the boy's got it.

Forget Alexander Wang, Christopher Kane is fast becoming the most interesting young designer of today. Unconvinced? Cast your mind back to some of Kane's earliest designs, the bodycon dresses of his first collections in a crayola rainbow of colours, clashtastic and mixfabulous in a way that would pre-empt the runways of seasons to come (Marc Jacobs, anyone?). Still not convinced? Think about the intrigue that Kane creates with deceptively simple designs. An organza mini-dress? well, there's plenty of those from chanel to charles anastase. But with a scalloped hem in layer upon layer of floaty organza the apricot orange colour took on a shimmery pearl quality that made it stand out from every other party dress on the market. Think about how Kane plays around with established materials and shapes in a thoroughly clever, if slightly ironic way, like the flirty frilly full skirt in white wash denim, of all materials.

You still don't believe me? Just take a look at his most recent collection. Kane has this inane ability to be constantly inspired, every single one of his collections to date has been drastically different in both theme and execution to the one that preceded it. In a time when designers are constantly revisiting both their own, and other's, design archives with questionable frequency Kane is consistently reinventing the image of the 'Kane' girl, and in a way that is, it must be said, audacious. Sometimes a trailblazer, yes, sometimes a follower of the fashpack, sometimes in a class of his own: always fresh. And who doesn't want fresh in a time like ours? 

Kane's most recent collection in London during the fall 09 fashion week was another change for him following the now infamous 'Planet of the Apes' collection last season which saw giant gorilla prints on long sleeved ice-skater skirted mini dresses, scalloped hems, bright clashing colours (like an acid yellow with a tangerine orange), circular cut outs on leather skirts, bright animal prints, puffy sleeves and paillete embellishments. 

And yes, that season was a sell out, stocked by both internet sites and chic department stores (think the yasmin sewell revamped Liberty and Dover Street Market in London) women, mostly young and hip it must be said, flocking to deck themselves in a floaty confection made hard-edge by Kane's textile and tailoring expertise. 

The current collection, however, is a study in how a designer can successfully appeal to a range of customers, broadening his appeal with a showing that is both youthful in that murky colouring, 'don't give a fucking damn' styling and edgy accesories, but also classic and timeless, thus appealing to a more sophisticated (for lack of a better word) customer with the exquisite, and i mean really exquisite, tailoring on blazers and skirts, the incredibly chic ribbon detailing on organza dresses that seemed to just float around the dresses, not merely sewn onto them, and the sharp, lean sillhouettes that the workplace so adores. 

A vision in mostly charcoal black with the odd slice of murky jewel tones (i know, it doesn't seem possible, does it?) and milky white organza the clothes sashayed down the runway, some of them moving unbelievably well. One dress, with ribbon applique in pleated ripples on the hem, swayed in and around the model's knees like a cloud. I'm not even kidding. It was an incredible show to watch, a sartorial experience, even more astounding considering Kane's last collection, with the gorillas, the loud music, the bright bright colours. But, as many noticed, the collection may have been gaudy, but it was also very very clever. Kane drew on a few motifs: namely the circular cut out pattern which was later seen at Chloe, and ran it through the collection in various ways, each and every one a prime example of excellent workmanship and hardware. The leather circular cut outs on a skirt never drooping, despite the heaviness of the fabric, they seemed to stand up straight perpendicular to the legs of the models. Or what about the intrigue of the sillhouette of a mini dress with circular puffed sleeves, the arms turned into some sort of bizarre comic parody of the bodybuilder with his excruciatingly built up biceps. 

This season he has taken that sly, and always very subtle, way of his of showing his fashion credentials and his ability to make really really good clothes that are well made and cool and impossibly on the pulse. A mini dress made up of sheer paneling and layers of floaty ruffles, Full skirted mini dresses with detached sleevelets, Cashmere jumpers that were on the right side of slouchy without being too far away from fitted, checked a line skirts that you know the fashion-savvy business woman will just eat up. Quality without sacrificing cool. 

Christopher Kane is, without a doubt, one of the best young British designers. He is this because of his hip youthful designs that push the boundaries of what constitutes chic time and time again in that way that is so characteristic of the london fashion scene. But with this collection he has also established himself as one of the best young designers full stop. Appealling to the hipster youth is all very well, but there comes a time when a brand, a successful one that is, needs to broaden its horizons. 

Welcome to the club. 

[style.com]

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there and back again

[mine]

to paraphrase the most dashing hugh jackman 'home... there's no place like it.'

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(more to come! i'm just glad to be back, although very very very sleepy). 

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Oscar.

the very real pleasure that one gets from the combination of their two greatest loves in lifes is indescribable. though, myself being who i am, i will try and put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard as it were, about the sheer unadulterated enjoyment that was this year academy awards.

i am, to put it finely, just slightly obsessed with the world of cinema. i have seriously humiliated myself in front of many actors and actresses, simply because i have been too stunned to contemplate the fact that people who are such a point of adoration and shining light for me could possibly exist in flesh and blood, perhaps within touching distance of me. it tends to drop the jaw and raise the eyebrows, to put it mildly.

i am also, as you may have noticed, just a little obsessed with the wonderful wonderful world of fashion. now, more than ever, we are seeing the amazing transformative power of fashion as marc jacobs showcases bright neons in an attempt to be the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel during these hard economic times.

Couture, and the imaginative world that it often conjures, is one end of the fashion spectrum that for one blissful moment (well, you know what i mean, obviously one season), ties in so perfectly with my other love. And that moment is the Academy Awards.

I am one of those sad people who actually watches the red carpet show, and not just to hear the designer brand names read out in crisp seacrest pronunciation like gunshots, but rather to watch, eyes slightly glazed over, as dresses that i thought only existed in those temples of desire and unatainability, yes i am talking about VOGUE here, sashay down not a runway, but somethign infinitely more glamorous if that is at all possible: the red carpet. Clinging so beautiful, draping so effortless, dripping so sensuously off every curve (or indeed, in jolie's case, lack thereof) of these actresses who not only possess the type of figure that can fill out a dress in the way that a model just can't, but possessing also of the type of showstopping face that made them a model in the first place.

Fashion shows are all well and good, but the red carpet is like seeing poetry in motion. Words that seemed beautiful, and creative, and innovative on the page are suddenly transformed into moving images that talk and swish and swan like, well, i hate to say it, movie stars.

Unfortunately i am unable to attach pictures to this post, although believe you me, pictures will follow. Needless to say Penelope Cruz, an actress who really should just always be called a woman, for she embodies everything a modern woman is: intelligent, funny, powerful, passionate, beautiful and so unbelievably sensual, was a favourite. In vintage Balmain (who would have thought?) she showed that she also has fashion crededentials to go with that lilting spanish accent and the face that was made for an artist to love.

Another favourite, amy adams, resplendent in red, looking as if she was born to wear that colour. Nicole Kidman, despite having done horridious things to her face wearing a feathery, sparkly, wondrously infectious confection that was pure imagination distilled into dress form. Natalie Portman in a soft, but still powerful, an understated power indeed, dress by Rodarte.

Enough of that, you probably all watched the show or have seen the pictures by now, and enough has been said about all the usuals. Adding my own opinion seems pointless. And indeed, there isn't much point to this post at all, other than to let me just expound about how happy the show made me feel.

Did you feel the same? I'm not sure if it was the effect that the producers were going for, but i suppose in hard times likes ours making people smile seems the pre-requisite of almost anything that happens nowadays. Rather than subtly jibe hollywood, exposing its flaws and the flaws of those within it, the show was more a celebration of that wonderful business that really is the stuff of dreams: a celebration not only of the actors and actresses to whom most of the glory falls, but also the screenwriters, the make up artists, the sound mixers, the directors, the cinematographers... as Hugh Jackman, the host with the most, and looking so dashing in a tux (its almost enough to make me patriotic!) 'they dont just make costumes/sets/sounds/etc..... they make movies.'

Perhaps i am old-fashioned. But to me there is a certain joy to be found in movie-going. Sure the cinema is comparitively less expensive, there is much more choice and the experience is more widespread, thus lessening its exclusivity and therefore wonder... but is that necessarily a bad thing? just because something is 'available' doesn't make it any less valuable. The movies are, in times like these, one of the most pleasurable forms of escapism for all, and they don't discriminate: they are there for all. Which can only be a good thing.

If you, unlike me, don't squeal when the trailers start because you are just so damn excited to find out what's going to be next on your list of films to see, or you dont sit in raptures, your eyes glued to the screen in awe/ecstasy/exhilaration/despair/thrill... then perhaps you will not agree. Perhaps you seek your pleasures elsewhere. each to his own. But for me the movies are, and will always be, something lovely.

and combined with the distinctly old-fashioned glamour of awards shows, which includes the flashing jewels, the long sweeping gowns, the up-dos, the tuxedos, the crisp white shirts and little clutches clasped in red-stained fingers… Well, it becomes truly magical.

X

ps. in new york! almost home! can't wait to get back and share with you all my shopping finds and my stories. hope you are all well!

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the snozzberries taste like snozzberries.

this is a post inspired by the wonderful notebook doodles... her blog is always filled with the most delicious looking photos of food, fun and friends, and always looks so lovely! of course, being a decidely un profesh photographer with an un profesh camera my photos are not as good. These were taken from our outing the day before i went away, in max brenner, this chocolate shop selling all sorts of yummy scrumptious things. such fun and friends and food to be had!

my friend had a chocolate bubka, i had waffles (no picture unfortunately) and we all had fun. round about now i'm back in london!

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Sonnet CXVI

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come:

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Shakespeare

the shakespeare that wrote sonnets was a very different joseph fiennes to the one who wrote the plays. Whilst they plays are often a masterpiece in construction and a study in relationships the sonnets are much more introspective and esoteric. We see Shakespeare the philosopher, the one ready to muse about love and life and well, love. We see a tender heart and a longing soul, often not seen in the pragmatics of theatre-acting and writing.

I love this sonnet because it echoes an idea about love that i feel very strongly about. Love does not change. When you love someone, really love someone, it is not changed by appearances, nor time, nor distance. It conquers all, it is constant and true. I don't know, it does seem a bit too hopelessly romantic to fly in a modern environment, but i am a romantic at heart, and i like the idea of your one true love being just that.

For those austens fans well acquainted with the emma thompson, kate winslet, hugh grant and alan rickman sense and sensibility, shot with taste and grace by ang lee when he could barely speak a word of english (how many directors could take on a classic like austen like that?) uses this poem marvelously well. There is one poignant scene where kate winslet (marianne) is running up a hill to see her lost love's manor, 'oh no, it is an ever fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken... willoughby!' she says despondently, regretfully.

the usage of the poem is ironic then, because marianne marries another. does that mean she loves him any less than she did willougby? was i the burning passion of youth, inexperienced and naive, that made her feel that way? or was it her true love?

food for thought indeed.

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i'm in paris now.... WOOHOO!!!!!

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