The Dubya

Went to the official launch of the W hotel last night, with my lovely friend Colin.

They had divided the floors into North, East, South & West London rooms, North was W lounge & the Wyld club, hosted by Fran Cutler and the W band, West was hosted by Jade Jaggers Jezebel, South was the screening room, hosted by Horse Meat Disco and East was in the W Studios on the second floor
Our gang were hosting the East London room (naturally) Mr Jonny Woo being master of proceedings, alongside Holestar, John Sizzle & the Horsemeat disco boys the music was AMAZING we barely left the light up dancefloor they had installed, it was definatly the best room by far and had a cute market stall with Patrick Cox glittery cakes and they served a gin cocktail in pretty tea cups
The lovely Elliot Atkinson was in attendance, who I havn't seen for years, he was very pleased to hear I'd been singing his praises last week whilst doing some consulting on fashion & technology trends (isn't it funny how that happens? you speak about someone and they pop up soon after)
We did do some exploring, to the Wyld room where we caught the first bit of Alexa Chungs set and bumped into Domenic Jones, a face from our scene doing very well with his jewellery collections, didn't stay too long in that room though as it seemed too full of men in suits (I prefer mine in heels & make up ;-) )
We couldnt get into the main part of the room for the W supergroup set (Roger Daltrey and The Clash, introduced by Kate Moss- that will be why then, it was packed tighter than a can of sardines)
Apparantly Miss Moss came up to the East room, and was by the DJ box for ages, but I didn't spot her or any of the other celebrities in attendance (to busy chatting and dancing with friends) did share a lift with Jade Jagger though, who had the most beautiful hair.
The hotel had given a few rooms to the performers, which meant we could rest our feet a wee while and have a little lie down, which was a very welcome addition to the nights proceedings
We watched some of the films in the screening rooms, where they served popcorn and tequila shots
Super fun was had by all, lots of friends were there to enjoy the night with, the venue was really lovely, as were all the bar staff and waiters, all in all a fabulous night in a gorgeous venue
Probably drank a bit too much champagne (oops!) so I put myself into a cab home at some disgraceful hour, head was a tad fuzzy this morning...oh well, it is my birthday on Friday, may as well have a warm up!

more pictures to come later- as I had my Iphone stolen last week, I will have to get them from friends.....

No Call For Celebration

Apparantly Kanye West has now decided to jump on the band wagon and release his own range of clothing.
Grrrreat. There really are enough ugly clothes in the world already without this megalomaniac inflicting more upon us.
This all makes my heart sink, as celebrity as designer really is nothing to celebrate.
Its a sad testament to our celebrity obsessed culture that every five minutes another one feels the need to slap their name on some shoddy old garments, in the hope of making even more money for themselves or believes that the British public are so stupid they will lap it up, even if the clothes are second rate.


It really is hard enough being a designer as it is - you have to constantly fight battles with your buyers to get anything new or directional and interesting into your ranges (as they tend to be reactionary beings, who look at past sales to guide them- this is why you often see the same garments in different colours season after season....) 

The only celebrity who seems to be doing a good job with their range is Victoria Beckham (and I strongly suspect this is because she is savvy enough to have help doing it- I really don't believe for a moment she oversee's the entire thing)

The Beth Ditto range was a good move however- as for larger girls there is very little on the high street (when working as a stylist for Basement Jaxx, I could find nothing at all for the singers- sizes 16 & 20 and ended up making 90% of their stagewear as a result) so her range was a welcome one, as this sector of the public is pretty much ignored by most fashion stores.

Apparantly, the biggest selling celebrity fashion range is Jessica Simpsons. $750 million last year. She sells everything from bags to shoes, clothes, luggage, fragrance...thankfully only in America

Just look at these beauties....I'd rather carry a colostomy bag.


For every good range (Nicole Richie) there are five bad ones (50 Cent, Fergie- who would want to dress like either of those two?! I could go on.....)

So Kanye please- leave it alone, or the next time you play a gig, I'm going to come along with a mic and a megaphone and tread all over your toes, we'll see how you like it....

Sucéss De Scandale?

Its been impossible to ignore the scandal surrounding John Galliano this week.
Last week we had reports he had made anti semitic insults to a couple in a bar (which he claims were untrue, and actually retaliation at them mistaking him for a tramp and asking him to 'move away, you are ugly', Mr G was understandably upset at this and proceeded to insult the womans 'dirty whore voice' and ugly handbag (all fair enough so far, some people will insist on lugging around nasty accessories)

However, the whole thing has taken a turn for the worse, when video footage of him (apparently from December) making similar comments emerged.....in the video he is seen to remark "I love Hitler" and go onto make comments about gas chambers and suchlike......he is very drunk in the footage, and we don't see what was said before to him (I suspect he was wound up by these people) but it isn't a great co-incidence and will be very hard for him to deny now.....

Dior suspended him early this week, and today they terminated his employment officially.

I'm always one for giving people the benefit of the doubt- there are two sides to every story, there is also a very often manipulative media at play (how do we know these people in this bar are not members of the press? or perhaps undercover fashion mafia intent on ousting Galliano from his position at Dior??) there are rumblings Dior wanted rid of him for some time - artistic temperaments are not always easy to handle, and he has been in the position since 1996.

We probably won't ever know the real truth- if in fact he is anti semitic or if he's been stitched up.
I always find it hard to comprehend when anyone is racist or homophobic (an eternal optimist, I find it difficult to understand how anyone could hold such views in this day and age, but I know the sad fact is some people still do) its just very hard to believe someone who could create such beauty could hold such ugly thoughts.

There is also the fact he was drinking alone - and to excess...this is not a good sign (and alcohol in that amount never brings out the best in anyone, in fact people can behave in ways that are completely out of character that they can't even remember) so this should also be take into account.
However, what should also be taken into account is he would be producing around six collections per year, not to mention overseeing accessories for his own line & Dior, so no wonder he needed a drink. This is a lot for any designer to undertake, and the pressure cannot be underestimated.

What we should also look at is his changing appearance- is this surgery (which is very apparent) some kind of Micheal Jackson inner torture? or simply a gay man conforming to the pressure that they (and we women) feel to stay young and beautiful?  
Whatever the truth of the matter is, I hope Mr Galliano get the help and support he needs and deserves, as you can't deny he is one of our generations greatest talents. I hope he can rise above this murkey business and repair the damage to his reputation, and if he does have some inner turmoil, that it can now be addressed before he goes the way of that other fashion great who's problems were perhaps ignored until they were too late, Mr Alexander McQueen.