Mac brings Wonder Woman to Selfridges

It's been a while for Design Girl, I know.  Life has got super busy with 'work, rest and play' (thanks Mars for that everlasting strapline).  As a result, her side-kick blog has somehow been suffering.  Anyhoo, all she needed was a little inspiration, a little sparkle to catch her eye and bring it all flooding back - the need to chat shit about cool stuff, that is.  So, she found it... (and will stop talking in the third person now...)

Friggin Wonderwoman at Selfridges, brought to us by none other than everyone's favourite and by far the coolest make-up brand on the planet, M.A.C.  Seriously, I didn't think the brand could get any cooler.

The range includes make up bags in radiant red and bulletproof blue, utility belt brush sets and an invincible mirror.  Love, love, love the stuff!  Whipping out the mirror to check your vivacious visage is like a NYPD cop pulling out his badge to pull rank.  Noticeable.  If you're part of the in-crowd, you'll be carrying one of these bad boys (or bad girls?), for sure.

Make sure you watch the official M.A.C video - it's hotter than a bunting bull in a pepper patch.  So hot, in fact, that two trees were fighting over a dog.  Hotter than an armadillo's arse in a desert heat wave.  Ok, just stupid hot - I think you get it.  Quote:  "Surrounded by a bevy of transformed Plain Jane's on Paradise Island, Wonder Woman is awed by the magic of M.A.C".  Hilarious. In a dream world we would need truck loads of the stuff to deal with some of the Beverly Maccas out there.  Yikes. Check this out:

                          

Wonderwoman rocks my world.... and as for M.A.C, I salute you.

Check out Selfridges windows and in-store to believe it....

Till we meet again.

POW!

Issey Miyake for Evian

                            

The Miyake Design Studio (Issey Miyake), has teamed up with evian® to design a limited edition "...pure bottle, glowing with both optimism and freshness". The press release continues in this chirpy manner, talking of the "shimmering flower" being an "essential source of life" and "symbol of youth".  Yuk!  This sickly piece of blurb was almost enough to take away from the cutesy and quirky aesthetics that the bottle does in fact offer.  Sometimes it's best to let the visuals do the talking - isn't that the whole point of design?  Anyway, that being said, the bottle itself was enough to make me smile again.  (Don't forget I am born and bred a Londoner - I have to find something to complain about first, before I put a positive spin on things.  If I do.  Naturally.)

Anyway, I'm certainly not a fan of floral (shock horror!) - but with a contemporary twist expressed through a nod towards the Pleats Please range from Miyake, I will most certainly be tracking down one of the two limited edition bottles, for personal keep-sakes.

  

In the end, I am a bit of a sucker for collectable design objects (some may even call me a hoarder) - and whilst this may not be the most mind-blowing collaboration in the world, I am certainly not offended by it (press release aside).  Just remember, whatever you do, don't drink it!  Place the bottle on a safe shelf and dust every so often - give it minimum of 10 years and then put it on 'ebay'.

Available to buy at either one of the Issey Miyake Stores in London (Issey Miyake on Conduit Street or Pleats Please on Brook Street - both W1).  

London Fashion Week Kick Off!

The time is very much NOW.  London Fashion Week’s official kick off is today, followed by the start of the London Design Festival from tomorrow.  It’s a beautiful crisp day, autumn is in the air and so is the anticipation for the creative potential set to be unleashed.  I will chat a little about London Design Festival tomorrow – for today ladies and gentlemen, it’s ‘FASH-WON’ all the way.  This Summer may be coming to a close... but next Summer is just about to begin!

So last week the excitement began, of course in New York. Fashion Week was a triumph over there as usual, with the main story transpiring being that of 70’s inspired colour and silhouette.  Nice.  The biggest excitement for me personally was British designer Sophia Kokosalaki (we've got to wave the flag over there too, don't we?), unveiling her first catwalk collection for Diesel Black Gold as womenswear Creative Director.  Her sexy, yet feminine; hard, but soft signature style, was prominent and picturesque.  Kokosolaki’s used a lot of leather and a neutral colour palette; a lot more subdued than the rest of the week’s more obvious bright collections.  Diesel called the collection “an ode to the wild creativity of the West Coast arts and crafts movement, the free spirit of rock festivals and the sun-drenched landscapes of California, as seen through the eyes of Kokosalaki”. Go to the Diesel Black Gold website to see the entire show - it really is 70's Californiatastic and yummy.  Roll on next summer girls – it’s going to be a sizzler! 

My blog, however is not about New York, it’s about LDN, thank you very much, but if you were excited by NY, then just wait and see what London has to bring.  After all, what NY is to sophistication, London is to ‘cool’.  Bring it on! 

 

As well as the prominent players in the our city’s fashion scene, what I love about London Fashion Week more than anything, is it’s strong support of new emerging designers.  I am as excited as ever to see this year’s winners of BFC NEWGEN sponsored by TOPSHOP, which has brought us the likes of Alexander McQueen, Julien McDonald, Gareth Pugh, House of Holland, Marios Schwab and Christopher Kane; most of these now key features in the week’s catwalk schedule. This year's winners include David Koma, Holly Fulton, Louise Gray, Mary Katrantzou, Michael van der Ham and Peter Pilotto. From Koma's powerful and confident female attitude; to Louise Gray's mad textural mix with a street edge; to Katrantzou's bold industrial jewellery and crazy prints - there will be lots to talk about.

 

Let’s not forget NEWGEN ‘MEN’, which has followed in the footsteps of the original scheme, since 2009 (SS10 show), which has brought us the likes of Carolyn Massey - a super talented menswear designer, who I remember clearly could roll off every seasonal trend and catwalk collection since the dawn of time, from any designer – you name it! (we were at university together back in the days spent fighting over dress dummies and fabric swatches – ahh – memories).  With men spending more and more on fashion than ever before, designers such as Carolyn Massey and James Long are like dynamite and will be explosive.  Be warned.

With so much fresh talent – and I mean ‘fresh’ – London is set to be making headlines again this year, so keep your ears to the ground and eyes wide open.  I’ll post again at the end of the week, once every last bottle of Moet has been drunk and dust has settled on the final runway.... it should be interesting.  

In case you're not sure where to go this week, Red Maps has created and handy guide to get you about town.  I know where I'm going, after all, I am 'Design Girl About Town' - but do you?! Do not fear, that's why I'm here (to inform you how) - so check out the Red Maps Blog for lots of handy tips; where to eat, drink and of course shop.  Enjoy.

One last thing - when you are out and about this week, MAKE SURE YOU REPRESENT!  This is London, WE are London, YOU are London… look good, strut your stuff and make an impact.  Just because you’re not on the runway, it doesn’t mean people won’t be watching.  They will.  We always do! (**evil laugh optional**)

iPhone 4 Accessories now Available

Finally, iPhone 4 cases are available as a slider case or snap case from Incase.  Time to burst into a chorus of 'Sing Hallelujah!"

Unlike some of the unofficial early versions available to buy on random websites (like the one I got hold of in a panic to avoid the infamous 'death-grip'), these cases have been tested and are 100% compatible with the iPhone 4.  Each case features a 'flash ring', designed as a non-obtrusive cut out for the camera - allegedly cutting out glare and eliminating photo distortion.  Sounds great.  That's exactly what we need when uploading our random snapshots onto Facebook (considering most people's antics are usually somewhat blurry and distorted by their very nature - not mine obviously - as I am an angel!)  

Available in soft touch and gloss finishes - all cases are constructed with a durable hard shell and cut-outs in all the right places.  Obviously.  If they hadn't of considered that, they'd be a bit shit now - wouldn't they?!

The Slider Case (above) is now available in black - with Metallic cases in Dark Mauve, Gun Metal and Raspberry following shortly.

The Snap Case is currently only available in clear, however a Matt Black version will be following during the next hit - and no doubt a selection of crazy colours and prints will be designed and up for grabs, as and when you least expect it.  After all, we are a generation in need of instant gratification - we seem to get bored faster than a gun slinger in the ol' West, fighting to-the-death.  I'm going off on one again.  My point is, that we always want something sexier, slicker and more exclusive - so they better give it to us!  These are a good start though.  No complaints here.  

For details on cost and how to get hold of one of these bad boys, check out the Incase website.  Enjoy.