With a little help from Cara Delevingne, the humble scrunchie is the season’s come-back kid. Modelling the Nineties must-have for Laura Best’s fabulous label My Crazy Scrunchie, she’s in good company with fellow sharp shooters Clara Paget and Suki Waterhouse.
If you aren’t big into the Frontierswoman look, we recommend some good old London street attire – team with high waisted jeans and boots with a mussed up top-knot, for that perfect Salt ‘n Pepper moment. Expected in a stocking near you…
Danielle Levitt is prolifically brilliant. Not content with shooting the fabulously famous and talented every day, she’s also our go-to-lady for small town teens who wear their youth with a fresh attitude, whereever, whenever. For Twin VI she illuminated the larger than life world of Queen’s ghetto goth scene, a subculture that bludgeons it’s viewer with the spice and vitality of life.
But what of the lady behind the lens? Levitt’s friend Michael Sharkey has made a short doc that reveals the sassy force of personality that makes the photos what they are. Take a look…
House of Gems
She’s brought her inimitable collage style to brands from Kenzo to Chanel and created original stills for Twin, now the luminous Ms Quentin Jones has collaborated with Waris Ahluwalia, the statuesque star of Wes Anderson films and the society scene. Her films for the jeweller, actor and all round exotic’s collection House of Waris light up the screen and cast him as the jeweller conjuror extraordinaire he truly appears to be. Watch the second installement below, with a third to complete the series due to appear soon…
The best thing you can wear is your skin. A phrase coined almost by accident by Italian bag designer Barbara Boner: “It just popped into my head without me even thinking about it,” Barbara says. “I’m now 37 and at a stage in my life where I am completely comfortable in the skin I’m in – What I would love is if all women had the self-believe and self-assurance to believe in this too. I like to think that I can communicate with my customer through my brand motto.”
In March 2009, Barbara launched her first collection; a series of animal skin fringed bags aimed at the nomadic woman and inspired by the excitement of adventure and travel from both her own experiences and those belonging to her gypsy grandmother: “She was a traveller with the circus in which her act involved driving a motorcycle around a ring of fire.”
As Boner continues to elaborate on her family’s curiously unusual story, I am intrigued to know more about hers…
You’re originally from Italy — when and why did you decide to make the move to London?
I first moved to London with my parents when I was four years old but we only stayed for a couple of years. Being in London is actually one of my earliest memories. I remember that I loved the parks, in particular I loved the squirrels – we don’t have them in Italy!
Four years ago I was living in Ibiza where I met my husband – he’s from London so that’s why I decided to move here permanently.
You are professionally trained in psychology — what effect has this had on your design work?
I try to see the woman wearing my bags through both women’s eyes and men’s. I think I have quite a strong masculine vision of things as well as a feminine one.
I also studied Latin and Greek so that trained my mind to think with concepts. With my work there’s always a theory behind things – an imaginary world that supports my brand and designs. I enjoy creating this world each season just as much as creating the bags.
Each of your collections are centred around an imagined inspirational woman — tell me about the latest for spring / summer 2013…
The woman I have conceived for this season is totally connected to her environment and nature, so much so that she can morph her human-self into an animal but also a plant – She is both flora and fauna.
Sum up your label’s aesthetic in 3 words…
Rebel, regal and romantic.
Thanks to a stylish celebrity following including the likes of Kate Moss, Poppy Delevingne and Olivia Palermo, you’ve become the ‘go to girl’ for fringed bags — why did you decide to focus on fringing as your signature?
My mother was a hippy and was always wearing fringing so when I created my first collection I decided to feature it in homage to her. Everyone loved that aspect of it so I thought ‘OK – you want fringing – I will give you fringing!’
Also for me it means freedom and movement; the Native Americans have used fringing for centuries to disguise themselves as animals and plants for hunting purposes. So yet again it’s bringing back this idea of nature, flora and fauna.
Who are some of your favourite women from both the past and present?
I’m a massive Kate (Moss) fan. I also love women of the 60s like Bridget Bardot and Anita Pallenberg. My most recent bag design is called the ‘Tura’ after Tura Santana who was an actress and one of the first famous exotic dancers – She was truly revolutionary for her time and has the most incredible life story.
All my bags are named after strong and powerful women: There’s ‘The Ginger’ (inspired by Sharon Stone’s character in Casino), ‘The Roxanne’ (thanks to The Police song) and ‘The Lilith’ (who according to a Rabbinic legend was the disregarded first wife of Adam.)
How do you juggle running a business and being a full time mother?
It’s been difficult because I moved to London, started my label, and got pregnant all around the same time. But I just went for it and made it work – it’s amazing what us women can do!
Where are you stocked?
My pieces are stocked in over 50 locations worldwide. In the UK I’m in Feathers, London and Coggles, York as well as my own online store.
This month sees the re-launch of The Row’s renowned Alligator rucksack, which despite its hefty price tag, sold out in stores worldwide last year. This time round Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, the twins behind the high-end luxury label, have teamed up with Damien Hirst who has treated the iconic bag to 12 separate spotty makeovers exclusively for Just One Eye; the first in a series of artistic partnerships fronted by the online fashion retailer.
This week, contemporary artists Alexandra Baumgartner, Beatriz Crespo, Florence Reidenbach and Su Ling Gyr are displaying their own personal confrontations with femininity at the GYNAECEUM exhibition in Berlin.
Curated by Tippi Ling, the installation is set in a 1920s apartment — a rather fitting location considering the exhibit’s questioning of female confinement to the domestic space.
Baumgartner’s collages will explore themes such as social constraints and the decay of the human body, whilst Crespo’s paintings examine the daily rituals in women’s lives. Reidenbach’s combination of folklore and fantasy delves into the creation of feminine identity, whereas Gyr analyses notions of beauty throughout history with her multimedia approach.
GYNAECEUM is not just a beautiful ode to the female artistic talent of today, but also an empowering retrospective on just how far we’ve come.
Saved from the choppers this year, the almost closure of the Women’s Library forces a moment of reflection on women’s rights then and now.
From having a £4.2m lottery funded building gifted to them ten years ago, how is it that this year the Library opened in 1926 by Millicent Fawcett and home to Europe’s most extensive archive of women’s rights material could be so on its uppers?
The culture of chops have left many institutions that prioritise culture and thought over profit scrabbling for survival, but the change in fortune of the women’s library could also be viewed through the increasingly antediluvian attitudes to women’s rights creeping back to the fore. Whether it’s the ongoing debates on abortion, or the uniquely strange views of Republicans on the nature of rape, the threatened side lining of the Women’s Library seemed a further example of the changing tide in issues affecting women.
For now the Women’s Library has been guaranteed continued funding from LSE. While opening times seem forever sporadic, for those who can, check out their current exhibition The Long March to Equality for some apt reflection.
The Long March to Equality: Treasures of the Women’s Library is on until 22 February. For more info visit here.
Top Wonder
Ok, we know Twin’s been posting thick and fast about, hem hem, Christmas, but this we just had to share too.
Topshop’s gift to fashion lovers everywhere this year is Kate Bosworth channelling Michelle Pfeiffer in the Fabulous Baker Boys, resplendent in sparkle on top of a grand piano. Directed by her fiancé Michael Polish, Kate’s a very modern chanteuse and the very coolest kind of Christmas decoration. Enjoy…
Secret Stories
Next Spring will welcome a new addition to the high street. HM Hennes & Mauritz, the Swedish retail group behind world-wide fashion chains H&M, Cos, Monki and Cheap Monday has revealed some exciting yet slightly secretive details of their latest venture ‘& Other Stories,’ through a series of sneak-peek snap shots hinting at what will become the brands’ central concept as well as glimpses of pieces that will feature in the debut collection.
The product offering will be purely womenswear with the addition of accessories, shoes, lingerie and beauty to complete the package. Each collection, which is built around inspiring fashion stories, will be created by ateliers based in both Stockholm and Paris reflecting the quality of a designer capsule line but at affordable price points.
In 2001 Elin Nyström set out on an adventure to New York; what was initially intended to be a three month visit turned into a two year residency, swapping
her projected life as a professional gymnast — a role she had been training for since a child — for a career in fashion.
After trying her hand in styling and enrolling on a design course at New York’s F.I.T (Fashion Institute of Technology), stylist Elin soon became Stylein; an
independent fashion label which, now 11 years on, has grown to become one of Sweden’s most coveted fashion exports with stockists in over fifteen countries
worldwide.
Elin herself is a typical Swede – tall, blonde, cool and unfairly beautiful. So it was no surprise when she recently announced that unlike her womenswear
collections, she is now officially off the market: “Of course I’m going to design my own wedding dress” she told us, “I’m not really one of those girls who has
been thinking about it since forever, but I do have an idea of how I would like it to look.”
In-between discussions of possible wedding venues, cakes, flowers, and that all important honeymoon, Twin threw in the occasional question to Elin about
Stylein’s past, present and future for good measure…
You initially launched Stylein whilst living in New York — what made you decide to return to Sweden and carry on with the label there?
I was brought up in the countryside in Sweden so I think the contrast between my hometown and the hectic (but fascinating and fun) world of New York became too much for me. In the spring of 2003 my father was celebrating his 50th birthday and my sister got married so it seemed like a good time to return home and settle with a slightly more grounded life. I left New York as abruptly as I moved there.
Swedish design is typically known for its minimalism — do you think Stylein fits it in with this aesthetic?
We definitely have elements of minimalism in our collections — some of the cuts and shapes are quite clean, but we also have pieces that are a bit softer, feminine, and luxurious, embracing the female silhouette. Because of our large client base we always want to be able to cater to as many different markets as possible – it becomes a very inspiring thought for me whilst designing the collection to know that it’s going to be accessible to all kinds of different women across the world.
You worked as a stylist before setting up the label — do you think this influenced your vision when it comes to design?
Probably without knowing it – I really just design pieces that I would want to wear myself. It’s as simple as that. Sometimes I might feature colours that I’m not a big fan of myself (I’m quite boring with colour in my own wardrobe) because I know it will be right for my customer, but design-wise it has to be something that I can relate to.
Tell us a bit about the inspiration behind the SS’13 collection ‘Split Second’?
The new collection has quite a spiritual reference looking at the forces of nature, water, wind and light and how they can create a momentary impression that only exists there and then. Like in a kaleidoscope, elements co-exist side by side and are moved around in sequences of an organised chaos. The collection represents this through its clean straight lines and solid silhouettes with prints that were created through a colourful and playful experiment with light and shadows.
I’ve noticed that you are a bit of a social media whizz — is this an important additional feature to your business?
I love that I can now get closer to my customers through social media — I am an avid blogger, tweeter and Instagram user as I think it’s really important for my customers to see the more personal side of the label. Also it enables me to get some amazing firsthand feedback from them.
Any exciting plans for the near future?
It’s really fun designing for women but I would also love to do a menswear line at some point too. Also we are currently in the middle of confirming plans to open a new flagship store in Stockholm that we’re all super excited about.
Copious amounts of Lace, velvet and chiffon adorned with beading, pleating, fringing and every other single ornate detailing imaginable have taken over the Embankment Galleries at Somerset House. Of course this can only mean one thing; Valentino, The master of Couture has arrived.
The extensive exhibition showcases over 130 hand-crafted dresses designed by the legendary Italian couturier, Valentino Garavani, throughout his illustrious 50-year career, as well as a comprehensive collection of previously unseen personal items including photographs, press clippings and letters from close friends, clients and peers including Donatella Versace, Anna Wintour and Meryl Streep.
Of course the creation of such a dress (and its painstakingly lengthy, intricate and complicated process) wouldn’t be possible without the House’s Atelier and its family of highly skilled seamstresses (Valentino refers to his as ‘Le Regazze’ a.k.a ‘The Girls.’) “Each of these designs have a beautiful story,” says Valentino. “The Atelier crafted each so diligently by hand, taking hours, sometimes days to complete. The details are incredibly intricate, though outside the runway shows and events, the dresses have rarely been seen, so to be able to showcase these designs at Somerset House, where they can be seen in great detail by the public, is very unique.”
Valentino: Master of Couture opens today until March 3rd 2013 at Somerset House, London.
For Resort 2013, DSQUARED2’s Dean & Dan have time-warped us back to the Nineties with a cluster of kitsch accessories and a womenswear collection bold enough to rival the wardrobe of Cher Horowitz, whilst Miss Cara Delevingne, freshly crowned Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards, provides us with the ultimate scream…
Each year since 2008 Swedish photographer Lina Scheynius has published a book of her photographs culled from her personal world. Pocket sized and lightly bound, they are designed to be carried around, a daily inspiration.
Her fourth book is out now and with half already gone, Twin recommends getting in there quick if you want to purchase a bit of beauty straight up and out of Lina’s life.
According to the auspices, today is the biggest shopping day of the year. For most though joining the crush on Oxford Street is anathema. So all hail Meadham Kirchoff, who are offering a two-fold solution.
Twin’s fave design duo have brought some of that MK party style prints to the humble black cab. The designers are part of online boutique destination FarFetch.com’s Unwrap Christmas campaign. So whether you beat the crowds by styaing home and shopping online, or cruising the streets in a taxi, the choice is all yours.
You don’t need technicolour to have Christmas dazzle. Bruce Weber, the master of the tonal portrait has brought his perrenially fresh touch to Selfridge’s Christmas campaign that answers the question, what would you do if you were locked in a department store overnight? Clearly we’d be riding around on our own pony drawn carriage with the odd hunk thrown in for good measure – anything’s possible with a little festive spirit!
BOOM! Those guys at Opening Ceremony have dropped another collaboration on us and it can’t get more iconic than living legend Yoko Ono producing a menswear collection inspired by John Lennon’s ‘hot bod’ can it? The answer is no, obviously! Yoko recently revealed to Vogue that she always travels with a room full of clothes and the lady clearly knows her fabrics.
The collection, Fashions for Men: 1969-2012, is based on a compilation of hand-drawn illustrations presented to John Lennon by Yoko on the occasion of their wedding. Forty-three years later, OC and Yoko have worked together to bring a select group of these drawings to life, creating unisex apparel, footwear, and accessories in exclusive editions of only 52 pieces, as well as a limited run of sweatshirts, and posters featuring ONO’s artwork.
Due to land in the US on November 27th and then in London in early December, Yoko will be at OC’s Howard Street store on the 27th. Conceptual art has never been so bang on trend.
Riflemaker gallery sets the pace for other galleries when it comes to exhibiting the work of female artists such as Alice Anderson and Penny Slinger. It’s something the gallery manages to do in an unselfconscious – putting the work at the centre of the exhibition rather than the sentiment. So it seems fitting that the gallery should play host to the work and undoubtably large personality of Judy Chicago – her first UK show since 1985. The feminist activist whose work and opinions played a part in the second wave movement in the Sixties and Seventies is still a potent voice in promoting female orientated art work and here influence can be seen on the likes of Tracey Emin and beyond. Make sure you check out the exhibition for a broad view of her work then and now.
Dior have graced the windows of historic Paris department store Printemps Haussmann with lashings of tulle, swirls of snow, cascades of sequins and gold plus the odd unicorn for a festive look that we want to capture in a bauble and hang on our own trees – as soon as we can finally justify getting them. Inside, Dior’s pop-up store has Christmas covered Lady Dior style with specially made Dior dolls, snow globes and advent calendars. We’re officially smitten.
From 2007 to 2012 photographer Itai Doron took a polaroid of each of his subjects that came through his studio door. The result is Fifteen Minutes With You, 69 intensely raw and intimate images that weigh heavy with the nostalgia that defunct polaroid photography has quickly engendered. Doron’s images at once recall a studio casting shot but ones that’s grungier, darker and more sexual. As each Eastern European migrant worker, boxer, builder and MMA fighter prepares to pose for Doron they are in turn awaiting their own fleeting moment of fame.
Fifteen Minutes With You is available at The Photographers’ Gallery bookshop, Claire de Rouen Books and online at photobookstore.co.uk.
Served Up
Twin loves a Japanese takeout…Especially when our Bento boxes are packed full of lux-pop jewellery pieces that literally look good enough to eat. Ready-to-wear food has become the signature of Australian jeweller Lucy Folk, who has previously served up treats such as taco shell cuff links and pepper grain pendants.
Now, for Pre-Spring 2013, she has teamed her taste buds with those of Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano to create Bento – a collection consisting of sterling silver, powder coated steel and gold plated rings, bangles, necklaces and earrings that capture the simplicity yet beauty of basic ingredients most commonly featured in Asian cuisine such as sesame seeds,
rice, jasmine flowers and wasabi broad beans.
The Bento collection launches at Colette, Paris later this month.
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