HEIRLOOM BLUES: PPQ S/S '12

 

PPQ S/S 2012- Invited by my good friend/ extremely talented PR DJ man Mr Ronnie Joice. The one who chose NOT to go to the Cavalli party because he deemed sleep too valueable. 

 

Somerset house played host to this season’s show. Ronnie led the way, sweeping past the long line of people scrambling to get in, stopping every few feet to greet one of his many acquaintances. As soon as we arrived we were ushered in and onto the front row. Only the best for Mr Joice. A flurry of hosts bustled around, attempting to ensure each celebrity was well looked after/ their presence documented from every angle. Among the famous were Peaches Geldolff and Pandemonia, the 7ft latex wonder.

Pre-show mayhem

Ronnie Joice and Babyshamble's lovely Adam Ficek

Ronnie slyly swallowing some vitamin water and Adam looking generally bewildered..

The fury of the photographers flash was unstoppable as more and more celebrities poured in to take their place. Lights went down, the beat kicked in- out walked PPQ’s spring summer ‘12 collection.

A haze of candy coloured clad models strutted their stuff in front of us: a mesmerizing blur of pastel, prints and quirky detail. Buttoned-up dresses and structured lingerie-esque tops amounted to an adorably lush collection. The aspect of PPQ’S clothing I love the most is that it’s totally wearable yet attains a solid portion of attitude. The PPQ girl is one with an edge and plenty of humour.

 

The collection was adorned in bling, PPQ embroidery, patchwork and print topped off with bold shoes by Michael Lewis. The offbeat jeans were a collaboration between PPQ and Lee Jeans and their gorgeously dramatic tights a collaboration between luxury hosiery label Bebaroque. PPQ’s notorious humour closed the show with their zorro style masks and hats. Next couture costume perhaps?

The show was more of a fashion party, one that continued far into the night.

 

 

  Ronnie Joice DJ’d at the Mayfair after party, ripping some classic tunes whilst a blur of fur and silk clad guests danced their way across the floor. I of course made myself useful by making sure everyone was well watered, occasionally providing some tasteful dancing next to the decks.

Dance floor at the Mayfair

Decks

 After Ronnie was done we headed up to the penthouse for the more exclusive private party. Pentax had set up a picture parlor in the corner and guests milled around glamorously in variations of the Zorro masks seen in the PPQ show. I donned my favourite and headed straight to the booth...

Photograph by Pentax

Me and my friend Darius. Photograph by Pentax.

Peaches and Pandemonia. Photograph by Pentax.

Ronnie Photograph by Pentax

 The booze inevitably ran low so we all headed to the apparently natural next location: Playboy. Sipping on some Hoxton Gin and greeted by the lovely Salvatore Calabrese, we met up with the rest of our crew. The Hoxton Gin was, naturally, quickly drained. Next stop: the After After Party, Whisky Mist...

Now the rest of that night, filled with questionable dancing and various famous faces, is under wraps. Got to have a bit of secrecy now don’t I?

Thank you so much again to the lovely Ronnie for inviting me, may your tunes never clear a dance floor.

All photographs featured above, unless otherwise stated, by me.

Coming soon...

MAX aka muse mark 2

These are some old shots of one of my friends Max from Uni. I had just got my new SLR and was taking a few cheeky shots during coffee break at Chelsea.

USER GROUP DISCO

You enter the room into blackness. An image of a solitary abstract plastic leg lingers in the corner of the screen. Glistening objects slowly fill the darkness. The pace quickens and these mundane household objects begin to whir and gyrate across the screen. The beat kicks in, and words begin to flash up onto the projection.

We have designated this place/this place here/ a hall/ it is a hall of sculptures/ though nothing in it would deserve that name/

This is the opening scene in Elizabeth Price's recent work 'User Group Disco'. Her 15 minute HD film, shown in galleries around the UK from London to Glasgow, spectacularly highlighting a humdrum of everyday objects propelling them into a higher state of importance underlining the theme of consumerism so relavent in our society.

It feels like we only ever catch a glimpse of these glossy devices, sleek and lustrous, seducing us further into the arms of consumerism. Words reminiscent of some abstract motivational seminar feel slightly hypnotic mixed in with the mesmerizing beat of the music. Even more disturbing is the eerily post -apocalyptic quality attached to them. The amalgamation of miscellaneous objects continues to flicker and spin across the screen, a combination of artefacts and household objects both displaying equal grandeur. Left wondering how to classify these objects, you linger intrigued.

Price is particularly concerned with archives and taxonomies: ‘ I don’t want my work to be seen as institutional critique, but perhaps one of its descendents. I’m interested in working with it not as a failed project but as an unfulfilled narrative.’

HOLIDAYS!

So where was I? Ahhh yes... Saying I would be starting to write my thesis. At the start of this blissful summer holiday I had boldly, or naively (I prefer boldly) planed that I would write my ENTIRE thesis thus removing me from the stress of having to do my practical and theoretical work at the same time in my last year of uni. Now some scoffed at my daring plans, I however resolutely told them that they were wrong, and that it would be me laughing in then end... It wasn't. My word count currently stands at zero, but that's alright. I've had a pretty amazing summer. Ibiza, New York, The Hamptons, London, Secret Garden Party, Edinburgh Festival and soon SW4. Cannot wait. I've also started working at The Hoxton Pony in Shoreditch which has to be the most fascinating place to work ever. Since working there I have met the most interesting people, from the intensely cool dj's, dropping insane beats on the dancefloor(ayyeee), to the heroic bouncers, bravely beating away drunks away from the door, to the tattooed enigma that is Charlie the Bartender. But anyways that's whole other story... In the meantime some photographs from The Hamptons and NY..



Anna: Dress and Heels TopshopMe, left: Dress- ASOS (borrowed from a friend)
Shoes- Kurt Geiger
Bag- Zara

Me (second from left): Dress- Zara
Heels as before

Hazy afternoons..

Here we are crawling closer to the hazy blissful afternoons of summer. One week to go then I'll be free of uni work (apart from my ever looming thesis), free of assessment and tutorial forms, which have to be the bane of my life, and onwards to planning my strategy for fashion domination. Jokes. But seriously this summer is all about planning for the future and hopefully becoming one step closer to my dream career.

I'm sleepy though today, and after a long day of editing I suddenly remembered a fashion film I had seen a while back. I loved it immediately, but today it seems to sum my feelings up entirely. Directed by one of my favourite photographers, Beau Grealy, it tentatively encapsulates a dreamy afternoon on a lazy summers day. There is something quite sad and wistful about this film however, which only lends to its mysteriousness. Pure bliss.

Afternoon Sister from TEST on Vimeo.

Director:Beau Grealy

Models:Donna and Rosie @ DNA
Stylist: Sarah Cobb
Make Up: Stevie Huynh
Hair: Shin Arima
Producer: Nikki Stromberg
Photographic Assistants: David Engelhardt and Shaun Hartas
Cut and Graded by Swell
Music: The Gentlemen of NUCO performing an original arrangement of Radiohead’s “Nude

TEST 2010

NEO-TRIBAL

Above Mike Gonzalez s/s 2011

Above image from Bon magazine
Photographer: KT Auleta Styling: Polina Aronova

Tribal is back. This time its edgier- combined with the bold colours of summer. It's tribal meets rave. Think neon colours of holidays spent in Ibiza combined with bright tribal prints and textures- all to create clubbing couture. If floral isn’t your thing this is definitely a creative alternative to the romantic trend. Tribal-chic isn’t hard to achieve, just some clever clashing of bold prints does the trick. Featured on the spring/summer catwalks by designers such as Mike Gonzalez, Missoni and Sass and Bide.

Below: s/s 2011- Holly Fulton, Missoni, Sass and Bide