We have long been fans of Smythson, the English stationery and leather goods purveyor. Their products are without fail, exceptionally well made, deeply luxurious and discreetly elegant – and those are words we don’t toss around often.
When the “Nancy” clutch came out, Madonna’s stylist was one of the first to pick it up, and of course Prince sends out party invitations exclusively on Smythson paper — not a surprise for a company that holds several royal warrants, the gold standard of excellence here in England.
I am also a fan of Samantha Cameron, aka SamCam, the woman who heads up the company. Wondering who she is? Consider her our very own “MObama-in-waiting”. That is, she is the wife of David Cameron, the politician who is widely touted to be the next leader of this country. Oh, and she is also an Astor, and described by one journalist as “A lady whose background is so elite she makes the Royal Family look common in comparison.”
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Afsun Qureshi
Posts by Afsun Qureshi
We have been long trawling the street for a new trend — one that you can cannot simply ape by looking at a magazine. The studs, mega-heels and shoulders have all gotten a little, well, ho hum, as of late.
But finally that exciting feeling of a fashion rush came roaring back at last week’s launch of model cum photographer Ellen von Unwerth’s new book with Taschen, Fraulein, authored by the legendary Ingrid Sischy.
The book is not out until December, but we got a sneak preview last week at the Michael Hoppen Gallery, where a mob of well-wishers came by to congratulate the ever-smiling photographer.
What London girl recently snared both the Gap and Uniqlo ad campaigns? Lily Donaldson? Tolula Adeyemi? Agyness Deyn? Nope. It’s Daisy de Villeneuve of the impressive fashion dynasty.
Her family is a huge part of London history–photographer dad Justin discovered Twiggy, mom Jan is a model and was a supe back in the 60’s, whilst sister Poppy is a photographer. Daisy herself is an illustrator extraordinaire and was handpicked by Uniqlo for the 2009 Fleece ad campaign and is the only Brit in the bunch.
We have been following Daisy’s work for a while now. She is responsible for that fantastic oyster card holder. (An oyster card is an essential here, it’s a Tube pass.) We also loved her housewares line for Topshop and the cosmetics bag she designed for Boots is a mainstay in our bathrooms. So when Uniqlo was looking for true creative originals to front their campaign, it wasn’t a huge surprise they turned to Daisy.
I’m not talking about Kate Moss (in fact, dare I say it on Fashionista, I might be over her), but Katie Grand.
She looked fantastic last night, mostly because she looked in need of a good scrub which is quite refreshing from the legions of blow-dried Barbies swooping into London this month.
We spotted her at Dover Street Market’s bash for the launch of the Standard perfume in a frumpy grey coat that looks like it came from a charity shop, clogs (ed. note: Eek!) with gold details, bare legs, messy hair held back with an elastic band topped with a gigantic green cartoon character bobble – and not a stitch of makeup.
But the kicker? An Hermès Black Birkin bag with a giant green dip-dyed raccoon tail hanging from it. Hear that PETA? Animal tails are about to explode.
Dover Street Market’s a cool place.
The four story department store’s owned by Commes Des Garçons’ Rei Kawabuko and her husband, Adrian Joffe and it has one of the most interesting edits in the world.
Included in the heady mix is a line of furniture by Finnish company Artek, called “10-Unit System”, designed by architect Shigeru Ban, that essentially makes the buyer an artist. It’s a modular system – ten easy pieces that you can make into what you want, a coffee table, a cupboard, a chair, a table. If your needs over the years change, so can the furniture, totally adaptable, modern and utterly genius.
According to Artek’s Anna Vartiainen, scent and fragrance played an important role in the space and vibe they created. So voila, a perfume collaboration between Commes Des Garçons and Artek was born.
“Geez”, muttered a friend Wednesday night. We’re standing in a jam packed club – not even a famous one – heaving with human traffic and queueing for £14 drinks. “What recession?”
Indeed what recession — it’s certainly not in London. After a manic LFW, one would expect everything to calm down for a moment, for the money and champagne to stop flowing. Instead, we’ve experienced a pent up demand to party – and wear the clothes \ we so innocently bought during fashion month.
The action’s hot and heavy: this week alone saw the bash celebrating the Juicy Couture store opening (which shares a block with Matthew Williamson & Stella’s store), the Tatler 300th anniversary party and the Vogue/Bulgari party. Last night, Alasdhair Willis (Stella’s husband), threw an intimate do at his Duke Street gallery, while Cindy Crawford launched her Omega collection at the Almada club (where Anna Wintour made her LFW date with Chris Kane). The latter drew the most stars yet including Lily Allen, Rosie Huntingdon Whiteley and Jasmine Guinness whilst Rhys Ifan flirted outrageously with model du jour, Tolula Adeyemi.
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