It’s the fashion moment that we’ve all been waiting for: H&M teasingly let us have a sneaky preview of their campaign photo for their dream high-street collaboration with Lanvin. And so far we’re loving what we’re seeing – sharp androgynous tailoring and some dramatic LBDS that we can’t wait to introduce to our wardrobe. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, Alber Elbaz.
It’s been a long time coming to get our hands on edgy, trademark Lanvin style at our favourite H&M prices, and it’s only a little while longer to wait until the collection goes on sale; it hits shops on the 23rd of November. Mark it down on your calendar, because you’ll have to get there early to avoid the inevitable shopping-centre stampedes.
So far H&M is being cruel and withholding any further photos of the collection (the teases), so keep checking back on the site for more news on this couture/high-street mash-up.
Exciting news as Gap unveil the fruits of their most recent collaboration with design geniuse Pierre Hardy; one perfect pair of black suede and leather shoe boots. Well, sometimes simplicity is best. The shoes won’t hit stores in the US until the 28th of October at the slightly un-Gap price of $195, but we can forgive them – it is a beautiful shoe, after all.
Gap’s had a rough time of it these past few weeks; it’s taken a cutting verbal beating from the internet and worldwide fashion-lovers for its’ attempt to ditch their iconic logo for a newer, spiffier one (turns out that the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is an important lesson to learn in fashion), so this collaboration could be exactly what the brand needs to get back into their customers’ good books. And we’ll certainly be helping out – by fighting tooth and nail to get a pair when they become available to buy in the UK.
Christopher Kane’s SS2011 collection, shown at LFW last week, was always going to be a hard act to follow. But the Brit designer has outdone himself in the S/S clothes for Donatella Versace’s diffusion line Versus, which graced catwalks at Milan Fashion Week.
Everyone’s favourite fashion Glaswegian is a big fan of slightly perverse, little-girly Lolita styling, as we saw last Spring in the form of lots of babydoll dresses in gingham, with some very high side-splits that were practically knicker-flashing. It’s no surprise then that the Versus show this week saw models sent down the catwalk looking like they were getting fitted for their summer boarding school uniforms. The catwalk was decorated to look like a school playground – it even had swings. Mr. Kane is a very cheeky man.
He’s graduated from little-girl gingham to Catholic-school plaid for Versus’ SS2011 collection, as shown in the little flirty-skirted dresses that we’ve come to know and love from the designer. Just pop on some knee socks and a straw boater and hey ho, the perfect playtime outfit. Worked into the plaid fabrics were cute tiny floral prints that helped the collection progress to a more summery atmosphere, while flashes of bold pinstripes kept the “head girl” look going strong. My personal favourite from the collection was the separates outfit (picture 9 of 12 in the gallery) which showed off some adorable floral capris, a matching cardi complete with a vivid pink school badge and – this is Christopher Kane we’re talking about – an incredibly sheer black blouse worn underneath for more than a cheeky flash of skin.
Donatella, you made a good choice when you asked Christopher to design for you. Keep Versus coming at us – we can’t wait to see AW2011.
We can’t keep up with all the celebrity collaborations, and now we’ve got even more to contend with as designers begin to branch out too.
The latest designer to take a break from the fashion industry is Giorgio Armani who has just opened his hotel in the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, in Dubai.
The new hotel has eight restaurants (clearly it’s not been designed for super skinny models), with cuisine including Italian- natch- Japanese and Indian and all have been designed by Mr Armani himself.
There is also the Armani Privé VIP lounge, which has been named after the designer’s Armani Privé couture collection, which is favoured by stars such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Megan Fox.
Well known for his flowing bohemian influenced brightly coloured garments, but not so bohemian prices; Matthew Williamson cuts the hefty price tag and offers us high street shoppers something of his, for much less. His new range for Debenhams enters stores this week taking its name “Butterfly” from an inspirational painting he saw in Rajasthan in 1997, and this Indian influence emerges strongly in the assortment on offer.
The collection houses all one will need to embrace the summer months, from light coloured summer dresses, brightly flowing skirts to exotic looking bikinis. And if you’re willing to pay the maximum price of £120, you can get yourself a maxi dress emblazoned with Williamson’s signature style of vibrant prints. The majority of the items are labelled coral, embroidered, kaftan or tunic, so if the ‘I’ve travelled to far off lands’ look isn’t your thing, and your more comfortable in a pencil skirt and twin set, then this probably isn’t the collection for you. If you are, however, desperate to own a piece of Matthews then the charcoal grey satin dress at £50 is simple, stylish and there’s no pattern in sight.
It’s a particularly large collection, especially in the accessories department with many different items of jewellery, bags, purses, belts and other highly detailed pieces to choose from. Definitely worth a look even if you think at first it’s not your style, you could always buy something and sell it on ebayfor a profitable margin, should you decide it disagrees with you. Given it will surely sell out, the rules of supply and demand are ultimately working in your favour. Finally, if you like the butterfly motif there are also a number of butterflies adorning many of the items. It’s nice when things do what they say.
Karl Lagerfeld is no stranger to the food industry. Last month he had a salad named after him in a swanky Paris restaurant and now it seems the designer has gone from the bubbly heights of fashion to the fizzy fortunes of erm, Diet Coke.
Mr Lagerfeld has teamed up with Coca-Cola Light in France, where he designed a special aluminium bottle capped in vivid pink and adorned with his unmistakable, emphatic silhouette – dark suit, high collar, jutting ponytail.
And he also shot the ad campaign, which features models Coco Rocha and Lagerfeld regular Baptiste Giacobini.
The ads will hit France on April 28 and we really hope they make a gradual move into the UK too.
Hands up who queued from 7:30 for the new H! by Henry Holland range when it hit Debenham’s stores yesterday.
And another show of hands for who get their Bagazine clutches signed by the designer.
We’d like to be smug here and put both our hands up, after all you know we queue for any designer/highstreet collaboration, but we had to unfortunately miss this one.
So we want to hear from you about your experiences and what you bought after waiting for so long.
In the meantime for those who missed it, let us give you a reminder of the collection, modelled by Pixie Geldof, just incase you want to sneak down to Debenhams on your lunch-break (or elevenses).
It includes womenswear, swimwear, jewellery and accessories, as well as silk-screened clutches featuring the designer’s face and fake cover lines.
The collection is available in 64 stores throughout the country now. But we have a feeling it’s not going to hang around past the weekend.
We didn’t think there was anything better than an eco-friendly pair of shoes.
That was until we heard about Melissa’s and Jean Paul Gaultier’s plastic collaboration. The Brazillian footwear label, best known for its partnership with Vivienne Westwood has announced a new range of footwear with Mr Gaultier, which includes a recyclable 10cm plastic stiletto.
The JEAN PAUL GAULTIER X MELISSA stilleto, which launches in June comes in black, beige, lime and tangerine and will cost £160.
Have you ever wondered how highstreet stores get top designers on-board? Well, if rumours are to believed then perhaps it’s by copying their designs in the first place.
In an interview with Nylon Magazine Nathalie Rykiel, creative director at Sonia Rykiel, said she’d seen some very similar clothes to the brand’s designs in H&M, and said this was one of the main reasons she decided to team up with the Swedish chain store.
Are you asking if H&M has used my designs?,” she asked Nylon magazine in an interview. “Well, yes, of course! They copy me all the time! Finally I said, ‘Look, if you want your girls to wear Sonia Rykiel from H&M, let’s let them have the real thing!’”
And the result? Well we’re sure you’ve seen the naughty-but-nice lingerie line for H&M and we’re waiting with baited breath for the next installment of knitwear, which will be hitting H&M in the very near future.
Another famous figure has put their designing hat on for charity and this time it’s Dita Von Teese. The burlesque dancer has teamed up with Moschino to create a luxurious eye mask with 30% of the proceeds from each one going to amfAR, a charity that funds AIDS Research.
The handy sleeping accessory is made out of silk-satin with a spotted lack overlay and pictures of eyelashes we can only dream about as well as the words ‘Dita for Moschino’ in rhinestones.
We think its a perfect way to look good while you’re sleeping, and a great way to shut out any light or disturbances. We just wish someone would think about creating some designer earplugs to match.
Buy the mask exclusively from Moschino now for £100.
We’re more than used to hearing about celebrities designing clothes and accessories for different stores, but we get really excited when they’re doing it for charity.
Stepping in to this category is Scarlett Johansson who has designed a bag for Mango and all profits raised will go directly to Oxfam to help victims of the Haiti earthquake.
Of her collaboration with the store she currently models for, Scarlett said: ‘I’m thrilled to be collaborating with Mango to promote conscious consumerism and to benefit Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. By purchasing this bag, you are helping to provide life saving assistance like clean water to the people of Haiti.’
The bag, which will be sold in Mango stores for £16.90, has the message ‘Helping the people of Haiti’, plus the actress’s signature beside a print depicting an ancient map of the country.
We’ll be bagging ourselves one of these as soon as they hit the shelves in March.
Fashion rumours go around all the time and sometimes don’t have an inch of truth in them (take the claims that Balmain was going to launch a lower priced clothing line).
So we’re more than sceptical about the latest on the grapevine. According to WWD, diva extraordinaire Diana Ross, is collaborating with Steve Madden on a range of footwear.
But instead of the glitzy heels or funky platforms (we wouldn’t expect anything less from Diana) the duo have apparently decided that trainers are the best step forward.
And whats more, the range will be sold exclusively in Foot Locker.
We hope if these rumours are true, then at least some of the designs in the collection show some of Diana’s sparkle, or we’ll be very very disappointed.
It may be that time in January when “pay day” seems like a historic word but with news that Jonathan Saunders collection is out today it’s time to scramble those pennies together and hot foot it down to Topshop.
The long awaited 5 piece range, consists a skinny black dress and matching white T-shirt, and a panelled denim pencil skirt, as well as a denim cropped top, which will show off those newly toned gym figures some of you may be working hard at.
Jonathan said: “My collection for Topshop this season has been inspired by sportswear and workwear, as well as the bold and graphic shapes of the Memphis movement. It’s perfect for urban city dewellers”.
And if you don’t want to brave the rain then you can also pick up pieces of the range online. We think living on potatoes and soup for the next week is definitely worth it for this collection, and we’ll probably even be able to fit into the denim cropped top as a result.
Click on the picture below to view some of the range.
January is the month where many of us vow to get fit, or look at quick fix solutions to banish and hide that post Christmas bulge.
If you’re someone who has chosen to take up the first option and sign up to the gym, then you’ll know the importance of having proper sportswear instead of using those old tracksuit bottoms, which have a habit of falling down every two minutes (or is that just me?).
There is a range of good and fashionable fitness wear in the shops, however if you want to go that step further and be a designer gym bunny, there’s only one collection to buy. Yes, you’ve guessed it, Stella McCartney’s Adidas range.
We got quite excited when we saw a glipse of the new SS2010 range last year, which is due out in February. However, if you missed it, we’ve got a video showcasing the latest must have gym wear, which now also includes Triathalon and cylcling wear too.
Stella said: “This collection continues to be a great success, and I’m very excited to introduce Triathalon and Cycling as new categories.
“I’m always trying to push myself and this new collection has everything you need in sports today; it’s sleek, stylish and super sporty!”
Sarah Jessica Parker has been signed up to help design Halston’s Heritage range.
According to WWD The Sex and The City actress will be the brand’s creative director where she will not only oversee the creative side of things, but also have a share of the profits.
We’re not overly familiar with the brand here at ShinyStyle and we think that’s because since it’s relaunch in 2008, many celebrities and magazines have overlooked it. However, Sarah Jessica Parker is already doing her bit to get Halston’s name out there.
She recently wore a £70 little white dress from the fashion house in the advertising posters for Sex and the City 2.
We can’t wait to see what this brand comes up with in 2010, and we’re pretty sure with SJP leading the way, we won’t see any of the disasters Lindsay Lohan demonstrated in her role as Creative Director for Ungaro.
From:Debenhams show us how to avoid tanning disasters this year