Me...

Photo by Jared Sych!

I have been a little AWOL as of late what with it being summer and all. Working and trying to squeeze the last little bits of fun out of it have left me Blog poor! One of the things is happening right now and it's in Avenue Magazine! I have the honour of being in the contributor's section since I contributed (I styled the awesome Ania B for the Style Q&A, post to follow!). 


The picture was taken when my pal Jared Sych came over to take my portrait for the cool jobs issue (post to follow!) and they were nice enough not to use anything with a double chin etc. People have been asking me for baked goods ever since.

Style Q&A Mikey Da Roza

This month's Avenue magazine cover features the Style Q&A I styled with  the owner and DJ from Habitat Living Sound, Mikey Da Roza!  This was really fun for me because not only is Mikey super cool but he has a LOT of clothes! It was so fun to go through a guy's closet and put together looks for him, some of which he hasn't worn in a while. He had some really great patterns and such fun colors that I couldn't resist them. Especially since we were shooting in the evening and night you need items that will punch through the darkness. We shot in and around the Connaught area of Calgary where Mikey's bar is. The art Director Mason Hastie and Jared Sych did a brilliant job as usual with the pics and I love it when I get to work with them, it is ALWAYS a super fun time. It was really cold when we shot this but we were lucky to have no snow or rain and I think Mikey did a great job looking like he wasn't freezing!


Check out the whole interview in Avenue Magazine and you can see all the photos on my facebook page.

The Fitting Room

The new We Like We Love magazine is out with the Hipstamatic fashion story that we have been dying to share with you. This began as a way for me to shoot some Alan Anderson pieces that were at Holts and couldn't leave the store. By the time we were done with the first session I knew they were looking pretty special so we kept going! 

Ania B. was good enough to meet me and with wigs from Deva Dave our story took shape. The app actually upgraded a few times over the 4 months we took to shoot this so by the last session I could shoot repeatedly and didn't have to wait for the film to "develop" after each shot! We had to work in sessions since the phone's battery only lasts so long and we were trying to be discreet and shoot in the fitting rooms during off times (Ania in a bright orange Gucci gown, 5 inch heels and a blonde wig is not so easy to hide!). It was a fun experiment and Ania is always dream to work with. It was very much a collaboration and we love how it turned out. None of the shots were retouched and appear exactly how they came out of my phone.

Here are a couple of pages from the magazine and some out-takes of the shots that didn't make it. Check out the whole story and the rest of WLWL #7!

 Dress Gucci/ Jewellery Alan Anderson/ Shoes YSL

Dress Lanvin

Dress Victoria Beckham/ Shoes Christian Louboutin

Dress Gucci

Dress Victoria Beckham/ Jewellery Alan Anderson

And me!

Lara Presber

I was lucky enough to work with the beautiful Lara Presber (LA-RA not Laura or Laira) for the style Q&A in this month's Avenue magazine. This architect turned fashion designer takes her inspiration from architecture which is apparent in her clean lines and fluid shapes. In recognition of this we shot her in the water building in Calgary which has some amazing features like the floating concrete staircase we shot her on. Lara was lovely to work with and if you want to see more of her designs you can visit her shop in Fashion Central (across from the Bay) and you can see the whole article this month in Avenue Magazine.

Antler magazine

Here are a few pages from the Antler magazine spread that dropped last week. I absolutely love what Wilkosz and Way did with this story, the lighting is fabulous. Mad Skillz!   The feeling for spring was so much white so I tried to keep it light with (what has become) my signature pop of color. I especially like it with the white background. I was also using bows and ruffles as a common element to tie them together and keep the message feminine. Alicja Wilkosz did such a perfect job on the make-up with these heavily pigmented powders; so punchy! 

I would like to add a special thanks to our model Sam Ypma and Michael from Mode. It was tough scheduling Sam as she is travelling so much and they both came together and made it happen for us. Thank you! Sam was such a pleasure to shoot and well, the results speak for themselves.

For the rest of this story you can visit Antler magazine or my Facebook page!

PS

After awakening to THIS...

... I immediately began reminiscing about my vacation in Palm Springs a year and a half ago. If I had no commitments in the next month I would be GONE but since I can't get away I thought I would share some shots from our warm weather trip. Dream along with me!

The view from our room at the Orbit Inn

The iconic gas station

An Albert Frey house we toured with the pool coming out of the living room! Oh the magic of single paned living.

So much great modern architecture

Palm trees! Flowers!

The view of PS from the porthole window of Trina Turk's house

The Ace cafe

Love him! 

Eames line-up

My dream dining set at Hedge! Orange! Leather! PLATNER!!

Leah Van Loon - Stylist

I started a fan page. That sounds so smarmy but really I just wanted a place that I could be a bit more off the cuff and share my fashion finds with you and not annoy my Facebook friends too much. You will find some of my work published there and I am TRYING to keep the content different than my Twitter or my blog. It is also a place for us to discuss fashion or ask questions, a place to interact more. 


 In the interest of keeping things varied I will just post a few shots from my recent editorial on The Ones 2 Watch, and you can view the rest on my page --- Leah Van Loon - Stylist!

If you aren't on FB or are just not into it you can also view this story on The Ones 2 Watch.


Photography by Wilkosz & Way
Styling by Leah Van Loon
Hair & Makeup by Alicja Wilkosz using MAC and Bumble&Bumble
Model(s) Aleisia Arkley @ Mode Models & Ania Boniecka @ Next Canada

Lingerie

Finally our lingerie story from We Like We Love magazine is out! Actually it was out last week online but as of this week it is launched in print (HERE). The story was shot in my house, which was a treat for me because I didn't have to haul all my stuff to the shoot and back! Not that panties are that cumbersome. 

When I first decided to do a lingerie story Ania B was the number one choice and she did an amazing job. I wanted to style it in a way that showed more clothes (and less T and A) so half-dressed seemed right. I managed to get Agent Provocateur samples and pulled the rest from Holt's with some jewelry from our friends at Rubaiyat. I love what photographer Colin Way  did with the shots,  Joanne Black did beautiful make-up as always and the hair by Hedkandi Salon was the perfect touch. Alyssa Yuhas always does a great job with the design of the magazine and deserves a special thanks. Lastly, thanks to Aly Velji for the loan of the beautiful Afera rug, designed by him and available at the Rug Shop. I wish I could have kept it!

T & F Slack Shoemakers

Do you know the difference between a Derby and a Brogue? Doesn't matter really because T & F Slack Shoemakers do! And the best part? They actually allow you to customize your own shoes, men's and women's! Be they Derby or Oxford, these London shoemakers have some great options including amazing baby blue brogues or super bright contrasting soles. They also have a huge collection of lasts and materials to choose from should you want to design something entirely your own. 

Check them out if you are in Notting Hill for bespoke services. You can also use the build your own shoe service in Selfridges (my favorite) or Liberty (close second). Or, if you are in Canada, you can buy one from the selection of ladies shoes already made and available at your local Gravity Pope store!

NYC!

I just got back from a week long, whirlwind trip to New York City for a job with Watermark Advertising. We were shooting some magazine images for Mark's at Jack Studios in the West Village. What a great space! 7 beautiful studios with views out to the Chelsea piers. Nice! I also got to do a shoot with Shannon Greer  at Ten Ton Studio in the Brooklyn Navy Shipyards. Great space, great photographer, and great view. 

Here are some shots from the trip.

Jack Studio 5

View from studio 2

Unpacked!!

Ten Ton Studios in Brooklyn

The view from the roof

A terrible photo of my favorite thing in all the world; the mexican corn at Café Habana in Soho! You have to try it!

Get your freak on, Giles Deacon

As I was looking through my Paris Vogue Collections (yes it's out, hurry and go get one!) I actually stopped and thought, "what the hell is with Ungaro?" Not because the clothes were ugly or anything but because it had been off my radar since, well, forever. I am sure I blocked it out entirely when Lindsay Lohan was "designing" for them. But now that Giles Deacon is at the helm it is getting a fresh new feel. The set looks so bright and beautiful and the clothes looked fun and sexy. Not to mention Anna Dello Russo as Mary with her little lamb?

Move it!!

Have you ever had a dream that you woke up from and thought was real and later began to tell someone how you had a dentist appointment to remove that glass tooth and then realized that it never happened? Well, it turns out I wasn't dreaming when I saw this Move It! function on Style.com a couple of months ago. 

It is not on the Fall 2010 RTW shows where I originally found it BUT if you look at the couture 2011 shows right now you can have a go. The Dior show looks amazing and it's great to see the models in action. I didn't know how much hamming it up they had to for that show! 


Also there is an accessories section too now! So great!

What James is Wearing

This guy is making me lose my mind. In the best possible way!!

At Versailles

At the Holocaust museum!

Bum Ball

Tonight is the 13th annual Bill Brooks Prostate Cancer Benefit (aka The Bum Ball) and I couldn't be more excited! I was the stylist for the shoot for the campaign and Bill was a real pleasure to work with. 


The theme this year is that no one wear a tie as they will be giving them out (the one in the photo) to the men and scarves for the ladies. Not much of a challenge for me to NOT wear something! Last year it was gloves so I finally got to wear my fabulous silver opera gloves.

Carl Abad and Jason Krell look pretty good too! 

I'll be Your Mirror

Today I am trying to remember that you get what you give. In the spirit of that, there's this...

Belle de Jour

I wish I had this fur lined leather coat today. Not to mention that apartment. And throw in the maid while you're at it.

Cheaters

I was reading a post on Garance Doré's blog about fakes and it reminded me about an article I had read. Someone did a study that showed that people wearing fakes (or in this case, perceived fakes) actually cheated a lot more. 

She was however talking specifically about furniture and the prohibitive price of an Eames chair and how she imagined Ray and Charles berating her for buying a chair at a 10th of the price. I can understand it, but when we are discussing Eames furniture in particular I feel as though those designs were originally made to be "everyman" kind of furnishings, made of low cost materials and manufactured with low cost techniques. Design ACTUALLY within reach. So why should they care if Knoll isn't the company making money off their backs? 


I don't like fakes in fashion, however I seem to have no issue with fakes in furniture. I can tell you this though, you get what you pay for as a rule. Anyone who knows it is a Birkin bag (or Louis Vuitton or whatever) and is buying a fake is also supporting industries like child prostitution and should be aware that their money is going to support many kinds of underground economies. Somehow I don't know that the people at Nood are doing the same.


What do you think about fakes?

Alber Elbaz

I love listening to Alber Elbaz talk about fashion (watch HERE). I feel like we could be great friends, which is always a funny way to feel about someone you have never meet and are unlikely to. It helps that I am a huge fan of the work he has done for Lanvin, and have actually bought pieces from at least 3 collections. 

His work for the latest collection for Spring 2011 is a combination of impeccable silks restrained with leather harnesses, showing his genius with draping and his covetable accessories.