Flash Your Lash

MERCI - New store in Paris
A new store with a philanthropic (the word du jour) nature has opened in Paris and I think its one of the most beautiful shops in the world, and I would like to think I know a lot about shops. This high- fashion ,home accessories and art concept store donates all its profits, after production costs, to charity!! Amazing really and great that you don’t have to feel so guilty about making purchases, instead it makes the customer think about value which is refreshing compared to the showy off-ness of brands in recent years. The space is huge and over 4 floors and is quite breathtaking with an eclectic mix of very sexy product. There is even a café / library with second hand books that are donated by the locals and a flower shop at the entrance, plus a courtyard. Display of the product is exquisite and understated, more gallery like in appearance and the carrier bags are worth going in for alone.
I felt envious that this store is in Paris, but it’s a great excuse to visit more often, as WISH will be doing in the near future (watch this space!!)
Merci Website (its under construction still but bookmark it for later)

TREEHOUSES 

For no other reason other than the fact that it was a childhood dream and now an adult fantasy. How cool are treehouses especially these kind of futuristic ones. Art, engineering , carpentry and habitation all in one. Bliss.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
One of the most exciting moments on the calendar for Autumn / Winter 2009 (for adults as well, let alone the kids!) is the release of the film adaptation of Maurice Sendaks 1963 book ‘Where The Wild Things Are’. This timeless story has been loved through generations by all ages. Myself included. This will be followed in Spring 2010 with Tim Burton’s 'Alice in Wonderland'. Its gonna be a fantasy frenzy, look out for some inspired and wacky fashion next year as a result.

EMPIRE OF THE SUN / FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE
These two bands amongst others are on repeat on my ipod. Somehow they both stand out in the crowd. The single ‘Walking On A Dream’ by Empire of the Sun (I know its not that new) is a genius summer feel good song and they look like characters from the 70s tv series Monkey Magic but in a gay way!
As for Florence, there's just something about her. A kind of pre-raphaelite / warrior women with mystical powers. Seeing the footage of them live at Glastonbury was amazing, especially as they hadn’t had an album out by then. Cant wait to see them at Lovebox. It takes guts to cover one of the biggest dance anthems of all time ‘You’ve got the love’ but somehow they pull it off.

LASHES
I cant believe I am actually going to talk about beauty. But here goes, I may even try this myself. This season the lashes have it (see pic of John Sizzle at Wish last month below). This is the evolution of a trend. Forget Drag Queen style stick on spiders! Faux lashes and semi permanent lashes have become an art form. Everyone’s at it! Cheryl Cole has been melting hearts across the land with the Bat of her fawn like fake lashes. Girls Aloud have developed their own exclusive range (superdrug) . Even masters of the Avant Garde Victor and Rolf sent the style savvy fashion bloggers wild with their sculptural take on the trend. This really is a trend democracy; lashes are a sure-fire way of making anyone and everyone look more sultry. My tip (not that I am biased) would be Shu Uemura at Selfridges.

BIG YELLOW FESTIVAL

It may seem a trifle sad to write about my day job but for May it really is worth writing about and sharing some great information and secrets , also I will be there pretty much for the whole month so wont be seeing anything or anyone else (other than WISH and FABRIC obviously) . The below will all be in Selfridges in Oxford st.

FREE GIGs!
Firstly every Friday night in May from 6pm will be some free gigs starting with a DJ at 6pm then the following acts. For those in the know most of these are very cool and up and coming acts, so catch them here first before the festival season rocket them to super stardom. VV Brown is the one not to be missed. Bonkers!

Patrick Wolf // Appaloosa // Ebony Bones // Frank Musik // Vv Brown

FASHION SHOWS AND FASHION DJS
Saturday afternoons in May there will be fashion shows on the escalators. Come and find out what you should be wearing to WISH and listen to tunes by

Giles Deacon // Henry Holland // PPQ // Nova Dando

GAY BINGO
For those of you who haven’t witnessed this cult phenomenon from the fabulous Jonny Woo come and see it over a cup of tea and a scone in your favourite department store. Every Friday afternoon in the Yellow café. Oh and you don’t have to be Gay! Honestly.

CABARET ON SUNDAYS
Bourgeois and Maurice // Gateau Chocolat // Ryan Styles // So and So Circus // Frisky and Mannish

FOR THE LOVE OF MARCH

GREAT FILMS
Well it’s a bit like the London buses, you wait for ages and then three come at once. There has been a run of brilliant films lately and it has rekindled my love of the cinema. Especially the non multiplex type. e.g. The Gate in Nottinghill or the Curzon in Richmond. My favourite film so far (with many more to see) is ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’ . Oh to be out of the dreary February grey blandness and living in the sunshine soaked Gaudi-loving Barcelona. A great tale of passion, love, and relationships. Not to mention that Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz get it on too! Bonus.

ALEXANDER WANG
NYC fashion week is suddenly looking a little less dull. Check out the gothic cycle shorts with biker boots! Bring on London Fashion Week. And for the boys. Check out McQueens menacing looking show. Very powerful and a bit Sweeney Todd. Can anyone spot the similarity between that model and Mr Tim Sheridan? Its early on in the fashion schedule but it looks like a dark autumn for 2009. How exciting!! NYFW website

ALBION
Conran's new eatery on Boundary Street. Check out Albion on the ground floor. Great favs such as bubble and squeak and shepherds pie and you don’t have to book and you don’t have to pay a ridiculous membership fee like its neighbour. Albion Website

FABRIC 42 MIXED BY LUCIANO
Now Kath mentioned this in a previous blog, but from a non DJ perspective this is the album to listen if you haven’t jumped over from house to techno yet. Believe me this is heaven to the ears, plus its absolutely genius. Either full volume in the car driving across London at night or on the ipod. Takes you to another place. Listen to this and then come and tell me that you think minimal is too bleep bleep and boring! Buy this CD or download from the iTunes store.

NEW MAGAZINE: 'LOVE'
Well in case you missed the massive billboards around town, today (wed 18th Feb) Conde Nast have published a new magazine which doesn’t happen very often. The editor in chief is the infamous Katie Grand. I am looking through it right now and I wanted not to like it. But I like it so far. The best thing is that the front cover is a great image of Beth Ditto naked. Read the foreword it’s a great statement about real women. Lets hope this marks a change in direction from botox babes, and ill skinny models.

BE BOLD FOR 2009!

DESIGN MUSEUM - HUSSEIN CHALAYAN
After several years of fairly boring fashion shows other than some at London Fashion Week and of course those of Alexander McQueen, I am hoping the new exhibition on the work of creative genius Hussein Chalayan at the Design Museum starting on Jan 22nd will boost all those young, up and coming fashion gurus to really think out of the box and push the boundaries conceptually again. There's a recession on apparently which means nothing is gonna sell anyway. So why not use this time to go mad, be bold and be daring and begin a new era of innovative British fashion. Read more about the upcoming exhibition on the Design Museum Website

COOKING FROM SCRATCH
As always we start January with the intention of saving money, dieting and generally being healthy. Normally all the clubs are closed and we can hibernate and watch numerous box sets on TV. I think we were all a bit ‘over’ Jamie Oliver with the school dinners thing and the ‘anyone can cook’ thing. BUT, take a look at ‘Jamie At Home’! I am not sure whether this series is new or I am watching repeats on Sky, but there is one word I have to say. JEALOUS! Here he is back to his best. He now seems to have a country house, a huge vegetable garden along with bearded gardener, an aga, an oven outside. And just to rub salt in the wounds sometimes he sits in the evening with candles lit in what seems like a rocking chair showing us how to cook something fabulous. There are also some great illustrations linking the scenes together. Highly recommended for a bit of inspiration for cooking at home. Is it too late for a career change? Jamie Oliver's website

NEW MAGAZINE - LOVE
Look out for the new bi-annual magazine called ‘love’, from the creative brain of Katie Grand. Launching in Feb 09. Promises to provide us all with some inspiration and knowledge of whatever is going to be cool for 2009 and beyond. Below is a pic of Aggy and Katie at the launch party at pop-up restaurant ‘Flash’

THE WORD ‘SIMPLICITY’
That’s gonna be my motto for this year. If it isn’t simple then don’t do it. Strip it back, bring it back to basics and avoid complication and drama. Check out our new WiSH website - that's exactly what we've done.

Various things of interest and inspiration I would recommend this month

1. MONKEY – Journey to the West

Now, for anyone who remembers the 70s version with the bad dubbing and the line ‘Pigsy, you stink like a pig!’ then this is a must. On the other hand if your too young but you love one or more of the following (Gorillaz, Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlitt, martial arts, acrobatics, acid, huge moving graphics, weird music and surreal set design) then this is right up your street. Its next door to the O2 which isn’t a pleasant experience but on your way out look at the people who are going to Matter. Lots of flesh and bad fashion. I was terrified! Official MONKEY website and buy tickets

2. The Alan Aldridge Exhibition [Design Museum] - ‘the man with Kaleidoscope eyes’

The guy who did all the psychedelic graphics for the Beatles including 'Yellow Submarine'. Walls, floors and ceilings covered in trippy large scale graphics. We will see this influence more and more over the coming year. Alan Aldridge on the Design Museum website

3. COMME des GARCONS for H&M Collection

And for the fashion peeps. H&M collaborate with Comme De Garcon. Now that is a collaboration not worth missing. Opening Thurs 13th Nov. Get there early or log onto ebay later.

4. Raf Simons collaborates with Eastpak

My favourite designer makes functional back packs cool. See here