This year, the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair
will be celebrating their tenth anniversary on Sunday 9th June at
Brick Lane Yard Car Park between 12 noon and 6pm, with an entry cost of only
£5. This extravagant, eye popping event is
a million miles away from any other kind of ‘car boot’ with a heap of work from
renowned artists alongside fresh new talents, all selling their works at
bargain prices from the boots of their cars.
In the past, lucky punters have picked up work from the likes of Gavin
Turk, Sir Peter Blake and Emin International.
With over 70 pitches and prices ranging from £10-£1000 there is truly something
for everybody.
But make sure you get there bright and
early – some folk will even be camping the night before to get their hands on
the best buys they can find. And if the
artwork doesn't catch your attention, there are plenty of fun activities to get
involved with, such as a good old-fashioned game of pass the parcel, for
example, when five parcels will be unwrapped layer by layer as the music stops
until that lucky last person captures their own exclusive piece of art – and it
could be you! Alternatively there is a
70’s disco tent where you dance around a pile of covered up handbags until the
music stops and you dive in and grab one to keep. I have my eye on the Jimmy Choo: please be
mine. What’s even nicer is that profit
from the money we visitors spend on entertainment will go to the ‘Just for Kids’
charity; so spending on having a good time has the added bonus of fulfilling a
good deed for the day.
When you’re all danced out you can grab
yourself a drink or two and enjoy the entertainment, munching on your choice
from a wide range of specialty food.
It’s going to be a great day for people of all ages and definitely one
I’ll be dragging myself out of bed for.
As a student coming to the end of my first
year, I can’t even begin to imagine how fashion graduates are coping as Graduate
Fashion Week speeds towards them.
Excited, anxious, tired, nervous, elated – probably each of those
emotions and more within the space of each hour – I mean, it’s not quite the
same as having a deadline for an essay, is it?
We, the lucky viewers, however, can just
look forward with excited anticipation, to see the results of their hard work,
be inspired and perhaps be there at the moment when a great, new, world class
talent is discovered.
Earls Court is hosting the event from
Sunday 2 - Wednesday 5 June. More than
one thousand students will be showcasing their work and hoping to attract
sponsors and investment to put themselves, their skills and designs firmly on
the fashion world map.
Over 20,000 guests will watch 22 catwalk
shows and visit exhibitions at more than 40 universities. The scale of Graduate Fashion Week is
amazing. These are the places where
designers such as Alexander McQueen and John Galliano were ‘discovered’ by the
industry and the moment experienced by their contemporaries. Exhibition tickets cost £10.50, catwalk shows
between £17.50 and £25 for each individual university.
Universities showcasing their work include
Ravensbourne, Bath Spa, De Montfort, UCA, Bournemouth, Kingston and Manchester
Metropolitan. All information on the
event can be found at http://www.gfw.org.uk
Adding to my previous post you may have noticed that three sportswear companies made it into the top ten
of the fashion millionaires rich list 2013.
Surprising, eh? I hadn’t
considered where sportswear brands would fall in terms of income
generation. I know there seems to be
ever increasing tide of runners and
cyclists all over the country appreciate that the Olympics was incredibly
inspiring and know that going to the gym still figures highly in many people’s
worlds but has this sector of the market always been so busy? Do these figures represent an amazing growth
in fitness pursuits, or are we all wearing more sportswear as fashion
items? Certainly trainers can be pricey
and have long been essential fashion items for many fans, but please, please
don’t tell me that we’re heading back towards everyone and their parents slopping
around day and night in jogging bottoms again.
The Mrs Carter show – How lucky was I to
see Beyonce on one of her five nights at the 02 during her world tour? It was an incredible concert, just
incredible, there’s not much more I can say: take her insane voice, the
lighting, graphics, dancers, band and costumes and this was a truly
inspirational performance.
The Crowd:
Beyonce’s presence won them over in a
heartbeat. For one moment, as she rose
up through the stage, the crowd fell silent and time momentarily stood
still. Then deafening applause as
everything kicked off. This woman is so
skilled at interacting with her fans; one woman’s reaction to Beyonce touching
her hand was five full minutes of hysterical jumping up and down and screaming
– which those around her (including her
boyfriend) seemed to feel entirely justified!
The lighting and graphics show:
Dare I say that even on mute the concert
would be fabulous? The theme running throughout
the show was of Beyonce being crowned queen, losing her identity and re- finding
it, using amazing lighting and graphics, with fashion angles that could have
been taken straight from a professional shoot.
In one of my favourite routines, Beyonce and her dancers stand in front
of an LCD screen so you only see their silhouettes. Behind them, black and white patterns are
screened to emphasize their dancing and, as the pace of the music increases,
this is matched by the graphics until it builds to a crazy fast finale!
New life goal= Be Beyonce:
Beyonce’s power to inspire, her confidence,
determination and passion is truly empowering – my new life goal is to be
Beyonce. Okay, so I won’t get a weave or
sing my heart out in front of millions, but I wasn’t the only one to come away
from that concert feeling that I had experienced something more than the music.
Trust me – those of you with tickets are in
for a treat. //Photographs from google images
Paris Couture doesn’t just conjure up
images of beautiful clothing, but also of an imagined Parisian lifestyle created
from visits, romantic films and beautiful photography. Buying into Parisian couture houses is not
just about the clothes (lucky you) or the perfume, lipstick or nail polish,
it’s also about buying into a little bit of Paris and its lifestyle, whether
realistic or idealistic! However in
reality not all Paris couturier houses are based in Paris or even France.
Let’s take Céline for example: This French
couture house, founded in 1945, is now run under the creative direction of
Phoebe Philo and is based in London today.
The revived brand emphasizes a polished, elegant look which fits the
chic Paris style – but is it becoming more British? Does the fact that it is not being produced
in Paris mean it is no longer the real thing?
Moving on to Yves Saint Laurent, now known
as Saint Laurent Paris, and we see another example of Paris Couture stepping
outside French borders. Since 2012 the
brand has been run under Hedi Slimane who rebranded the company as Saint
Laurent Paris- yet has her design studios in Los Angeles! YSL took inspiration from Paris subcultures,
with Yves often breaking the rules in fashion - but how can the brand claim the
same origins if it is no longer located among the Paris subcultures?
Call me a purist, but I like the idea that
if you are buying from a French fashion house, the designs will come from that
country and as much of the brand as possible will be embedded within the
culture of that country. I know various
elements will be drawn from all over the world to bring the final product into
being, but for goodness sake... the French have always sought to protect their
language and their produce, to maintain their proud heritage and maintain
quality standards. Legislation means
only bubbles fermented in Champagne can be called Champagne; the famous brandy
Cognac is another example of strict control guaranteeing a particular level of
quality. So please, s’il vous plait,
let’s keep those images of Paris and the fabulous history of its fashion houses
central to the future of Paris Couture and bring these fashion houses
home. Merci bien. //Photography by Norman Parkinson 'Cardin Hat over Paris' 1960
