Design Of The Year

Design Of The Year

THE Duchess of Cambridge's Sarah Burton-designed royal wedding dress is up against the Olympic torch for the Design of the Year, awarded by the Design Museum. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition is also nominated.

Other contenders in the fashion category include Mary Katrantzou's and Céline'sautumn/winter 2011-12 collections;Vivienne Westwood's Ethical Fashion Africa Collection; and shoe company Melissa's collaboration with Gaetano Pesce

SEE CELINE AND KATRANTZOU HERE

A winner will be chosen in the Fashion category - as well as in the six other categories: Architecture, Digital, Furniture, Graphics, Product and Transport - by a panel of experts, before an overall Design of the Year is chosen. The winners will be announced at an Awards Night held at the Design Museum on April 24.

For more information visit designmuseum.org.

YOU SHOULD SEE: The royal wedding dress up close...

YOU SHOULD SEE: Inside the Savage Beauty exhibition...

Source: VOGUE - LAUREN MILLIGAN 11 January  2012

A Year In Vogue

A Year In Vogue

THIS year saw musicians, including Rihanna and Adele, grace their first Vogue cover - whilst the world's most beautiful models - from Gisele Bundchen to Rosie Huntington-Whiteley - also had their moment. Here's the year in Vogue:

JANUARY: Cover girl Keira Knightley talked about her shyness, as Mario Testino captured her in Miu Miu, Sonia Rykiel, Prada and Marni.

FEBRUARY: Victoria Beckham graced her eighthVogue cover;  Sarah Burton talked life after McQueen; and Alexa Chung grilled Christopher Kane on his kind of woman.

MARCH: A delighted Rosie Huntington-Whiteley secured her first solo Vogue cover, cleavage and tumbling hair included, whilst inside Miuccia Prada's  fashion-transformation skills were explored in The Alchemist.

APRIL: Kate Winslet appeared on the cover for the third time, sporting a pale blonde crop, and talked for the first time about her split from husband Sam Mendes and her future plans. Inside, Lindsey Wixson was the girl of the month, starring in two - very different - fashion shoots.

MAY: Vogue's royal wedding issue dressed Lara Stone, Natalia Vodianova and Freja Beha-Erichsen as brides for Mario Testino - in what was the first multi-cover issue in the magazine's almost-100-year history.

JUNE: A very colourful Alexa Chung cover bounced us in to spring, but the tone inside the pages was more sombre. The turbulent "Arab spring" was examined by writer Rana Kabbani in Road To Revolution, whilst Paolo Roversi's Neo Geisha shoot took inspiration from the then-recently troubled nation of Japan: both its heritage and its cutting-edge modernity.

JULY: Vogue's Ageless Style issue delved in to the secrets of those women who always look impeccable, no matter their age, including cover girl Vanessa Paradis - who also deigned to show her engagement ring from Johnny Depp for the first time.

AUGUST: Fresh from her July wedding to Jamie Hince, supermodel Kate Moss added another Vogue cover to her impressive tally - and sported the season's classic, Forties-inspired looks for Mario Testino inside.

SEPTEMBER: The biggest issue of the year saw one of the year's biggest models, Freja Beha-Erichsen, wear the season's most coveted dress - Dolce & Gabbana green sequins - on the cover, as the magazine unveiled the trends to know in the coming months.

OCTOBER: Multi-award-winning British songstress Adele became one of the magazine's most popular issues of the year in October, and explained in an interview inside why if she was to become the face of any brand it would be "full-fat Coke!".

NOVEMBER: In a blonde Marilyn Monroe-wig and trademark pout, Rihanna made her Vogue cover debut - whilst inside, the year's most sought-after model, Karlie Kloss, channelled Studio 54 for Terry Richardson.

DECEMBER: Clad in vibrant, metallic Pam Hogg leggings, the world's first billionaire supermodel, Gisele Bundchen, graced her 13^th Vogue cover, surrounded by balloons.

Source: VOGUE - LAUREN MILLIGAN 22 December 2011

The next chapter of Lee McQ

After Lee

SARAH BURTON has revealed that, almost two years since the death of the "genius" Lee Alexander McQueen, she is glad she agreed to take over as his former label's creative director.

"He was such a genius; inspiring and funny and an incredible man," she said. "I could never pretend to be him but when I look back now, I'm glad that I took the job - because it kept the studio alive in his spirit, and it kept the team together. Because what did he work so hard for all those years if it was all just going to disappear?"

SEE MCQUEEN'S LIFE IN PICTURES

Burton spoke as McQueen launched its first store in Beijing in October, in a just-released film created in collaboration with Hong Kong store Joyce. The designer, who also made the Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress this year, spoke about the creation of this season's most intricate dresses: the "broken plate" gowns - giving an idea of just what goes in to the famously couture-esque collection.

"We took a cast of a body and poured the porcelain so it fitted that body," Burton explained. "Then we hand-painted ten different plates, dissected them as if they were broken and then we engineered the image on to a bodice. Then we hand-cut all the pieces out from the mould we had and then we made each of those pieces again individually and numbered them. It was like a jigsaw puzzle!"

YOU SHOULD SEE: The collection's other porcelain creation here...

YOU SHOULD SEE: Catherine's latest McQueen look...

Source: VOGUE - LAUREN MILLIGAN 21 December 2011

The British Fashion Awards Winners

The BFA Winners

SARAH BURTON of Alexander McQueen won the prestigious Designer of the Year accolade at the2011 British Fashion Awards, which took place at London's Savoy Hotel this evening.

SEE ALL THE AWARD PICTURES

Victoria Beckham took home the Best Designer Brand prize, beating off competition from Tom Ford, Stella McCartney and Burberry, but that's not to say McCartney herself was left empty handed - her label received the Red Carpet Award.Stella Tennant was named Britain's Model of the Year.

In terms of new designer names, Mary Katrantzou was given the Emerging Talent Womenswear Ready-To-Wear honour, with Christopher Raeburn winning the category's menswear equivalent. Christopher Kane was announced as the winner of the Awards' debut New Establishment prize.

The full list of winners:

Designer of the Year: Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen

Designer Brand: Victoria Beckham

New Establishment Award: Christopher Kane

Menswear Designer: Kim Jones

Accessory Designer: Charlotte Olympia

Red Carpet Award: Stella McCartney

Emerging Talent Award - Ready-To-Wear: Mary Katrantzou

Emerging Talent Award - Menswear: Christopher Raeburn

Emerging Talent Award - Accessories: Tabitha Simmons

Model: Stella Tennant

BFC Outstanding Achievement: Paul Smith

Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator: Sam Gainsbury

British Style Award: Alexa Chung

YOU SHOULD SEE: All the red carpet pictures...

YOU SHOULD SEE: The full BFA nominee list...

YOU SHOULD SEE: What Paul Smith told us about his award...

Source: VOGUE - ELLA ALEXANDER 28 November 2011

December Vogue

VOGUE - December 11 Issue

December Vogue

GISELE's cover may be all everyone has been talking about for weeks, but the rest of the December issue of Vogue has plenty to offer too.

Ok, so, let's get it out of the way. She's Electric - that Gisele feature - sees the ultimate supermodel work the brights trend as only she can whilst chatting to Christa D'Souza about everything from her son Benjamin's yoga birth, to life with her five sisters, to what her family eats (broccoli for dessert, and red meat - but not without praying first). You must read it. You must see the pictures. Or you won't know what all your friends are talking about tomorrow.

SEE INSIDE DECEMBER'S VOGUE

Other than the golden-haired one, the magazine charts 2011's people to celebrate, including Sarah Burton and James Corden; Terry Richardson rounds up all of New York's most talked-about names - from Justin Theroux to Charlotte Free; Charlotte Sinclair meets the most interesting 14-year-old in film, Chloe Moretz; and Tim Walker heads to Mongolia to capture its surreal beauty as only he can.

With Christmas in mind, shopping as well as celebration is high on the agenda, so Vogue's list of the 115 best gifts this year will help get you started, while The Long Game might make you reconsider your short party dresses in favour of something more dramatic.

SEE INSIDE VOGUE'S DECEMBER ISSUE

Source: VOGUE - LAUREN MILLIGAN 31 October 2011