Author: Sam Growdon

Georgia May Jagger blooms for Mulberry

Published by

Perhaps it’s because it’s mid-january and the sky couldn’t be more grey and I’m pining for colour, blossoms and the sweet scent of spring but this campaign has made my tuesday! Georgia May Jagger stars in the Spring Summer 2015 campaign for the iconic british brand Mulberry and the video is full of pink, purple and white british blooms immediately transporting you to a dreamy summer’s day. Complete with seventies rock soundtrack and big hair, erm… and the bags aren’t bad either! The full print campaign lensed by renowned duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin can be seen  at www.mulberry.com/collections/SS15. What do you think? Leave a comment or share with your fashionista friends. XO

Shades of Blue

Published by

    Jardin des Tuileries, Paris / Tuileries Garden, Paris, January 2015 – on an extremely cold day! WEARING Top by Les Petites Paris Denims by Zara Leather Jacket by Maje Shoes by Jonak Bag by Louis Vuitton Watch and love bangle by Cartier Photos By Jonathan Jones

Ciara Katzin’s Shanghai top five

Published by

Ciara Katzin and have only ever spent a few days together, but our love for fashion, all things pretty and that we’re both mama’s have made us fast friends. Mom to Josh, 6 and Arabella 4, Ciara has a full life in Shanghai. Born in Ireland but raised in South Africa and after living in London for 14 years working in PR and more recently as a stylist, she and her husband, Brent, moved to Shanghai 3 and a half years ago. When Ciara isn’t being a super-mom and browsing the pages of fashion magazines, she’s working as a decor stylist in the swish interiors store, Chapin House. Here she advises expats on creating beautiful spaces to live their ‘temporary lives’ in the Pudong area of the city. With Chinese New Year around the corner on Feb 19th, I chatted to Ciara about the biggest holiday in Chinese Culture and her Shanghai Top Five … What do you most like about CNY? It is a tradition very similar to Christmas. It is all about giving, especially to old and young ones. We have …

Kendall Jenner’s sexy campaign for Estee Lauder

Published by

She’s 19-years-old, has 18.1 million followers on Instagram, is the famous little sister of Kim Kardashian and has recently been made the face of Estee Lauder. Kendall Jenner is not only unstoppable but she’s sexy and sultry in the debut campaign video for Estee Lauder showing off the cosmetic house’s latest product, Little Black Primer – LBP, get it? The product is an eyelash primer that amplifies volume and length and judging by the close-ups of Kendall’s lashes, it works! The reality star turned fashion icon uploaded the video on her Instagram account and so far it has received 334 568 likes, so here it is … What do you think? Leave a comment I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you liked the post, please share with your fashionista friends and follow me on Instagram and Facebook. XO

There’s a new age in summer ad campaigns

Published by

I’m the first to admit that I love seeing beautifully sculptured young bodies in fashion campaigns or thin bronzed models walking down the catwalk and I’m fascinated by the younger, newer generation of models that designers are pandering too because of their followers – hello Cara Delevingne and Kendall Jenner. However saying this, I am enchanted by fashion houses and retailers using more mature women in campaigns. This season as all the new campaigns hit the shelves and sites we’re seeing style icon and literary legend Joan Didion for Celine, chic Italian grans holding Dolce &Gabbana purses and Singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell for Saint Laurent Paris – and it’s causing a lot of industry talk and discussion. This has been going on a for a few seasons already, a few years ago I wrote a column for Grazia on the uprise of older women in ad campaigns accelerated by successful blogs such as Advanced Style run by Ari Cohen. This disruptive advertising had been adopted by a few luxury brands such as Lanvin who used Jacquie “Tajah” Murdock, an 82-year-old …

Diving into art deco splendour

Published by

Built in 1929 and situated in the prestigious 16th arrondisement of Paris, this Olympic-sized swimming pool was THE place to be seen and had its fair share of glamour up until the 80’s. A place where the who’s who could dip their feet in one of two pools and cool off while watching fashion shows and theatrical performances. It was used for film shoots and it was here that Louis Réard, the automobile engineer turned fashion designer, unveiled the soon-to-be famous bikini in 1946. It is also after this Parisian icon that the hero of the 2001 novel “Life of Pi” was named. Abandoned in 1989 this symbol of glamour became a dilapidated canvas for graffiti artists and was even the host of a rave in which 5 000 people attended. Now, in it’s new rebirth, the Piscine Molitor has been restored to much of it’s original splendor and now a 124-room MGallery hotel – excellent for a weekend stay-cation. Much of the original design, by Lucian Pollet, who’s vision was to create a ocean-liner …

Elle’s touching tribute

Published by

When I was 21 years old I worked for Elle South Africa. I always knew I wanted to work for a magazine and from a young age I’ve had an interest in fashion so it was serendipitous that I was first hired as the magazine’s designer. I loved working for ELLE, I had amazing role models in women who were (and still are) intelligent, hard working, passionate and not only thought fashion was fabulous but that it was important to publish thought provoking articles on the world around us. It makes me extra proud that when I picked up the French edition of this week’s ELLE I can say that I was once part of this family. Their beautifully illustrated cover, by well-known Soledad, that conveys the sentiment of what we all want – peace. The magazine has run 13 pages on last week’s killings in a very profound and sensitive way. They list the names of all the people who were killed, commissioned young cartoonists to draw, published opinion pieces and articles from well-known actors and writers as well as quotes …

The return of John Galliano

Published by

With much of the fashion world talking about the return of John Galliano for Maison Martin Margiela after his four year “hiatus” following his scandalous anti-Semitic remarks it’s hard to ignore this as news (If you’re unfamiliar with the whole story then check it out here). He pulled quite a crowd with big name FROW-ers such as Kate Moss, Manolo Blahnik as well as other industry big-wigs like Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz, Burberry’s Christopher Bailey and designer Jasper Conran. For me, as expected the collection was a little “weird”, while I applause creativity I’m not sure how any of these runway looks would quite work in my wardrobe and they remind me of some of the designs that come out of Project Runway! As Vogue UK Editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman wrote, “The restrained number of outfits played with deconstruction and the tenets of tailoring, salvage and restitution, luxe and tatters. A breastplate of shells might have adorned a trash-can Boadicea, a dress of carved black leather ribbons fell away into a tattered train. While a Principal Boy opened the …

Oh how they twinkled on the Golden Globes red carpet

Published by

Not only does the Golden Globes kick off the most glam season in Tinseltown but it’s my favourite awards show. Perhaps it’s because it’s the first – there’s no red-carpet fatigue yet – and I love it because it’s more like a super-chic runway show. Celebs showing off the best dress, jewels, heels, make-up, hair… the list of inspiration is endless! Never mind all the PR that designers get at this time of year too, yes they might sink hundreds of thousands into their runways shows twice a year but this is when they really get noticed. Here are my favourites of the 72nd Golden Globes which took place on Sunday night – and they just happen to be hard working fabulous moms too! Reese Witherspoon in her long strapless and ultra-sparkley Calvin Klein dress took my breath away, it took 80 hours to make and came with this personal note from Mr Klein (see below)! It’s the simplicity if the gown that makes it so elegant, the perfect balance between simple and sparkle. And how cute it the …

Kate Moss sans make-up for Vogue Italy

Published by

As the weekend approaches and we’re hitting some “off-duty” time, I thought I’d share Kate Moss without make-up shot by Peter Lindberg for Vogue Italia‘s January 2015 edition. I found the images refreshing after all the high-gloss, flawless, perfectly shot and retouched campaign images that we always see her in. It’s lovely to see the the real 40-year-old mom with a few freckles and sun spots, a wrinkle here and there and not-so-perky perfect boobs – she does look a little depressed about it though! (giggle) Have a happy make-up free weekend!