Alexander Mcqueen has killed himself!!!

PLEEEAASSEEEE...Tell me it's not true. I have just heard the news, and I am heartbroken. I am lost for words...until I can find out more, read about it here.

A source at McQueen's office confirmed the suicide, saying, "It is a tragic loss. We are not making a comment at this time out of respect for the McQueen family."

Tilda Swinton desktop background

I'm a huge fan of both Tilda Swinton and ANOTHER MAGAZINE, so when she featured in an amazing shoot in Spring/Summer 2009 I created a quick little desktop background. Now you can have it too ;)

Come back Margiela!!

With the news of Martin Margiela's confirmed departure from his label of the same name, I had to post some of his truly amazing pieces. These Artisanal pieces are available to buy (if you have a spare few grand burning a hole in your bank account) exclusively on yoox.com now!

I absolutely love his use of old, recycled and found objects to create interesting and wearable garments. Come back Margiela!

Coco Before Chanel: the trailer

"Audrey Tautou plays the legendary "Coco" Chanel in an enthralling exploration of her early life before she rose to worldwide fame as the most celebrated fashion designer of the 20th Century. We meet the young Gabrielle Chanel, illegitimate daughter of a traveling salesman who learns to sew in a Catholic orphanage before following her singing ambitions lead her to a cabaret club. It is here where Chanel earns the nickname Coco and also where she catches the eye of several high society gentlemen who would ignite her passion and become instrumental in the development of her remarkable career."

This is the one film I want to see this year, and there is only a couple of weeks to wait now for it's release! So informative and beautifully shot...the anticipation is killing me, and you I'm sure. So, watch this trailer to whet your appetite.

Dior Couture: SS09

I have died and gone to heaven! The images from Dior's SS09 couture show have just gone online, and I am (as always) in complete awe. I'm not one to post images from fashion shows, as you just as capable of going on style.com yourselves...but I wanted to share with you the details that have got my heart fluttering this morning.

Oh, the sculptural beauty of these dresses astounds me. The detail, intricacy and amazing skill which is required to make these dresses is quite simply amazing. They are complete perfection...why can't we all live in a world of couture?

What do you think?

"Fallen Shadows" - Prada/James Lima

This is a little bit of a cop-out post as I've been working hard all weekend trying to perfect my design for the fashion156/start boutique competition, however I did take a few minutes out to watch this stunning video - Muiccia Prada and James Lima's latest collaborative project. It is a beautiful animation showcasing the Autumn/Winter 2008/09 collection, with music from Anthony and the Johnsons. The film is about a woman and her shadow, the shadow being more expressive than the woman - the shadow is her sub-concious. James Lima explains in the latest issue of Wound,

"She is the sub-concious, the dream, the soul, and it is the journey of self-discovery with the sensations of the city that confronts her...and us. The thing about the shadow is it's you but it's not. The shadow, your soul, your spirit is free. You leave part of it wherever you go, the idea of the embroidery unravelling represents that."

Dior Homme

The vintage sale was a complete disaster, I didn't even bother getting a bag, let alone filling it. So I'm sorry guys, no bargains to show you. Just out of interest though, quite a few of you said you were keen to see what I bought - do you want me to post about my personal style? This was never my intention with the blog, as I find it a tad narcissistic, but if that's what you want...?

Anyways, back to the post. If you haven't already noticed, there is one mighty fine man-model below. Although this is not what I want to share with you, he is a bit fit yeah? It's the trousers, oh the beautiful Dior Homme pleats. I have been drooling over these since I first saw them on the catwalk (AW08-09), and nothing in the shops seems to quite hit the button like these do. I've completely missed the boat with these as they probably aren't in the shops anymore - like I could afford them anyway - I'll just have to pray that one day some discerning gent is stupid enough to sell them to Bang Bang or something. In the meantime, I've put it on my ever growing list of DIY projects to do. These never get done, as I am a womenswear designer...so the ladies always come first and projects for myself get put on the back burner.

If your jaw is not on the floor, because of a) the beautiful trousers or b) the model, there is something actually wrong with you. Please visit your doctor.

If you can, look at the detailing at the waistband of this pair. Satin ribbon sewn into the pleats? Whatever next...They need to adorn my waist, that's what!

Sigh. The folds of fabric have me well and truly sucked in. These trousers are so hot that I've even stopped looking at the model wearing them. The deconstructed jacket (also Dior Homme) is brilliant and something else I shall give a go, if I learn the art of tailoring one day!

The shoot is taken from a wonderful magazine called 'Nico. Fashion & Interviews' - my new favourite mag - which was styled by Kris Van Assche himself. Although most of it's in French (with a few translations at the back) the imagery and content is by far the best I've seen in a long time. Without wearing the heavy and restrictive chains (read: advertising bribes from the big-gun fashion houses) that larger magazines do, this mag is free to do pretty much what it likes. All Hail Nico!

Vogue Patterns - Steven Meisel

The move is over now, all my stuff has been lovingly unpacked, re-arranged, re-arranged again and finally sorted into some kind of order. I love doing my room after moving, finding things you thought you'd lost and creating a new little haven for yourself. Whilst sorting my magazines (into alphabetical, numerical and title order - yes I'm that anal) I found this A-MAZING set of images in the December 2007 issue of Vogue Italia, photographed by the iconic Steven Meisel. I can remember at the time being absolutely speechless, and I still am today. They are almost too intense to take in, but you deserve to be reminded of their beauty.

An Avante-Garde Beauty

I was about to write a blog entry about the recent Gareth Pugh SS09 collection, and the pure brilliance of it when I stumbled across this picture. Roisin Murphy attending the Dior show in one of the latest Pugh dresses. That girl is amazing. I LOVE HER!

Image from Style Sightings.

Fall-ing Fashion

I was hunting out the latest issue of POP for weeks after I saw the post on Susie Bubble's page about the six collectors covers (I eventually decided upon the Jourdan cover). When flicking through though, I found something faaaarr more interesting. It is the feature of Agyness Deyn, shot by Ryan McGinley which was inspired by this 1950s image of falling children.

If you haven't seen this yet, look at my scans below. It is phenomenal! She actually jumped from a 4 story building, landing on massive crash mats to create the images. Not only this, she is also butt naked -this is one brave girl. Just imagie falling 4 storys and trying to keep yourself composed - thinking about the dress your wearing, are you looking at the camera, are you screaming??? I have always been a bit wary of Agyness, don't ask me why, but something has never sat right with me (maybe it's the fact that I constantly see her in the free-papers/gossip mags/websites). Now though I have the up most respect for the model...this is a shoot not many of the precious models of today would take on.

Tilda Swinton

With the couture shows well underway, I wanted to share with you an eloquent, intelligent and provocative woman who would be my muse if I was a couturier. She is an amazing actress, and her personal style is brave and beautiful.

Tilda in Lanvin

I LOVE that she wore this Galliano for Dior Couture dress to the Baftas.

I could go into a massive biography about Tilda Swinton, but I will simply let the images do the talking. You can tell though that she comes from a prestigious scottish ariocratic background, merging with the military. She is an amazingly interesting human being, the more and more I read about her...however I will let you in on one little secret of hers, which I'm sure could raise a few eyebrows. It turns out Tilda is a little more interesting than even I could have imagined. The 68 year old father of her twins and huband of 18 years, John Byrne is not her only lover...she has an open relationship with a 29 year old lover - German artist Sandro Kopp!

A pastel portrait of Tilda Swinton, by Sandro Kopp.