Style Profile: Alexandra Shulman, Editor Of British Vogue
Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue since 1992 talks style, from working wardrobe to fantasy fashion and what she wore to meet the queen.
Alexandra Shulman by Mario Testino
Good morning Alexandra! What’s your fail safe look for a day in the office?
AS. A knee length skirt, high heels and a jacket
But you don’t stay in it for long, you are being photographed in a fantasy fashion scene with echoes of Alice in Wonderland. What would you ideally be wearing?
AS. In fantasy fashion I would probably be wearing skinny jeans and a leather jacket which I can’t wear in real life…
Could you take us through the outfit you wore to receive your OBE?
AS. I wore a white Jil Sander skirt and a pink waisted Louis Vuitton jacket
You’ve just had a book come out about three twentysomethings “Can We Still Be Friends?” Do you have any pieces you remember fondly from your own twenties?
AS. The heroines of Can we Still Be Friends are not particularly fashion conscious. Sal the journalist buys a Joseph suit which is the kind of thing I would have done in my twenties. I also wore quite a lot of Kenzo bought in the sale and Jasper Conran. Most of my clothes at that point came from Friday morning trips to Portobello.
Your jewellery at the “Can We Still Be Friends” launch looked sensational. What constitutes a good base jewellery “wardrobe” in your eyes?
AS. I wear most of the same jewellery most of the time, otherwise I lose it. At my launch I wore a wonderful Lanvin necklace that I have which I wear with plain black dresses and tops. I also have a long Balenciaga chain I often bring out. Almost all my earrings are by Pippa Small and never come off although occassionally I wear pieces by Alexis Bittar. A really good jewellery wardrobe would have diamond drop earrings which I don’t have sadly.
Always in Vogue - Alexandra by illustrator Leonora Williams-Wynne
For a summer holiday this year, what could you absolutely not do without in your suitcase?
AS. A pair of leather espadrilles by Penelope Chilvers which I wear day and night on holiday as they are so comfortable. I spend my life dressing up so on holiday I like everything to be as easy as possible. I take tons of American vintage T shirts with me to wear as cover ups and layered.
Finally, what is the best fashion investment you have ever made?
AS. A brown suede pea coat by Loewe which I must have bought about 18 years ago. It was unbelievably expensive then but I wear it all the time and always will.
Nail It! Trish Lomax’s Guide To Perfect Nails
To WIN Trish’s pick of OPI goodies just follow @luxfix on Twitter - we’ll pick a winner from the first 40 to follow!
Trish Lomax, THE speed-dial celebrity manicurist, gives the perfect nail suggestions for all occasions…
First and foremost, no matter the occasion always ensure your nails are groomed, even if there is no time for a manicure make sure the basics are taken care of. Which means..no over grown nails and cuticles and definitely no old chipped nail polish - as soon as nails start to chip or wear away - remove it! There is nothing more unsightly than chipped or heavily worn nail polish! The most classic and elegant way to wear your nails is to have them short with length no longer than 2/3mm of the tip of your fingertip.
A Meeting
Classic sheer nude like Dior Vernis Ivory, OPI Bubble Bath, Essie Au Natural, Mavala Reno, CND Rose Water
A Hot Date
Classic red or a deep dark red or purple like Dior Vernis Red Royalty / Purple Revolution, OPI Malaga Wine
Meeting His Mum
Opaque nude like Dior Vernis Safari Beige / Incognito, OPI Tickle My France-y
To Impress Your Super Fashionable Girlfriend
The latest and hottest colour for the season and something you know she won’t have but will love like Dior Vernis Lucky, Nail Apps
The Beach
A summer bright colour such as an orange red, vibrant orange, hot pink or even a bold cobalt blue like Dior Vernis Plaza, Dior Vernis (Limited Edition) Bikini & St. Tropez
Trish’s thoughts for an emergency kit…
I carry an OPI mini croc manicure kit with me at all times. Inside I keep my mini Tweezerman tools, (V Cuticle Nippers, Nail Clippers, Pushie, Corrector Brush, Rubber Hoof Stick and Nail Glue). I also carry the one and only Dimancel Nail File as well as the Nails Inc. Vitamin E Oil Pen and Leighton Denny hand cream.
Trish on nail art and Kate Middleton sporting Union Jack nails for the jubilee…
I am known for classic nails and less for nail art. I believe in beautifully groomed nails and even though nail art is a fun way to express ones’ individuality, fashion should be wisely extended to your fingertips. I love alternative French manicures and ring finger manicures but to have your nails in a union jack flag is a step too far. I do not see Kate blinging it up on tour. I would have her wear a pale or natural colour that highlights her classic beauty.
Trish on the biggest nail trend this season…
Spring/Summer 2012 will be more about nail art and effects such as 3D nail art, embellishments as well as alternative French manicures - I confess I absolutely love Ciate’s Caviar Manicure. Colours this summer will be radiant and bright such as vivid oranges, reds or hot pinks, as well as strong versions of blue such as cobalt, teal and turquoise.
Brazil: An Insider’s Guide
Paul Irvine, co-founder of luxury Latin American travel specialist Dehouche, shares with LUX FIX just a few of the many hidden gems that Brazil has to offer.
(Ipanema sunset)
Top 5 must sees…
Sunsets in Rio followed by live samba in Lapa
Speedboat trips deep into the Amazon
Spotting Jaguars in the Pantanal
Sao Paulo for culture, nightlife, innovative restaurants and Formula One fever
Long beachside lunches in Trancoso
When to visit…
The beauty of Brazil is that it is a year round destination due to the sheer size of it, when it is rainy season in one place, it is brilliant sunshine in another. High season in Brazil runs between December and March (traditionally from New Year to Carnival) and the country is buzzing, with endless events, parties and people (and no-one does any work). It is also when prices are highest, so if you are just looking to kick back, then consider coming in the quieter months.
The country’s most incredible beaches…
Party – Trancoso, a very laid-back beach in southern Bahia, has cast a spell over many an off duty celebs and although there are some chic little hotels, we tend to rent private beach villas that make for the best after-parties and daytime lounging.
(Villa Trancoso)
Seclusion - Hit the beaches of the Brazilian North-East and you are in danger of never coming home. An iconic trip is to start at bohemian surf spot Praia da Pipa, swimming with dolphins until you slip into the Brazilian rhythm, then head up the coast to kite-surfing mecca Jericoacoara for brilliant sunsets, via a few days on diving paradise Fernando do Noronha.
(Praia da Pipa)
From heels to havaianas, the beach hotels NOT to miss…
Set right on Ipanema beach, the rooftop infinity pool at the Fasano Rio has killer views that draw everyone from Gisele to Jamiroquai and is one of our favourite spots for sundowners in style.
For bare-foot chic, this year’s under the radar hot-spot is Praia do Rosa in the south of Brazil, where you will find Quinta do Bucanero, a ten suite boutique pousada, which as well as being an almost shamefully romantic spot, could be bottled as the antidote to life’s trials and tribulations.
(Quinta do Bucanero)
Favourite beachside bar/restaurants…
There are few things we love more than a very long lunch. One place we can’t get enough of is beach-lounge Rocka in Buzios. Set on a beautifully rugged horseshoe bay with a rhythmic pattern of waves that draw the local surfers with a menu that changes according to the daily catch. Over the summer season, dinners go on till late and the restaurant deck transforms into a dance floor for impromptu parties and moonlight dancing.
(Rocka Beach Lounge, Buzios)
What to do / where to go for Carnival…
For the ultimate Carnival experience, it has to be Rio every time. After many years of dancing like lunatics in the street, we may have just about got it down to a fine art: Join one of the samba schools and don a ridiculous costume to dance in front of 75,000 people in the Sambodromo parade, and then mingle with the international glitterati at the wondrous Copacabana Ball - both once in a lifetime experiences.
(Copacabana Ball)
The secret to making the perfect Caipirinha…
It’s all down to how you cut the lime, you have to remove the pith to avoid a bitter Caipirinha. Using a good quality Cachaca doesn’t hurt, my favourite is Espirito de Minas.
The best bikinis…
Not my main area of expertise but my sources tell me that Olga Olsson and Lenny make the chicest bikinis. For men I recommend FB Collection trunks, I now have three pairs… you need the right gear for all that strenuous beach research!
The beach party soundtrack?
Brazil is defined by its music, from lilting samba rhythms to breezy Bossa Nova - Listen to Dehouche’s own beach party soundtrack on Spotify.
(Trancoso Beach)
For the latest playlist updates and Insider tips on Latin America, you can follow Dehouche on Twitter and Facebook
POWER COUPLE : Art and Fashion have been bedfellows longer than you think
Janina Joffe of East of Mayfair writes:
Fashion and art: both luxury goods, both highly desirable, both totally different in their function. One is in its broadest sense crucial to survival, preserving modesty and protecting from the elements. The other’s function, to quote Oscar Wilde, “is quite useless”.
René Gruau, Rouge Baiser (image courtesy of East of Mayfair)
So where does the co-mingling of these two worlds come from? Is it cynical überbranding propelled by the PR machines of the fashion industry who want to top their glamour quotient with the exclusivity and wealth found at museum benefits, in art galleries and auction rooms or is it a genuine exchange of creativity?
The obvious intersections between art and fashion that come to mind are are recent well-known collaborations between fashion houses and artists. Richard Prince and Takashi Murakami, for example, designed the most recognisable bags of all time for Louis Vuitton. It is also worth noting that Francois Pinault not only owns Christie’s (the biggest art business in the world) but also the fashion conglomerate Gucci Group. Similarly Miucca Prada invests heavily in the arts through her Fondazione Prada. No Fashion Week or major Art Fair passes without a show or event that involves a collaboration between a gallery, museum, designer, starchitect, celebrity, model, artist, magazine editor and a major fashion brand, supported, of course, by the appropriate luxury liquor brand. The desirable new sponsors for museum shows are no longer banks and insurance companies, but sexy names like Gucci, Prada and Armani. The caché of one megabrand feeds another and vice versa.
But this isn’t how fashion and art were initially intertwined - at the turn of the last century, the two were inseparable. Before the advent of modern fashion photography, magazines like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and La Gazette du Bon Ton were filled with fine drawings of clothes and accessories rather than glossy photo spreads of supermodels. Fashion illustrators were given free range to interpret the spirit of each decade through their own personal vision and style. The most famous names among them were Erté, George Lepape and Christian Bérard in the first half of the century and the visionary René Gruau and Antonio (Lopez) in the latter half. These artists didn’t simply draw fabric on mannequins, they created the flair, glamour and desire surrounding each trend through their illustrations and advertisements.
Antonio & Juan Ramos, For Italian Vanity (Image courtesy of East of Mayfair)
This tradition persisted alongside fashion photography as late as the 1990’s, but was eventually replaced almost completely by the more effective, practical and versatile medium. The very first modern fashion photographs were shot by Baron de Mayer and fine art photographer Edward Steichen. Soon after, the work of Steichen, Cecil Beaton (also a fashion illustrator) and Horst P. Horst developed fashion photography into a serious art form.
The photographers who followed in their wake are household names such as Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel and Mario Testino. These icons created images that have shaped our perception of style and beauty immensely and remain highly collectible artworks today.
While the Mert & Marcus’, Craig McDeans and David Sims of today may not be quite as well known to those outside the fashion industry, many brands are also looking beyond their borders and engaging fine art photographers to enhance their visual branding. Most recently, the brilliant minds behind Bottega Veneta have secured the likes of Robert Longo, Jack Pierson and Alex Prager to give their campaigns a serious artistic credibility, Diane von Fürstenberg’s summer campaign contained surreal echoes of Dali and John Baldessari and Marc Jacobs commissioned artist Rachel Feinstein to design the spectacular set for his latest New York runway show.
While one could interpret such choices as clever PR strategy, no better than a luxury brand slapping their logo on a serious cultural event, it is clear that the relationship is not one-sided. The art world is hardly being highjacked by high end brands - it is just as enamoured with the fashion industry and both can feed each other in different ways. As long as the creative output is convincing (despite being very commercial) and allows both sides to take advantage of new ideas, audiences and resources without undermining artistic integrity, the romance will stay alive.
My Secret LA, by Anna Stothard
Anna Stothard’s latest novel, The Pink Hotel, is an unputdownable coming of age novel set in Los Angeles which was longlisted for the 2012 Orange Prize.
Anna shares her secret tips for getting under the skin of the city.
LF: What is LA’s best-kept secret?
AS: One of my favorites LA enigmas is a late-night street puppet show in Koreatown called ALMIGHTYOPP. Perched on a street corner, eerie puppets will dance for your pleasure, or pretend to light you on fire. There’s a whole semi-earnest philosophy behind the shows, but I just like the puppets.
Spend your pre-puppet hours at a Korean Spa called the Olympic. Far from the ludicrously bling world of West Hollywood spas, K-Town is where everyone from broke screenwriters to savvy supermodels go for salt rubs and massages.
Can I have one more? The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City. Just go. It’s more a piece of interactive art than a museum. You might hate it, but you’ll remember it.
The fictional Pink Hotel was inspired by an art-deco back packers’ hotel on Venice Beach, where I spent my first week in Los Angeles. My character turns up there to attend her mother’s wake and finds a huge party rocking the hallways. I turned up at the real hotel after a road trip around California and Nevada, sleeping in the back of a car: all I wanted to do was bed, but there was a huge party rocking the hallways.
Much of the novel is set in East Hollywood, between Thai Town and Little Armenia, which is where I lived for two years – the characters eat dinner at my favorite strip mall Thai Restaurant, they drink ice coffee and chain smoke in the car park of a Los Feliz Starbucks where I spent too much time. The climactic penultimate scene of the book happens in a bungalow in the desert, based on a real ramshackle bungalow.
LF: You state your love/hate relationship with LA. Is there a specific place you detest and why? And what is the location you cherish the most and why?
AS: It isn’t difficult to hate LA. If you really want to depress yourself though, spend an evening outside Mann’s Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard watching swarms of Cinderallas and Luke Skywalkers and Incredible Hulks taking photos with tourists for tips. You just know that the man inside the Chewbacca suit arrived in LA intending to be the next Tom Cruise, and slutty-Tinkerbell spends her days auditioning for air-freshener commercials with a hundred identical blondes.
But that’s just one side of the coin. I love so many places in LA – the silent movie theatre on North Fairfax and Clinton, the Freak Show at Venice Beach, the Getty Center. My favorite location, though, is my friends Angela and Richard’s front porch in Los Feliz on a summer evening, drinking Californian white wine.
LF: Where would you go to find a quiet and relaxed place tucked away from the chaos of LA?
If you’re looking for a little perspective in the chaos, hike up to Griffith Park Observatory. Half way up the mountain and suddenly you’re standing in a bubble of wilderness with a toy metropolis around you. It doesn’t matter that Scorsese doesn’t return your phone calls and your third act needs a re-write and you went swimming in your favorite dress (off your head with humidity and martinis) the previous night. Griffith Park is the place to kick back and reassess.
LF: Now that you are back in London, what do you miss the most about LA?
AS: I miss the desert sunshine. I’m a factor-fifty girl who spends beach holidays grumpily reading in the shade and has never had a tan, but the light in LA is mesmerizing: it’s constant and bubble-like and beautiful. I miss walking out from an air-conditioned apartment into that slap of desert heat.
