British Fashion Awards

Last week Cara Delevingne was toasting the grand opening of London’s Leon Max boutique on Westbourne Grove. Last night at the British Fashion Awards at the Savoy she was crowned Model of the Year 2012. Is there no stopping the elfin Belgravia-born babe who the London Times knighted today as the “The New Kate Moss.” That’s one great rep to live up too. But if last night is anything to go by, as Jonathan Saunders and a heady fash pack swept around her post-award, she’s definitely got the UK-side industry’s nod of approval. Meanwhile Stella McCartney landed two of the big prizes - the designer brand award and the designer of the year award. What with designing the outfits for Team GBs Olympic efforts its been a big year for the designer. She confirmed she would be moving her show from Paris to London for next season, as she was handed her award by Salma Hayek. With Princess Beatrice handing out awards and Prime Minister’s wife hanging off the arm of Erdem, everyone could agree, it’s definitely been a good year for Fashion’s Team GB.

Contributing Editor: Richard Dennen

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Editor’s Picks: Holiday Parties

Associate Market Editor for Marie Claire, Preetma Singh, shares her favorite looks for upcoming holiday fetes. 

For the office party it’s all about a statement piece that maintains a sense of professional refinement. Her favorites include a cocktail coat, gold trousers, and a bustier top. 

The house party calls for a shout of personal style. For a borrowed from the boys look pair a sharp military inspired jacket with a pair of slim trousers. For a more feminine feel a draped festive red dress is the choice.

New Year’s Eve is about having fun with fashion. For a modern look pair a beaded cardigan with a pair of cocktail trousers and tights, or go classic with a playful LBD that’s sure to be a party favorite. 

Shop the Holiday Collection

Friday Night Fashion Fiesta

A fashion crowd looking for Friday night fun headed to the official launch of the Leon Max store on Westbourne Grove in London’s fashionable Notting Hill, followed by a packed and rock n’roll afterparty right round the corner at The Lonsdale with a performance from Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart of The Kills. The guestlist read like an A-Z of fashion hip; models Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne, Kristen McMenamy, Mary Charteris, Sascha Bailey (son of David), Leah and Natt Weller (children of Paul) as well as designers Matthew Williamson and Julien Macdonald. Friday night’s alright. 

Contributing Editor: Richard Dennen

Photo Credit: Dave Bennett

Editor’s Picks: The Cape

A visible trend on the Autumn/Winter 2012 runways, the Maxstudio cape has been a favorite of fashion editors and celebrities alike. Go holiday dressy chic with the metallic jacquard cape, everyday wear in the single breasted cape or Lisbeth Salander edgy in the smooth leather cape.

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Marie Claire & Maxstudio Host ‘Fall for Fashion’ in Soho

As the sun set over the NYC skyline, an excited swarm of Manhattan women piled into Maxstudio’s Soho location for an evening of fun and fashion. Co-hosted by Marie Claire Magazine, this exclusive shopping event promised a peek at the hottest trends of the season along with how-to-wear tips straight from the mouths of the magazine’s own style experts.

Tackling this tricky time of year where the arrival of incredibly cold weather coincides with an onslaught of party invitations and social engagements, Marie Claire’s Madison Shoop shared some secrets on building the perfect looks for the season with her must-have pieces from the collection.

And after a bit of bubbly and some socializing, the ladies headed out into the night, armed with some new fashion knowledge and some seriously chic clothes. 

Here are Madison’s Must-Haves:

Cashmere Sweater

“This is a luxurious piece that can function as both a cover up like a cardigan or as outerwear. The soft and rich cashmere makes it an ideal layer for the Fall to Winter transition and though super stylish, it’s perfectly office appropriate.”

Wide Leg Crepe Trousers

“These trousers speak for themselves and are a piece that should be in every woman’s wardrobe. The wide-leg, menswear inspired cut is so chic and timeless. With styling a statement piece like these, it’s best to keep the rest of the look simple.”

Woven Fur Jacket

“For a festive occasion or cocktail party, this voluminous fur jacket is a dramatic layer to pile on. I love how it looks worn over intricately detailed dresses or tops to create interesting depth and contrast.”

Caped Jacket

“This wonderful cape ties and cinches in all of the right places and can be worn over everything from a sweater dress to leggings and a button-down. This season is all about layering and getting a relaxed yet sophisticated look, which this piece perfectly embodies.”

Shop the Fall Collection

Hitchcock Style Guide

The untouchable film genius is having his fashion moment. First, the summer in London saw the British Film Institute host a season of showing the entire oeuvre of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies. Now, two films on this ultimate director of suspense and blondes, the creator of North by North West and Rear Window, have snuck up upon us with the screech of a fiddle. What better a time to embrace the early 60s pep and prep of the nuanced Hitchcock style, all prim and sophisticat, well-cut and sexy twin-set and pearls. Sienna Miller stars as Tipi Hendren, of ‘The Birds’. Meanwhile ‘Hitchcock’ is an intelligent and amusing movie based on the making of Hitchcock’s horror masterpiece, ‘Psycho.’ Anthony Hopkins plays the director, with Helen Mirren as his wife Alma Reville - tired of her husband’s obsession with his leading blondes and epicurean ways - and Scarlett Johansson, Janet Leigh. “What if someone good made a horror picture?” he asks his wife, who wears the same white bra and slip that Janet Leigh wears in ‘Psycho’s opening sequence, in the movie. What indeed.

Shop the Autumn/Winter Collection 

A Model’s Styling Tips for the Holidays: Bianca

Statement pieces are a holiday must have. Bold dresses and a pair of stand out gold trousers are festive without being overstated. While staple outerwear pieces such as the cape and trench coat are the perfect finishing touch to keep out winter chill.

Shop the Holiday Collection

The British are Coming!      

Just as Autumn was relinquishing it’s grips to Winter all over Europe last week, the world of fashion came to Los Angeles for a few last days of sunshine with a double feature combo of the British Fashion Council’s “London Showrooms” where a select group of fashion designers are invited over to meet head celebrity stylists and media and The Vogue Fashion Funds finalists’ fashion show, held at The Chateau Marmont.  

Needless to say, the meeting of the two events called for a party! The festivities were scheduled towards the end of the week and as Wednesday rolled along I jumped at the invitation to the British Fashion Council’s drinks party at the Mondrian pool with a subsequent dinner hosted by Victoria Beckham and Anna Wintour.  

Upon arrival at The Mondrian, the tight black jeans, white t-shirt and leather jacket, LA uniform was checked at the door and the pleated tailoring of Marios Schwab, the brilliantly eclectic and timeless textiles and unique shapes of Mary Katrantzu, the street chic of Aitor Throup’s exhibition and of course the innovative and pastels of Nicholas Kirkwood’s new shoes were on display.  It was just like a little bit of London- poolside.

I arrived wearing a beautiful navy blue Spencer Hart suit from Savile Row and red velvet heels and found everyone, including my favorite designer of the moment, Louise Gray, looking eye wateringly cool in their own designs.     

The next night saw the fashion’s elite head over to The Chateau Marmont for the Vogue Fashion Fund’s finalist dinner.  The result was dazzling and the red carpet looked something more like an Awards Ceremony than an up and coming fashion show’s celebration, but luckily, Hollywood’s A-list managed to keep the fun upbeat energy that you only get when you discover something new and exciting and really let their hair down- which is rare as a gloomy day in LaLa Land.

Guests included Brits David Beckham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as well as Jennifer Aniston, Katy Perry, Emma Roberts and Gwen Stefani. 

Contributing Editor: Margo Stilley

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Make Me a Winner: British Fashion Awards 2011

The Savoy, London’s grande dame of a hotel, had a taste of 21st century cool when the British Fashion Awards and iconic Kate Moss, the Prime Minister’s wife Samantha Cameron, and models Katia Elizarova wearing Max Studio and Poppy Delevigne in Matthew Williamson – hit it. It didn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Sarah Burton, the designer at Alexander McQueen, won Designer of the Year. Remember that a half a million visited the ‘Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty’ exhibition at the Met in New York and about the same number queued to see Kate Middleton’s wedding dress on display at Buckingham Palace. Sam Gainsbury, who created the Met exhibition, won the ‘Isabella Blow award for fashion creator’. Meanwhile one of Issie’s greatest friends, Daphne Guinness, was having creation issues of her own - her contraption of a bizarre Cubist dress (it was made of patent leather hexagons like something from the mind of futurist Buckminster Fuller) was not only excruciatingly uncomfortable but also (and in front of the paparazzi) a bit - ahem – revealing. But even a Worst Dressed award for an Oscar outfit a decade ago didn’t put Kate Hudson off from handing Stella McCartney her ‘Red Carpet’ award: “It was my first and only nomination and to have Stella dress me made me feel like the hippest girl in the world. But I woke up the next morning post-awards without a statuette - and turned on the television to find out I was on every Worst Dressed list.” She phoned Stella and they laughed about it, the designer replying, “It was your hair wasn’t it?” (She had a point.) Meanwhile Victoria Beckham won ‘Designer Brand’ and was presented with her gong by Marc Jacobs: “Without David I wouldn’t have the courage to do what I’m doing,” she said sweetly of her LA Galaxy superstar footie husband who was galaxies away from The Savoy touring Indonesia. Stella Tennant won ‘Model of the Year’ and well-deserved it was! Later that night at the post-ceremony dinner a Christopher Kane-wearing Alexa Chung toyed with her award  – it was the ‘British Style’ award – smug in the knowledge that it was hers for a second year running. And the only award decided by public vote.

Contributing Editor: Richard Dennen

Photo Credit:

Tim Whitby/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Dave M. Benett/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Make Mine a MoCA: MOCA Gala 2011

This was taking ‘interesting’ table decorations to a whole new level. Artist Marina Abramovic maybe  known for staging mildly titillating displays of nudity as performance art but once guests at the Museum of Contemporary Art fundraiser in Los Angeles sat down for dinner they realised things were going to be a little different this time. Live actors were cleverly concealed underneath the tables – with their heads serving as the centrepieces. Now to have ones table setting set up in a disturbing stare down with your guests would definitely appear to be one way of keeping their attention. Perhaps the guests, who included Gwen Stefani, Kirsten Dunst and Tilda Swinton, shouldn’t have been surprised. After all wasn’t this the woman who posed for the cover of Visionaire’s 60^th issue breastfeeding Riccardo Tisci? Well who doesn’t love a bit of Givenchy. It was also last year that Abramovic unleashed her ‘The Artist is Present’ onto an otherwise noisy New York. Yes this was a 736-hour, 30 minute, silent, unmoving piece where she sat out life in the entrance hall of MoMA while visitors would take turns in sitting with her. It even spawned its own facebook support group where groupies could share their passion for ‘Sitting with Marina.’ But staring at this centrepiece wasn’t the only treat in store for the MoCA diners; they also had the joy of jostling near to the large, round tables replete with nude young women of varying desirability piled with skeletons on top of them. Who knows how many men got into trouble with their dates for chatting up a table display, surely a first, even for those managing the complexities of Los Angelean social life. It was all amusing enough and after Debbie Harry had sung it was time for pudding. Of course, this was pudding in the shape of Debbie and Marina and brought out ceremoniously by a crew of bare-chested buff young men only to be cut up into little pieces which were then prompty devoured by the likes of California Governor Jerry Brown, LA  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Dita Von Teese, Nicolas Berggruen, assorted Hollywood movers and shakers as well as rich patrons, art hustlers of various ranks and their hangers on. You get the picture. And who got the juiciest slice of Debbie Harry? Our bet is that it was LA’s uber-philanthropist, Eli Broad. And with the dinner raising $2.5million maybe eyeballing  a dining table’s centrepiece is set to be the ‘dernier cri.’

Contributing Editor: Richard Dennen

Photo Credit:

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Todd Williamson/WireImage/Getty Images

Irina Shayk & Bar Refaeli presenting, Lady Gaga Performing at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards 

MTV Magic: Europe Music Awards 2011

30 years ago MTV rolled out across the world like some sort of hip behemoth roller coaster of cool kids. From it’s opening day when it opened with Buggles’ ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ (though there was no reception in New York – the founders had to go to a bar in New Jersey to watch it air) to the reality tv show nirvana it is now, it’s been unstoppable. And when it’s European Music Awards landed in Northern Ireland’s Belfast it was business as usual. But had Belfast factored in Bieber-fever? This is the madness of the screaming tweenoiserie that camp outside any hotel in the world where pop puppy Justin Bieber has taken up residence. And as his 19 year old girlfriend Selena Gomez was presenting the awards this sent their embryo fans into even more of a manic spin. But perhaps after years of violence this was just the tonic Belfast needed?

At the awards Jessie J rocked it in leopard print before yo-yoing into a Dali-esque bodysuit. Katy Perry looked cute as a cucumber in platform brogues, a pink leather jacket and a pastel mini dress nodding to the ‘40s. All crowned with her pink retro-waved hair – well, that is one strong look. Of course Lady Gaga wasn’t going to let them down either. She appeared better than strange in slinky silver Paco Rabanne but with a Philip Treacy circular hat that completely obscured her face. A veritable Isabella Blow Mark II Moment. “I couldn’t hear what she was saying,” said Bar Refaeli, the Israeli supermodel, after Gaga had bowed before her on the stage. But it seems not even grown-ups are immune to Le Bieber; “I felt like a 14 year old fan. He’s the cutest boy I’ve ever seen. He looks like a little baby, I said can I just give you a high-5? It was the highlight of my day.” As Buggles sang in 1981: “We can’t re-wind we’ve gone too far.”

Contributing Editor: Richard Dennen

Photo Credit:

Ian Gavan/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Kevin Mazur/Wireimage/Getty Images

Halloween 2011

This was the year the Day of the Dead went supersonic. In Mexico two days of ceremonial for the ‘Dia de Muertos’ is par for the course. For the rest of us one outfit a year is enough, with little thought of a thousand year old Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl. Maybe she was raising the bar this time? Maybe it was because it fell on a Monday giving everyone the excuse for three nights of partying (and three different costumes)? Or maybe it was just the need for a bit of escapism? Whatever. Everyone was far too busy dressing-up to care. In New York, for the social-fashion A-list there was only one party to be seen at; Allison Sarofim’s. She threw a ‘Cabaret’ theme party which brought a taste of the inflation-friendly Weimar Republic, and the Kit Kat Club of the famous musical, back for the likes of Marc Jacobs, Lynn Wyatt and Jamie Johnson. Bianca Brandolini d’Adda cosied up to a banknote-covered Giambattista Valli, Hamish Bowles channeled Marlene Dietrich. You get the picture. Downtown things were naughtier; Prabal Gurung was cross-dressing in heels (of his own design, natch) for his ‘Sisters’ bash (and sisters meant of the Kardashian or Olsen kind). Meanwhile Dree Hemingway stuck out as an original in a backless French maid’s outfit in a sea of Wonder Women and Black Swan-style ballerinas at the Boom Boom Room. Nothing terrifying about that. In Beverly Hills blonde billionheiress was the name of the game; Petra Ecclestone went for sexy Jessica Rabbit while BFF, Paris Hilton arrived as cartoon character She-Ra. That coupling? Now that’s scary. Meanwhile in London a derelict Royal Mail sorting office in the West End became the venue for the flash ‘Squat Monsters Ball.’ Invitations arrived with a text and directions to the secret location. 30 sound systems, 200 djs and 18 hours later it was time for it to be shut down. Even the Aztecs might have been impressed by that.

Contributing Editor: Richard Dennen

Photo Credit: Patrick McMullan 

Artists We Love: Pixie Geldof

Pixie Geldof (wearing Leon Max Spring 2012) Everyone at the Easton Neston summer party was blown away by the loud voice within the slender frame of Pixie Geldof, the 22 year old daughter of pop legend Sir Bob, as she took to the stage wearing orange with her unsigned band, ‘Violet.’ Since showcasing at the Sanderson hotel earlier in the summer the ex-student and model’s band (they’ve got some catchy tunes, You’re Wrong’ is strong,) has already been gigging around Europe – “We’re big in Germany,” she jokes, “but I’m glad we’re not treated differently from other acts because of my father. It makes me feel that I am being taken more seriously.”

Contributing Editor: Richard Dennen (written in reference to Pixie’s performance at Leon Max’s summer party in London)

England Expects: Leon Max Easton Neston Inauguration Party

It was the last party of the summer before England emptied and went on holiday but as guests wandered the lawns of stately pile Easton Neston, its lights twinkling down on the Long Water on an early evening in late July, thinking about the beach wasn’t even on the agenda. Guests had been greeted by footmen in livery, the bar was in full swing, the air alive with chatter and laughter, and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot. Northamptonshire was having a Great Gatsby moment as Leon Max had decided to throw open his house for a dance. “Pixie Geldof’s performance was the highlight for me,” he said, “she looked amazing in that orange dress. She was almost better than I thought she’d be.” Pixie’s band, Violet, played as model of the moment Edie Campbell partied with jewellery designer Lara Bohinc and the shoe designer Nick Kirkwood and writer, Plum Sykes. But it wasn’t just the fashion crowd who were out in force; the best of British toffery was there too; auctioneer Lord Dalmeny, gallerist Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst, Detmar Blow came with Bianca, Lady Eliot. There was gilded Europe - Nicolas Niarchos and Nikolai von Bismarck - as well as young London, model Suki Waterhouse, Charlie Astor, the Hon. Antalya Nall-Cain who had come with her father Lord Brocket, actor Alfie Allen and a rocker from Big Pink, Robbie Furze. Old-school style he had asked three friends to ‘co-host’ it; Josephine de la Baume, the French actress and musician on the cusp of marrying music superstar Mark Ronson, the model, dj and girl-about-town, Mary Charteris, - both of whom would go on to star as the faces of the A/W11 campaign - and the writer, Richard Dennen. “The party was to inaugurate the design studio and introduce it to a certain group of people,” Leon explained. And what a fabulous way to do it.

Contributing Editor: Richard Dennen

Loulou de la Falaise

“The ideal mix for a party is the very rich, the very poor, writers, painters, voyeurs and exhibitionists. And some famous names of course.” With the death of Loulou de la Falaise has the last of the great muses passed? A true fashion aristocrat, no one epitomized the glamour and chic of Yves St Laurent’s world in the ‘70s and ‘80s than this daughter of the Count and Countess Alain de la Falaise, later the Marquis de la Coudraye. Her Anglo-Irish mother, Maxime, underground film actress and Schiaparelli muse, was the model Cecil Beaton described as the “the only truly chic Englishwoman.” Rumour was that she was baptised with Shiaparelli’s perfume ‘Shocking’ instead of holy water – whatever the truth Loulou would grow up to be feted as ‘the quintessential Rive Gauche haute bohemienne.’ Basically, no one was as classy and cool.

She’d met Yves St Laurent in the late ’60s and it was said that it was her one-of-a-kind style that was the inspiration for his 1966 ‘Le Smoking;’ the look that smashed fashion definitions and inspired an androgynous style that swept through the rest of the century and is still alive and kicking well into this one. And from the early ‘70s she was the fulcrum of his couture company, working specifically on the jewellery and accessories (her style was chunky, clunky and colourful) as well as inspiring YSL with her day-to-day wardrobe. And that could have been anything from her innate exotic Gypsy jet set style, to something more Marlene Dietrich. But it’s a hard life being 24 hour fabulous. “For me, a muse is someone who looks glamorous but is quite passive,” she once said, “whereas I was very hard-working. I worked from 9am to sometimes 9pm. I certainly wasn’t passive.” Au revoir Loulou.

Contributing Editor: Richard Dennen