Author

Sabrina Morrison

Posts by Sabrina Morrison

Fashion Is Fun

Lily Allen and Sister Sarah Owen Have Made Lucy in Disguise London’s Top Vintage Shop

By Sabrina Morrison Thursday, Dec 16, 2010 / 4:16 PM

LONDON–Let’s say you have haute-vintage taste on a bric-a-brac budget. What’s a girl to do during the busy party season with nothing (new) to wear?

Enter UK popstar Lily Allen and her sister Sarah Owen. The duo’s London shop, Lucy In Disguise, will rescue you with rare vintage garments and accessories, including mint condition gowns by Ossie Clark, YSL, Chanel and Alaia and Biba. The twist? They’re rentals, starting at just £35. (About $55.) But if you do you fall in love with it on the first date, everything is for sale, too. (Of course, the prices are much higher.)

Now, the Covent Garden shop, which launched in September, has opened a private boudoir called With Diamonds, where you and your besties can get retro nose-to-tail with a hair, makeup and nail salon, not to mention an era-inspired private bar. That means you can gather a few friends for tea a la Marlene Dietrich–or for a champagne and strawberries pre-party–while you get your Stevie Nicks alter-ego into a wide-leg pantsuit. Fashionista chats with Sarah Owen about the idea behind Lucy In Disguise…and With Diamonds.

How did the idea for this come about?
Sarah Owen: We wanted to bring something to the people who really appreciate fashion and vintage but, particularly in the creative fields, don’t get paid enough to buy the really special pieces. It’s really an extension of what Lily’s been doing for our own inner circle for years.

Do you share a similar fashion sense with your sister?
I love the ’70s yet I recognize the demand for the 80s with our younger customers. Lily’s much more old school like ’30s and ’40s.

I imagine you raided your Mom’s closet regularly–what did you find?
She had me when she was 18, so she went through phases…she was a punk rocker tough girl at first, then she wore ’50s sundresses, then really body-con Alaia, Gaultier and Pam Hogg.

And where does your interest lie in fashion retail?
I’d been doing a stall on Portobello Road for some time now, for an extra bit of cash while I was doing comedy promotion…which was bloody good fun!

Entertainment

If You Haven’t Seen Burlesque, Here’s a Tip: The Swarovski-Studded Costumes are the Best Thing About The Film (Other Than Cher, of Course)

By Sabrina Morrison Tuesday, Dec 14, 2010 / 1:30 PM

LONDON–The Empire in Leicester Square played host last night to the UK premiere of Burlesque, a so-so sparkle-n-sequins musical starring Cher and Christina Aguilera and an army of gorgeous Swarovski-dripping bustiers designed by Michael Kaplan. The BAFTA award winning costume designer is to thank for trend-spawning films like Flashdance, Blade Runner, Pearl Harbor and the Versace and Marc Jacobs-influencing Fight Club…the man’s got range.

The sparkly, indoor-use-only outfits, aside from Christina’s undeniable set of pipes, were the glue-gun that kept the film together. The true stunners included: six variations of delicate hand-linked gold chains with tiny Swarovskis whipping around in the finale; Christina’s high collared string of pearls “dress” that whipped right off her in one number; black velvet bodysuits with 1930s-inspired sequined hands over the bum and boobs. The costumes, like the score, drew inspiration from every era from the ’20s to the ’80s and will undoubtedly boost sales at Agent Provocateur. We also wouldn’t be surprised if some girls abandon the acrobatics of pole-dancing lessons for the glam athleticism of burlesque.

In an interview with The Times of London, Kaplan explains of one of the costumes: “I wanted Christina to kind of look like a dessert. There’s feathers, there’s satin, and she’s all pink and peach and adorable. Like some kind of sorbet.” Christina, who’s been partying it up in London with her new beau Matthew Rutler, whom she met on the set of the film, told the audience of her film debut that “acting was a whole new animal.” And, “I thrust myself into dancing like never before.”

Cher strutted up the red carpet in a wavy tangerine wig, wearing a black lace bodysuit and chiffon mullet skirt by Julien Macdonald. But then she brought the rock back by throwing a leather biker jacket over it. After expressing how much fun she’d had filming the musical she added, “Everyone was very, very, young.”

Though cringe-worthy writing included a dance routine referred to as the “Wagon Wheel Watusi,” these words of wisdom from Cher to her dancers are ones for every girls’ handbook: “If you fall off the stage, remember…leg extended, boobs out.”

People We Like

Eleven Questions for Fred Butler

By Sabrina Morrison Friday, Dec 10, 2010 / 2:36 PM

Photo: Sabrina Morrison

Fred Butler‘s origami accessories have landed her commissions on the pages of i-D, Dazed & Confused, Vogue and V magazine not to mention onto Lady Gaga’s head in the diva’s video for “Telephone.” Photographed last year by Nick Knight, the soft-spoken prop stylist turned accessories designer is a longtime London fashion scene standout with her unwavering head-to-toe monochromatic outfits. Launched in 2008, Butler’s line of colorful op-art mutations have been worn by musicians Patrick Wolf, Little Boots, Beth Ditto, La Roux and Skunk Anastasie. Stocked at London’s jewelry cache Kabiri and with a hush-hush high-street collaboration in the works, Fred takes a few minutes to talk to Fashionista about her music-fashion collaborations, designing in London and a new era of dressing.

1. Fashionista: Musical collaborations are a massive element in your work, where did that start?
Fred Butler: I hated school, hated being a teenager. But music got me through it, I loved going to gigs every week. Now I get to go to my friends’ gigs. I also collect records for their artwork. My favorite is an Xray Specs album, a punk band whose lead singer is called Poly Styrene, it has this amazing cover with them in test tubes.

2. What was it like working on the headpiece for Gaga’s “Telephone” video?
Brilliant, it was a dream! Nicola [Formichetti] just said to make something “baby blue.” Only near the end, once I had been staring at it so long, I couldn’t tell what color it was anymore…I freaked out and thought “shit this is sky blue!” I had to grab someone and ask.

3. What’s unique about being a designer in London?
Because it’s quite a cold, gray city people do stuff to cheer themselves up, to make their day to day experience more interesting. People here aren’t scared. It’s a nice thing to be part of.

4. Describe your workspace?
It’s like being a goldfish in a bowl that grows to the size of the bowl it’s in. No matter what project I’m working on I take up all the space I have, pull everything out so I can see it.

5. So much of what’s unique about your work are the materials. How do you hunt them down?
I’m always on the lookout for stuff but so far things find me. Also, I always accidentally start each collection with a material that ends up going out of stock. You’re free and easy using it and suddenly “shit” you’re picking little scraps up off the floor and saving it envelopes. Same with my new collection, called “Phosfluorescent Ominpresent,” which uses a plastic I found that I’d been looking for forever that reflect all the colors.

6. You’re now in talks with a high street chain about creating more affordable pieces. Will that effect how you work?
It’s important to remain in touch with what you’re doing…especially for the way I design. Unless I had people experimenting for me all the time (laughs), but the magic is when you do it isn’t? I wouldn’t want to ever sacrifice that.

7. Anybody dead or alive you’d love to create a piece for?
I’d love to make something for Grace Jones, but it would be terrifying. She looks quite terrifying doesn’t she?

8.When was the last time you were wowed by a designer?
There was a Viktor & Rolf show at the Barbican a while back with a giant dollhouse of porcelain miniatures wearing all the pieces from their collections. Every time I turned the corner, it was like “those bastards!,” every season it’s genius. It’s exhausting and yet it just seems to tumble out of them.

9. Are there any other designers you’d like to work with?
Jonathan Saunders…his colors are always beautiful.

10. You’ve said that your manner of dressing head-to-toe in a single color depends on what mood you’re in that morning. Is there a downside to having such a recognizable fashion i.d.?
I’m a really bad jaywalker because I know traffic will see me…except when I’m wearing jeans on a “blue day” though and I forget they’re just jeans. I have an all neon-yellow day, though not that often, when I feel brave. I get a lot of stick when I wear that one.

11. What color would you say you wear the least?
Before I would never wear black because it absorbs color and I like to reflect. And I hated purple ’til I was given a beautiful jacket by my friends at Three As Four. I’m starting to go multicolor I noticed, a little bit rainbow…it’s a new era!

Keep up with Fred and get in-the-studio peeks at her incredible projects on her adorable blog Fred Butler Style.

People & Parties

Miu Miu London Gets a Makeover: Katie Grand, Chloe Moretz, Natalie Massenet Celebrate

By Sabrina Morrison Monday, Dec 6, 2010 / 12:00 PM

LONDON–Now 18 years old, Miu Miu–Prada‘s jaunty little sister–has just moved into her new address on London’s New Bond St. alongside YSL and McQueen. Celebrating the two story flagship’s Roaring 20s-themed makeover were stateside celebs Jessica Alba–in a sequin caramel and citron silk shift–Twilight star Jamie Campbell and his fiance, Harry Potter actress Bonnie Wright, as well as fresh faces like Chloe Moretz and Emma Roberts.

The space’s new look takes its cues from the Mayfair neighborhood’s original tenants of art and antiques dealers, completing the grown up glamor with pink flamingos and dirty martinis by Peter Dorelli of the Savoy, the UK’s oldest luxury hotel, which itself recently underwent a £220 million restoration.
Catwalk looks occupied the second floor with Miu Miu‘s covetable bags and accessories on the ground floor replete with a limited edition six-piece range of satchels in everything from faux fur and snakeskin to leather and studs.

Fashion’s most powerful felines were there to comb over the goodies, including Love editor-in-chief Katie Grand, Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune and Net-a-Porter’s Natalie Massenet as well as starchitect Zaha Hadid.

News

Nick Knight on the Fashion Industry: ‘If it’s not more important than your love life, family, food, sleep, etc, you’re not gonna make it.’

By Sabrina Morrison Monday, Nov 29, 2010 / 10:38 AM

LONDON–Nick Knight, legendary fashion photographer and director of medium-shattering SHOWstudio gave a rare, live-streamed interview with the Business of Fashion‘s Imran Amed at London’s members-only Hospital Club on Friday, the eve before SHOWstudio’s 10th birthday. In the third installment of BoF’s “Fashion Pioneers” interview series, Knight explains how he grew from an underachieving pre-med schoolboy into an arrogant box-fresh fashion photographer, dead set on turning the entire medium on its head.

The most pivotal moment in fashion-music-film history came last year when SHOWstudio partnered with Alexander McQueen to live-stream “Plato’s Atlantis,” McQueen’s last ever fashion show, which crashed under the interest generated by a single tweet from Lady Gaga announcing she’d be releasing her new single at the end of the livecast. A moment Knight recalls “One of the worst days of my life, like being in the back row and watching the machinery melt.” But the fashion business took note. Suzy Menkes called it “A techno revolution.” Hilary Alexander said (of SHOWstudio) “It’s the most complex arsenal of computerized weapons ever seen in fashion,” and Gucci Group’s CEO Robert Polet said: “It’s the biggest game change we are going to experience and embrace, it’s going to touch every aspect of our business.”

BoF: How did you know you’d found your career path?
NK: I didn’t have a lightning moment. I thought, I don’t really know anything about this, but I know if I work every hour that god sends…It became an addiction and I knew “I can’t stop this.” It’s a curse, a pleasure, like all addictions. I don’t follow an image in my head as much as a desire. It’s a feeling that you want something you haven’t got, seen or done before. Then you tend to want to find the best people to work with, learn through and trying to see life through their vision became the fuel to my desire.

What’s been technology’s effect on fashion photography?
Ever since I got into it I wanted to change it. Then in the ’80s all the things they taught you in school weren’t relevant. The medium shifted underneath my feet and by the ’90s it was undefinable. It was like being the first person in a sweets shop…you didn’t know where to start. Photography has killed itself off with its pretentiousness, its backwards looking, unwillingness to evolve.

Origins of SHOWstudio?
In the ’80s I started filming my shoots. Our idea was to send out a VHS every month…luckily that never happened. First, it occurred to me that clothes are designed to be seen in movement. Secondly, was a realization that nobody sees the incredible creative process behind it. I didn’t do it to demistify it. Fashion is actually very poorly served by the media, it’s either trivialized or scandalized. The world I knew was artistically very exciting. One of the biggest luxuries is access. But people are approaching it like a Hollywood film, with loads of lighting and bringing in Hollywood directors and actresses. I did a film for J’adore and had a crew of 70 people on the set. I need two. One camera, a model and a light. There’s a tendency to push things on you, like the ‘red camera’ when all you need is maybe a Canon 5D. In the end it’s about that personal relationship between you and your model.

Has technology made people more/less creative?
Neither. If you’ve nothing to say in the first place it doesn’t matter how many tools you have.

You have to make fashion entertainment. It isn’t enough to plug in cameras and say here you go. It’s the difference between getting three thousand and three million viewers. The whole fashion schedule is evolving too…cycles and distribution are changing when a buyer in Hong Kong can see the catwalk and buy the clothes immediately, the press bitches don’t really need to be there anymore and the designer suddenly controls their image.

What makes a good fashion film?
It has to make something appear desirable. A fashion film, like photography, should be non-narrative. You want the dress or you want to be the girl but you don’t need to know where she came from. Whoever’s clothes they are, Galliano, Yohji Yamamoto…the narrative is imbued in the clothing. There are only a few people that can take good fashion photographs. In the first decade of Vogue there were two…Steichen who was an art photographer and Baron Adolf de Meyer who was a society photographer. So it’s no surprise to me that there aren’t more people out there that can make good fashion films. It’s different to film as fashion photography is different to fashion.

What do you see when you look 10 years ahead?
Mobile phones are our new screens, people are very happy to function through them. And 3D scanning. I take photos from several angles and from that data I can make an object, bring a 2D still image into physical space. Technology is waiting for us to catch up. This stuff has been around for years it’s just been used by the military and automotive industry. Soon you’ll be able to download a sweater. You can already download perfumes. 3D scanning was one of our first projects, 10 years ago. We made a huge Naomi statue and people all over the world could write on it. It was a portal and Naomi was the interface. Soon there’ll be a digital modeling agency.

Our wisdom moment. Any advice to your younger self?
I was too arrogant to listen to anyone…but if I was advising someone else I’d say you have to work harder than anyone else. If it’s not more important than your love life, family, food, sleep, etc, you’re not gonna make it. What’s great about fashion is it never allows you rest on your laurels. You have to get in it to come in first. There is no union or pension and you’ll be actively dis-encouraged. It’s a lonely job.

What are the basic tools people getting into the business would need?
Just your heart and mind. If you’re desperate to say something you’ll find a way to say it, I mean people scratched it on prison walls with rusty nails.

A special thanks to Business of Fashion for allowing Fashionista to livestream the event.

Events

The V&A Celebrates Kenzo

By Sabrina Morrison Monday, Nov 15, 2010 / 4:30 PM

LONDON–Usually when you turn 40 in the fashion business the only one in the know is your Mom–and you’ve got her protecting that little gem of a factoid like it’s a government secret. Those rules don’t apply though, and rightly so, when you’re Parisian fashion label Kenzo. Four decades after Kenzo Takada became the first Japanese designer to bring his sensibility and sophistication for textiles to the French capital, the maison Kenzo is celebrating its coming-of-middle-age at every chance. In London Friday, the Victoria & Albert Museum played host to free and public live catwalk shows of Kenzo’s SS 11 collection in the fittingly dramatic Raphael Gallery. Their Fashion In Motion series has previously presented shows by Jean-Paul Gaultier, Giles Deacon, Christian Lacroix and Stella McCartney.

At the hands of Antoinio Marras, who became creative director at Kenzo in 2008 after being enlisted as womenswear designer in 2003, Kenzo has continued its tradition of East meets West design. For this S/S 11 collection it was sweeping layers of bouncing chiffon topped by massive turbans in harmonizing prints, a styling element unseen on their Paris Fashion Week catwalk and inspired by an imaginary Japanese traveler who stumbles upon the visual richness of Marras’ native Sardinia. Cherry blossom florals and indigo batik waves were layered under sheer windows of velvet devoree, shimmering seed beads and delicate applique. The heaping tumble-wash of turbans were balanced with the occasional floating waist hem which bounced around the slender models like a hoola-hoopping booty. Shoes were modern, candy colored versions of the traditional Japanese ‘geta’ and were paired with obi bows and long printed gauze gloves. Absolutely lush, light as sunshine and cleverly gathered the Kenzo esthetic of relaxed elegance looks set to carry on, full speed ahead for many decades to come.

News

Lulu Kennedy is Amazing, Not Only Because She Said ‘Fashionista’s Got Balls’

By Sabrina Morrison Friday, Oct 22, 2010 / 3:00 PM

LONDON–Fashion East, the London launchpad for raw young talent, celebrated its 10th year with the launch of a 10-piece range under new label Lulu & Co. Each look, some of which were only seen on the runway–never in stores–were handpicked by Fashion East founder Lulu Kennedy from the archives of alum like Richard Nicoll, Roksanda Ilincic, Jonathan Saunders and Henry Holland.

To mark the occasion, the East End fashion pack brought the party West to Harvey Nichols in London’s posh Knightsbridge neighborhood for a Mexican-themed disco replete with fish tacos, hibiscus margaritas, and wonderfully kitsch gold palm trees. Everyone from Roisin Murphy and Pixie Geldof to supermodel/presenter Jade Parfitt spun around in their favorite pieces from the range, while a tagteam set was DJ’d by Princess Julia, House of Holland and Hazel. We nabbed the ageless fairy godmother of London fashion, Lulu Kennedy, dressed in a fiery organza gown by Jonathan Saunders, to talk disco and a decade of designers.

Hard to believe Fashion East is in its tenth year!
I am freaked out, it crept up on me. I’ve been doing this since I was 30 so it’s kind of a blur. The designers I work with have become genuine friends not ‘fashion friends’, if you know what I mean.

What was significant about it being East?
We were all working and living in the East end of London. As we got more established we moved closer to the center. We’re not more mainstream, but we try to make it more accessible. It’s an easy no-brainer for journalists who are really short of time. A bit like the way the music industry gets bands signed in a showcase.

For the MAN show during fashion week you built little wooden cabanas outside the tents, they were like these fantastic menswear stables. What’s tonight’s flavor?
Tonight is sort of like Mexican disco. It’s really random. Basically we indulged ourselves with our favorite things. I have a thing about Mexico and I love disco, it’s really, really relevant.

So you must of caught (disco act from NY) Hercules & Love Affair last Friday?
Don’t talk to me about it, I missed it! Everyone I know went but me and I’m really upset. You know what I was doing? You’ll die. I was dealing with all the shipping documents to get the Lulu & co range delivered into the UK while that was happening. Literally, crazy customs issues. It’s a whole new ball game. I can do parties, I can do fashion shows, but manufacturing and shipping of goods is a whole new thing which I’m learning via the Lulu & Co. range..it’s not easy.

How has it evolved?
It’s exactly where I want it to be. We are still selecting designers that go on to do well. We’re the stepping stone between college and the next level of sponsorship

At the time there were few if any people creating such a platform. Now there seem to be dozens.
It could get a little bit over-saturated and then you kinda lose quality control. I’d rather not do a show than show some designer I didn’t really feel.

What was the selection criteria for the Lulu & Co. range?
Some were about me knowing immediately. Like this Jonathan Saunders dress, when I saw it at the show I just welled up. Then with Henry Holland we kinda sat around going ‘ooh they’re all so much fun and young…but let’s produce something that you can’t actually get, something I saw on the runway that never made it into stores.’ Louise Gray’s stripey (four of which were made) dress was another.

It appeals to different people’s tastes, body sizes and price range. We’re really looking to work with the manufacturers so we can get those prices down.

Thanks again for a your time and for speaking with Fashionista
I LOVE Fashionista, a great site…it’s got balls!

News

Craig Lawrence Goes Capsule

By Sabrina Morrison Thursday, Oct 21, 2010 / 12:00 PM

LONDON–Last night in London’s Soho district, avant-garde concept store Machine-A hosted the launch of an exclusive knitwear collection from NewGen designer Craig Lawrence. Using black for the first time, he created metallic laddered biker shorts, crop-tops and fingerless gloves with the aim to design something quintessentially London.

Located in an old tailor’s shop in what remains of London’s minuscule fabric/garment district, Machine-A has raised more than a few eyebrows with its stable of edgy designers and their shop window exhibitions, the first of which involved a “life-size knitted masturbating man spurting over a pile of knitting magazines.”

Founder and creative director Stavros Karelis has gone beyond simply creating a platform for emerging designers by purchasing outright the majority of his stock and even funding the production of a handful of cash-strapped talents. Future plans include a 10 person workstation providing designers the tools and expertise required to produce their collections.

The party, spilling out onto Berwick St. included towering trannies in Craig Lawrence dresses dancing in the balloon-filled vitrines and was attended by The Guardian‘s Sarah Mower, wigged-and-bearded expat Andre J (fresh off a shoot with uber stylist Nicola Formichetti for Arena Homme for which he wore a gold Balmain gown) along with bloggers Susie Bubble and Yu Masui.

The shop receives over 50 requests a week from stylists and editors near and far for designs by raw London talent like Gemma Slack, Erman, Thomas Love, Charlie LeMindu, Piers Atkinson and recent hot ticket menswear label Voidofcourse. On next month’s bill is new recruit Vava Dudu, a Parisian artist-designer who has worked with SHOWstudio and whose will be performing live in the vitrines.

Machine-A
 60 Berwick Street
London W1F 8SU
020-7998-3385


**Event photos by Sabrina Morrison.

Entertainment

Fashion Films In the Spotlight at London’s City Arts & Music Project

By Sabrina Morrison Thursday, Oct 21, 2010 / 11:30 AM

LONDON–A recent flood of fashion films is promising to bridge the velvet-roped gap between front-row editors and the glossy-buying populace while giving designers yet another medium through which to express and control their brands. At London’s City Arts & Music Project the public was invited to a S/S 11 Video Re-See of films by handful of London Fashion Week’s most promising young talents including knitwear designer Craig Lawrence, art deco printmaster Holly Fulton and Alice Dellal collaborator and jewelry designer Dominic Jones. Here are the highlights, as well a word with Craig Lawrence on being a fish out of water:

1. Holly Fulton’s architecturally-inspired maxis of sorbet-colored skyscrapers become a stop-motion Dada playground at the hands of director Quentin Jones:

2. Dominic Jones casts reptile skulls, crocodile jaws and scarab beetles into in dangerously sexy jewelry. He’s already got the nod from Anna Wintour and though we’d love to show you the film here, co-partner and model in the film, Alice Dellal’s French-and-unabashed bosom prevents us from doing so.

3. Menswear designer James Small teamed up with Jamie Hince to send us off into a soft-focused summertime reverie with topless boys in floral washed denim playing tag, petting horses and driving a Rolls through the British countryside.



4. Now in his fourth season of fashion film making is NewGen recipient and knitwear designer Craig Lawrence. Directed by Ben Toms and styled by Katie Shillingford, the black and white seaside shoot overlayed with eerie audio brings his delicate column dresses to another world. We asked the designer what it was like to take his sirens out for a day at the beach:

Fashionista: Where was this shot?
Craig Lawrence: We went to Eastbourne to shoot the film, with white chalk cliffs. I hadn’t had three nights sleep and we were jumping from rock to rock. My interns (none of which were harmed in the making of this film) were all hoppin’ along and I was half an hour behind because every single rock I tried to step on I had to get my balance. So I was just like the old granny at the back.

Your inspiration for this season?
Siren mermaids, just like me…. I like to sing my song, entice boys….and then break their hearts (smash them on the rocks) therefor metaphorically killin’ ‘em.

So your knit dresses are actually like nets with which to catch them?
Yeah totally.

Sailors in particular?
Yeah, sailors are quite hot. Firemen, police sometimes, when they’re not me telling me off.

Events

Enter the World of Hussein Chalayan

By Sabrina Morrison Saturday, Sep 18, 2010 / 11:00 AM

LONDON–Possibly the only thing more death-defying than the leap from model to actress is the rarely attempted feat of fashion designer-turned-artist. But for two time “British Designer of the Year” and creative director of PUMA, Hussein Chalayan, these acrobatics are child’s play.

The Cypriot-born, London-raised designer first came to fashion by way of architecture, not surprising for those familiar with the tremendous technical construction and futuristic materials he is best known for.

Think airplane wings, folding table, foam molded car crashes and yes, I am talking about dresses.

Chalayan’s firs solo art exhibit entitled “I am Sad Leyla” is currently showing at London’s Lisson Gallery through October 8. (Definitely stop by in if you’re in town for London Fashion Week.)

Central to the works is “I am Sad Leyla” a classical Arabic song about star-crossed lovers, performed by Turkish songstress Sertab Erener, known for her own two-step between opera and pop. Video of the stunning Chalayan-clad singer played in the basement while above, her melancholy voice filled one white-walled room while video of her visage was projected onto a life-size likeness of herself.

Pivoting once again around issues of cultural identity and displacement, the highly conceptual designer opened a tandem exhibition at London’s Spring Projects Sept. 17. As for the big leap? From the looks of the art crowd, seems Chalayan has landed safely on the other side.

Events

Vivienne Westwood’s Shoe Retrospective at Selfridges is Pretty Fantastic

By Sabrina Morrison Friday, Aug 27, 2010 / 2:30 PM

LONDON–It was 1955 and Dior had just brought us the stiletto. A 14 year old Vivienne Westwood, who had already been wearing high heels for a year, bought her first pair and brought them to school, sitting them on her wooden desk for all to admire when her history teacher came in and said, “Vivienne Swire if God wanted you to walk on pins he would have supplied them.”

Vivienne Westwood Shoes: An Exhibtion 1973-2010 opened yesterday at The Ultralounge, a permanent exhibition space in the vast belly of Selfridges. Voted “Best Department Store in the World,” the class favorite figured that wasn’t a big enough feather in their hat, so the people at Selfridges will be launching “The Biggest Shoe Department in the World” next month and have chosen Dame Westwood’s fetish for shoes to whet our appetites. Supported by rubber shoe designers Melissa, some 200 of the designer’s shoes dating from 1973-2010 are displayed like fine jewelry in a chronology of footwear.

Britain’s Queen Mother of Punk has found inspiration in everything from British colonialism to the Victorian dandy to down-and-dirty S&M. The show is a knuckle-rapping reminder of the true origins of the oft-repeated pirate boot, court shoe, ‘rocking horse’ ballerina, three tongued trainer and the mighty Naomi-Campbell-tumbling-platform of ’93. “She looked like a gazelle in slow motion,” Westwood later remarked of the infamous fall. “She’s a very proud woman of course, and so when she got back stage she was so angry with me.”

Westwood brought us the first corset intended for outwear in ’87 entitled “Stature of Liberty” and named the shop she opened with hubby Malcolm McLaren “Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die” before renaming it an umincing “Sex.” The designer has been thumbing her nose at society’s rules or conventions since day one.

“I’m not one of those people who likes the ‘no make-up’ make-up look and things like that. I like artificial things and I think that’s what we are,” Westwood said once. “I think civilization is artificial you know, otherwise we would just be still living in trees.” Perhaps her partnering with a plastic shoe maker shouldn’t be such a surprise.

**All photos by Sabrina Morrison.

News

Net-a-Porter’s Natalie Massenet Inspires 90% of Her Employees to Follow Their Dreams

By Sabrina Morrison Friday, Jul 23, 2010 / 4:13 PM

One of the few start-ups to have emerged from the carnage of the dot-com implosion of 2000, Natalie Massenet’s vision of an “online magazine-you-can-shop-from,” now the luxury fashion version of Amazon.com, just earned her a neat £50m when she sold her shares of Net-A-Porter to luxury giant Richemont this spring. The reasons for her success and perhaps the failings of others is that in the world of fashion, more than anywhere, “people don’t trust who they don’t know”. As former editor at WWD and Tatler, Massenet put her intimate customer knowledge to use and created the ideal balance of commerce and content.

Following a behind-the-scenes video of their chasmic new headquarters (where 90% of employees surveyed found their boss to be “inspiring”) the lady in red answered questions from The Business of Fashion‘s Imran Amed. Topics included Net-A-Porter’s iPad app (launched that day), her prescription for the breakneck fashion cycle, the best and worst way to get your products on their site, bricks and mortar vs. e-commerce and their soon-to-be-launched menswear site Mr.Porter. The highlights:

See It To Believe It: Visualization
“I visualized everything down to flowers arriving everyday and young people walking around everywhere congratulating each other. The confidence I had in knowing it would work is different than the confidence you have in your own talents.”

Bricks and Mortar v. E-Commerce: A Fight to The Death? "We're betting on it in a big way. Though they will support each other...online is your biggest brand window. There's room for everyone but if you're going to be a shop you better 'dim light' your customer, give them a reason to make the make the trip, make your store the best."

Skip A Season: A Cure for the Industry’s Fashion Cycle Vertigo
“We should skip a season, let everyone take a much needed break in the summer and then in September show Fall/Winter collections, which will be in the stores within a few weeks. They’re already broadcast to the world. What’s frustrating is that the consumer is seeing it at the same time as us but she can’t buy it. Buyers and editors only need to look at a rail in the showroom to the pick the product. We don’t need to see the show.”

Bloggers: Friend or Foe?
“We’re involved with 400 independent bloggers and websites, they drive traffic and increase sales. When I launched The Outnet a year ago, I leaked it at a bloggers’ luncheon and it was instantly tweeted about…Ha, I should have known! But the feedback allowed us to build things into our strategy. As for magazines vs. bloggers, the best content and most relevant will win. Magazines have the upper hand, but if they’re not using the medium, they’re missing out.”

Net-A-Porter the iPad App
Massenet walks us through a video presentation showcasing the super slick, fully animated app with overlays including product info and availability and purchasing at your fingertips. People in the audience were already downloading it!

“Our dream was always to be a shopping magazine. The ladies-who-lunch image is no longer relevant. Women are working harder than ever. Our customer is in the back of a cab on her…iPad.”

Your Product Here: The Dos and Don’ts
“The worst mistake you can make is to go through either my friends, my husband or my mother. My mother kept insisting I see the Balmain show…it was three years before I finally went.

Unsolicited email is ok just please don’t make my computer crash. And try to use a catchy title in the subject.

If you’re doing something someone else is already doing how is yours different? Tell us how we’ll be able to tell your story.

And be persistent. We’re pretty unpredictable. We may say no but then wake up one morning and decided it’s all about you! ”

Hers and His: Net-A-Porter’s Menswear Site, Mr.Porter is in the Making
“There are actually very few sites that are exclusively women’s fashion. We didnt want a marginalization of our women’s collection. Womenswear differs in that it incorporate trends, they’re more experimental. With men it’s usually down to trousers, a jacket and shirt. Ultimately they just want to look their stylish best.

Everything will be different about it, the service, brand, packaging, voice and tone…because we’re thinking of our customer. We want to over-deliver but we also don’t want to under-promise.”

Net-A-Porter’s Best Sellers of 2009:
Black Louboutin pumps, Louboutin’s Cat Burglar Barbie and Hunter Wellies.