balearic, but without any of the pretension or flakiness that can sometimes come along to events uninvited.

This was all credit to Victoria who was so warm, friendly and sociable that we chatted away easily like old mates - she personifies the brand and what it represents to me - positivity, happiness and a sense of fun.

Smiley has collaborated with global fashion brands over the years on apparel & accessories, including H&M, Topshop, Zara, Urban Outfitters, and Pull & Bear. The collaboration with H&M in 2013 saw a unique capsule collection for women, where the iconic yellow face adorned cardigans, trousers and tops.

In February 2014 at London Fashion Week designer Anya Hindmarch featured scarves and bags with the Smiley face in her charming AW14 Counter Collection and was 'seizing the moment to 'get happy'.  This was her first scarf collection and the Smiley face-printed designs were shown off to great effect against simple white dresses as a backdrop.

At the event, I got the chance to view the new Smiley London SS14 collection, which was displayed against corrugated metal walls and clothes rails. Bespoke speaker cabinets were used to showcase a variety of products including accessories and stationery. For SS14, the range features tie dye and animal patterns as well as the very on-trend and exotic Hawaiian and floral prints. The colour palette is summery and bright with neon reds, ocean blues and aqua greens heavily featured. It is playful and perfect for those who are passionate about music, fashion and the digital lifestyle.

It was a great night and I came away with a new sense of appreciation for the brand and its heritage rooted in art music and culture in the UK. Smiley have a presence at the closing parties in Ibiza in September, which makes perfect sense. I wonder, if I ask nicely, if they'll take me with them? I am easily entertained and could pour the Malibu.

Smiley is more than an icon and a brand; it's a spirit and a philosophy that exists to remind people how powerful a smile is.

Spread the love.

Watch the exclusive making of Smiley London Spring Summer 2014 Collection:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1t9H5s_p1w]

Smiley Boxpark

Unit 18

Bethnal Green Road

London

E1 6GY

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Twitter

Fashion Inspiration - Maria Soromenho

The world of fashion is, arguably, dominated by the giant heavy weights, the icons. Chanel. Victoria Beckham. Oscar de la Renta. Erdem. To name but a few. The upper echelon of the fash-pack command the advertising pages of the glossy magazines (that I adore) and dominate the catwalk. They are the names to know, the collections to study, the looks to emulate and translate into your day-to-day wear.

But inspiration can be found in many places, and sometimes it's the emerging newbies, the just starting-outs, the underground movers and shakers that can influence and catch your eye.

May I introduce you to Maria Soromenho.

Maria contacted me recently about her first capsule collection, launched in August 2013, and I was intrigued by its unconventionality and taken in by the distinctive textures, the detail and striking colours of her work. Handcrafted sequins, beading and studs cleverly juxtapose leather and leopard skin and create a unique and fresh look. Her work is extremely influenced by music and art, and as a lover of both and of all things fashion related, I am particularly excited to showcase Maria's work on Material Whirl.

A clothing brand that is music / art conscious. Has the aim to collaborate with artists specially musicians. Each piece is different and unique. An experiment of materials and different textures. Experimental yet wearable. Each piece has a story, a song and a name. Fashion to communicate, give identity and to turn a lifestyle into a look that can be translated in clothes. An aim to shape a generation anddress the agitators. Not just about the clothes alone but how people dress them.

Born in Setubal, Portugal, Maria lived in Lisbon and Paris where she studied Stage Design and interned at the museum Les Arts Decoratifs being part of the organisation of the exhibition "Hussein Chalayan: recits de mode".  Having briefly studied Womenswear at the London College of Fashion she also managed to get an impressive collection of internships under her (very stylish) belt including the prestigious Peter Pilotto and Richard Nicoll in London, and with the very influential Wonderland Magazine. She is currently Studio / General Manager and in-house PR at Fannie Schiavoni.

Talented and one to watch. Maria, I wish you all the best and hope to add something from your collection to my wardrobe soon.

Pieces from Maria's collection can be purchased from Kuji Shop

facebook.com/mariaasoromenho mariasoromenho.tumblr.com

cigaretteinmybed.tumblr.com

http://cargocollective.com/mariasoromenho/The-Holy-Velvet-at-Heart

 

ISABEL MARANT POUR H&M

I am plagued with anxiety this week about a looming deadline. THURSDAY 14 NOVEMBER. It has been sitting, waiting patiently for a while now in my diary. Written in huge scrawling letters, in blue pen no less - not pencil, as indicates its significance. It is even double underlined.

It keeps me awake at night, images fluttering around my head and unnerving thoughts of how I can make it possible, how I can achieve this seemingly impossible feat. It is not directly associated with my day job, which itself is jammed full of deadlines and dates and the like, nor thankfully does it have a direct impact on my health or relationship with my husband, family or friends. Debatably.

Yet, it is nearly here and I am nervously perspiring a little more each day as it looms and will finally reach its climactic end.

Isabel Marant's much awaited collaboration with H&M finally hits stores and online this Thursday.

What? Me? Dramatic you say? Your heart was racing for nothing? Pah! You may consider me theatrical, perhaps roll your eyes upwards to heaven, but believe me when I say this is a huge, huge deal. Gargantuan. It has been firmly in my diary since the news first broke back in June and in my eyes all November days lead to Marant.

Isabel Marant is arguably the most influential womenswear designer of our time. She has singlehandedly changed the way we dress. As the fabulous Mimi Spencer recently said, No one has done more to author the look of the decade than Marant. I would bet my entire collection of Vogue that you wear at least one of the following items: Printed trousers, ankle boots, a studded something. Bashed-about leather. Skinny jeans with an ankle-grazing cut. A beautiful embroidered jacket, a grey marl T-shirt and of course the ubiquitous wedge-heeled trainers that have been imitated so widely but never beaten. Yes? Well, you have already been touched by the power of Marant, and its rock n’ roll bohemian edge has snared you in its fabulous trap.

Marant, born and raised in Paris, started her eponymous label in 1994 after graduating from the acclaimed Studio Bercot and working her way up through the fashion line. The A/W 2010 collection saw the hit python print pattern while S/S and A/W of 2010 brought us leather motocross trousers and fringed cowboy boots. The collection for H&M edit of the key pieces taken from her archive. So in effect you can get your hands on a reinterpreted piece of fashion history.

That effortless, casual insouciance and very Parisian way of dressing has always remained firmly in my head / look book / magazines but devastatingly never ever in my wardrobe due to its significant price tag, despite the diffusion line Etoile being a slightly more affordable option (if I forewent food).

However, an affordable way to channel Marant / Carine Roitfeld / Lou Doillon and those other French hotties is now all but a finger’s grasp/click away. Plus there is a menswear debut for the Parisian brand, which is exciting in itself, and a campaign that features Milla Jovovich, Doillon, Daria Werbowy and Saskia de Brauw, as well as male models Guillaume Macé, Clément Chabernaud, and Niels Schneider. Zut alors!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ci7JMO-YrI&w=420&h=315]

Yet, is it a case of so near yet so far as I fear? To purchase a piece of Marant presents the following dilemmas:

1. Going to my nearest participating H&M store. Gulp. Queuing at dawn, or perhaps camping out and sleeping in a sodden tent, sharpening my elbows, pushing other hungry fashionistas keen for a piece of the Marant magnificence, tussling over a printed sweatshirt or chainmail cuff. Plus, the last time I visited the flagship Oxford Street store to buy something from the Paris Fashion Week Collection, they had an in-store DJ. She was dancing. It was 2.15 pm in the afternoon. Time, energy and age are not on my side - I know only too well what determined twenty-somethings can be like, I used to be one. In addition, I have a very busy day job and thus kicking myself for not booking the day off in advance. There is also The Queuing System in place specifically for the ladieswear collection, which sounds terrifying. There are coloured bracelets, allocated to groups of twenty customers, and the colour determines when it is your time to shop/fight. So I am hoping positively there will be something left post-5pm as opposed to a solitary jacket in a not-my-size size.
2. Being alert and ready online at 09:00 on the dot, and super sharp with my clicking to purchase via the website. After all, I have done my research, I have planned and plotted and prepared for this deadline. I have studied every single one of the fifty-two iconic pieces, deliberated and subsequently selected what I want, saving ferociously. When it comes to fashion I am a certified Grade-A geek and I hope my hard work will reap the rewards. Should be easy, right? No website crashes, no other clever clogs with the same idea? Reasonably (tut) purchases are limited to a maximum of one item per person ‘so that everyone can buy something from Isabel Marant pour H&M' so this makes my head kind of spin. I also have an afore-mentioned day job that I love and do not think shouting PLEASE WAIT I AM BUYING ISABEL MARANT POUR H&M will cut it.
3. Purchasing on eBay, although there is talk that the collection has already found its way on to the online auctioning website thanks to some people buying pieces at a preview sale and sneakily putting them online at hugely exaggerated (example). How business savvy. How impertinent.

So it looks like I am going to have to work hard for my fringing and my tribal prints. I am having dreams (nightmares) about the trophy jacket with beaded embroidery (£199) selling out - but I am going to try my damnedest to get it even if I cause myself an injury, a Marant malaise if you will.

I am not sure my nerves are quite up to this but I'll keep you posted. It will be brutal.

Good luck out there…

Isabel Marant for H&M launches in-store and online from November 14.

http://www.hm.com/gb/isabel-marant#see_all

http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/news/isabel-marant-h-m

http://www.isabelmarant.com/en/

I consider this collection a gift to my lovers...

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmzRLasJpp0&w=420&h=315]

 

I Only Want You to Love Me

This afternoon, on a crisp Autumn day in London Town, I paid a visit to the Miles Aldridge photographic exhibition, I Only Want You to Love Me, at the beautiful Somerset House.

This stylish and thought-provoking exhibition provides a retrospective of Aldridge's work and coincides with the publication of his glossy book of the same name published by Rizzoli. Aldridge was born in North London and his father is the graphic designer Alan Aldridge. He studied illustration at Central St Martin's and after a brief stint directing pop videos, he fell into fashion after sending some of the photos of a model girlfriend to British Vogue and they contacted him (as well as her). He started working almost immediately and has shooted for noted fashion designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent and Paul Smith.

Women and colour are Aldridge's main obsessions and this is arrestingly clear in his work. The photographs are visually beautiful, highly stylised and feature women posed in what on the surface appear to be traditional roles (secretary, housewife etc) but when you look deeper under the surface there is a sense of disturbance. The colours are deeply saturated from sugary candy pinks and beige to shocking magenta and verdant green and the composition is incredible.

All images shown in the exhibition are featured in magazines, the majority in Vogue Italia, and Aldridge's longest and most creative collaboration is with Editor-In-Chief Franco Sozzani who featured his work in a piece named Home Chic for Vogue Italia in October 2011 and Home Works in March 2008. In addition to the beautiful large-scale photographic prints produced throughout his career, visitors can see hand-drawn storyboards, drawings and polaroids that offer an intriguing and intimate insight into Aldridge's creative process.

The exhibition challenges the mind and polarises opinion. On the surface the technicolour images appear rather artificial, and the cinematic influences of David Lynch, Douglas Sirk and Alfred Hitchcock are apparent throughout. The photographs, however, are controversial - in my personal opinion, some of the shots seem to empathise with the models and others objectify and degrade them, leaving you wondering whether Aldridge actually likes women at all. The accompanying narrative to the exhibition suggests some of the models may seem indifferent and show emotional ambivalence, but in fact Aldridge wanted to present them in a state of contemplation and with a sense of hopelessness. Undeniably, some of the exaggerated prints are exploitative - a head pushed down on a bed, unnecessary exposure of the models bodies and them posed surrounded by broken bottles and plates in a suggestively violent scene.

Yet, whatever your opinion there is no mistaking that the prints provide striking, highly stylised fashion images with a powerful impact. Not to be missed.

To me, the great moments in Hollywood are close-ups of a woman's face, thinking, and she's just realised that her whole world is wrong.

Until Sunday, 29 September

Embankment Galleries East, South Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LA

http://www.somersethouse.org.uk 

Tickets: http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/book-tickets/8d7b98b9-1438-4cec-9904-65d3dad2246b

 

 

 

I wish, I wish, I wish

'Fashion is part of the daily air and it changes all the time, with all the events. You can even see the approaching of a revolution in clothes. You can see and feel everything in clothes'. 

Diana Vreeland

Here is my fashion wish list for this week. A panoply of delectable pieces that I wish were mine.  Pink to make the fash-pack nod admirably.

HIGH STREET

DESIGNER

INSPIRATION