THE WEEK IN FASHION: MAY 21st to 25th

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

The sun has got his hat on AND it's Friday, hurray! Before we all decamp to the park/ pub here's your lowdown of everything that happened in fashion this week...

We'd have loved to give Prada's new video it's very own blog post, but alas there are only so many hours in the day so it takes pride of place at the top of the week's stories. In fashion terms, Cannes is liable to become a bit of a red carpet overdose. So Roman Polanski's short film for Prada, released as part of the festival celebrations, is a refreshing take on how fashion and film can produce properly exciting projects. We love Helena Bonham Carter's self-obsessed character and the power which her luxurious clothes the pearls, the silk blouse, THE FUR- have on Ben Kingsley as her therapist. Here's an extract from Stefano Francia di Celle's reading of the film...

"The fur represents the agreement that supports the relationship between the director and the fashion designer. Polanski is able to display a world which seems more authentic than the real one, thus interpreting and criticizing contemporary society. Prada creates original and non predefined roles for her work and produces a new language that filters into the recesses of traditional culture and leverages the potential of the new media. She is not afraid to produce what could be interpreted as a parody of the celebration of luxury, stigmatizing the world’s elite, the main target of her products"

Watch the video below to see intelligent fashion at its best...

We're not going to reproduce a million images of Diane Kruger and the like at Cannes- you can easily find that elsewhere. Instead I've picked out three girls who are rocking an off kilter look which definitely gets them noticed among the sea of perfect hairdos and flouncy gowns. 

Cassie is pretty convention until you see her half shaven head and mermaid waves. 

Lace isn't hard to spot in pics from Cannes, such blatant underwear showing off  IS Fiona Scarry

Olga Sorkina works a scary face painting (all images from fashionologie.com)

Back in Blighty, the country's creative community gathered on Wednesday night for the
Royal Academy's contribution to the Jubilee festivities with their party to celebrate Her Majesty's 60 years on the throne. The event was so star studded that the 24 Dames in attendance had their very own check-in desk. Some of our biggest fashion names including Giles Deacon, Vivienne Westwood, Erdem and Christopher Kane brought along their muses to show off their designs to the Queen. Hockney, who recently had a hit exhibition at the RA produced a drawing for the programme which each guest received. And finally, is it just me, or does Nancy Shevell, wife of Sir Paul McCartney, look like she may be wearing that Issa dress Duchess Kate wore to announce her engagement?

Hockney's drawing which was given to all the guests (from www.thislondon.co.uk)

Ozwald Boateng and John Hurt looking mega dapper (from telegraph.co.uk)

Giles with Jessica Gough (image from telegraph.co.uk)

Her Majesty, in very on trend silver, chats to Sir Paul, in trainers, and Nancy, in her very K-Mid dress.

BREAKING: Super fabulous fashion blogger Bryanboy is to become a judge on America's Next Top Model. A match made in fashion heaven- Congratulations Bryanboy!

If there's ANYONE who can strike a pose, it has to be Bryanboy (image from www.zimbio.com)

Thought there wasn't any particular reason that you should visit the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts? Ever heard of it even? Well, there is now an extremely good reason to visit after Iris Apfel, couture collector and official 'rare bird of fashion', donated 900 pieces from her fashion archives to their collection. Among the items Apfel explained why she chose the Peasbody to receive her gift, "I think they’re quite cutting edge. This museum is much more cross-cultural than others I’ve worked with and mixes it up a bit". Among the items now added to that mix are 19th century couture pieces and McQueen creations. Oh, to be the lucky curator who'll get to work amongst it all!

Iris Apfel with Alexis Bittar (image from ohemgeemag.com)

Topshop is just keep exciting collabs coming... We've already been spoilt with Mary Katrantzou, Maarten van der Horst and Richard Nicholl this year and it was announced yesterday that Louise Gray is next up. She will create some simple shaped pieces which reflect her fun, creative and colourful aesthetic as well as make-up- a no brainer really as bold beauty looks are always a key aspect of a Louise Gray show. Louise Gray for Topshop will be available at the end of August- just in time to give us something to smile about in the run up to Winter. Oh, and if there's any room to get in some of Louise's amazing boots then that would be appreciated please, thank you very much Topshop!

Louise Gray AW12 (from www.catwalking.com)

Recommended read: The first students to take Parson's M.F.A qualification are reaching the end of their course. This article from the NY Times looks at the graduates and examines what's in store for them all. There'll be a show at New York Fashion Week where the designers will be able to showcase their work to international press and buyers. It's a great insight into finding the balance between commericality and creativity, as well as  how the school positions itself next to Central Saint Martins. 

Work by Elisa Van Joolen, Talia Shuvalov and Carly Ellis- some of the designers who showed their graduate collections  at an exhibition last week (image from nytimes.com)

Agyness Deyn, who is looking particularly amazing of late in my opinion, has added another string to her modelling/ acting bow with a line of clothing for Dr Martens. The pieces are inspired by 90s couples and the grungy look she's famous for. "I love the style of some of the Nineties' most famous couples, like Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder and Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis. I love that grungy look, that freeness and real vintage vibe" she told Vogue. While some may say that Agyness must have had help from her good friend Henry Holland, she claims that she actually "forgot to tell him". 

Agyness Deyn models her collection for Dr Martens (image from vogue.co.uk)

We're used to editorials pushing the boundaries and this week's big nudge came from Steven Klein and Patti Wilson for Candy magazine who depicted a (we think fake) pregnant male model in bondage gear and holding a gun. Just too much to compute all at once? Genius? A bit of both? What do you think?

Chris Fawcett tied up and up the duff for Candy (image from fashionista.com)

Getting the gun out (image from fashionista.com)

It's sample sale time... Two of the biggies are Erdem and J.W Anderson. Both happening next week...

J.W ANDERSON: June 1, 5-9pm, 73-75 Shacklewell Lane, Studio A007, E8. Cash only.

ERDEM: Tues 29 May (9am-8pm) & Wed 30th May (9am-6pm) at Future Gallery, Covent Garden. AW11 & previous seasons + accessories

And find deets for Jospeh, McQueen, Christopher Kane and more here from Elle

And video of the week goes to Hot Chip for two reasons. 1- Lara Stone's in it (that's the fashion bit) 2- it's directed by Peter Serafinowicz, the genius behind some of my favourite comedy sketches ever, including the Butterfield Diet

Now go forth and enjoy the sun in the knowledge you're well and truly clued up on what's happening in fashion. 

ADVANCED STYLE: ARI SETH COHEN NEEDS YOUR HELP

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

"Queen of Accessories" is one of the ladies featured on Ari Seth Cohen's Advanced Style blog 

In a world with no shortage of street style blogs, Ari Seth Cohen's Advanced Style stands out as being properly unique, inspirational and unfalteringly fabulous. Why? Because his subjects are the grande dames of the world- they are fearless and confident dressers and utterly defy any of the fading into the background stereotypes often associated with the more mature members of the population. No matter what your age, this is a site which will always bring a smile to your face and fresh ideas to the way you think about your style.

Ari's book, released this week (image from advancedstyle.blogspot.co.uk)

This week, Cohen has released a book based on his blog. On 7th June, Ari will be in London where the one and only Mary Portas will host the UK launch party at her store in House of Fraser on Oxford Street. We were excited to hear word that an Advanced Style film is also in the offing- it looks set to be the much craved sort-of-sequel to the brilliant Bill Cunningham documentary. However, Ari and his filmmaker friend Lina Plioplyte need your help to finish the documentary they've spent two years creating. They've taken to Kickstarter, the site where creative projects can showcase to attract funding, because they need our help to get the film through the last stages of production. Here at FEAL, we believe it would be a travesty for the footage Ari and Lina have gathered to go unshared so we urge you to give a few spare pennies towards the Advanced Style piggy bank. In return, you'll get what we're sure will be a highly entertaining and inspiring look at the women we probably all aspire to become one day.

GREAT ADVANCED STYLE QUOTES:

"Women see me and they say, 'I want to dress a little more fun!'"

"You can break the rules once in a while, I'm not ready for a convent"

"Young women, you're going to be an old woman some day, don't worry about it!"

Look at Ari and Lina's taster....

HAS THE HIGH STREET COPYING OF CATWALK DESIGNERS WORK GOT OUT OF HAND?

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

The latest press release email from Red Hot PR, representing Goddiva

Yesterday, a press release email pinged into the Fashion Editor at Large in-box. Its title? 'Gucci Copies.' Amazingly, the fashion company in question, Goddiva, has instructed its PR company to send out press releases promoting the fact it is copying dresses from the current Gucci collection; dresses that are in the shop right now. Goddiva even shares with us the catwalk shots of the dresses they are copying in the release!  Goddiva would do well to read up on how litigious Gucci is. Only this week it was awarded $4.7 million from Guess over infringement of its G and red/green stripe trademarks, and it is stepping up its brand protection around the world as a result.

This type of email - and I get a lot of them - makes my blood boil. Bethan, Fashion Junior at Large, has even seen me pick up the phone to some PR companies to question them for the sending out of such emails. I know it sounds a bit batty, but really - they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. It especially annoys me when the copying involves ripping-off young British and international designers who don't have the funds to hire a lawyer to defend their Intellectual Property rights.

What you see above is a blatant example of how rampant the copying of fashion designers work at high street level has become. Crazier still the brands doing it actually promote the fact. Copying is against the law. Fashion designers and brands can - and do as we see from Gucci's case this week- successfully sue for this kind of thing. Elsewhere on the high street designers' original work is being tacitly raped and pillaged and passed off as the work of the retailer - and to my mind it is getting worse by the week.

I do understand that the high street takes inspiration from catwalk and street trends for their fashion offerings, its the nature of the beast; everyone from Marc Jacobs to Nicolas Ghesquiere at Balenciaga takes inspiration from something, but really it has gone too far. Which is why I am glad the young law American law student Julie Zerbo of the fashion blog Fashion Law, which was recently covered by the Wall Street Journal, is succeeding in highlighting the problem. A few weeks ago Zerbo brought to attention a Chanel bangle, which looked very similar to one already on the record as being by young NYC based jeweller Pamela Love. After her post was picked up by Fashionista.com, Chanel withdrew the bracelet with immediate effect. It was an elegant way around a problem senior designers at Chanel  probably didn't even know they had. Chanel prides itself on originality.

Last week a friend of mine who is also an editor sent me a couple of Blackberry-Cam shots of items that looked very familiar...

Seen at Karen Millen

Have you met your twin? Erdem Resort 2012 on Net-a-Porter. In fact if you type "Erdem blue lace dress" into Google, the third thing that comes up is "Erdem blue lace dress copy" and the listing takes you to Kate Middleton related sites..

Seen at Marks and Spencer

Hmm..looks familiar. Jonathan Saunders SS12 collection (photo: Catwalking.com)

Have you seen any blatant copies out there? What do you think?

PHOTOS FOR TODAY: RYAN MCGINLEY'S COOL KIDS AND HIGH JINKS

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Ryan McGinley's new book is out now (image from Amazon)

The sun is out and skipping about in just a flimsy thing, or perhaps nothing, seems suddenly possible and exactly what I want to do right now. Well, it would if I were by a waterfall or in  field or on a beach somewhere. Instead I'm sitting at my desk and enjoying these images by Ryan McGinley, who was featured in this weekend's Independent magazine to coincide with the release of his book Ryan McGinley: Whistle for the Wind. His images of carefree cool kids are 'like American Apparel adverts without the brightly coloured clothes or cynicism' says Alice Jones, who interviewed McGinley for the piece. They're also perfect for a day like today when it feels like it might just be the start of summer.

We've put all the images on our tumblr already, but here a few to enjoy right now and maybe listen to this while you look, it's the closest I'll get to living the McGinley life today...

Deep Creek (Hot Springs) 2005

Eric (Glowing) 2004

Tree #1, 2003

All images from The Independent

WHAT TO WEAR TO MEET THE QUEEN

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

The Queen's diamond jubilee year is well and truly under way and we are just 13 sleeps away from the pinnacle event in the celebrations; the river pageant. Here at FEAL, we'll be bringing you a few special royal posts in the next week or two to celebrate Her Majesty's 60 years on the throne. For today, Melanie has allowed me to indulge my love of all things Hello! worthy. This year, Elizabeth II is out in force, meeting her citizens which means plenty of people are facing the dilemma of what to wear to meet the Queen.  We have carefully examined the tricks employed by other members of the world's royal community to style themselves at the sovereign's lunch in Windsor on Friday and so we bring you the rules which we think got some of the most notable attendees through the day...

#1: IMITATE THE QUEEN HERSELF

Over her sixty years on the throne, the Queen has honed her personal style into a highly recognisable formula: matchy matchy bright colours, sensible courts and a small, boxy handbag. So it was a fail safe combination for Princess Charlene of Monaco to adopt on one of her first visits to the UK as Prince Albert of Monaco's new(ish) bride. Charlene went for head-to-toe duck egg blue , sensible heels and a bag just a perspex handle away from a very Queen-like shape. Charlene even had her hair cut short in time for her jubilee visit, perhaps to mirror Her Majesty's own practical perm.

#2: TAKE YOUR USUAL LOOK, AND REV IT UP

Although our very own Duchess Kate has worn her fair share of designer attire, she is better known for her love of a high street bargain. Last year, she chose a Reiss dress to meet the Obamas. So she could so easily have gone for another low budget statement. Instead, she brought in the big guns and splashed out on an Emilia Wickstead dress. It still ties in seamlessly with the Kate look we've become so used to- pretty, safe and very lady- but perhaps the knowledge that there was a bit more structure and design care to what she was wearing helped Kate hold her own amongst the royal guests.

#3: GET OUT THE GLUE GUN

Sometimes you just can't find what you're looking for and if you have something specific in mind, it could just be easier to do it yourself. That's exactly what I reckon Inkhosikati LaMbikiza, the third wife of King Mswati III of Swaziland did. I hugely admire the King's favourite wife for rocking a look so totally her own. It looks quite safe until your eyes meet the knees, at which point the eruption of a feather hem and jewelled, sequin heels let's us know that Inkhosikati is setting her own style agenda entirely for the event. This is definitely the attitude to follow if you're worried that you may not have much to talk about with the Queen- the shoes are a winning conversation starter.

#4: COVER-UP

If the whole thing feels like far too much of a bother, not to mention the worry about the Human Rights protesters who are campaigning against your invitation due to your husband's questionable policies, then do like the Princess of Bahrain and cover up in a full on black get-up. Of course, the Hijab is her go-to garment but Sabeeka could have jazzed it up a bit for Her Majesty I'm sure. Instead, she's the poster girl for keeping it as low-key as possible.

All images from www.dailymail.co.uk