11/21/2010

watch her move in elliptical patterns, think it's not what you say, what you say is way too complicated

An American award-winning screen-writer, film director, actress, and producer: Sofia Coppola.

She comes from a large family of famous movie stars but throughout the mass of talent she has found a way to stand out on her own and prove that her work is pure talent and imagination, not just a slew of good connections and a wealthy background.

For those of you unfamiliar with her work, her three directorial masterpieces include: The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, and Marie Antoinette.


She has also directed various music videos, worked on ads for Christian Dior,

and acted in many films including all of the Godfathers, as well as a few music videos. She is a very powerful and very ambitious woman, and has also become somewhat of a style icon in the fashion world.

She did a lot of modeling in the early 1990’s and in 2002 was hand-picked by Marc Jacobs to be the face of the house’s fragrance.
On top of mastering the world of film and the world of fashion, she also knows her stuff when it comes to music; the soundtracks to her movies are fabulous, and she is currently romantically involved with Thomas Mars, the lead singer of French rock band Phoenix. They also have two daughters together.

What I love about Sofia Coppola and her movies, is that she is able to perfectly mix fashion film and music into pop cultural phenomenas; beautiful eye candy that are not only entertaining but very inspiring to designers and writers, and people like myself.

If you haven’t seen The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, or Marie Antoinette, I strongly suggest you do. The Virgin Suicides has become somewhat of a cult classic and is an often referenced film for designers and fashion bloggers. Marie Antoinette has often been critiqued as inaccurate and modernized into a Hollywood depiction rather than a historically correct vision. However, all of her films have affected fashion trends as well as other parts of culture and so it was very exciting news when we finally found out that her latest piece since Marie Antoinette in 2006, was soon to be released.

The film is called Somewhere and although it is not to be released until December 22nd, 2010, there is a lot of expectation weighing on it as well as a media frenzy because of some of the big name actors, the musical score and the setting. Stephen Dorff (Backbeat, Blade, etc.) will play Johnny Marco, a “Hollywood bad-boy stumbling through a life of excess at the Chateau Marmont when he receives an unexpected visit from his 11-year-old daughter, played by Elle Fanning.”
Elle Fanning; Dakota’s younger sister, is a smart young girl who is destined to be a style icon at the age of 12. Along with Erin Wasson; model and designer, the cast is sure to deliver a stellar performance. The French band Phoenix who obviously have strong ties to Sofia Coppola (since they first collaborated in 1999) are going to be largely involved with the soundtrack of the film and will bring a great mix of French and American culture. However, I think one of the smartest decisions made about this film is that it is to be set at the famous and legendary Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

This is the very same hotel that has seen many famous faces over the years. Greta Garbo stayed here, Led Zeppelin rode motorcycles through the lobby, Britney Spears is banned from, and above all the famous song Hotel California by The Eagles is rumoured to have been written about the Hotel.

The film has all the right ingredients to become a masterpiece and I among many others, anxiously anticipate its release.


Who wants to come see it with me?

11/10/2010

so when I trip on my feet, look at the beat, it was all written in the sand

H&M; one of the most influential and current retailers of fashion around the world. A common retailer that can be found in most cities and malls, that has price points comparable to much less fashion forward retailers- but yet is featured on such websites as www.style.com, in fashion magazines like Flare, and has an extensive celebrity consumer base such as Mischa Barton, Rihanna, etc. It's a company I have always appreciated and had much respect for, so I was extremely pleased when I got hired there in September. I've gotten to know the company and clothes pretty well over the past few weeks and my admiration hasn't faltered; new stock and collections never fails to please me. Then of course, there's the fabulous collaborations. I've had a few people ask me recently if we are going to have "What's that designers name, I can't pronounce it, Lan-vin?" at our store. Unfortunately, London, Ontario isn't a place swarming with high-fashion lovers, so anyone from the area will have to go to Toronto to get their hands on the merch. I'd like to take a weekend off to go to the city and take advantage of my discount on the products, but we'll have to see.
H&M is the one company that never fails to please me with their collaboration choices, and they always leave me wanting more. In the past, H&M has worked with such legendary names as Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf, Madonna, Roberto Cavalli, Kylie Minogue, Comme des Garçons, Matthew Williamson, Jimmy Choo, Sonia Rykiel etc. This year they kept us guessing for a while as to who was going to be next in line, and although most were quite sure it was Lanvin, no one wanted to verify; there was some confusion due to the widespread knowledge that Alber Elbaz, artistic director at Lanvin since 2001, has previously stated that he would never do a mass-market collection. But once sure of it, information started pouring out about where this sudden change of heart came from.

Alber Elbaz had some very insightful words as to why he finally agreed to work with H&M; his main point being to look at this newfound partnership as a step up for H&M, not a step down for Lanvin. Elbaz has stated that “we share the same philosophy [as H&M] of bringing joy and beauty to men and women around the world". Whereas Margareta Van Den Bosch, creative director at H&M, has said "Lanvin will bring to H&M luxurious French tradition that is also modern and playful."
Speaking of modern and playful, what are some of the key fashion trends you think of in relation to H&M? How about ribbons, pearls, raw edges, metallic embellishments, and bows, for starters. These timeless accents that are synonymous to H&M, are the same concepts that some have said are credited to Alber Elbaz and Lanvin- he has really focused the attention of his designs on these specific styles over the past nine years, leading me to believe that this collaboration really is a perfect match.

The final products will go on sale November 23rd, in around 200 stores worldwide. The collection was released November 2nd, three weeks before the clothes hit the stores. Price points are still higher than most H&M pieces, but they are fabulous. Almost everything is available to view online, I already have my list picked out! Very exciting stuff, only 13 days left.....

11/02/2010

I can't believe that I could be happy, summer will come again, I could be happy

Say hello to the WORST blogger ever... It's been forever! I'm so awful at keeping up with this thing lately, and it's because school and work have been kicking my ass! On top of going to class, I've been working a lot at my new job (H&M) and writing every week for my college newspaper. Life has been a blur lately, of homework and last minute procrastinations, I've hardly even been home and I don't even remember the last time I ate a real meal or went grocery shopping.

Another reason I've been neglecting my blog, is because I've started using Tumblr. And I'm obsessed. Seriously, I find myself wasting so many hours just looking at some of the most beautiful and inspirational images I have ever seen. That, shopping, reading, and sleeping have been my guilty pleasures lately. Autumn is my very favourite time of year, especially Novemeber which is my favourite month, so I've been trying really hard to make the most of it and have some amazing times. It freaks me out sometimes that I won't be in school much longer and I will be off starting my real working life.

However, there are a lot of great things in the works right now for me. Looking forward to becoming busier at work with the Christmas season looming upon us, I've got quite a few important birthdays this month including mine on the 25th, as well as the annual Re-Vamp Fashion Show on the 25th at the Music Hall. I've got an important project for school where we have to make Wigs for different time periods (I got Rococo), and midterm marks just came out. But I did exceptionally well. Also, I finally got my bass guitar back, sort of; it's at my parents house in Oshawa so once I can get it to London I can start taking lessons and possibly make further movements with starting a band. More to come on that later. And finally, me and my friend Amanda are currently venturing into a new project... a re-vamp vintage clothing idea where we may start making our own stuff and attempting to sell it at a store called Mesh which is downtown London and sells vintage and vintage inspired pieces; local and very chic. They take on entrepreneurs and sell the clothes while we take 40% profit. Again, more to come on that later but it's all very exciting!

Look forward to more posts from me soon, I promise. More home time this week means more time to write down my thoughts and inspirations right away instead of saving it for later and having it all build up! The internet is a fabulous thing.. such a great way for me to document all that I'm thinking for a bunch of uninterested strangers to read! Haha, just kidding.... sort of.

Xo