It’s one thing to watch a fashion documentary that peeks inside a designer’s studio - Unzipped, Lagerfeld Confidential - and a very different thing to stand over a designer while he or she builds something from scratch.
Gareth Pugh’s moving into the studio space within ShowStudio’s Bruton Street shop in London on Friday. He’ll be there through the weekend crafting a totally exclusive, one of a kind look, “a unique interpretation of his SS10 collection.”
Of course, since this is ShowStudio, the whole thing will be broadcast live at www.showstudio.com/project/livestudio once he gets started and afterward, Nick Knight will shoot the look in the shop before it’s sold.
If you were waiting for the perfect excuse to invest in some Pugh, this is it. Otherwise, have fun dreaming.
Get Involved: Though there are a handful of dissenters, the relationship between fashion and Gaga isn’t waning. You can play, too. Nick Knight and Ruth Hogben (who’s worked on Gareth’s films) are asking for your video submissions based on The Apocalypse to play on her tour. {ShowStudio}
Red Rover, Red Rover: Celine’s landed at Dover Street Market, Phoebe Philo’s Celine that is. Who says Spring 2010 can’t debut in Fall 09? Phoebe even helped design the airy space to house her collection. {Dazed}
Got It: After last year’s Hilary Clinton/Vogue fight, Jonathan Van Meter finally got his chance to profile the now Secretary of State. Annie Leibovitz photographed her in the White House, so gowns. {Vogue}
It’s rare a week goes by that we don’t dream of living in London, but we’re especially envious of Brits tonight.
Vogue UK reports that Nick Knight will be shooting an editorial for their print book, starring Natalia Vodianova, in public view. Outside shoots are obviously subject to the public eye, but Knight’s actually inviting the masses to watch his shoot at Somerset House as part of his SHOWstudio: Fashion Revolution exhibition.
Aside from Knight and Natalia, you’ll also get to watch Vogue UK’s fashion director Lucinda Chambers, stylist Sam McKnight and make-up artist Val Garland work the editorial. As for the clothes, it’s a fairy tale themed shoot featuring custom made dresses set for auction the following day. (The proceeds of which go to Natalia’s charity, The Naked Heart Foundation.)
They’ll be at Somerset until 9 so grab your umbrella and get there early.
1. Your new retrospective book, Nick Knight, is phenomenally gorgeous. (The publisher sent us a copy but you can buy it starting on October 27th for $75, which is actually not a bad deal at all.)
2. Picking out which smattering of pictures to scan was incredibly hard but really fun. Thanks for making our morning so much better.
3. We forgot how much we truly died over that 2000 Dior campaign with a dirt-covered Angela Lindvall. Love, love, love.
4. You can do super high concept and impeccably simple equally well. What a gift.
5. SHOWstudio is totally badass and changing the industry in important and innovative ways.
Just keep doing what you’re doing. Thanks!
A few more of our favorite shots from the book after the jump. (UPDATE: We had to switch out a few of our scans due to some copyright issues…sorry!)
What’s better on a Friday morning than a little live male model action? Not much in our book.
If you concur, we suggest you make a little note in your Outlook calendar to surf over to SHOWStudio tomorrow at 11 am and watch a shoot of VMan’s Model Search. Live streaming is the thing, you know.
We don’t yet have an inside track on the theme of the Nick Knight/Simon Fox shoot yet, but we’re pretty sure it will be hot. I mean, the mag isn’t going to award a cover and Ford contract to just anybody.
And watching male models work it for the camera sounds like a real morning mood-enhancer to us.
Sure, Burberry and Michael Kors and even Twenty8Twelve have provided live broadcasts of their shows to make the public feel included, but Alexander McQueen’s one-upping everyone by partnering with Nick Knight’s ShowStudio.
Together, they’re reclaiming control of the front row’s Flip Cams and Twitters with the use of robot cameras both on and off the runway to guarantee that everyone, everywhere (with a computer) sees the show and the atmosphere as though they’re present.
“I want to generate something else, something for a wider audience — for people in Australia, Asia, and Middle America who don’t have a seat at the show. Really, what I’m aiming for is world domination,’ he joked to WWD.
Of course the problem with the public seeing the clothes immediately is that it’s still hard for most to wrap their head around the fact that they can’t have what they’re currently falling in love with for another six months. Though McQueen’s thought of that, too and wants to start building capsule collections that can be bought right off the runway.
We’ve always had a bit of a blog crush on ShowStudio and now they’ve really gone and done it.
Nick Knight moved the site’s headquaters to London’s Bruton Place - parallel to the dream street that houses Stella McCartney and Matthew Williamson’s - and thought they’d get in on the retail action.
Today marks the opening of their very own store full of fashion delights including props straight from a few major runways. The Shop is part live studio and part gallery, selling things like a John Galliano customized Union Jack and a miniature Victorian greenhouse built for a Tim Walker/Coco Rocha editorial.
In October, Nick Knight and SHOWstudioannounced they’d be launching an epic exhibition at Somerset House to coincide with London Fashion Week SS09 and the BFC’s 25th Anniversary (the celebrations for which we’re already SO excited).
Well, now we know that the exhibit will showcase the site’s collaborations with designers, artists and models including Alexander McQueen, Liberty Ross, Gareth Pugh and Julie Verhoeven, as well as new collaborative films made specifically for the celebration and it’ll run from September through December.
One room will function as a photo studio, housing Nick Knight and his team preparing for on-site shoots. So you can watch his preparation live, instead of edited into a slick video. And while they’ll be shooting one hundred portraits of London’s hippest models, actors, musicians and artists, he’ll also be working with a major model.
And considering his taste in girls- Kate, Natalia, Irina, Daria, Lily - we’re kind of dying to know who it is. Guesses?
Settled: Woody Allen asked for 10 million, but this morning settled for 5 from American Apparel. {NYPost}
Smells Like Guinness: Daphne Guinness revealed her new perfume, made with Comme des Garcons, at the George in London yesterday morning. A short film will accompany its September launch, because nothing sells without a film apparently. {ShowStudio}
Alice & a Milkshake: Stacey Bendet, of Alice & Olivia, says a McDonald’s Big Mac and strawberry milkshake are her favorite meal. She’s also working on a jewelry collaboration with Erickson Beamon. We believe one of those things. {Blackbook}
So Far So Good: Isobel Lucas in Vanity Fair - the best showing of SS09 Chloe we’ve seen yet. {VanityFair}
There was a mini-debate going on in the comments section of a Paris post.
One person decreed that blogs aren’t press and therefore shouldn’t sit in the press section of a show while another pointed out that we obviously aren’t buyers which together puts us in a rather awkward category. Blogs are, according to most publicists, considered press, and our seating assignment is usually a testament to that classification.
However, this season we noticed a new seating trend pop up. For the first time, those reporting for blogs and magazines’ online departments were often seated together which meant we had daily run-ins with reporters from Elle.com, Papermag.com, Glamour.com, Showstudio, DazedDigital, Fashionologie and more.
For example, at Marios Schwab, bloggers had their own Front Row section (alongside the Conde section, the ELLE section, etc), which created a real commune-style discussion of, “Well, I can’t report this for my site, but you totally should use what I heard earlier!” Fun, and certainly effective for spilling your thoughts onto Twitter in mere minutes.
Which makes us wonder, are the days of acting like bloggers aren’t real media members finally over? Because it looks like they are, at least in fashion. Especially now, when major editors from The Times are tweeting and Vogue editors like Filipa Fino are writing for Vogue Daily and WWD posts multiple times a day. We’re just saying, the line is getting awfully blurry.
I landed in Paris this morning, grabbed my tickets and pranced through Paris’ gloomy rain to the Boulevard Faubourg de Saint-Martin for Gareth Pugh’s Fall 09 show. There, a surprisingly small group of people stood behind a curtain in a tiny black room before being ushered into a make-shift movie theatre.
I knew something was up when they handed me a credit sheet declaring, Model: Natasa Vojnovic. Natalie emailed, “Is she listed for every look?” Before I could respond, I realized I’d be watching the same video that everyone around the world (or every fashion obsessed person around the world) would be watching live on ShowStudio.
Granted, I was watching it in a mini-warehouse, full of three white benches, Suzy Menkes, Sally Singer, Lauren Santo Domingo, Jefferson Hack, Pugh-wearing London kids, Rick Owens and loads of dry ice-induced smoke. People actually smiled during the video, so impressive were Natasa’s warrior dance moves, not to mention Gareth’s collection, before hopping to the back room to congratulate the soft-spoken designer on a kind of historical fashion moment.
We finally left to grab a bite to eat in between the show and the party, our only regret that we wouldn’t get to see the nailed bodices and pleated trousers in person - until Natasa Vojnovic turned the corner, charging across the cobblestones, arms linked with Kate Lanphear and trailing a Gareth cape - which means Paris Fashion Week is off to a grand start.
Even though Britt is right now in Paris and getting ready to head over to the Gareth Pugh show at 5pm local time, you should know that you, too, can watch the show live (except without watching the front row, but don’t worry, you’ll be filled in).
Nick Knight’s SHOWStudio is broadcasting the show live (11am EST), to be followed by a short interview with Gareth himself.
So if you work in the kind of office that allows popcorn, we suggest getting that all set up by 10:58. Also, wouldn’t it be fun if we all Twittered in unison?
If you think pretty editorials could benefit from a little bit of life, Nick Knight’s on the job.
Because while it’s nice to see images of models frozen mid-jump in this season’s runway looks, it’s even better to see them actually jump - half the beauty is in the movement.
As of today, you can see the final results of SHOWstudio’s “Let There Be Light” project. Knight, in collaboration with Ruth Hogben (one of Nick’s close associates), has directed Lily Donaldson dressed up in the best of Spring 09 - a Margiela jacket, a Jil Sander bodysuit, Lanvin pants, Balenciaga shoes.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at Lily’s photo shoot. Head to SHOWstudio for the final cut and highlights from V’s editorial.
British fashion photographer Tim Walker’s just confirmed that he’ll branch out into film in 2009.
He’s the man behind most of Vogue UK’s fairytale-like editorials and a major contributor on Nick Knight’s ShowStudio. You know this almost iconic image of Lily Cole and the December 08 spread starring Karen Elson and Tim Burton.
His short film will debut this spring with a follow up feature length film slated for Fall 2009. No word yet on plot lines and characters but we do expect fantasy and would love for Gemma to land a role.
Between this and Tom Ford’s movie and Vogue’s Sundance debut, fashion’s officially crossed over.
Nick Knight’s shoot with Lily and Jourdan may have just hit Vogue UK’s site, but you can check out his shoot with Lily for V happening right this second on his site, ShowStudio.
Those who appreciate Erin Fetherston’s clever imagery as much as her clothes (if not more) might want to make a London pit stop, where the designer’s films are currently on exhibit.
The London’s Institute of Contemporary Art is housing her celluloid chic as part of an exhibit on fashion’s collisions with film, where Fetherston’s short movie Ladybird joins work by Galliano, Kim Jones, and McQueen (all British boys, we might add).
The exhibit seems inspired by Nick Knight’s ShowStudio revolution, which sparks film and video collaborations between artists and designers - in the past year, the fashion powerhouse has collaborated with Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss on bitty style movies.
Also in the past year, there’s been a huge jump in video being integrated into the runway seasons: Besides Thom Browne’s memorable farm-boy movie (in lieu of a catwalk show), there have also been movie projections from Marc Jacobs, Diesel, and Hussein Chalayan as part of their collections.
Anyone who reads Fashionista will know that our crushes are simple and finite:
We love Kate Moss, Agyness Deyn, Gemma Ward, Johnny Depp, Sofia Coppola, Luella Bartley, Phoebe Philo, Irina, you, Henry Holland, The Rolling Stones, and the fashion photographer Nick Knight, whose clients include Burberry, McQueen, and most of British Vogue.
So of course, we’re a little excited, because although we’ve met almost everyone on that above list (still waiting on Phoebe, Johnny, and 1 of the Stones…) we’ve never even seen Nick Knight in person… until now.
The ShowStudio founder comes to town on Friday, February 1 to debut a film with the menswear designer Bernard Wilhelm. The project presents Wilhelm’s Fall ‘08 collection, and premiers at the Tribeca Grand Hotel.
Its theme, according to Knight, is Men In Tights, which goes anywhere from Robin Hood to Centerstage or Miuccia Prada’s recent runway outing of guys in skirts.
V’s photo shoots are always brilliant, but who knew their business savvy was just as sharp?
We found out today, when we got word that the magazine will put Kate Moss on an upcoming cover - with a set bought partly by V readers and Kate Moss fans, instead of by the magazine!
Here’s the deal:
ShowStudio genius Nick Knight will shoot Kate in mid-December, on a giant floral background that his team will design.
According to their website, “Nick Knight will be photographing a variety of flowers to create a three-dimensional photo sculpture around which the supermodel will be posed. He is inviting all Kate fans… to send floral tributes to Kate…
Simple sprays of freesias are very welcome, and hand-ties of peonies even better, but our advice is to get creative to ensure your contribution stands out and makes it.
Accompanying greetings cards bearing written intimacies, proposals of marriage and general kind wishes (within the bounds of decency) will be given to Kate on the day of the shoot, so make sure you remember to include your name and location!”
As for their location, it’s SHOWstudio, Export House, 25-31 Ironmonger Row, London EC1V 3QN.
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It’s one thing to watch a fashion documentary that peeks inside a designer’s studio - Unzipped, Lagerfeld Confidential - and a very different thing to stand over a designer while he or she builds something from scratch.
