Weekly Wishlist

Today I am starting a new weekly post, so every Friday I will post my Weekly Wishlist, some fashion and beauty products that I love!

Clockwise - Sunglasses by ASOS - Dress by Tata Naka - Collar by Dahlia - Top and Shorts by Three Floor - Ylang Ylang Incensa Bath and Shower Therapy by Bodhi

London Street Style: Brick Lane

My Photography

Street Style: Spitalfields Market

My Photography: Beauty

Cruelty Free

Please click on the 'Cruelty Free Brands' link above for vegan fashion brands and beauty brands that don't test on animals, some of which are completely vegan. Let me know of any others I should add to the list :)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

My Photography

Pastel theme shoot, shot around Trafalgar Square...

Fashion's Night Out

Tomorrow night London, among other countries across the globe, will be hosting Fashion's Night Out events in stores all over the capital. You can visit the Vogue website for full details on all events but here are some of my highlights...

Acne - Swedish music and Absolut Vodka cocktails

Burlington Arcade - Beadles Burlesque, a circus evening curated by The Last Tuesday Society, will entertain shoppers with acrobats, showgirls, stilt walkers, a silhouette chair, candy floss, chocolate fountains and a marching band.

Hotel Chocolat - Prosecco sampling and mini chocolate tasting.

Jimmy Choo - A top London DJ and cocktails will be in store. Guests will also have the chance to become a Jimmy Choo Stylemaker by having their photograph taken for the brand's Stylemaker site www.choo247.com

Libertys - Jonathan Saunders will be running a live photobooth, Richard Nicholl will be working with his muse and mannequin for the evening, Jade Parfitt and Roksanda Illincic will be signing hand drawn sketches of her AW collection for customers.

Matthew Williamson - The store window will be transformed into a poolside party photo booth, Nails Inc. will set up a mini manicure station and Vita-Coco will be providing drinks.

Cruelty Free International

Have you heard about Cruelty Free International's campaign? You can sign up for email updates at http://crueltyfreeinternational.org/mailinglist.  It only takes a few seconds and means you'll hear all the latest news on their campaign to end animal testing for cosmetics worldwide.

Animal testing for cosmetics still happens. Over 80% of the world allows animals to be used in cruel and unnecessary cosmetics tests and these animal tested cosmetics can be purchased in every country across the globe.

Animals, including rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats are routinely injected, gassed, force-fed and killed for cosmetics testing worldwide. Cruelty Free International believes this is ethically unacceptable and unnecessary.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

I was kindly invited to the Bodhi Desert Rose Rejuvenating Face Oil bloggers launch where I got to try out the new face oil plus some of the existing products from the eco-luxury skincare brand.
Desert Rose Rejuvinating Face Oil has a unique blend of natural ingredients including Morrocan Argan Oil, Rose Hip Oil and Rosa Damescena. I massaged a couple of drops into my skin after cleansing, my skin felt soft soon after I had applied it and it evened out my skin tone. I applied a small amount of moisturiser before applying my makeup and it didn't leave my face looking shiny as some oils and serums do. This product is best used on normal to dry skin.
The oil comes in a beautiful black glass bottle to help preserve it and is packaged in a cardboard box with a pink ribbon so it would also make a perfect gift.
Plus none of the products or ingredients are tested on animals and they're vegan!

Desert Rose Rejuvinating Face Oil

Bath and Shower Therapy and Body Moisturiser products

Merry Christmas!

We're only halfway through August but today was the Ben Sherman Christmas press day. It was a little too early to be eating mince pies but it was great to see the new Autumn/Winter 2012 collection and gift ideas. The new range is full of great quality, smart tailoring and classic designs with a modern twist. Accessories include scarves, braces, bow ties and an iPhone case, perfect for stocking fillers.

Sane Communications Press Day

Another press day today, this time it was Sane Communications representing brands such as Fanny & Jessy, Kirsty Ward, Maison Scotch and Simon Preen. Here are some pics of my favourite collections:

Fiona Paxton

 Kirsty Ward

 Maison Scotch

 Thanks to Sane Communications for these amazing Urbanears Platton headphones in cream, polkadot Happy Socks and a quilted Union Jack laptop case from Lavenham!

She Said Beauty

Today was the launch of SheSaidBeauty.com, an online beauty network where people can research, discover and share their passion and interest for beauty. The website is really simple to use and has a great design featuring over 30,000 products from over 1,000 brands and counting. It's easy to connect with friends, bloggers and industry experts to stay on trend and up-to-date with the latest beauty news, reviews and tutorials.
It's also free to join and you can connect any existing social media accounts including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Pinterest to SheSaidBeauty.com. This is a really exciting website and I haven't seen anything like this for the beauty market yet.

I was pleased to find some brands that do not test on animals in the goody bag such as Green People, Erno Laszlo, Mary Elizabeth, Tin o' Tint by Miners and Layla D among others that I'm waiting to find out whether or not they are cruelty free. I will write more about those brands soon as I'm planning an article on products that are not tested on animals :)

London Fashion Weekend

If you can't get any invites or blag your way into London Fashion Week there is always London Fashion WeekEND to get ahead of the trends of Autumn/Winter 2012. 

LFWeekend takes places between 20th and 23rd September. A new addition this season is the Designer Highlight Shows adding a new dimension to the ever-popular catwalk shows. Each day, a great British brand will take to the catwalk to showcase their current collection. 

Issa London has been announced for the runway on Friday 21st and Twenty8Twelve will be showcasing on Sunday 23rd, designers for Thursday and Saturday are yet to be announced.

Visit www.londonfashionweekend.co.uk for more info.

My Photography

Here are some shots from a shoot I did in the woods at Alexandra Palace, London

Vivienne Westwood A/W12 Campaign

I love the new Vivienne Westwood A/W12 campaign, shot by Juergen Teller and inspired by 17th century artist Diego Velazquez, featuring Stella Tennant!!

LFW Show Schedule

Click here for the London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013 show schedule!

Hatwalk

PHILIP TREACY and Stephen Jones are among 21 milliners giving iconic London statues a headwear makeover. The Hatwalk initiative, which launches today, brings together emerging and established headwear designers - each of whom have created bespoke headpieces to sit atop landmarks such as Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square.
The campaign was commissioned by the Mayor of London, in partnership with the British Fashion Council and the London 2012 Festival, and is part of the Surprises entertainment group.

The Tanks

InTRANSIT Festival

Bailey's East End

David Bailey is one of east London’s most famous sons. Over the past 50 years, he has regularly returned to the stomping ground of his youth to photograph the streets and their inhabitants. This personal collection, set in an historic industrial building in London’s Royal Docks, sees him return to Newham at a time when the world’s focus is on east London. These photographs document the changing physical and social landscapes of the area from the early 1960s to the present day, with streetscapes, characters and scenes of east London life. Some famous faces appear, but they are nestled amongst the wider backdrop and characters of the area. David Bailey’s East End features many previously unseen photographs and provides a rare opportunity to witness London’s transformation through the lens of a local icon.

 6th July - 5th August, Compressor House, Royal Docks, London, E16 2QD

These are the Days

This is the UK premiere of Bruce Nauman’s seminal work Days, a sound installation which presents a continuous stream of seven voices reciting the days of the week in random order. Fourteen flat panel speakers will be installed in the lower gallery, one voice emanating from each pair of speakers as the visitor passes between them.
The work invokes both the banality and the profundity of the passing of each day, and invites reflection on how we measure, differentiate and commemorate time. Nauman’s work constantly tests rational systems of language, spatial and bodily encounters, the passage of time and psychology, through constructed environments. His pioneering work spans more than five decades and encompasses a wide spectrum of media including sculpture, drawing, site-specific installation, sound pieces, neon, photography, film, video, performance and text/language.

Gucci Menswear SS12

Vivienne Westwood Menswear SS13

RCA Show 2012

This year, the Royal College of Art’s annual summer show will include work by the greatest number of graduating students in the College’s 175-year history. Show RCA 2012 is to take place simultaneously in six buildings across the College’s two campuses in Battersea and Kensington.

Show RCA 2012 offers visitors – some 40,000 last year – a unique opportunity to experience the very best of emerging contemporary art and design practice. Nearly 500 art and design postgraduate students from more than 40 countries will exhibit work of exceptional quality, imagination and technical skill.

The exhibitions are free of charge to the public, with much of the work for sale or commission – ranging from paintings to prints, glassware to jewellery and furniture to textiles. Buyers have the opportunity to invest right at the beginning of an artist or designer’s career, with 15 per cent of sales going towards the Royal College of Art Student Fund.
Open to the public: 20 June – 1 July (closed 29 June) 10.00am – 5.30pm daily; late opening to 8pm Saturday 23, Wednesday 27 and Saturday 30 June
 

Invisible Art

Invisible Art brings together works from the past half century that explore ideas related to the invisible and the hidden. The exhibition includes work by some of the most important artists of our time as well as younger artists who have expanded on their legacy.
From the amusing to the philosophical, there are works you can observe and others you can take part in, such as Jeppe Hein's Invisible Labyrinth. From Yves Klein's utopian plans for an 'architecture of air' to Robert Barry's Energy Field (AM 130 KHz) from 1968 - which encourages a heightened awareness of the physical context of the gallery - this exhibition spans diverse aesthetic practices and concerns.

Artists in the exhibition include Art & Language, Robert Barry, Chris Burden, James Lee Byars, Maurizio Cattelan, Jay Chung, Song Dong, Tom Friedman, Carsten Höller, Tehching Hsieh, Bruno Jakob, Yves Klein, Lai Chih-Sheng, Glenn Ligon, Teresa Margolles, Gianni Motti, Roman Ondák, Yoko Ono and Andy Warhol.

12 June - 5 August 2012, Hayward Gallery, London

Casey-Hayford Lookbook AW12

 The father-and-son duo return with an exclusive preview of their A/W12 collection. Entitled 'Cultures in Between', it continues Casely-Hayford's foray into classic British menswear with a twist. Combining Joe's extensive experience and Charlie's keen eye for sub-cultural themes, the brand has long been the unsung hero of London's menswear scene.
Their coat-focused autumn winter season, from which the pair have selected six key looks, highlights a series of jacket from past decades, such as parka coats from the 60s, puffa jackets from the 80s and bomber jacket from the Noughties. These cult styles have then been run through the creative Casely-Hayford sartorial machinery for their unique reinterpretation.

June Sample Sales

Tania Cashmere - 14 June (9.30am to 7pm); 61 Addison Road, London W14 8JJ

Nocholas Kirkwood - 14 June (10am to 8pm) and 15 June (8am to 8pm); The Music Room, 26 South Molton Lane W1K 5AB

Aimee and Petit Aime - 14 June (9am to 7pm) and 15 June (9am to 6pm); 20^th Century Theatre, 291 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2QA

Sample Hunters - 15 June (12pm to 8pm), 16 June (12pm to 7pm) and 17 June (12pm to 7pm); The Old Truman Brewery, Shop 13 Hanbury Street, E1 6QR

Felder Felder - 19th June (4pm to late); Groucho Club, 45 Dean Street, W1D 4QB

Jenny Packham - 21 June (8am to 8pm); 3a Carlos Place, London W1K 3AN

Hermes - 22 June (8.30am to 7pm) and 23 June (10am to 6pm). The Music Room, 26 South Molton Lane W1K 5AB

      

Wonderful World

Gérard Rancinan is one of the world’s leading contemporary fine art photographers. For the past 7 years, Rancinan, along with writer Caroline Gaudriault, have been developing the ‘Trilogy of the Moderns’ – a revolution in three acts.
Pitched somewhere between comedy and tragedy, this vivid photographic tableau and accompanying texts paint a picture of a confused humanity, blindly groping in the darkness, obsessed with fame and guided only by an absolute desire for generalised happiness.
In May 2012 Rancinan will open the Triennale di Milano at the Museum of Contemporary Art to present the entire trilogy of works; ‘Metamorphoses, Hypotheses and Wonderful World’.
From June 7th 2012 The Future Tense in association with Opera Gallery and Londonewcastle will present the UK debut of the final series, Wonderful World.

Rock, Paper, Scissors

The exhibition will showcase a selection of contemporary artists, focusing on unique and innovative techniques with paper. Highlights include Caroline Jane Harris's highly intricate paper-cuts inspired by the Japanese art of Katagami, as well as Alberto Fusco's dynamic free standing paper sculptures. Su Blackwell will be displaying several of her delicate paper dioramas and more figurative representations are provided by Brighton artist Patrick Bremer in the form of colourful collaged portraits. In contrast to the ethereal paper artworks on display will be new work by abstract artist Adam Arbeid. Resembling ancient rock, his canvases are composites of marble, minerals and precious metals.

21st May - 23rd June, Store Street Gallery, 32 Store Street, London, WC1E 7BS

Issey Miyake Fashion Film

Hermès Exhibition

Celebrating 175 years, since the house was founded by Thierry Hermès in Paris, Hermès has taken residency at London's Royal Academy, with an exhibition dedicated to the brand's history and dedication to craftmanship. Alongside iconic designs – including the Kelly, Birkin and Constance bags, saddles and silk scarves – and an insight into leather, colourways and production techniques, the comprehensive exhibition incorporates a temporary "studio". Cleverly acknowledging that interactivity is key to a successful exhibition, artisans from the Hermès workshops in Paris will be in situ demonstrating the art of leather working.
Leather Forever runs until May at 6 Burlington Gardens, London. The online auction runs here from May 14 at 9am (GMT) until May 31 at 5pm.

Manifold Editions - Debut Exhibition

Between May 10th and 27th the exciting new online art gallery Manifold Editions are holding their first physical presentation of work at Front Room at St Martins Lane Hotel. Showcasing the breadth of the Manifold Editions’ stable, featured artists will include the likes of Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Elizabeth Magill and 2011 Turner Prize nominee George Shaw. A show highlight is the opportunity to purchase limited edition prints, with four from Marc Quinn that include Under the Volcano, an acid coloured orchid, and a silk screen version of Sphinx, his extraordinary sculpture of Kate Moss.

Free Space Collective

Chanel & Film

On May 19th and 20th fashion and cinema collide in the latest offering from the Victoria and Albert Museum and Ciné Lumière: Chanel & Film. On Saturday 19 the V&A is hosting a three-part seminar exploring the close relationship between the work of fashion designer Coco Chanel and film, with fashion journalist and author of Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life and Chanel: Her Life Justine Picardie, and Professor of film studies Ginette Vincendeau. Ciné Lumière will host two screenings on the Sunday, one entitled The Lovers/ Les Amants and the other Tonight or Never which feature many of Coco Chanel’s creations.

DSM

This month sees the return of Dover Street Market MARKET in London – a pop-up sale of Comme des Garçons and DSM brand archive pieces, with discounts of 70% to 75%. Market MARKET will take place at Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square, WC1B 4DA between 10-7pm, 11th-13th May with daily deliveries.

Bauhaus: Art As Life

The biggest Bauhaus exhibition in the UK in over 40 years presents the modern world’s most famous art school. From expressionist beginnings to a pioneering model uniting art and technology, this London exhibition presents the Bauhaus’ utopian vision to change society in the aftermath of the First World War. Bauhaus: Art as Life explores the diverse artistic production that made up its turbulent fourteen-year history and delves into the subjects at the heart of the school: art, culture, life, politics and society, and the changing technology of the age.

Bauhaus: Art as Life will feature a rich array of painting, sculpture, design, architecture, film, photography, textiles, ceramics, theatre and installation. Exemplar works from such Bauhaus Masters as Josef and Anni Albers, Marianne Brandt, Marcel Breuer, Walter Gropius, Johannes Itten, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Hannes Meyer, László Moholy-Nagy, Oskar Schlemmer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Gunta Stölzl, will be presented alongside works by lesser-known Bauhaus artists and students.

Barbican, London. 3rd May - 12th August 2012

Catlin Art Prize Exhibition

London, UK – The Catlin Art Prize 2012, now in its 6th year, is an annual exhibition featuring the most promising art graduates in the UK one year on from their degree shows. This year’s exhibition will be held at the Londonewcastle Project Space, London, 3rd – 25th May 2012, and includes new work by artists who demonstrate real potential to make a significant mark in the art world during the next decade. The prize is unique in providing artists with the time and opportunity to develop their practice.
Following the publication of the critically acclaimed Catlin Guide 2012, the shortlist of artists taking part in The Catlin Prize 2012 include: Gabriella Boyd, Poppy Bisdee, Jonny Briggs, Max Dovey, Tom Howse, Ali Kazim, Adeline de Monseignat, Soheila Sokhanvari and Julia Vogl. Working across painting, sculpture, performance and film, each reflects the diversity inherent to contemporary artistic practice, and signals a promising future for art in the UK.

Milan Design Week