stellar

I don't know when I first met Stella, of Stella's Wardrobe, but I'm pretty sure I've shot her before, at previous fashion weeks. She's also in a recent post. She also might look familiar to you if you've been to other blogs, because she's gone global all of a sudden. 19, and she's like everywhere, including yesterday's Evening Standard. I've done the classic top to toe 'streetstyle' shot of her the previous day (will post eventually)but this time, I've chosen, just to mix things up a bit, to deconstruct her look.

The thing about Stella is, she's really really nice: just one of the sunniest souls I've ever met. She became part of a group of lovely friends that we hung out with this week, had lunch, etc, and I kept forgetting her name. 'Stella', she'd say, again, with a smile, and I thought of a trick to remember: Marlon Brando. I coulda been a contender. Except that line's from On the Waterfront, 1954, and when he's screaming Stella! in the street, that's Streetcar Named Desire, 1951. Neither of which film I've seen in its entirety. Yet.

The definition for 'stellar' is: stel·larAdjective/ˈstelər/
1. Of or relating to a star or stars: "stellar structure and evolution".
2. Featuring or having the quality of a star performer or performers.

Stella is wearing: Christopher Kane skirt, Topshop fur cape, and shoes by Kurt Geiger.

Check out her blog. She's brilliant, and mark my word, she's gonna be a serious contender.

anna della russomania

Even tho I'm partly to blame - I've been calling myself StreetStyle London since January 2009, for goodness sake - it seems that London Fashion Week has become such a circus of people shooting people. So this time round, I've been leaving it to the new kids on the block. Not getting so star struck and running after every single streetstyle photo op. But rather, like an old cat, or a lioness, I've been biding my time at this year's fashion week, while around me all the frisky kittens romp til they exhaust themselves, like I did at my first fashion week. Our cat did that when he was a kitten: he'd just leap in the air after a piece of string til he was panting, gasping for breath, and even then, he couldn't stop. Now he'll jump, but - metaphorically speaking - it had better be for a damn good shot.

I thought I was doing pretty good this year: shooting streetstyle, but not going insane. And then - and I blame Style East, that rabble rouser - suddenly there was this feeding frenzy, and in the middle: Anna Della Russo!! I can almost see what happened this summer with the London riots: that mob mentality. You get all caught up in the moment. We just went all snap happy.

Fedoras were everywhere this week, and I love the way Anna wore hers with all white. The best Panama fedoras are by my friend Carry Sommers, part of the Esthetica Group: Pachacuti hats.

After I took these shots, I told my new lovely talented young friend, Willow ('she loves mixed tapes'), that as I took the shots, running like a big sweaty papp, I actually yelled out 'I love you, Anna!' The first time I ever said that to a woman. 'First time for everything,' Willow quipped, deadpan.

surprise

Today's the last day of London Fashion Week September 2011 - it's rainy and it's Men's Day and there will be a very end of school term feel in the air, a sweet kind of melancholy, and for most industry insiders, it's off to Milan and Paris, and for me, one last trip to clean out my locker in the photographers' room, then time to sift through my photographs. Like beautiful memories.

As my good friend Jennifer of Style East described it, one's first time at fashion week - for a streetstyle photographer especially - is like being a kid in a sweet shop. And right now, I feel like I've had so much candy I've got a sugar headache. Literally. And while I didn't expect to ever get that heady, I can't believe I'm here feeling that I did at my first time, September 2009, I'm surprised at how much I've really enjoyed this season. My experience is richer now, because I've made so many wonderful friends - bloggers, journalists, young talent starting out, as well as the truly professional, hard working 'industry insiders.' I don't know why I waited this long to be in the fashion world - the REAL fashion people aren't bitchy at all, they're absolutely lovely. And this time, I've finally met some of my virtual friends, like Pearl of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom, and my God, they are all even more lovely than I expected. And I expected a lot.



It's occurred to me that happiness, in any situation, has a direct proportion to expectation. The less I expect from an experience, the more I am pleasantly surprised.

Now I don't know where to begin, what to post on first. Runway shots, but in my style, from the front row? Backstage? Or streetstyle, at and around Somerset House? You tell me.



Shot backstage before Holly Fulton, what they call 'first look.' This was a bit posey, and I used flash - not my usual style, but it's good to mix things up. Maybe for my next post, I"ll show you other shots during this 'first look' process - it's really surreal, all these professional photographers crammed into a hallway, it's hard to get out, and everyone's saying 'look at me' - but it's a wonderful, heady experience. Just before the show begins. And it was such a great show: Holly has such a delightful, unique voice.