The very best of Vivienne Westwood
From pioneering punk to designing Carrie Bradshaw‘s wedding dress, more than the final 40-odd years Dame Vivienne Westwood has been at the cutting edge of British style. The designer is one particular of the UK’s most popular faces, not just for her involvement in style but for her political activism and outspoken nature.
It was on meeting Malcolm McLaren that this former schoolteacher got involved in the globe of art and style. When McLaren opened a shop on the King’s Road, Westwood helped him to create the clothing that was sold 1st to Teddy Boys and later to those involved in the emerging punk movement. McLaren was, by this time, manager of The Sex Pistols, who wore clothing designed by Westwood and McLaren and helped raise their profile.
Kate Moss reckons English girls look ‘a little…lopsided’.
When Kate Moss made a commercial for Mango with Terry Richardson earlier this year, a few lucky journos got to go and quiz the Sphinx like fashion icon about her latest foray into highstreet retail. As well as, presumably, quizzing her on the other gazillion topics on which she has so far remained mute.
Well, one such lucky journalist was Derek Blasberg, who has now published unseen excerpts from the interview on his blog. Our fave snippet from the interview is where Kate describes the English fashion aesthetic by saying ‘we English girls look a little…lopsided… Messy in the nicest way.’ Which we absolutely love as a term to describe the artful insouciance of the great and fashionable of good old Blighty. Lopsided! Why didn’t we think of that?!
Exclusive First Look: Male Models Re-enact Their Child Photos for VMAN
Photo: Irina Werning for VMAN
For the latest issue of VMAN, photographer Irina Werning enlisted a handful of the decade’s top male models and had them replicate childhood photos of themselves today. Adorable highlights include Tyson Ballou with a lollypop, Brad Kroenig’s soccer league photo, and Garrett Neff leaping shirtless off a sand dune. Ugly ducklings these boys were not.
[VMAN.com]
Fashion from the BBC Teen Awards
Written by Sarah Mackenzie
The teens were out in full force last Sunday night, as BBC Radio One held its annual Teen Awards ceremony. The awards show recognizes listeners’ personal heroes from their everyday lives, as well as celebrity heroes.
With performances by Pixie Lott, Cher Lloyd, and Joe Jonas, and with The Saturdays’ Mollie King as host, the awards show was one smoking success. And with Mollie changing outfits more times than we can count, the music wasn’t the only thing that left people talking!
Her red carpet look left us green with envy- accessorising a sparkling dress with a skinny belt, long necklace, and ankle boots, Mollie looked anything but lost without her fellow bandmates. Mollie later added a bit more bling by changing into a strapless sequined Chanel number, with chunky gold buckled belt. We were equally as envious of that little number!
The androgynous kiss
What is it about androgyny that so intrigues? It’s been a fascination in the fashion world for some time: girls who look like boys, boys who could be girls. Henryk Lobaczewski plays to that fascination in his latest shoot, titled simply WOMAN, deliberately casting model Lola van Vorst of Australia’s Next Top Model fame for her high cheekbones and strong features. If, as the two models lock lips in an intimate kiss, you find yourself pleasantly confused about the gender balance, then Lobaczewski’s job is more than done.
In its striking high contrast black and white, WOMAN couldn’t be more perfectly photographed. The models’ dirty skin doesn’t just create a grittiness in the shoot but also cleverly brings out the detail and mid-tones. And regardless of whether full length or close-up, nude or clothed, every image is steeped in a raw and emotive sensuality.
Fashionable Tide
I have been having a terrific time in Portland, Ore., the last couple days. I’m here to report a story about Pendleton Woolen Mills, which is based here, and its entry into the boutique fashion business with the Portland Collection.
Designed by a trio of young local designers, the Portland Collection will be landing in stores, including Anthropologie, Shopbop.com and Revolve.com, at the end of the month. The line includes men’s and women’s clothing and accessories made entirely in the United States.
It features new twists on Pendleton classics, such as a cream and black Harding-patterned Toboggan jacket, which the designers engineered to be reversible. (The Harding pattern dates to 1923, when President Warren Harding visited the Pendleton mill and was presented with a blanket in a pattern made for him.) There are lots of thoughtful details in the clothes, such as contouring seams on a plaid shift dress, front and back cutouts at the neckline on a feminine, belted wool shirt with puff sleeves, and double patch pockets and piping trim on slim-fit wool shirts. Prices top out at around $ 700.
Pendleton, founded in 1863, has been family-run for sixth generations and produces all of its American Indian-patterned blankets and much of its clothing in the Pacific Northwest. Pendleton’s three mills are among a handful that have survived in the U.S., which once had a booming textile industry with nearly 1,000 mills in operation at the beginning of the 19th Century.
A subcultural tour of L.A: Vogue Paris
Written by Tania Braukamper
L.A has it’s own particular breed of glamour. Or several, really, if you count the subcultural differences, all of which are explored in Vogue Paris’ latest epic endeavour. There’s the suburban L.A housewife persona that Arizona Muse slips into as easily as if it were a silk neglige. Or Natasha Poly’s 70s folk-rock character who’s fond of suede fringing and the gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar. Or Freja Beha Erichsen’s band world of Fender Stratocasters and rock star fur coats, or Lara Stone’s rather dominatrix-like girl who hangs out, with odd contradiction, with the surfer boys and fitness freaks.
We did use the word ‘epic’, didn’t we? With 64 looks in total, Vogue Paris’ subcultural tour of L.A is some feat. But thematically there’s little to gel it all together. There are some great shots, some even better styling ideas, but you do have to do a little trawling to find them.
How The Wall Street Journal’s Tina Gaudoin Turned Her Teenage Sons Into Designer-Loving ‘Monsters’
Photo: Patrick McMullan