LONDON - brick lane market, 05/31/09

If I could only have one thing this summer...

Let it be these shoes by Mimosa.

I've been thinking about high heels for a while now and my love-hate relationship with them. Two weeks ago I wore one of my favourite pair of heels to work; they're 5 inches, with a platform heel and a red tartan colour. I forgot to wear socks with them and so the skin on the sides of both my feet were ripped off after walking in them for 10 minutes. Needless to say it was a day where I had to make my friend Michelle get me food because I couldn't make the walk to the grocery store and I had to beg my cousin to bring me flats to wear home. That day, I hated shoes and what they did to my poor, shredded, tired feet.

But despite that, I still love them. I love how tall they make me; I seriously tower over so many people I feel indestructable. I love how sexy I feel when I wear them; the comments, the whistles and the stares I get is awesome. I just feel really powerful and hot in high heels. Flats may be more comfortable (even that is debatable) but I truly believe women shouldn't leave the house without wearing heels.

Unfortunately I am finding it difficult to take my own advice ever since "the shoe incident." I'm a bit scared of them. I'm scared that my feet will never look the same again. I'm scared my feet will take up in arms if I put them in heels.

But I love heels so much that I might be crazy enough to endure the pain as long as I look good wearing them. Of course this may involve hobbling down the street, moaning in agony, but hell, I look damn good in them. I'm just going to wait until my scars heal a bit more.

JUNE JUBILATION

In June, if you're looking for me...

COPENHAGEN, Distortion Festival, June 3-10
ANTWERP Royal Academy Graduation Show, June 11-14
LONDON, June 15-17
MUNICH, "Icons- In an Absolut world" exhibition, June 18
MOSCOW, June 19-24
PARIS, Men's Fashion Week, June 25-28
STOCKHOLM, Fashion Week by Berns, June 29-July 1
BERLIN, Fashion Week & Bread&Butter, July 2-5

PS: Paris Part 2 will be up here in a week!

As promised

Sorry guys, I have been so busy. Anyhoo, how is the weekend going for you guys??? This is the outfit I wore to a wedding party last Sunday. It was a very beautiful & youthful wedding. My only problem about a lot of Nigerian weddings is that people don't sick to rules. If they say, "NO KIDS", why bring your kids along and if they say, "INVITATION ONLY", why show up with all your friends and friend's friends---Gosh!, people respect rules ;)
On the others hand, the wedding was nice; my friend and I snapped away as we waited for the reception to start. I also took some notes for mine. ;)
Ok, I going to go do my nails now because I have another wedding in 5hours. I might stick to tradition clothes this time. Hopefully I don't change my mind. :D
Take care lovelies
Have a wonderful weekend!!!

xoxo



outfit: Me: asos dress, express blazer, aldo shoes, limited purse,
Friend (Bisi): H&M dress, bakers shoe and purse

LONDON - soho, 05/29/09

This is why she's one of the top models

I was recently asked who my favourite model is and I had no trouble answering. Natalia Vodianova. This editorial from June's British Vogue is a great reason why I love her and why she is considered one of the top models in the world.

LONDON - soho + shoreditch house + fitzrovia, 05/27-28/09

Couture loses another master?

The fashion world has been given another kick in their stylish pants with the news that Christian Lacroix, the french couture house, has filed for bankruptcy protection today.

The U.S.-owned company has been having major financial issues for years; never making a profit and barely breaking even. Customers have been cancelling or reducing orders and ready-to-wear sales for the fall season were down 35 per cent.

But it's not just Lacroix that's in trouble: Luxury behemoth LVMH just scrapped a plan to open a Louis Vuitton flagship store in Tokyo and earlier this year Chanel laid off 200 temporary employees.

The Times explains the impact of Lacroix's filing:

"The loss of Christian Lacroix to Paris haute couture is immeasurable. Although the designer hopes to hold a small presentation during the July couture season, this was the last house established under the formal couture rules. Even a restructuring would likely have severe implications on his 125-member staff."

But the haute couture market has been on the downturn for a long time; either closing because they didn't make enough of a profit or the great masters have stepped down (or died.)

I wrote an article about the decline of haute couture in Naked Eye magazine and related it to Valentino's retirement. My reason for saying that haute couture was a dying business was because of big business. Couture is not profitable. In fact just putting on an haute couture show can cost millions of dollars which the company will not make back. There are only a handful of people who can afford couture and their numbers are dwindling fast.

So it should be no suprise that Lacroix, renowned for its beautiful couture, is filing for bankruptcy protection. The real money is in accessories and ready-to-wear but even that market is taking a beating since people are realizing that it might be a tad bit insane to spend $1000 on a bag or $3000 on a dress.

The Times says:

"But just as royalty now has less attention than celebrity, so couture has lost its unique prestige, with the word bandied about by any high-end designer. And whereas fragrances produced from the mystique of haute couture once kept the houses afloat, now it is just as likely that a hip jeans brand like Diesel or a celebrity like Jennifer Lopez will have the perfume hit that has stubbornly eluded Lacroix."

So, with Paris Haute Couture week coming quickly in July, will there be one less House showing a collection? A friend of mine thinks that the company will be bailed out but I'm not so sure. Who would want to buy a company that doesn't make money?

But for the sake of fashion, I hope Lacroix will get help and is able to present a collection. We need beautiful clothes to look at now more than ever.

Photos from the Christian Lacroix Spring 2009 Couture show:

Harper Bazaar: Chanel Iman

Harper Bazaar Dubai--Talking about Dubai, I really want to go there. Love the cover! I have been so busy with work; but I will be back to post the photo of what I wore to the wedding. I had a blast!!!
hope the day is going well for you guys...got to get back to work ;)
xoxo

LONDON - soho & portobello, 05/26/09

Wino forever

The last time I think that Winona Ryder made the cover of a major fashion magazine was Vogue in August 2007. Back then she addressed her 2001 arrest over that little shopping spree at Saks and claimed it was due to drugs. I thought that the cover would boost her profile a bit and get her onto the big screen again but unfortunately I was wrong.

Wino has kept it low key, appearing in indie movies and playing small parts (she plays Spock's mother in the new Star Trek movie.)

I used to be a huge Winona fan back in the day. Some of my favourite Wino films are Heathers, Little Women, Edward Scissorhands and The Crucible. She was (and still is) incredibly gorgeous in a quirky pixie-like way. Those big eyes make me melt.

Now she's on the cover of the July UK Vogue and she looks so beautiful. I swear that woman doesn't age (she's 37.) She's promoting her new movie The Private Lives of Pippa Lee which also stars Keanu Reeves, Julianne Moore and Robin Wright Penn.

Will being on the cover of a major fashion magazine boost her career? I'm not sure but I really hope it helps. It's been almost 20 years since she made Scissorhands and dated Johnny Depp. She needs a major comeback. At least for my sake. Do it for me Wino!

I think one of her biggest lures for me is that she is the interminable outsider; she doesn't fit into the Hollywood mold. She has always been a little dark and quirky. Which makes sense when she says:

"I thought it was cooler to be interesting than to be pretty. I must have got that from my parents, who felt strongly about being an individual and being your own person and that looks aren't everything. I always knew that I wasn't, you know, beautiful. I never wanted to be beautiful, I never wanted to be a cheerleader."

LONDON - soho, 05/26/09

Can I be a part of your court Karl?

An ex-assistant of fashion genius Karl Lagerfeld has written a book exposing amazing information about the Kaiser. The book is called Merci Karl! (hee!)

Little tidbits include:

- That he takes "an eternity" to get ready
- He takes photos of himself at every photo shoot and surrounds himself with these photographs
- He surrounds himself with a "royal court" and nobody disagrees with him
- He dumps people "at the drop of a dime"
- He stops acknowledging peoples' existence

What else could you expect from genius? Personally I would be very disappointed if he turned out to be nice. A man like him should not be nice, he should be a cold-hearted, mean diva. The man creates amazing clothes. We should all bow in his presence.

To quash any doubts you may have, I'm posting photos of his Chanel Resort 2010 collection which I forgot to post about when it actually happened because I fainted at the gorgeousness.

And while you look through the photos, listen to Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Winter.) It will put you in the right mood. The collection showed in Venice and had a Carnivale theme with masks, big hats, black cloaks and curly hair. Despite it being a Resort collection, the colours were surprisingly dark and moody; lots of black and dark red. Against the setting Venetian sun it looked very sexy and haunting.