Fashion news
Sports luxe
This new collaboration is more about cut than run
Above: top and skirt, £205 each, by NikeLab x Sacai
It’s sportswear, but not as we know it. Nike’s new collaboration with the cult Japanese brand Sacai takes the “athleisure” trend to a whole new level. Chitose Abe, who worked at Comme des Garçons before launching Sacai, is known for her hybrid design technique, which fuses together very different garments to create something playful and new. She will meld the front of a lace dress with the back of a classic trench, or amalgamate masculine shorts with a feminine skirt, and her surprising silhouettes have made her a favourite with the front-row fashion crowd.
“Our concept at Sacai is to take something familiar, like a trench or cable knit, but use it in a way that nobody has seen before,” says Abe, who has applied the same approach to her Nike collaboration. She immersed herself in the sportswear giant’s huge archive and was drawn to classics such as the 30-year-old Windrunner nylon jacket, which she remade as a pleated nylon skirt. In Abe’s hands, a traditional sporty hoodie is feminised with a peplum. “Everyone knows these Nike items, but nobody knows them like this,” she says.
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Her ultimate aim was to create looks that are “elegant but sporty”, fusing her own high-fashion aesthetic with Nike’s functional design approach so that “everything has a meaning”. And fans of Sacai will also be pleased that prices for the new collaboration are more in line with Nike’s accessible sportswear than Sacai’s beautifully realised but expensive designer styles.
So, is it workout wear? Every piece has an element of high performance and functionality, but the fabrics move, swish and drape in such a way that they would be wasted on a treadmill. There’s a dynamism that makes them ideal for tearing around the city rather than the gym. This is streetwear at its most haute.
NikeLab x Sacai launches on March 19; nike.com
Words: Claudia Croft
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Beauty news
All about that base
Above, clockwise from left: Bobbi Brown (left) with Style’s beauty director, Edwina. The launch of Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation SPF40 at Soho Beach House in Miami. Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation SPF40, £39
“Women stop me and say, ‘This changed my life,’ ” recounts Bobbi Brown, the diminutive beauty heavy-hitter, as she nestles in a comfy chair at Soho Beach House, Miami, at her brand’s latest launch. She is talking about her Intensive Skin Supplement serum, which is so popular that it has now become the basis of her latest foundation, Intensive Skin Serum Foundation SPF40 (£39; exclusive to John Lewis from tomorrow, nationwide from April 2).
There’s more magic to the foundation than just the serum (and the colour and emulsifiers, of course), primarily in form of cordyceps extract, a fungusused in traditional Chinese medicine, which Brown practises. Cordyceps extract helps to boost cell energy, making skin look brighter and feel smoother and plumper.
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All of which is great stuff, but even Brown herself says: “To me, the selling point, what really matters, is how the foundation looks and feels on the skin. That’s what I care about.” And how it feels is lightweight and silky, giving skin a boost of luminosity without shine. Plus, thanks to its long-wear (eight-hour) staying power, it doesn’t settle into your lines and wrinkles.
As to how it looks, Brown explains it best: “If you think of a wardrobe of white shirts, then this is your silky shirt. You have one that’s sheer, one that’s velvety and one that gives more coverage. Which one you use depends on what your skin needs or what you want to look like on any particular day.”
What it is definitely not is a liquid-to-powder formulation, which is one of Brown’s pet hates. “As a make-up artist, I’ve always liked to be in control of how much powder I put on skin, as everyone is different. With Intensive Skin Serum Foundation, you can choose the finish: if you have oily skin, use it by itself, and if you have drier skin, use it with a moisturiser.”
The cutting edge
Unsure about what to do with your hair? Want a new stylist, but don’t know where to start? Hersheson’s has created a new service that’s sure to shake hairdressing to its roots: the Skype consultation. “The relationship you have with your hairdresser can be long-lasting,” says Luke Hersheson, “so this service is a bit like Tinder for hairdressing.” Search the site for a stylist or colourist by price or style (contemporary, classic and so on), and then meet them via Skype, talk about what you want and hear their thoughts before you even reach their chair. Then, reject/accept and find your long-term hair love. And it’s free. hershesons.com
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Words: Edwina Ings-Chambers
Party news
Take that, and party
Above, clockwise from left: Clean Bandit, aka Jack and Luke Patterson, Grace Chatto and Neil Amin-Smith. Jamie Campbell Bower and Jack Fox. Tracey Emin. Nicholas Hoult. Orlando Bloom and mate. Charli XCX
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To the Brit awards, the UK’s biggest night in music, where, as always, it’s once the TV cameras stop rolling that the fun really begins. First stop was the Warner Music bash, where we joined Ed Sheeran at his party within a party — a closed-off room for the VVIPs — on the dancefloor, with his mum and brother, as well as Tracey Emin (she’s got some moves, that one) and the Hollywood hottie Orlando Bloom giving his best shimmy (really). Our winners of the night, Clean Bandit, were to be found supporting their friend Jess Glynne, who was outside performing a special set. They let us in on the secret that, up until 10 days ago, they were meant to perform with Take That at the awards show, before mysteriously being told to stand down. What to do? Imagine which members of TT we would snog, marry or kill. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we all got the same answers. They’re up the side.
Tight fit
Above, clockwise from left: Gary Barlow. Ellie Goulding, Mick Jagger and Taylor Swift. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Grimmy. Cara Delevingne (right)
Over at the Soho House Universal Music bash, it was Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s turn to hit the dancefloor — proper girls’-night-out moves, we noted, lots of arms in the air. Her fellow model Cara Delevingne was overheard bemoaning her Spanx in the queue for the loos earlier in the evening. “Do you think they made me look hippy?” she asked. Not one bit. We just want you to know, you looked proper gorge to us, love.
By invitation only
Above, clockwise from left: Suki Waterhouse, Elizabeth Olsen, Poppy Jamie and Graydon Carter. Sunrise Coigney and Mark Ruffalo. Julianne Moore. Amy Adams. Jared Leto photobombs J.Lo at Tom Ford SS15
To Los Angeles with Grey Goose for a smattering of parties in aid of the greatest show on earth: the Oscars. It takes a lot to get things done in this town, so hats off to the party organisers who rolled out six nights of revelry for the vodka brand. Michael Sugar’s pre-Oscars do turned out to be one of the bashes of the week, with Hollywood’s It crowd, including Mark Ruffalo and Leonardo DiCaprio, hitting the dancefloor. We’re not ashamed to say we may have stalked Leo a little, before heading to Chateau Marmont for a 2am knees-up (a late night in LA). Our kindred spirit award goes to Jared Leto, who we overheard arguing with a PR about Elton John’s party. “You haven’t sent me an invite. How can I come if you’ve not even invited me?” he asked. “Happens to us all the time,” we told him. “Probably lost in the post.”
Ladies’ night
Above, clockwise from left: Another quiet night in for Grimmy. Florence Welch and Daisy Lowe. Harley Viera-Newton, Leigh Lezark and Atlanta de Cadenet. Warpaint rock the party. Bip Ling. Photographer Wolfgang Tillmans. Sophia Hesketh and Mark-Francis Vandelli. MIA
The art crowd met LFW at the Serpentine x Coach Future Contemporaries party. Young London trooped out to watch the LA band Warpaint sing live, while in another room a crowd gathered to hear posh girls read poetry about the Eurovision alumnus Gina G. Yes, really. The star of the show, though, was Made in Chelsea’s Mark-Francis Vandelli. “I won’t be sitting on the frow like some reality stars. How preposterous!” He told us. What’s he up to instead, then? Launching a range of silverware, of course.
Jewellery news
Garden variety
Above: Hortensia rings, from £980 each, by Chaumet
Everything’s coming up… hydrangeas. Roses and buttercups are over, at Chaumet at least. The jeweller is celebrating the much-loved shrub as part of its latest fine-jewellery launch, after a successful high-jewellery collection inspired by the blooms. The collection is called Hortensia, the French name for the plant, and is inspired by the Empress Joséphine. Hydrangeas were her favourite flowers, so much so that she apparently named her daughter after them. The collection ranges from simple flower rings in yellow, rose and white gold to flouncier rings, pendants, earrings and even hair bands. Seriously charming, petals.
Webster’s Jewellery Dictionary: Jade [jeyd], noun
Above: Superstone long finger ring in sterling silver with green jade, £430, by Stephen Webster
Whether jadeite or nephrite, green, lavender, black or white (the purest white is known as mutton fat and is very rare), jade is steeped in mystery and belief. It has a hold over the Chinese-speaking world like the most beautiful of concubines. Everyone owns at least one piece, which equates to a lot of pieces. Jade has a different structure to other gems — tough and sticky, as well as hard. The normal lapidary skills of the gem cutter don’t apply: jade can only be fashioned by a jade master. As with everything in China, change is in the air. A new generation of masters, bored with the same beads, bangles and Buddhas, is producing dazzling modern masterpieces in this material that the West may never fully understand, but can always enjoy.
Drop dead gorgeous
Above, from left: crystal and gold-plated Citrus earrings, £79, by Swarovski. Deco Escape gold and white diamond earrings, £9,185, by Ileana Makri; net-a-porter.com
If we learnt one thing from the Oscars, it’s the power of a statement earring. Well, actually, it was probably more about the power of an empowering statement (see Patricia Arquette), but in jewellery terms it was the evening of no-holds-barred, feast-your-eyes-on-this earrings. “I feel I am looking more at a woman’s unique expressions and features, focusing more on her face,” says the jewellery designer Ileana Makri. “Statement earrings are a great way to accentuate and highlight this.”
Words: Edwina Ings-Chambers
Men's news
Follow suits
Now, we like Next, don’t we? We like the work shirts and the bags for down the gym. And we’ve all, at one point or another, bought a pair of its cotton cargo shorts. For spring, the high-street store has enlisted Sean O’Pry, one of the top male models in the biz, for these pics. Note the good suits he is wearing. They used to come up either too tight or too boxy for your average chap, but we’ve tried these and they’re cut better now. From £79; next.co.uk
School of hats
Above: Beanie, £125, by Visvim; mrporter.com
The Indie: dishy Dornan may have Hollywood in his hands, but nothing says man of the people like a knitted beanie.
Above: flat cap, £12.50, by John Lewis
The English Gent: AKA the flat cap, the favourite of A-list Etonians for an airport dash. See Eddie Redmayne for details.
Above: cap, £28, by American Apparel
The Baseball: as seen on R-Patz. Understated, cool and sporty. Best on the under-40s — and never backwards.
Just deserts
The 1985 Ferrari Testarossa, Gone with the Wind, Goldfinger and, er, the Clarks Originals desert boot: you can’t beat a classic, and this one is 65 this year. To celebrate the milestone, Clarks has created a special edition in maple suede, as seen on James Bay, who was Critics’ Choice at the recent Brit awards. Winner.
Words: Richard Gray and Michael Hennegan