unique: topshop @ the tate modern

We were so excited, Jessi and I, to be seeing the Topshop Unique show yesterday at the Tate, that I made a decision not to even try to shoot the show. I wanted to be present, to watch it like a regular person, and I'm glad I did. It was gorgeous: perhaps the best of all the Unique shows yet.

Watch it here.

Got it? Good. Don't you love that pale blue cropped chunky jumper 3:42 in? (this is much better: I can type and see it again, in real time). Some amazing wide legged trousers that you had to see from where we sat - a kind of shaggy cashmere, at 4:29. Amazing.

LOVED the patent poodle skirt in a kind of mustard, at 4:55, paired with a cropped chunky jumper - this one a kind of variation of giant leopard. The pale dusty pinks - for fall!! - at around 5:56, especially another fifties poodle skirt in pink, with a white bomber jacket - very Sarah Jessica Parka, S&tC season 2.. the show felt like the love child of the fifties and the eighties. A hybrid I'd never considered possible, and yet I can't stop thinking about it.

And Jourdan Dunn in that gravity-defying Merlot coloured sparkling gown, at 7:55.. I can't see, frankly, anyone else wearing it that well.

So we loved the before party, and when I saw Olivia we greeted like old friends, and I didn't even feel like doing the obligatory smile shoot (that's her, walking to her seat in the pink pants). I did, later, at the Matthew Williams show - when she'd changed outfits.

Trends I'm noting so far on the crowd: black and white bold prints, (as on Victoria Pendleton, second down), and putting the colour and pattern on the trousers rather than the tops. Fun shoes: the crazy bovine platforms that caught my attention at my first fashion week - 2009 - are gone. Instead, what's cool is flats - like what Pixie wore with that big purple pattern dress - or ladylike  kitten heels, like what Kate Bosworth was wearing across from us on the front row, with clear stockings, a pretty skirt, and fluffy jumper. Another plus to not shooting during the show, but rather letting the big boys do the work: you get to see the dynamic of the girlfriends, clutching their men's arms while watching them watch the girls on the catwalk.

And of course, it gave me a little frisson of pride, to see my little friend Cara, all grown up and leading the show. BOTH shows. Click here to see her do the Harlem Shake backstage with her friend Jourdan Dunn.

Off to Burberry soon, sun's out, life is good.

hot ticket

You're invited to a party. Yes, you. And you.

I'm giving away two tickets to the following:

what: LARA STONE's party (ck one/mtv)
when: 14 April, 2011 (Thursday) 8:00 - late
where: VILLAGE UNDERGROUND, Shoreditch, London, England, the World
why: launch of ck one's first ever lifestyle apparel line of jeans & undies
inspiration: ck one fragrance
hosts: MTV & ck one Push Party

performing live: ALEXIS JORDAN, PROFESSOR GREEN and KATY B.
dj support: ck models PIXIE GELDOF & ALICE DELLAL, PRINCESS JULIA & JERRY BOUTHIER
refreshments: open bar




WHAT'S THE CATCH?

You have to answer one of the following questions in the comments section. But hurry: this offer won't last. Your choices are:

a) Have you ever trashed a hotel room? (If so, where, when & why)

OR

b) Do you believe in Karma? (If so, can you give a recent example)




That's all there is to it. I'll be there, taking pictures. I've already been to the pop up shop - met the team setting it up, it's at the Truman Brewery - opened today and will be there til the date of the party, 14th April, so get your boney asses down there, boys & girls.

Anything else I forgot? Oh yes, click here for the ck one VIRTUAL CUBE.



I'm a NY girl, so of course Calvin Klein and I go way back. And MTV has always had a place in my heart, because when I started out as a graphic designer, I worked one-on-one with a very cool (& cute) animator, doing the first animations for a start up company called MTV. Bob Pitman used to come to the loft in Soho, with the animator and his girlfriend's pet rabbit running around the place, chewing up the electric cords. So for this to come full circle.. how could I say no.

So I'll be there. The question is, will you?

stars and stripes: flash

This year, Topshop held their Unique catwalk show in a truly spectacular space in East London. It's hard to convey the contradiction of these kind of events - I know this from my brother's world, the music world- you get this kind of 'insider' moments and then suddenly it's like a feeding frenzy - the Papps - who are just, after all, doing their job. There's something about the lightbulbs going off: it's freaky and a little scary.

I really hate flash. Even as a kid, birthday parties, it made my eyes tear, and mainly, for me it doesn't produce the kind of photographs I want to create. It's.. hard. Sandra (5 inch and up) was explaining that I need a proper kind of flash, one of those attachment thingies, or to put a card in front of it, but it was kind of dark in the space before the show started, and everything was so blurry, so I needed it (altho I love the blurs: I was more fixated on getting a shot of the girl in the red tights and possibly Christopher Kane skirt, than the celebrities). Alexa and the others were so kind about posing for flash and all, but later, after the show (and I can't WAIT to show you shots of the show - later and tomorrow) I happened to find myself in a quiet space in the entrance, and it was just Pixie and me, each texting our friends along the lines of 'where are you'? 'I'm here, where are YOU?' and I said to her:



'It must be so weird, being you. I mean, don't you just sometimes want to tell everyone to just STOP IT?'

And she glanced around to see that no one was listening and just gave me this sheepish smile of relief, and kinship, and said yes. And with that, I didn't take her photo, I simply left her alone.

life in the circus: nicola roberts @ topshop unique

After the Unique show: I thought this redhead looked familiar.. correct me if I'm wrong, but this is Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud, is that right?



I love the electric blue of that stoic guy's tie. He's not there for the fashion, I'm guessing. I think it's Kevin Costner in the Bodyguard.



In the background, poor Olivia doing another interview, and that teeny tiny grey head at the top is Pixie, who was unwittingly blocking my view of the show. Bless her cotton socks.

unique pixie head pics (no one puts baby in the corner)

The Topshop Unique catwalk show in London was held in the basement of this fabulous white-painted space - a flower hall in Covent Garden. Fabulous space and wonderful crowd. The 'catwalk' snaked thru the crowd - which was vast - and was marked by these kind of wood chips. The models were styled as jungle animals (I can't stop singing 'If I were King of the Jungle' as I post this) and it was all just perfect, except this one head kept getting in the way of me getting good shots. After a while I just figured, screw it: I'll leave the good shots to the professionals, you'll forgive me if I don't post clear shots, and I just relaxed & enjoyed the show.



It wasn't til later - til the show ended and the REAL circus began - the media frenzy - that I realised that it was little Pixie Geldorf's head, blocking my view.



And tho I didn't notice it at the time, Olivia Palermo was just in front of me, on the left.. and I spotted some familiar faces across the catwalk aisle.. Kate Lamphor, who I'd just met & shot, at Somerset House..



and of course, the Sart, aka Scott, who I shot last summer: no one puts baby in the corner.