Material Girl

Last year I blogged about the Babylon series which is written by Imogen Edwards- Jones. Her delicious books include Hotel Babylon, Fashion Babylon, Beach Babylon, Air Babylon, Pop Babylon and the soon to be released, Wedding Babylon. Each book goes behind the scenes of each industry and offers revelation and revelation about the inside goings on. Following the success of Hotel Babylon into a TV series, Fashion Babylon (my favourite title) has been made into a six part romantic comedy. The series is called Material Girl and is about Ali Redcliffe, a young fashion designer who is leading a cool and glamorous life with her uber stylish friends, Alex, Mimi and Lydia. Alex is Ali's best friend from college and also a fashion designer at Ali's rival Davina Bailey, Mimi is an aspiring stylist at a high profile magazine and Lydia is a model.

We see Ali come head to head with her evil ex-boss, battle with her sexy but devilish business partner and deal with snooty fashionistas to get her break in work and love. Our protagonist is played by Lenora Crichlow - who is pictured above - you know the feisty one in Sugar Rush and Being Human. She is joined by Dervla Kirwan who plays hotter than hot designer, Davina Bailey who is hell bent on hanging onto her crown. Michael Landes plays Ai's brilliant business partner, Marco who is determined to make her a star. Material Girl is set in the bustling and creative area of Brick Lane, East London and features witty and colourful characters of the fashion world alongside the passions of tight knit friendships. It has been described as a fun saga of a girl trying to make it in a competitive professional and personal world, with all the zest of a romantic Hollywood comedy. It sounds just like my cup of tea and I cannot wait till it airs on the BBC later this year.

Pictures from Contact Music

Cult Creatives in the House

Us bloggers are always being asked to share our workspace and show others where we do our creative milling. Last year The Stiletto Effect ran a special feature where she interviewed several bloggers and discussed their private spaces. More recently, Daddy Likey showed off her blog spot and created her own tag by inviting fellow blog mates to do the same. Face it we are all obsessed with other people's private and work space and there may be a housing plummet but our appetite has certainly not waned.

Creative Space: Urban Homes of Artists and Innovators by Francesca Gavin gives us a look into the homes of 30 cult creatives based in hip cities such as Barcelona, Berlin, London, New York, Paris and Tokyo. Gavin takes us into studios, apartments and houses of the likes of writers, photographers and stylists and gives us an insight into their minds and how their interiors shape their thinking and creative process. We are all influenced by our surroundings so it is really fascinating to see how a designer such as Hardy Blechman who founded niche label, Maharishi, or Grace Cobb, fashion stylist and creative director for Wonderland magazine create their home.

For those of you who check out The Selby on a regular basis, well if Todd Selby was to produce a book this is what it would be like. Creative Space takes on a different slant from interior magazines that are out there. Instead of featuring perfect show houses that do not look lived in this book focuses on spaces that are spontaneously filled with collectibles that mean a lot to the owner. Francesca Gavin is a writer and editor who works at cool mags such as Dazed and Confused and Elle. Like her I also suffer from an aversion of minimalism so I am delighted to see a book full of vibrant, arty homes with lots of life and colour.

Creative Space: Urban Homes of Artists and Innovators is out in bookshops in May.

Super Stylist

Her fly on the wall show, The Rachel Zoe Project has been recommissioned for a second series in the States and will be hitting the UK next month and on top of this she has been snapped up to design a clothing line. I would say that it must be pretty great to be Rachel Zoe right now. With a loving hubby, a die for wardrobe and a wonderful lifestyle; she is living the life that many would dream of. As stylist to actresses such as Debra Messing, Jennifer Garner and Joy Bryant, Rachel has become one of the most coveted name in fashion and is now a household name. However, people still get confused about what a stylist actually does. Some people think they just shop all day, pick out clothes and get chummy with the designers but the life of a stylist is a bit more complex than that. This is what journo and author, Tamsin Blanchard has to say about styling in an article about high profile stylist.

"Fashion stylists are the people who decide not so much what we are going to wear, but what we are going to buy. They choose the clothes on the pages of the magazines; they decide that Jennifer Lopez looks great in that Versace dress; they are the ones who select the clothes that will make it on to the runway and into the buyers' order books."

I did a bit of digging around and have come up with a list of five stylists whose work I rate:

William Baker

This is the man who puts Kylie in those sumptuous outfits. However take note because William Baker is far more than a stylist, he is in fact Creative Director to the princess of pop. His previous clients have included Vivienne Westwood where he worked on her flagship store.

Andrea Lieberman

She dresses two of the most stylish women in the world; Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Lopez. She takes responsibility to introducing Ms Stefani to the world of style and I would call that some feat considering how renowned Stefani has become in fashion terms. She was also the very same person who put Jennifer Lopez in that plunging Versace gown which she wore to The Grammys which earned her many column inches. Her other clients are Drew Barrymore and Faith Hill.

Eric Daman

He has been dubbed the male version to Patricia Fields with those amazing outfits that he puts together in Gossip Girl. The story lines might be hotter than hot in GG but it is the fashion that has everyone talking and this is all down to a certain Mr Daman. The former model got his big break when he was discovered by Steven Meisel (as you do) who promptly booked him for a Calvin Klein advert. He then went onto to work as a costume designer on Sex and the City.

Philip Bloch

This is the man who dresses the Hollywood A lister for glitzy events such as The Oscars, The Golden Globes and The Emmys. Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Salma Hayak, Will and Jada Pinkett all have Mr Bloch on speed dial. When he is not mixing with fashionistas Philip is either acting or contributing to various newspapers and magazines.

Christina Ehrlich and Estee Stanley

Their clients include Demi Moore, Jessica Biel, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Ritchie as well as The Olsen twins whose style are admired by young women all over the world. The duo are based in LA and have been working together for over five years. Their usp is putting starlets onto the red carpet and turning them into stars. Christina and Estee recently launched their own line, Ms Davenporte which is stylish and easy to wear items for women.

Funnily enough both Carine Roitfeld, editor of French Vogue and Katie Grand founder Pop magazine and now editor of Love magazine started out as stylists. So it goes to show that stylists rock! Check out this article here that was published in The Observer back in 2002 about stylists for fashion brands. Then there is this article here that features stylists who work in the music industry.

Mario Testino: Diana's Favourite Photographer

"He sells a dream," says Anna Wintour. "You want to be that woman in that glorious house, on the glorious beach and in that incredible dress"

"Mario gives them a heightened and more beautiful version of reality," says Tom Ford. "Mario's pictures are very mystic and they're about having a great time. They are about not being afraid of being rich or being famous or being a little bit excessive and are really a celebration of that. A celebration of life."

However, actress Gwyneth Paltrow nails it on the head, "He's very good at doing young, sexy and vibrant pictures."

There is no argument that Mario Testino produces images that are vibrant, sexy and utterly glamorous. Therefore it is no surprise that one of his books is called Alive which when you think about it is totally appropriate because when Mario Testino shoots someone he makes them come alive. In 1997 he took a post divorce suffering and depressed Princess Diana and managed to produce images of her that made her look so radiant and delirious that I am sure Prince Charles must have doubted his decision to let her go. As these images made the rounds in newspapers and magazines, Mario found himself zooming up the A list. Mario was born in Lima, Peru and in 1976, after completing his studies he left Peru to pursue a career in photography and spent his initial years living in a squat in South London. Success was not instant for him and he spent a lot of years struggling to get work - the problem was that instead of finding his own style he was trying to emulate his idols, Cecil Beaton and Richard Avedon. His break came in the 80s when he met a certain Carine Roitfeld (before her French Vogue days) while working on a fashion shoot. Roitfeld was working as a freelance stylist and the two hit it off and began working as a team.

Over the years he has amassed a remarkable body of work from magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and V to fashion houses such as Burberry, Gucci, Versace, Calvin Klein, Dolce & Gabbana, Salvatore Ferragamo, Estee Launder, Hugo Boss, Miu Miu, Shiseido and Michael Kors. The cream on the cake was in 2002 when his portraits were showcased in the National Portrait Gallery (NPG). Portraits was a landmark exhibition that became the NPG's most successful exhibit and also drew celebrities from afar as well as huge media attention. That year Mario was also the subject of a documentary made by the BBC. I meant to catch that exhibition back in 2002 but never got round to it but I watch the documentary about Mario and I fell in love with his enthusiasm and zest for the life. The man oozes energy and charisma and his passion for life and people are surely key to his ability to make his subjects warm to him during shoots. Mario's success is that he wants his subject to look their best and will go to great lengths to achieve that. This is the man who made the ever so stiff Prince of Wales look cool and relaxed in those chic images in Vanity Fair circa 2001. He has gone on to take the photos of other royals such as the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, Prince Harry, The Duke of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent who normally would have given Lord Snowdon a call. As well as taking images, Mario has published seven books of his work and edited one which is dedicated to contemporary art and artists from his native Lima, Peru.

Here are some more of Mario Testino's images below:






Pictures taken by Mario Testino