Street Style: Frida Gustavsson

A model's job description, since the inception of the profession some time ago, has always been someone employed to wear and display new clothes - a human coat hanger, if you will. It never mattered if they dressed as bland (or as unnervingly bizarre) prior to their induction to their occupation as the designers the walked and worked for rewarded them with complementary offerings of their work. Impossible for a model to be seen dressed atrociously when they were being styled by the crème de la crème, no?

As a result of this "auto-styling", models have fallen victims of unable-to-style-themselves-osis (awfully contagious, so I hear) and have been confined to the oh so dull off-duty uniform of standard bootleg jeans, a basic tank top and utterly unadventurous heeled footwear, à la America's Next Top Model hopefuls.
However, with the emergence of individualist models (like Charlotte Free, the new face of Forever 21 - notorious for her neo-grunge style), models the fashion world over are beginning to take the plunge and break out of this shell, rapidly becoming regulars on street-style blogs and magazine columns alongside their celebrity counterparts. Step forward, Frida Gustavsson, now a regular on the catwalk despite her 19 year old youth.
For over a year I have admired Gustavsson from the safe fortification of my laptop screen, for her unmistakable beauty and seamless assimilation to le monde du mode. But it is only after coming across this image of an off duty Gustavsson that I realise that I need to sit up and pay this girl's style as much attention as I do her aesthetic physicality.

Effortlessly killing two birds with one stone, Frida incorporates two major trends du jour in her ensemble - pastels (which, unless you have migrated to under a rock, you will know dominated the entirety of the s/s catwalks) and a punchy red lip (beauty staples at Julien MacDonald, Erdem and Dior). Frida adds signature flair by injecting a tough, boyish statement to her prim and pretty, Valentino sorbet sweater, with the inclusion of a T-Bird-esque leather jacket and a pair of jeans that scream "older brother's hand-me-downs".
Accessories are as minimal as Frida's makeup, with a burst of bright colour, namely a studded oversized fuchsia clutch the model totes everywhere with her.
The potential of a burgeoning Pink Lady spiced up with an essence of Danny Zuko.

Here's to a new addition to my interior bookmarks of style crushes.

Mulberry Spring Summer 2012 Campaign

What do you associate with spring and summer? What images does your mind conjure up, even if somewhat generic. Is it the re-emergence of pastels following their long winter hibernation stuffed at the back of our closets that never cease to lose their appeal and charm notwithstanding their predictability? Is it the sound of waves thundering against the shore filling your eardrums, the wispy, fine upper layer of sand spilling over the gaps between your toes while the heat of the sun gently toasts the back of your legs? Or is it simply being confined indoors, watching in utter dismay, as the annual monsoon of summer, overly-familiar to Ireland and the UK, pummels to the ground?

Despite this Siberian weather we've been experiencing these past few days, we are now officially inaugurating the spring/summer 2012 season.

SS 2012 campaigns and lookbooks are cropping up all over the place like the blossoming buds of baby daffodils, poking their canary petals out of their green cocoons. The homegrown image of a commonplace English (and Irish) summer's day spent at the seaside indulging in pierside cuisine, flaked out in those deckchairs passed down by your grandparents, is captured in Mulberry's season shoot starring Lindsey Wixon and Frida Gustavsson shot by Tim Walker.

The Amazonian height of the models is overshadowed by the life size monuments of beach delicacies (99 cones in the process of melting under the summer sun, shattered shards of stick-of-rock candy and the very informal container for a meal of fish and chips - newspaper) almost tower over the models. The apt location of Brighton Pier, famous for it's connotations of seaside holidays and it's equally as famous fairground delight boardwalk, provides the backdrop for the shoot.

The clothes themselves are the epitome of the warmer months; not a harsh, bold berry tone in sight! Bright, feminine, fresh was the key with this collection, light textures and and short hemlines to soak up the warmth and sunshine but the precaution of lightweight coats and jackets because you never know when the rain will decide to spew itself all over your picnic.

The colour scheming is so very appropriate - just look at those sunny yellow mackintoshes, with complenting platform sandals and Holiday Bayswater handbags. Is it just me or does the colour palette remind you of ice lollies and ice creams? The soft chocolate browns that reoccur throughout. Especially the striped colour block dress worn by both models - the similarly patterned and coloured ice lollies that you begged your mother to buy you as a child (e.g. Twister and Loop the Loop) immediately sprang to mind. And if you have no clue what I'm referring to, click here for an insight.

During the process of writing this post, I paused often to dwell on the occasional instillation of nostalgia that a mere look at the images gave me; sand in your sandwiches, collecting bucketfuls of pearlescent shells only to be distraught when told you would return home without them as they would, and I'm paraphrasing here, "stink up the car" and lounging for hours on a sandy landscape submersed in a book, pausing every now and again to listen to the buzz of people doing the exact same thing as you or the jingle of the passing ice cream van followed by hoards of people or the gulls squawking overhead.

The power of advertising, eh?

Paris Fashion Week: Jean Paul Gaultier's Homage to Amy Winehouse

 

To be quite frank, I never thought I'd see the day where "Amy Winehouse" and "haute couture" would share the same sentence, but the late Back to Black singer was the clear inspiration for Gaultier's Spring Summer 2012 collection in Camden this week.

The collection collaborated and captured Amy's style signatures and the catwalk was awash with beehived bouffants, winged eyeliner, above-lip beauty spots and the inclusion of several models indulging in a cigarette mid-strut. 

Retro silhouettes and attributes, such as cinched waists, elongating pencil skirts and flaring rockabilly dresses were prominent, as were typical Winehouse staples: an array of tropical colours of which she was so fond, peek-a-boo bras, pencil skirts, hooped earrings and even a Fred Perry-esque dress all tailored to accommodate the singer's style flirtations with a manifold of past generations and urban thrift-chic.

Gaultier's own signature was brandished among the collection, merging his infamous corsets via luxurious silk, hourglasses dresses and long, billowing trench coats as a seal of self designation. 

The tradition of ending a couture show with a bride was altered, and allowed each model to be transformed into a bride; donning black veils, as the barber quartet in the background chorused Winehouse's hit "Rehab" evoking the spectator's emotions.

However, the collection has resulted in a strict division in opinions between those close to Winehouse and celebrity peers. Front row onlookers, Beth Ditto and burlesque icon Dita von Teese, were collectively moved by the show while Mitch, Amy's father, has abelled the usage of Amy's image which he feels "glamorises some of the more upsetting times of her life" and is in "bad taste". Kelly Osborne, a close friend to Winehouse, took to Twitter to voice her opposition to the collection, declaring Gaultier as "lucratively selfish and distasteful".

Despite this, the clothing has shown a much more wearable side to haute couture - a turquoise sequined pencil skirt isn't too extravagantly out of the blue, now is it? And due to it's controversy and mixed opinions, has effectuated a talking point - is that not the overall aim of a designer? To have their creations on the lips of the world, whether it be in a negative or positive light.

What do you think? Do you feel "No, no, no!" (I couldn't resist) that Gaultier gone too far and "stolen" Amy's look for his own personal gain? Or do you feel his tribute was saturated with nothing but affection, celebrating the life of a musical and style icon?

Stella McCartney SS 2012 Campaign

Natalia Vodianova is the model of choice, representing Stella McCartney's Spring/Summer 2012 collection in McCartney's new campaign. The beautiful contrasting black and white snaps of Vodianova, who opened the complementing S/S show back last October, dressed in the unmistakable pretty paisley and quirky "dad's tie" prints are bordered by a burst of Technicolor flora and foliage that seems to be slowly swallowing the images.

 Is it just me or can you hear a symphony of spring birdies singing?