Sat 5th Mar: London Showrooms in Paris

Thanks to my foreign correspondent Craig Lawrence for sending these snaps from The London Showrooms in Paris. During Fashion Week, the crop of new talent from UK shores take residency in a group showcase set up by an initiative from the British Fashion Council for international buyers to access London labels. You can pay them a visit anytime between 10am - 7pm until the 10th March to have a close look at the collections and meet the designers! You'll find the following names:

Atalanta Weller, Christopher Raeburn, Craig Lawrence, David Koma, Dominic Jones, Fannie Schiavoni, Felicity Brown, Holly Fulton, J.JS Lee, J.W.Anderson, Louise Gray, Mark Fast, Mary Katrantzou, Michael van der Ham, Nasir Mazhar, Todd Lynn, Yang Du, From Fashion East: Elliot Atkinson, James Long, Simone Rocha

Here is Stevie Doherty a.k.a Craig's partner in crime for the week, Holly Fulton, David Longshaw and Atalanta Weller, Holly's jewellery, a view of Nasir Mazhar's space and Yang Du's knitted accessories. To see for yourself, head to:

JTM Gallery, 40 rue de Richelieu (1er) PARIS 75001
+33 (0) 147 030 960

Sat 5th Mar: Scottee - Duckie Artist in Residence Week #1 Milkshake - collaboration with Nando Messias.

Scottee's latest performance piece has him lip-synching to Kelis's "Milkshake" whilst downing cups of primary colour paint............ check it out here.

Sat 5th March: No Days Off

The genius graphic design team "No Days Off" who are responsible for the realisation of my printed matter have just re-jigged and re-launched their online portfolio. If you have a peek and poke around you can find images of their work for Pick Me Up, Pure Groove and Paloma Faith amongst exhibition identity for Tim Walker and Maison Martin Margiela or literature for Wolfgang Tillmans. The new look redesign features a blog to check in with their various visions (such as the tip off abut the Eduardo Paolozzi murals in Tottenham Court Road Tube Station). Its not all just visual either! As the designers behind many album covers, they also have music and mixes to download....... "all sorts" in their own words! Ive posted this on a weekend because I know they'll see it as they literally take No Days Off. That's why I love them!!!

www.nodaysoff.com
www.nodaysoff.com/blog

Friday 4th March: "Love From Alice"

The latest personal project from photographer Clare Shilland in the series entitled "Love From ......" has reached its second incarnation in the name of "Alice" who is a Central St. Martins student cast for her individual nuance in natural style. This muse was shot last year in Östra Lagnöis, Sweden over a series of 5 days in collaboration with Beth Fenton. The images were re-worked into an accompanying publication by graphic designer Wood McGrath all culminating in an exhibition at Saville Row's BStore boutique. The show opened as an installation in-store this week and will be run until the 30th March...........

To see more from Clare's work, check out her blog and online portfolio.
To see Alice's own "Signature Style" blog as part of the Pop empire, go to "Cool & Beauty".

Love From Alice site
B Store
24A Savile Row, London W1S 3PR

Friday 4th March: Archive Michael Pybus

Here is a project Michael collaborated on for Dazed from 2008 at The Jerwood Space - photographing his work within the context of a fashion story. Kim Howells styled the shoot and Incorporated pieces from my first collection with abstract painterly makeup by Hiromi Ueda. See the rest of the images here.

Thurs 4th Mar: Michael Pybus at Dalston Superstore

The latest artwork up on the walls of Dalston Superstore has come from the mixed-media talent Michael Pybus. Titles such as "Instant Barbecue" fit very well to the context of having an exhibition in a space shared with an eatery destination. For the majority of my readers I think that the interior of the Superstore is a well acquainted territory with no surprises in store (excuse my pun!). But I thought it would be nice to share how it looks for the rest of the world not on the doorstep of Dalston's most frequented disco spot! Its an unassuming set up that doesn't boast about its clientele of Christopher Kane, Marios Schwab, La Roux and guest dj's including Robyn and Peaches. It just happens to be beautifully set up with sun streaming through the glass roof and comfortable laid back banquette seating. The food is pretty special too! It requires a serpent skill to dislocate your jaw to get your gnashers round one of their giant burgers stacked with pickles and melting cheese. So just incase you have been under a miss-comprehension that "Dalston Superstore" was some kind of £1 shop along the E8 stretch - you can now stand corrected and see exactly whats going on! Its a gorgeous open air retreat to sit during the day and while away time day dreaming that you could actually be in Manhattan.......

Weds 2nd March: Thomas De Kluyver Makeup at LFW

CHARLIE LE MINDU



Top 2 backstage photographs c/o of Saga Sig - see more on her blog here.







Backstage & Test photos c/o Thomaas De Kluyver

To follow my previous feature on iconic moments in makeup from history to a new talent brandishing the blusher brush baton to take over as the next generation of experimental and beautiful styles in the medium. I have caught up with
Thomas De Kluyver to see what he has been working on recently whilst cementing a solid and exciting future in the industry. For London Fashion Week, Thomas headed the MAC pro teams on two shows which he has shared with us here........ two very different aesthetics requiring two distinct disparate directions for his designs..........

Charlie Le Mindu
"I wanted to make the girls look like ethereal snow queens but with a hard Rock n' Roll edge. For the skin we wanted a light but matte finish so I mixed Studio Moisture Fix with Select Cover-up concealer. Invisible powder was used to give a light powdery finish. Eyebrows were naturally groomed and Cheeks were gently sculpted with Harmony Blush. #33 false lashes were applied and select cover concealer was brushed through to give them a wispy-feathery look. Lips were lined with Auburn Lip Pencil and Black, Red and Crimson Lipmix were mixed together to create a beautiful dark matte red."


KOKON TO ZAI


Top 2 backstage photographs c/o of Saga Sig - see more on her blog here.





Backstage & Test photos c/o Thomas De Kluyver


KTZ
"For the makeup I wanted the models to be a modern take of the 90s Moschino girl. Skin was dewy, Face and Body foundation and Face and Body mixing medium were used to give it a gorgeous glow. For the graphic brows Velvetone brow pencil was used from the arch outwards to create a sharp point. A graphic square shape was painted on the eyes with Acrylic Paint in either Marine Ultra, Primary Yellow or Basic Red depending on the girls outfit. Lips were pencilled with either Cork or Subculture Lips Pencils to create a chic but natural shape."

I'll be back in touch with Thomas again next week to see what he conjures up for the Steffie Christiaens show at Paris Fashion Week................. watch this face!

Weds 2nd March: INCANDESCENT META-MORPH-INCESSANT A/W 2011

Tues 1st Mar: Magic Makeup Moments

The top image here is by Peter Philips from the current French Vogue which has triggered off memories of my favourite magic makeup moments. There are many! Here are just a few ........... 1-2 Peter Philips, 3-4 Kabuki, 5-6 Pat McGrath. This is really skimming the very surface! Id like to dig deeper into the dermis and find you work from Serge Lutens, Alex Box, Matthias Van Hoof, Feride Uslu, Andrea Helgadottir, Hiromi Ueda, Ayami Nishimura and Sam Bryant .......... bare with me on this one.........
To see a selection of fantastic patterned makeup references, head to Patternity.