Zara above, Balmain below

SS2012 above Fall 2013 below


Ana Ljubinkovic above. I’m loving the sculptural shapes, bold colours, patterns and her general play on details. I saw Ana’s last collection somewhere online whilst browsing the net and absolutely loved what I saw. I digged deeper. She is a Serbian designer based in Belgrade. It’s absolutely amazing to travel outside our usual 4 fashion destinations- Milan, Paris, New York and London and discover something outstanding. Globalisation is upon us. In fashion too. It’s important to be curious and to look outside the obvious fashion capitals for new talent. You would be surprised what you find. Ana is a fine example of this.
Whilst at Belgrade Fashion week I also discovered the dark world of Ivana Pilja (below)

Chic, chic, chic…..I absolutely loved her last collection so I was very happy to see her new collection at the Crillon Hotel in Paris. Would wear it ALL! http://isaarfen.com/

I went to visit the Patricia Bonaldi flagship in Sao Paolo. I received a beautiful dress and a clutch from her as a present and can’t wait to photograph it for the blog!

Ultimate feminine clothes with signature delicate laces, powdery pastels and sprinkles of jewels. She makes demi-couture evening gowns, to party dresses and fine accessories. Beyond the two branded stores located in Uberlândia and Sao Paulo, plus a further 140 multi-brand outlets throughout Brazil, Patricia Bonaldi pieces can be found in demanding markets such as America, Russia, the Middle East and Europe. Harrods, of London, will be the exclusive UK retailer for the brand for its second season in 2013. At the brand’s HQ, in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, the designer has established her own school of embroidery. Prolonging the tradition for decorative manual labour in the region, Bonaldi’s aim is to empower women by training each person to her meticulous standard. Now with over 105 recruits, the school collaboratively produce the rich embroidery and embellishment that feature on Patricia Bonaldi garments.

Every country naturally tries to nurture their own talents whether they are in the arts, sports, science….or fashion! It was really interesting to see how the city of Sao Paolo supports their emerging fashion talent through business mentoring in areas such as business planning, marketing, sourcing, production and exporting. Some of the designers that caught my eye are below. Gabriela Sakate(above hand below) has such a strong Fall 2013 collection, absolutely love all the pieces!

Below some Trend- T T- Shirts

Der Metropol menswear

I was really excited to see Roksanda’s atelier in East End London. We’ve been trying to meet up for ages but both of our schedules were quite insane in the last couple of months- traveling wise! Finally at the end of January we were both in London at the same time.  I was greeted upon my(messy) arrival by yummy biscuits, fruit and tea. True Slavic hospitality!

Roksanda at her desk in one of her stunning purple dresses

Last time  I saw Roksi was at her SS 2013 show at the Savoy hotel in London . Her deigns are as you might have noticed one of my favourites. Why? The Roksanda Ilincic woman is a lady. With a modern British twist.  There is something to be said on how her clothes  are   oozing femininity by floating around the body. Also her clothes are like sculptures- they would make a great exhibit in a modern art museum. and are real life walking sculptures. One of my favourite dresses of all times is below from the SS 2012 show.  Let’s not forget the stunning skirt suit from Fall 2012 too

Nor this  Pre Spring 2013 beauty

Me in some of her creations

Pre Fall 2013 was inspired from what American fashion designer Claire McCardel did in the  40′s and 50′s. I immediately fell in love with the small waisted grey dress with a  dominant  grey skirt and  pink collar. I felt very “sage” in it. I usually like how her clothes fall loosely around the body but this dress had a different cut. Roksanda is not afraid of vibrant colours and  this collection states that very clearly! Apart from talking clothes we really had “girl’s chat”: which is off the record and certainly NOT for the blogosphere…

Photo above from Elle UK

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Edeline Lee is a London-based Canadian who graduated from Central Saint Martins Womenswear and apprenticed in the studios of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano. She then worked as Associate Creative Director for Zac Posen in New York and as Head Designer for Rodnik in London.
I saw Edeline’s first collection in Zurich last year. She was commissioned by my friend, fine jewellery designer Cora Sheibani to design a collection to display her jewellery. The collection was so beautiful and it reminded me a bit of the spirit of the House Of Vionnet. Very feminine shapes, structured with clean modernist lines. What I decided to feature today is her second collection.
Edeline Lee was inspired by “the spirit, strength, and fragile beauty” of the bohemian intelligentsia of the 1930s. Women like Vita Sackville-West, Virginia Woolf, Nancy Cunard, Claude Cahun and the Garman sisters who were artists and writers whilst also being the lovers and inspiration for many of the artists of their time. I have one of her dresses and it makes the body look insanely good, it is SOOO well cut. She is currently stocked at Harvey Nichols and Browns.

Astrid Andersen is a sportswear designer. But not just any kind of sportswear. Very, very luxurious sportswear that still looks very street. Knitwear came in cashmere, jersey t-shirts were made from Japanese silk, and along the seams of a dark denim jacket you can find… mink! Snoop, Diddy, Kanye, Chris Brown, Jay Z what ya waiting for?

Aimie started designing jewellery in 1985 and she designed for some of the most prestigious fashion houses including Givenchy and Karl Lagerfeld. She launched her own line now recently and it is absolutely stunning! My favourite is the City cuff in gold which I am wearing in the picture above. Buy it from http://www.aimiemaston.com/

http://www.aimiemaston.com/pages/cfHome.cfm

City of sin, Good girl gone bad, Forbidden Games. That’s just the names of the perfumes. Hot caramelized plum stuffed with spices (in the City of Sin), the apricot-like top note of the osmanthus flower (in Good Girl Gone Bad), and the skin of an apple drenched in Laos honey (in Forbidden Games)….do I need to say more? I did not think so. Oh wait…and all of this comes in a gold crafted aluminium minaudière with white lacquer and a 24-carat gold snake with Swarovski eyes. 2013 being the year of the Snake you better run and buy it and have an extra clutch in your wardrobe !
The byKiian scent collection by Kilian Hennessy, heir to a long line of Cognac makers Hennessy, is sold at Harvey Nichols, for my Londoners or Saks and Bergdorf’s for my US pals
 www.bykilian.com

Older 2012 collection above
SS 2013 below

It’s always pleasant to see something new, different and authentic which agreeably surprises you. The  designer’s  Poustovit SS2013 collection caught my attention at Ukrainian fashion week. Her truly picturesque prints inspired by national symbols-elements of national Ukrainian embroidery – rhombuses, stars, combinations of crosses, was a real discovery.  http://poustovit.ua/collections

At the Poustovit atelier in Kiev, prints galore…


Above a print from the collection
Me in a Poustovit dress and Bionda Castana shoes (below) at the Fairmont Grand Hotel, Kiev http://www.fairmont.com/kyiv/

Jacket: Biyan
Skirt: Biyan
Coat: Biyan

Arizona Muse in their first lookbook above
Dree Hemingway trying on one of their stunning dresses below

My sweetest Rebecca Corbin Murray in action in full Trager Delaney!

Bomber jacket above- 138£


Skirt: 68 £

http://www.figue.com/

In celebration of its 100-year anniversary, Vionnet has released a short film that pays homage to modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan, a contemporary of Madeleine Vionnet in 1920s Paris. Directed by Italian filmmaker Alessandro Possati, the clip is set to an original score by preeminent young Ecuadorian composer José Miguel Maschietto and brings the label’s S/S 2013 collection to life in an emotional dance sequence choreographed by Jakob Sekuba. Featuring four ballerinas from the National Theatre in Prague.

http://fr.vestiairecollective.com/blouse-stella-mc-cartney,20.shtml

I also can not help remark that this is the earliest portrait of Putin ever made. Incredible resemblance!

Dress: Temperley

Top: Erdem

Skirt: Erdem

Dress: Lanvin

Dress: Lanvin

Here I am in their Cruise 2012 dress

Want to look like Madonna in Jean Paul Gaultier during her Blond Ambition tour? Or like Francoise Hardy in Paco Rabanne? Original vintage pieces up for grabs at Parisian auction house Drouot Richelieu.

Matthew’s home reflects his uber colourful collections inspired by India. I just love his house and how he decorated it….gold pineapples, bell jars, birdcages and wheat sheaf tables. I had to take snap shots of it!  No wonder that you really connect with some designers! It’s about having similar aesthetics, recognising this and inspiring one another. In the pictures above I am wearing vintage Matthew Williamson.  Below is my favourite shot of his first collection in 1997

I remember being obsessed with this dress. Helena Christensen in the famous cobweb dress

Dress: Matthew Williamson
Sienna Miller in the Butterfly crystal dress

Dress: Matthew Williamson

Some snapshots of Matthew’s beautiful Primrose Hill home…enjoy

Here I am with the designer of Roger Vivier who makes my favourite bag in the world, the Prismick bag. I love it in dark green in smaller size and in purple for the larger size. Bruno Frisoni and Ines de la Fressange who personifies French chic for me have made this label such a hot commodity. Here is a shot of one of the the bags as seen by Mademoiselle Agnes which is part of a book and the exhibit on the night of the event. I am wearing a Roksanda Ilincic jacket, Bimba and Lola trousers and a Roger Vivier Prismick bag.

http://rolandmouret.tumblr.com/

I headed out to Osman’s atelier in W1 to look at his brand new SS 2013 collection in person. We have collaborated before and Osman shot me for his beautiful magazine The Collective not long ago, check it out here  http://osmanstudio.com/the-collective/  .I went to his show during London Fashion and loved his new collection  partly because of the neon folkish heart prints and partly because of the reference to Japanese bondage which made me think of my favourite photographer Araki. Japanese influences and neon are two big trends for SS 2013.  We talked about his mood board, plans for his next collection and I got to take a few snapshots of his hot of the catwalk  SS2013 collection. Nice to understand what is inside the designer’s mind and what is the creative process behind his work.

I took some snapshots through my phone at his London show- please take note that Osman collaborated with Manolo Blahnik for his SS 2013 chic shoes!!!

 Roland Mouret, famous for easy chic and the curve enhancing Galaxy dress in his SS 2013 decided to draw inspiration from Le Palace, the legendary Paris night club which was the equivalent of the Parisian version of Club 54. Le Palace was a very large club with the latest laser technology which was quite advanced for its epoch.

It became notoriously hard to get into and  famous for the most extravagant parties and its chic clientele. It was brought to this level by Fabrice Emaer, a very good friend of my dad’s who bought it in 1977 . Regulars included Lou Lou de la Falaise, Caroline de Monaco, Karl Lagerfield, Andy Warhol, Mick Jaegger, Frederic Mitterand, Claude Montana, Jean Paul Gaultier, etc.  Many of the fashion designers I talk to today say that they drew so much inspiration from this mythical place.

My dad in the club in 1979

My mum

Some outfits from The Palace parties below


Fabrice restored the space which was an old theatre in the 9eme arrondissement and for the opening night had young Grace Jones perform who became a constant fixture in the club and had all  waiters dressed in Thierry Mugler outfits. Later Prince did his first concert in Paris in 1981 at Le Palace . Sadly Fabrice passed away in 1983 and the Palace spirit died with him. I went to the closing in 1996, sadly.

Roland in his SS 2013 collection went for his usual pencil skirt silhouettes but decided to incorporate sharp-shouldered cropped jackets , revisiting his days spent in the Palace creating a very retro collection.




Below Roland Mouret’s famous and timeless Galaxy dress. The secret to the  dress is that it is lined on the inside with a tough, stretchy fabric called Powerflex, which was used to make underwear in the 1950s which creates perfect curviness . And what I love about it is that it does not just look good on the runway- it also looks good on real women, it celebrates their curves. Merci Roland!

Ring: Erickson Beamon

We were celebrating Matthew Williamson’s bday and the 15 year anniversary of his brand at Nobu in London. Also Matthew showed us his short film , Matthew Williamson XV, starring Poppy Dellevigne, Valentine Fillol Cordier and Sienna Miller. Beautiful and dreamy masterpiece shot at Aynhoe Park. He has an amazing understanding of women and dressing in his clothes is always fun. Here I am wearing a skirt and shirt from his Fall 2012 collection.
Tip for all the shoppers out there- There is a special Matthew Williamson sample sale (80 % off womenswear!) on 25 and 26 October from 8am-7pm at The Music Room, 26 South Molton Lane, Mayfair, W1K 5AB. Ruuuuun!
You can see more pictures from the event here: http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/celebrity/539082/matthew-williamson-celebrates-15th-anniversary-with-fashion-s-a-list.html#index=1

My friend was wearing this dress when I went over to her house for drinks the other day. It looks incredible on. It has a high wasted belt with lots of material giving it an almost 19th century look. Here is the belt below

I should have taken a photo of her but forgot…next time!
Buy it here http://www.agentprovocateur.com/autumn-winter-2012-gallery/morrigan/info/morrigan-dress

http://www.wandanylon.fr/category/collections/collection-cyclone-2013