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‘Alice’ Days

Friday, January 29th, 2010

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January sales over, winter blues setting in? There’s only one thing to do – daydream of sun drenched days, Cote d’Azur skies and flower filled meadows…As we muddle our way through the winter/spring wardrobe limbo-land there’s a ray of hope on the horizon, a yellow brick road if you will, in the form of ‘Alice,’ the much anticipated diffusion line from the gypset style setter, Alice Temperley herself.

Renowned for her uber-luxe materials, intricate decorative beading and delicate embroidery, the new range will be simpler, more wearable and a little kinder to the bank balance. The entire collection is every girl’s must-have summer holiday wardrobe, in fact the whole idea came to fruition from a collection of Alice’s girlfriends, who piled together their favourite things to take away, their desert-island essentials. And so the basic components of the Alice summer capsule – stripes, denim, broderie anglaise – came to the fore.

Each has been styled and shaped the Temperley way though, infusing them with her signatory ultra-feminine, quintessential Englishness so look out for cute stripey t-shirt dresses, loudly printed playsuits, beautifully cut leather jackets. Some pieces have been enticingly named after her super hip, fashionista friends – think ‘the Jax,’ (pictured) ‘the Laura’ etc …along as there’s not a ‘Cherie’ amongst it all, she’s definitely onto a winner. Bring on those long ‘Alice’ days.

See more at www.temperleylondon.com

Lord of the Rings

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

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Shaun Leane is to jewelry what Arthur Rimbaud was to poetry, Pablo Picasso to 20th-century art, Marlon Brando to the acting world….at least, that’s what the Delphic figures of high-fashion would have you believe. Sotheby’s, London’s leading auction house, has honoured his work with the epithet ‘antiques of the future’ while Alexander McQueen considers him a virtuoso of the art-form, collaborating with him for over 15 years to create some of the most iconic pieces to ever grace the female form.

Now celebrating his company’s 10th anniversary, Shaun has twice been a winner of the UK Jewellery Designer of the year. Some of his designs are now instantly recognisable as jaw-dropping, ‘I want one of those’ signature pieces like the jewel-encrusted interlocking rings and the hard-edged silver designs that are instant show-stoppers on catwalks from Paris to Miami. Then there are the tusk-like mouthpieces, moonstone-studded crescents, enamel heart lockets sheathed in gold thorn and lily-shaped Art Nouveau rings – all born from his fascination with ‘love and pain’, macabre statements that have been noticed, appreciated and increasingly esteemed by first London and then the world’s elite.

Moving away from the darkly romantic twilight regions (the Luna collection is all luminous light and shimmering surface contour) and alighting on lighter, more traditional shores, his latest offering is inspired by Japanese fairytales and features dazzling white and crimson flowers on delicate coils of silver branch. The magnum opus of the ‘Cherry Blossom’ collection is his own personal favourite, a modern-day hieroglyph of three cherry blossoms in different stages of bloom. Right now his muse is the tailored suit and navy patent shoe – how he can evoke love and pain from that couplet is anyone’s guess.

New Shaun Leane collections include: Aurora, Gypsy Moth, Luna, Cherry Blossom and Sabre. For more information and to view, visit www.shaunleane.com.

Happy 2010!

Monday, January 4th, 2010

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From all of us at Quintessentially, a very happy 2010 to you all. We hope that the year ahead is prosperous, healthy and enjoyable for you. As ever, we will be ensuring that we have all the latest and most up to date content from our team of fantastic international experts for you, who will be sparing no effort in uncovering the true Insider guide to everything that’s fashionable, forward-looking and exciting, whether it’s a great new restaurant, a must-attend event, the latest hot destination or a fabulous new designer. We’ll also be expanding our city guide section, so keep an eye out for the latest in our ultimate insider tips on where to go and what to do.

This year we’ll also be celebrating Quintessentially’s first decade, so watch out for some exclusive content throughout the year. We hope to keep you informed, entertained and excited by all the latest goings-on here, and look forward to hearing from you with your thoughts and suggestions.

We’re dreaming of a bright Christmas

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

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Walking down a crowded high street looking for that perfect dress has never been easy. This season’s obsession with all manner of embellishment- be it studs, sequins or shoulder pads- has made it all the more difficult to decide what to wear for that all important Christmas party.

Roland Mouret- a favourite designer of Victoria Beckham- who previously sent shock waves through fashion circles everywhere with his iconic ‘Galaxy’ dress may just have created this season’s ultimate party number.

Modelled by supermodel Heidi Klum at the launch party earlier this month, the Rainbow Project looks set to be a massive hit. More risqué than his usual collections, these thigh-skimming, brightly coloured numbers are certainly a departure from Mouret’s typically demure designs and are sure to make an impact as well as appealing to a younger audience. Of his new pieces, which come in colours such as hot pink, turquoise and mango, the designer himself has stated that ‘this collection is for young girls. The colours are really fresh, it’s a fresh attitude’.

Whilst the new dresses don’t come cheap- they are priced from £850- on the plus side you won’t even have to battle with the Christmas crowds to secure one of these coveted items- the range is available exclusively online at www.netaporter.com.

Art Basel – and the parties!

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

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This year’s Art Basel Miami Beach fair proved to be bigger than ever and the events around town were as well! The week started off with a party at MOCA hosted by Vanity Fair, which was held at the museum’s courtyard where guests mingled and enjoyed cocktails and nibbles while viewing the current exhibition. The following day, the New York based gallery Deitch Projects hosted an event at The Raleigh with a special performance by Santigold. Parisienne hot spot Le Baron had their usual pop up -this year the club was at the Delano’s Florida Room.

Celebrities, socialites and artists alike all attended throughout the week; for those lucky enough to make it through the door you might have found yourself rubbing elbows with Jay Jopling, Andre Balazs or L’Officiel Homme’s Milan Vukmirovic along with former MTV VJ Jesse Camp and New York “it” girls Fabiola Beracasa and Genevieve Jones. On Thursday night, The W hotel was the place to be with a private dinner hosted by Cartier at Mr. Chow followed by a party for Alex Delal, Stavros Niarchos and Vito Schnabel at the hotel’s club The Wall -I recall the quote for the evening being “Schnabel lockdown” as the line to get into the hotel for either party went as far back as the parking lot.

On Friday, the chic Miami boutique, The Webster hosted an intimate cocktail reception for designers Viktor & Rolf followed by a private dinner by Caviar Kaspia. As the evening progressed so did the number of events, with a highlight being photographer Bruce Weber’s model-heavy soirée at The Standard hotel. Later in the evening the week’s most highly anticipated event, Visionnaire had their annual party at The Delano hotel, the event was in typical Visionnaire style a mix of big names from art and fashion including the New York Times T editor, Stefano Tonchi.

Finally on Saturday night the New York club, The Box had a pop up at Nikki Beach featuring their notorious and at times scandalous burlesque show while a few blocks down the penthouse and pool area of the Raleigh set the scene for David La Chapelle’s party which went on till the wee hours of the morning. Between the art, fashion and design all going on in Miami in addition to the slew of events, this week’s fair made for a truly sensory experience.

Trendy hipster or fashion victim?

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

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Sure, we all longed to try on the Titanic ‘Heart of the Ocean’ gemstone, considered dressing like an action hero when Lara Croft came onto the movie scene, and maybe even popped out to buy some Harry Potter specs, but somehow the Twilight film series has captured the imaginations of an unusually large number and variety of designers.

Described by Vogue as the hottest colour for winter 09/10, the ‘intoxicating twilight hues’ seem set to become a staple part of any trendsetter’s wardrobe. With a multitude of designers paying homage to the film- albeit indirectly- the colour is set to become ubiquitous this party season. Everything from Chanel’s blue satin nail varnish right up to Alexander Wang’s mini sequined dress have been inspired by the blockbuster films.

If it’s the official merchandise you’re after then Nordstrom is the place to go, although such was the frenzy surrounding the launch last month that it’s almost certainly sold out by now. Anyhow, wouldn’t you rather avoid looking like a teenage groupie and instead achieve cutting edge cool this winter?

The second installment of the Twilight series, New Moon, is out now.

www.twilightthemovie.com

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