The Sergio Rossi boutique re-opening on Saturday was the perfect continuation of the shoe brand’s ethos: elegant decadence.

Inspired by feminity and the world of screen icons, the new flagship store displays creative director Francesco Russo’s designs including pony skin ankle boots, crystal embellished stilettos and fur pom-pom adorned sandals in an Art Deco-styled interior.

With guests including Georgia May Jagger, Roisin Murphy, Dinos Chapman, Liberty Ross and Erin O’ Connor having already given the beautifully decorated space their seal of approval, it’s safe to say that all Londoner shoe fetishists have found themselves a new mecca.

Sergio Rossi, 207A Sloane Street, SW1 X9QX
sergiorossi.com

Tags: Dinos Chapman, Erin O' Connor, Francesco Russo, Georgia May Jagger, liberty ross, Roisin Murphy, Sergio Rossi

When it comes to model style Erin Wasson is our go-to rock ‘n roll dream girl. A Texan free-spirit whose sexy and grungy style has inspired designers and fashion lovers alike. With her new collaboration

with French brand Zadig & Voltaire, she’s found the perfect trans-Atlantic parallel for her low-key cool aesthetic – Zadig know the appeal of the perfect cut jean and vest.

Launching tomorrow, the capsule collection, designed by Wasson herself, is full of the kind of cool pieces we associate with her style; ranging from studded and leopard printed jackets, boot cut leather trousers and snakeskin cowboy boots. Naturally Wasson has modelled the pieces herself for two contrasting videos, one emphasising her relaxed Texas upbringing and the other her hard-rock edge.

ERIN WASSON FOR ZADIG & VOLTAIRE is available from net-a-porter.com and zadig-et-voltaire.com from 19th October.

Tags: Erin Wasson, Net-A-Porter, Zadig et Voltaire

Dover Street Market is engulfed by a variety of installations this week, all in celebration of London’s Frieze Art Fair.

The work of Brazilian/French artist duo Vivid Astro Focus encases the ground floor entrance, creating a 360-degree tunnel of vibrant paintings, which the DSM team is calling it “one of the greatest installations we have ever done”. Three stories upwards resides an exhibition of creations by heel-less shoe God/Daphne Guinness favourite Noritaka Tatehana and New Yorker ceramicist/sculptor James Salaiz.

The store is also exclusively hosting Dr Marten’s Bespoke in its basement event space, where the iconic boots can be completely customised, right down to the last eyelet.

If you ever needed an excuse to get lost in Dover Street Market for a few hours, this is it.

Tags: Comme des Garçons, Daphne Guinness, Dover Street Market, Dr Martens, Frieze, James Salaiz, Noritaka Tatehana, Vivid Astro Focus

Continuing her collaboration with Diesel Black Gold, Sophia Kokosalaki chose to reflect the label’s name at New York Fashion Week last month, with a collection of blinding metallic and midnight petroleum.

Bringing innovative techniques to everyday wear, Kokosalaki created cracked silver leather trousers and tiny shorts that were produced by photographing mirrors, printing them on foil and fusing them with leather.

While there was plenty of high-tech shine, fresh masculine tailored blazers in pink and cream toned down the glare and oil slick flares had the essence of Diesel’s rock chic DNA. This was a collection made from sophisticated fabrics but rooted in casual cool shapes, while the inclusion of Greek draped dresses had the unmistakeable Kokosalaki signature.

diesel.com

Tags: Diesel Black Gold, Fashion Week, new york, sophia kokosalaki

In his film to celebrate the launch of Maison Martin Margiela’s second scent (Untitled) L’Eau, Mark Borthwick has made the scent’s essence almost tangible. The photographer and filmmaker takes us through a garden of saturated light and beauty, yet the blown focus of his camera stops just short of revealing everything. Instead there’s a heavenly quality to the wild flowers bathed in light that is as amorphic as Margiela itself.

Inspired by the fragrance’s natural tones of Mandarin orange, curly-leaf mint, Amalfi lemon, buchu essential oil and African orange flower, Borthwick’s film makes poetry of nature, captured and bottled.

Watch the film at nowness.com

Tags: Maison Martin Margiela, Mark Borthwick, Nowness, Untitled L'Eau

Tomas Alfredson’s Cold War thriller  Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, is packed with soberly suited men in Seventies London. The look is all in the cut, the mood and the colour. So it’s not surprising that he took advice from Britain’s first man of style, Sir Paul Smith about how to recreate the era. As well as consulting on the film, Smith has turned his hand to poster design and created four limited edition silk screen posters. Slickly minimalistic and graphically coloured, they belong to the golden age of film poster design.

A run of 50 per poster is available from Paul Smith stores with proceeds going to Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres.

Tags: Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres, Seventies, Sir Paul Smith, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tomas Alfredson

Whether it’s big Seventies hair or Dalmatian spots, each season the Topshop Unique show is a hot ticket for fashion insiders. And with London Fashion Week kicking off today, the store is making good use of its fashion contacts by hosting a series of talks in-store with fashion experts.

Here’s the schedule… Don’t miss out!

Friday 16 September 13.00 and 17.30

Facehunter creator Yvan Rodic talks through everything street style. What does it take to create or capture that perfect fashion moment?

Saturday 17 September 11.00 and 15.00

The Fashion Director of SHOWstudio, Alexander Fury, gives an insight into the world of fashion and film in this digital age.

Sunday 18 September 12.00 and 16.00

The young British designer Charlotte Taylor brings her blog to life, and shares her insight into launching her own label.

Monday 19 September 14.00 and 17.00

Freelance fashion editor Grace Timothy talks through make up trends for the upcoming season, shares her beauty insider tips as well as giving an insight into her Fashion Week.

Tuesday 20 September

Special guest speaker to be announced, check out Topshop.com/londonfashionweek for the latest listings.

Tags: Alexander Fury, Charlotte Taylor, Grace Timothy, london fashion week, Seventies, SHOWstudio, topshop unique, yvan rodic

Twin is green with lust for Veja’s new Gisèle bag. The French ecological brand, known for their fair-trade sneakers, have designed a range of suede bags that have style and ethical substance. While the modern tanning industry uses chromium or another heavy metal that is bad for the environment, Veja has used vegetable-tanned suede, which is dyed using natural pigments. The leather used is tanned with acacia extract, so no fluocarbons are applied. Helping the environment has never looked and felt so good.

The Gisèle is available from the Design Museum Shop and Darkroom in London.
veja.fr
designmuseumshop.com

Tags: Darkroom, design museum, Fair-trade, Gisele, Veja

There’s little doubt that Hattie Rickards is one of the most exciting jewellery talents out there. The Central St. Martin’s alumna has honed her skills along side jewellery designers such as Kara Ross and Solange Azagury Partridge, for whom she set up her NYC store. Having now gone solo she’s focused on a select collection of luxury rings, all with a strong ethical focus, but without sacrificing the glamour.

Her collection, Revealed, features a range of limited edition kinetic and fixed rings created from 18ct ethical gold and precious stones set in their rough, uncut and natural form. Each piece is registered within the Fairtrade system to ensure that her concept and inspiration “to blend aesthetics with a story and knowledge of origin” is achieved.

While we love the raw ethical sentiment behind her collection, we adore the playfulness of her designs. The Rubix ring, inspired by the Rubik’s cube, is made with multicoloured stones set in three rotating bands and The Revolver ring features a spinning barrel of stones. Each one is a sparkling masterpiece.

The Revealed Collection by Hattie Rickards is now available at Dover Street Market.
hattierickards.com

Tags: Central St. Martin's, Hattie Rickards, Kara Ross, Revealed, Solange Azagury Partridge, The Revolver, The Rubix

Fashion is a serious business and campaign adverts are usually no laughing matter. Luckily, Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz is a man unafraid to raise a smile. Lanvin’s new fall 2011 campaign video is the cheesiest fashion party out there and we want in.

Shot my Steven Meisel and starring the boogie-licious Karen Elson and Raquel Zimmermann dancing to Pitbull’s I Know You Want Me, they pull off the kind of dance moves only a supermodel wearing Lanvin could. But it’s the designer himself’s entrance at the end that stops the show, proving funny is the new fabulous in fashion.

Watch the video at LANVINtube

Tags: Alber Elbaz, I Know You Want Me, karen elson, Lanvin, Lanvin Fall 2011 Ad Campaign, Pitbull, Raquel Zimmerman, Steven Meisel

Opening Ceremony have a history of cool collaborations. From indie-queen Chloe Sevigny to denim giant Levi’s, the store cum label manages to shape-shift between creative influences while retaining its essential DNA. Their latest collaboration is with conceptual de-constructionists Maison Martin Margiela. Since presenting the collaboration at New York Fashion Week back in February, it’s been a matter of playing a patient waiting game. Finally though, MM6 Maison Martin Margiela x OC is on sale and it’s a partnership based on shared sentiments.

Recuperation, transformation and reinterpretation are the immovable creative cornerstones for the Maison and the collection is a fluid enactment of their 3-in-1 concept. Linings of coats unzip to become lightweight layers and nylon gaters add height to ankle boots to the point of becoming trousers themselves. They’ve even come up with a quirky stop-motion video that brings the morphology of the Maison and OC’s designs to life. Get swept away.

Watch the video here
openingceremony.us

Tags: Chloe Sevigny, Levi's, Maison Martin Margiela, MM6 Maison Martin Margiela, new york, opening ceremony

Everyone remembers their first pair of DM boots. Inextricably bound to youthful energy and dreams, the more battered a pair of Dr Martens, the more loved. With their new campaign shot by Gavin Watson the iconic brand are playing straight to our feelings of nostalgia and the bittersweet memory of first love. Starring Agyness Deyn and Ash Stymest, it’s a DM timeless romance. Deyn also stars in an accompanying two-minute film talking unscripted about her first heatbreak. Can you remember yours?

firstandforever.co.uk

Tags: Agyness Deyn, Ash Stymest, DM, Dr Martens, First and Forever, Gavin Watson

Boy waifs and androgynous dreamers have long captivated fashion photographer Toyin Ibidapo. After years of recording her subjects from her West London home she’s finally created a mesmerizing scrapbook of her poetic portraits. Cult of Boys is an adoring tribute to the raw vulnerability of youth.

Twin spoke to Toyin about her life’s work…

When did you start taking photos?
I started when I was 18 or 19, I started by doing photograms which was fun. Still at this time I hadn’t any particular calling, it was just something I enjoyed along with all the other students. Then it progressed to shooting my fellow students, friends and family and still I didn’t know I was becoming a photographer as it was a hobby. I was on a general art and design course at Kingsway in clerkenwell 90/92. Then I decided I was better at taking pics and got into Bournemouth.

Are you self-taught or did you study photography?
I am self taught, but I also studied at Bournemouth and Poole  College Of Art And Design 92/94. I realize it’s the eye which is most important…well for me it is as I cant speak for anyone else.

When did you start shooting fashion photography?
I came into the fashion industry in 97 and tested until my portfolio was nice and juicy. I got my first break shooting for ” The Face ”  back in 98.

When did you first start photographing adolescent boys?
I guess since my student days. I had a few muses even back then, we were all students but on different courses. But if you mean the youth of the “skinny white boy ” a.k.a “The Cult Of…”  More seriously when I came into the fashion industry from 97. But I was mostly shooting girls and just the random boy here and there in the beginning. I really got it going in 99.

Aesthetically what kind of boys inspire you and why?
It’s the ones whose presence seem to go beyond just being beautiful looking and you can’t help but react to something in their personality. Maybe it’s shyness or someone who has an interesting state of mind. Yes those that inspire me must have the thing that makes you want to stare at them. They have invisible pull.

How do you cast your subjects – are they models or do you scout them yourself?
Mainly the majority are models and one or two of them have introduced me to faces they think I’d like to shoot. I prefer to meet them face to face before booking if possible so they can see what I’m about and visa versa.

What’s been the response to your work over the years?
The general response has been “when are you gonna get that bloody book out!” Lol. I would say more but my head might start to swell.

How long have you wanted to put together the Cult of Boys?
It began in 99. It was a goal I’d given myself, I didn’t stop shooting it till 09, then I had to work on the dummy, which I’d started since 08 and yes it was a head fuck and yes it took me ages.

What other photographers and artists do you admire?
Any photographer whose image makes me want to look at it just a little bit too long gets my seal of approval no matter what the technique.  Paul Outerbridge, Helmut Newton, Avedon, Will Mcbride, Bill Henson, Mary Ellen Mark, Michael Sanders, David Vasiljevic,Gregory Crewdson, Tim Walker.

Writer and Poet Maya Angelou – more people need to know about her. She’s just so inspiring. Ben Whishaw, when I first saw Perfume I was totally inspired by his performance, knocked the socks off me. Sally Man, writer Charlie Kaufman – boy I’d like to pick his brain, such an original. Him and Tim Burton. Bruce Lee, Frida Kahlo for her body to be in that much pain and still to paint – makes me love her all the more.

Then there’s this beautiful man called Simon he gets me to try and go beyond a bit like David Lynch. I admire anyone that makes me think. I deeply admire anyone  in adversity because it’s only a matter of time until they claw their way back up if they want. There are many many more.

Who is your current muse?
I have no current muses just my old skool Daniel Tighe. He’ll always be my muse as I know him best. As he dos me.  I still love Finnian Smith and Chris Tanner, I could still shoot them as It feels a bit unfinished. New muses…that’s yet to come. I’ve not been looking for a while now, plus it takes a lot to pull me in.

What’s next up for you?
I’m writing…

Cult of Boys by Toyin Ibidapo with a foreword by Tim Walker is published by teNeues in September 2011.
toyinibidapo.com

Tags: Ben Whishaw, Bournemouth, Cult of Boys, Daniel Tighe, Maya Angelou, teNeues, The Face, Tim Walker, Toyin Ibidapo

Nicole Farhi is the queen of pared down style. In anticipation of the label’s 30th anniversary next year they’ve moved into a beautiful new 7,000 square foot flagship store on Conduit Street.

Expect all the usual classic men’s and women’s fashion plus their recently launched and highly covetable homewares collection.  It’s minimal shopping serenity.

Nicole Farhi, 25 Conduit Street, London W1S 2X
nicolefarhi.com

Tags: Conduit Street, flagship store, Nicole Farhi

Tom Ford’s new make up hits counters this autumn. Though I’ve seen nothing as yet apart from the lipsticks. Little samples or information has been made available. It’s typically Fordian to be so tightly controlling of the press coverage. Much as I love the existing lipstick range especially the white and gold packaging (very old Hollywood), I feel a little ambivalent about two things: the price point and the USP.

Firstly, the whole range is likely to be expensive considering the lipsticks alone are £35. For the same price you could buy a dress in New Look, Top Shop or Zara and even an outfit in Primark or Peacocks.

My second question mark here is: is there room for another cosmetics line in the marketplace? Burberry and D&G have both joined the melee in recent years which makes  a lot of luxury make up lines out there. And how much of a market is there for this sort of ultra expensive product? Competitor-wise there’s Serge Lutens make up which is gorgeous but even more eye-wateringly expensive than Tom Ford and then Shiseido’s other superluxurious brand Cle De Peau which has been withdrawn from the UK – presumably due to lack of a market. Still, we wait with bated beauty breath.

Words by Bethan Cole

Tags: Bethan Cole, Burberry, Cle De Peau, D&G, Lauder, New Look, Peacocks, Primark, Serge Lutens, Shiseido, Tom Ford, Top Shop, Zara

Legendary Austrian fashion designer turned artist Helmut Lang has destroyed his fashion archive and in return created a series of sartorial sculptures featuring pulped and twisted fabrics and fibers, scorched plastics and metals. Having given away much of his catalogue to design collections around the world, the master of Nineties minimalism decided to shred some 6,000 pieces for the exhibition at The Fireplace Project Gallery in East Hampton, New York. Inspired after a fire in the building of his New York studio almost destroyed his life’s achievements, Lang decided to complete the task himself. Out of the carnage emerge eerily, slender columns that resemble elegant birch trees. They give shape and permanence to the transience of fashion and life itself.

MAKE IT HARD, a solo exhibition by Helmut Lang is at The FIREPLACE PROJECT until August 8, 2011.
fireplaceproject.com

Tags: East Hampton, Helmut Lang, new york, Nineties minimalism, The Fireplace Project

The Helmut Newton Foundation is one of those gems in the West of Berlin that’s well worth the journey from the more hip Bezirke of Kreuzberg or Friedrichshain.  This month, alongside the permanent exhibition offering a glimpse into Helmut Newton the man, a new exhibition opens celebrating his Polaroids.  Using them as an initial point of reference for his fashion shoots, he was able to test lighting and composition.

But more than that, the idea of Polaroids excited Newton: he published Pola Woman, a book exclusively made up of his Polaroids, in 1992.  Shooting down accusations that the images in the book didn’t stand up to his usual standard he said: “but that was exactly what was exciting – the spontaneity, the speed”.  Indeed in some ways this attitude prefigures the speed of photography – particularly street style photography – today.

The romance of a Polaroid picture is most definitely back in vogue again.

See the 300 works on display until 20^th November 2011
Helmut Newton Foundation, Jebensstraße 2, 10623 Berlin

Tags: Berlin, Charlottenburg, Helmut Newton, Helmut Newton Foundation, Polaroids, West Berlin

It might be July but Twin are prepping for Autumn/Winter. The latest women’s line from cult Japanese brand A Bathing Ape, a.k.a BAPE, is full of the staples we want right now. Photographed by Kate Moross, BAPE‘s plaid shirts, varsity jackets and oversized pullovers are modelled by Daisy Lowe. This is clothing for all seasons.

bape.com

Tags: A Bathing Ape, BAPE, daisy lowe, kate moross

As with gourmands (edible fragrances), I can now admit that I have been somewhat prejudiced towards celebrity fragrances. This wasn’t without reason;  a lot of them genuinely were cheap, formulaic, derivative, overtly saccharine and obvious. Like gourmands, I reasoned they were often created with a  young, uninformed, unsophisticated demographic in mind. There was very little artistry involved in the creation of these perfumes. But of course the minute you dismiss a genre of fragrance (or well anything in life really) something comes along and narkily disproves you. In this case it was Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely – which is really such a classy fragrance that it could be Chanel – and that’s a compliment indeed.

Anyway that was a few years ago now and hundreds of celebrity offerings have debuted since then. I can now admit there are one or two that I quite like – they are not all execrable. Namely Kate Moss’s Vintage Muse, which came out last winter. If you look at the notes on paper it does not bode well: plum, rhubarb and chocolate. It sounds like another sugary confection aimed at impressionable pre-teens. However when you actually smell it it’s really quite sophisticated – you get the tart, sour facets of rhubarb and plum rather than the juicy plumpness and it’s actually quite recherche.

It actually reminds me of how a stylist friend of mine used to smell – she blended her own oils – in other words not obvious and sweet but something a fashion insider might like. The other perfume that landed on my desk recently and that’s really okay, but maybe not great is Kim Kardashian’s debut. Now I had expected to hate this, not being  afan of Kardashian herself (another fake tanned talentless wannabe famous for no reason) but it’s actually quite nice. What you get is  a huge dose of tuberose – reminiscent of Frederic Malle’s Carnal Flower or Michael Kors’ eponymous offering. I love tuberose as much as the next person – what I’m slightly ambivalent about is the chocolate note used to underscore it which make it a very rich, dense sweet tuberose. I might have preferred a more translucent take on the tuberose, but then that might have been a  bit too derivative or Kors and Malle.

Words by Bethan Cole

Tags: Bethan Cole, Carnal Flower, Chanel, Frederic Malle, kate moss, Kim Kardashian, Lovely, Michael Kors, Sarah Jessica Parker, Vintage Muse

French photographer and filmmaker Babette Pauthier’s video God Save McQueen is a study in dark kaleidoscopic beauty. Having already shot a series of still lives for the Alexander McQueen SS11 scarf collection, this film is a reverie of light and movement.

“It’s a metaphor for a constant rebirth through butterflies hatching out their chrysalis,” says Pauthier. “I was also inspired by Parmenides of Elea and his poem On Nature and on A rebours (Against Nature) by Joris-Karl Huysmans. It’s also a sort of homage to the designer himself.”

With its choral music and flickering insect imagery, God Save McQueen is a transcendent ode to the designer whose iconic skull scarf is part of his enduring legacy.

babettepauthier.co.uk

Tags: Alexander Mcqueen, Babette Pauthier, Huysmans, Parmenides