London Fashion Week September 2010

I was planning on attending New York Fashion Week but well that didn't work out so I decided to make the most of being in the UK and spend a few days at London Fashion Week. Unfortunately I didn't apply for tickets for the main catwalk shows and I wasn't in the mood to gatecrash so I decided to attend the events I did actually have an invite to. All of these events were off schedule (which means shows that are not taking place at the British Fashion Council tent) and darted across different parts of London. On Thursday there was Fashion Diversity at Islington Metal Works, Friday was The Look Show at The Saatchi Gallery, Saturday was Fashion Mavericks at The Strand Palace Hotel and Monday was Untold at The London Design Museum. I will be covering these events during the next few posts and filling you in on all the details.

Just Wright

Last night I went to the screening of Just Wright starring Queen Latifah and Common. I first saw the trailer for this film a few months back and thought it looked charming although rather unrealistic. The film is about Leslie Wright played by Queen Latifah who is a single and 35 year old women who has a heart of gold. She loves her job as a physical therapist and loves her family and also has a huge passion for the New York Nicks. Her gorgeous best friend, Morgan played by Paula Patton is the complete opposite from Leslie - vacuous and self-centred, her main goal is to bag an NBA star and she puts an awful lot of thought and time into landing one. NBA star, Scott McKnight played by Common is Morgan's target and when Leslie has a chance meeting with Scott at a petrol station it looks like the two of them might have something special till Scott lays eyes on Morgan and falls for her hook, line and sinker. Before you can say put on a ring on it, the two are engaged and Morgan is planning their glitzy wedding at The Plaza. Then tragedy strikes and Scott is badly injured during a game and it looks like his glittering career is over. Before you can say through sickness and health, Morgan takes off leaving Scott to pine for the loss of his lady and his career. Enter Leslie who is determined not to let Scott wallow in his pity and even more determined to get him back in the NBA. With sheer grit, discipline and inspiration, Leslie has Scott ready for the NBA and with everyone falling at his feet - including Morgan. This proves to be a bit of a problem as Leslie and Scott have got very close over the last few months. So who will Scott choose?

I thought this was a very entertaining and slick film; there are lots of laughs and fun moments but then this is only to be expected from Sanaa Hamri, the lady who brought us the brilliant, Something New. Queen Latifah is her usual home-girl charismatic self while Paula Patton is great as the bimboesque, Morgan. I can see the logic in casting Common as he adds a lot of pull to the movie ie he provides the eye candy for the ladies and thus his male fans will probably give the film a look. However, he did nothing for me in the film - first of all he is too damm short to play a basketball player and his acting skills leave a lot to be desired. They should have just gone the whole hog and casted a real NBA star - I am sure LeBron James would have fitted the role perfectly. Now to the real crux of the matter -  I am just going to say it - Just Wright was a great film and Queen Latifah is a lovely lady but there is no way that those two would have ended up together. There was a lot of tittering amongst the audience during the love scenes between Common and Queen Latifah's characters and I think the general consensus was that the film was just a huge fairytale. Like I mentioned before, Just Wright is a lovely and fun film and I will definitely be getting it on DVD when it is released.

Just Wright is released on Friday.

The event was organised by Rapture Film Club who put on screenings of urban Black films such as Why Did We Get Married and Not Easily Broken. You can check out their website here.

Featured in Style Sample Magazine

I have always been a huge fan of Style Sample which is a fantastic magazine written by bloggers for bloggers. Started by Tamia Stimson in 2008, Style Sample features interviews with fashion bloggers around the world, technical advice for your blogs, design tips and also profiles stylish cities for you to visit. So I was pretty chuffed when Tamia contacted me asking me to contribute an article to the ninth issue. My task was to profile Japanese style blogger, TV host and author, La Carmina which was a lot of fun as well as being very insightful.

You can read my article here - just flick to page 28 to find it.

Style Sample is available to read online but you can also order print issues from MagCloud.

Fashion's Night Out 2010

Fashion's Night Out kicks off tomorrow over here in the UK with a huge boganza of pop up stores, product launches, music performances and makeovers. Practically every shop worth its salt is putting on something special for the event which will be mirrored in various cities around the world. However as can be expected it is the Yanks who have gone the whole hog; as well as hosting the biggest fashion show in New York history there will be lots of parties, live performances and shopping events taking place over the Big Apple this Thursday. To celebrate this event, CBS are making a one off documentary about the build up to NYC's Fashion's Night Out. The programme will show the staff from Vogue and how they work with stakeholders such as CFDA and NYC & Company as well as various celebrities and designers on the big night. It looks like Fashion's Night Out has really caught the imagination of the public because the new series of Gossip Girl will be dedicating the first two episdoes to the event. Serena, Blair and co will be seen taking part in various fashioney activities in Manhattan. Vogue editors, Hamish Bowles and Lauren Santo Domingo will also make a cameo in the episodes. Talk about art imitating life. The concept of Fashion"s Night Out was created by Anna Wintour in a bid to get people shopping again despite the recession. The first Fashion's Night Out was launched last year in New York and London and was an amazing success so no surprise that it is being repeated this year and rolled out to different cities. 

This time last year I was in New York for their Fashion's Night Out (big sigh of reminisce) and there was a really great atmosphere. My mate and I went in and out of the shops in downtown Manhattan listening to the music being spun by the DJ's and sipping the complimentary drinks. The event has really moved up to another level with a slick website for each country taking part and great social media presence but my only concern is that maybe the event has got too big too fast. I find it hard to find the events on the NYC and London websites and the number of events seem rather overwhelming. Navigating the West End is a feat in itself but doing so while trying to get to events for Fashion"s Night Out will prove very challenging. 

For more information on Fashion's Night Out in London click here and for events on NYC Fashion's Night out click here.

Fashion's Night Out will be aired on CBS on Wednesday 15th September in the US. Not sure when it is hitting the UK but as soon as I find out I will send out a tweet or two.