I stumbled on this image while I was looking at some photographer agent’s websites. I love it, the sandy shades, the giant gold chain, and the strange geometric monochrome makeup. The rest of the shoot looks equally as gorgeous. It was published in the Swedish maagzine Plaza Kvinna, but I have no idea who the rest of the team was, only that the photographer is Mikael Schulz.

On that note, I’m off on a little beach trip for the Labour Day long weekend. Don’t worry, I’ve got some posts lined up for you all, but they will be pre-programmed, so if there is a major fashion emergency (unlikely, those don’t really exist), I’ll comment on Tuesday.

Images from Agent Bauer.

I had a good, thorough flip though the September issue of US Vogue over the weekend, and I was surprised to see how boring the advertising campaigns were. Firstly, Louis Vuitton was noticeably absent, which was very strange. And the magazine was also lacking in nice-looking campaigns, which, let’s face it, is usually the main reason we buy the September issues. I know that desperate times call for desperate measures, but the second, third, and fourth quarters of the magazine were crammed with tasteless, ugly campaigns from brands that are not “worthy of Vogue.” I guess they have had to drop their standards in order to fill their pages.

Before I go through my Loves and Loathes for the ad campaigns from the brands we know, I should point out that there was a very good article in Vogue about mothers in the US Army. Not only was it a riveting read, but it made me 1-feel so sad for children whose parents are in the military, and 2-hate the US Army more than words can describe.

I Love…

how amazing Karen Elson looks in this Balenciaga campaign. And the shape of that white furry coat is INSANE.

the way this ad highlights the unusual shapes Bottega Veneta is known for.

Roberto Cavalli at his best: glamour, leopard print, and fur.

these simple Celine ads.

that these Chanel photos look pretty relaxed.

the best trousers of the season, by Chloe.

that despite the fact that Gucci has basically repeated their Spring Summer photos, it still very luxury and on-brand.

Autumn Winter with Michael Kors. Only Carmen Kass can make grey jogging pants look great with a fur coat.

alien eye makeup at Lanvin.

gorgeous contrasts and hardcore hardware at Miu Miu.

that Nicole Miller suddenly looks modern and slick.

Prada's choice of models, Miranda Kerr looks amazing.

that Tommy Hilfiger does the American preppy look better than anyone else.

this beautiful photo. This Valentino dress looks absolutely stunning.

Cleopatra hair and dramatic stairs at Yves Saint Laurent.

I loathe…

the whole concept of this Bulgari shoot, plus the style of the photography, which looks quite tacky.

a boring Burberry campaign. Time to try something new.

ditto at Dolce & Gabanna. They also need to try something new.

when Hermes looks too equestrian.

this Jimmy Choo campaign. It is such a predictable fashion photo set-up, and the shoes look like nothing special.

when a campaign gets done too many times. The cute young Lacoste models jumping up and down were nice for a few seasons, but now they look like silly ravers.

that Ralph Lauren has chosen some of his most boring product for the seasonal ad campaign.

Kate Moss naked in this David Yurman campaign. She doesn't look nice at all, in fact, she looks a bit yuck.

Those of you who know me well have probably heard me complain non-stop about the lack of holidays granted by employers in Canada, and the fact that this is the first time in several years that I haven’t taken a nice 3 week holiday during the month of August. This is definitely the worst part about living in Canada, the worst. In addition to our limited holiday allowance, there is also the fact that we’ve bought a new home, and so cash is tight and any spare time needs to be spent packing, moving, and unpacking. So my dreams of tropical beaches are unlikely to become a reality for at least another few months.

When I think beach photos, I think Mario Testino. And when I think Mario Testino, I think sexy, tanned Brazilian models on the beach. When I was living in Paris I used to share an apartment with one of Mario’s assistants (Alexi Lubomirski, now a well-known photographer) and was friends with the rest of his team. Mario and Carine (Roitfeld) were making waves at the time, because of their Gucci campaigns, but Mario was also known for his glamourous, sexy swimwear shoots featuring a slew of hot Brazilian girls. Alexi was constantly flying to Brazil to do sexy beach shoots with the top models of that time, Gisele, Ana Claudia, Mariana, Fernanda, and a few others. (Which was very depressing, because the both of us were on equally low salaries, but I was ordering zippers and designing diamante motifs at Sonia Rykiel, while he was partying in Sao Paolo.)

Another one of Mario’s assistants whom I was friendly with was Huw Gwyther, now Editor and Founder of Wonderland magazine. He once showed me some pre- and post-retouched photos of a shoot they had done, (the pre-retouch made me feel happy, models are far from perfect!) and he explained to me why it was that Mario’s work was getting so much praise. Mario had a team of retouchers who used to work by hand to perfect all the photos. They wore giant magnifying glasses over their eyes, and painted with one-hair paintbrushes to make sure the girls in the photos looked perfect. I’m sure that this can be better done with Photoshop now, but this was 12 years ago, and at that time, Mario was one of the photographers who was coming out with the most polished images. His secret retouching team was the reason why.

I found this shoot on Bytemodels, which features Ana Claudia Michels and Mariana Weickert, and it is a great example of the types of shoots Mario was doing at the time. It is from British Vogue, the May 2000 issue. Geez, I need a holiday.

All photos by Mario Testino.

I love Diane Von Furstenberg’s clothes, and I love Terry Richardson’s work. So what went wrong here? This campaign just looks…tacky. The photoshopping looks like it has been done by a 5 year old (and not in a good, “crafty” way) and the models legs are just horribly thin compared to her giant head.

Image from The Fashion Spot.

I love this shoot posted on Fashion Gone Rogue. It sums up what I want my summer to look like. My husband actually has one of those retro caravans, one from the 60’s, but it doesn’t have a floor right now and it is on the other side of the world, in Sweden. Note to self: replicate this scenario next summer.

Barbora Vesela and Marion Sealy by Nicole Hill.

Where Children Sleep is a photography book by James Mollison that features children’s bedrooms from around the world, with a portrait of the child. His introduction explains “I hope this book will help children think about inequality, within and between societies around the world, and perhaps start to figure out how, in their own lives, they may respond.” The photos here are very touching, what a beautiful concept.

Mollison is also the photographer behind the book The Disciples, photographs of fans outside concerts. Very cool too.

Four-year-old Kaya lives in an apartment in Tokyo, Japan.

Seventeen-year-old, 'X' lives in a 'favela' in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Eight-year-old Harrison lives in a mansion in New Jersey, USA.

This unnamed four-year-old boy lives on the outskirts of Rome, Italy. He and his family all sleep on the mattress in the photograph.

Fifteen-year-old Risa lives in a teahouse in Kyoto, Japan.

Images and captions from Creative Review, a great advertising and design magazine.

Title: Hollywood High

Despite the bad publicity Terry Richardson got in the last few months, I am still a fan of his work (I think he’s ended up being a bit of a scapegoat, which is unfair.) His blog, Terry Richardson’s Diary, is one of my favourite photo blogs. I’m less interested in the portraits he posts on his blog, but more into the pictures of random stuff. They are just…really cool.

(Photo captions are the photograph titles.)

Beer Delivery Guy

Louis Vuitton Bongs

Funk Bros.

Me and Frank B...Flying High!

Iron Maiden Parking Lot #15 (this series was an awesome take on Heavy Metal Parking Lot, one of the best heavy metal documentaries ever.)

Mick the Dog Got a Boob Job

Taylor, Kristen, Robert, and Bacardi

Karma Police

I Heart Soccer Moms

Middle Finger and the Eiffel Tower

Happy Independence Day!

Brad Pitt for Mayor

All images from Terry Richardson’s Diary.

Unpublished Gucci Spring Summer 2004 campaign image. Photographed by Mario Testino, and styled by Carine Roitfeld.

I recently heard about a new school that opened up in London, called The London College of Style, which offers a fashion styling course. I remember several years ago, when “styling” became a recognized job in the fashion industry, my friends and I always used to be shocked that there were courses about styling. “How can you teach styling?” was the question we would ask. It is like trying to teach someone style. Has any of the well-known stylists, taken a course in styling? I don’t think so.

Today, a lot of fashion students want to be stylists (maybe they are starting to get turned off being a buyer, because you have to have math skills), but I am not sure an education in styling alone is going to get you anywhere. Sure, you could learn how to call in clothes, organize a photoshoot, how a fashion show works, etc…, but can you teach someone the ability to put a look together, beautifully? That involved creativity and taste, which aren’t usually on the agenda at a styling school.

Vogue Italia shoot by Steven Meisel, styled by Edward Enninful, one of the top fashion stylists of our day.

I’ve worked with a lot of crappy stylists in my time, and a few very good ones. In my opinion, being a good photo stylist involves the ability to understand the purpose of the shoot (are we selling clothes, are we making pretty pictures, are we previewing the fall collections, are we trying to sell the collection to US buyers?) and come up with a creative concept that results in beautiful images that fulfill the purpose. So it requires a bit of marketing savvy and a lot of creativity, which is why it is usually people trained in fashion design end up being stylists. That’s not to say you need to have a degree in fashion design to be a stylists, but some creative training will help. Like design, coming up with a styling concept requires research and development (yes, newsflash people, fashion designers do not just have “ideas in their head”) and it helps to a creative background.

My concern about all of these styling courses (aside from the fact that the London College of Style doesn’t have enough well-recognized people on their team, compared to the short styling courses at Central Saint Martins) is that there aren’t really very many styling jobs. Thanks to Rachel Zoe and Patricia Field, the job has been glamorized, but really it isn’t all that. Sure, it can be great, if you are excellent at what you can do. But it takes a lot to get there, and part 1 involves working for free. For a very long time.

My friend Julia (Von Boehm) is a fairly successful stylist, working between Paris and New York, mostly for Vogue Paris, Teen Vogue, Vogue Nippon, and Vogue China. She studied fashion design at school, and was offered an internship with a well-known stylist at the time, Carine Roitfeld. Here is where luck came into play, Julia had an apartment in Paris that her parents owned, so she didn’t have to pay rent, she had enough money to work for free for 2 years, and it was pure luck that the first assistant was also German. Two years later, and she landed a job at Vogue Paris (when Carine became editor), and ten years later, she is doing very well, working for a lot of the great brands and publications. Had she not had the means to work for free for two years, she would have had to work much harder to get where she is (that’s not to say she isn’t a great stylist, that helped too.)

Demi Moore on the cover of Vogue Paris

So all of you aspiring stylists out there, think twice before you assume it is all about buying clothes for Carrie Bradshaw or dressing Demi Moore for the cover of Vogue. And if you are determined, my best suggestion is to get some unpaid assisting work with a great stylist so you have on-the-job experience, rather than attending a styling school.

Julia, if you are reading this, have a fantastic wedding this weekend and I am sorry I can’t be in Germany to share this special day with you.

And sorry for the repeat of content, but for those of you who didn’t read my A Fashionable Attitude post last week:

I am considering putting together a little guide for students, prospective students, and anyone trying to get into the fashion industry. It will include some of the following sections:

• A couple of rules and tips about behaviour (like the above, but in more detail)
• Tips on fashion portfolios and the type of experience fashion employers are looking for
• A directory of some fashion schools in Europe and North America
• A directory of most key fashion brands and other fashion-related businesses
• A list of the brands that offer good graduate training programs
• How to prepare and behave during an internship or first fashion job
• Recruitment agencies and where to find good fashion job listings
• Tips from industry insiders

I’d like to hear from my readers whether this is something you’d be interested in, and whether you’d be willing to pay $10-$15 USD for this, as an ebook. Also, if you have any other suggestions for the ebook, feel free to send them over.

If you think you are interested, and want to be on the mailing list for updates about the ebook (that’s it, you won’t be on any other mailing lists), then send me an email to searching4style@gmail.com with the subject line “interested.” If you have any feedback, leave it as a comment or email it to me.

Gucci campaign image from The Fashion Spot.
Vogue Italia image source.

The Damaris bow back knicker.

Damaris is a lingerie brand that was very popular around 6-7 years ago, at the same time that I was running my luxury lingerie brand. Damaris was known for the back lace-up or bow-back panty, which pretty much made her famous. Her line was expensive, very expensive, about $400 for a panty and around the same for a bra. This was a total rip off at the time because her panties were very “homeade,”, and her bras were even more homemade. (I can wear a pair of “crafty” looking panties, but bras MUST be made properly constructed. Especially when they are $400.)

Another take on the back lace up panty, by Damaris.

Despite the incredible price points and poor quality, Damaris was the “queen” of the young lingerie brands at the time, and she was very smart to start a diffusion line, entitled Mimi Holliday, early in her career. Mimi Holliday resulted in a lot of sales and great distribution in all the major lingerie stores, while the Damaris signature brand kept making $400 panties which didn’t earn much money, but maintained the exclusivity of the brand.

I haven’t heard much about the brand in the past few years, but it is evidently still afloat, and I am guessing making enough money to keep her and her small staff in business. Damaris has just released a promotional video, called Chore, by Justin Anderson. I was very curious, as her lingerie does look great, and the idea of a woman doing chores in sexy underwear is a concept that can be done beautifully.

I love the sound in this video, and the music (but if you are at work and don’t want to listen to it with the volume on, you can still get the gist in silence.) I love the cinematography, the fact that you never see her face, and how the mundane act of doing chores gets transformed by wearing beautiful lingerie whilst cleaning. But I feel like the video lacks effortlessness and it would be so much more interesting had the scenarios been more real. I personally don’t do splits while I am ironing, vacuum my leg, or hide my head under the carpet, and I wish the actress in this video had just stuck to real life chores. Also, I felt there were a few too many gratuitous ass shots, and the ending, which was a close up of a naked bum, felt irrelevant. Yes, I know this is “art,”, but it was too contrived for my liking.

Photo of his wife, June. By Helmut Newton.

The video reminded me of this photo by Helmut Newton, of his wife cleaning the fireplace. Some of you may think this is chauvinistic, because she is doing her “chores” naked, but I can assure you that Helmut Newton’s nudes are nothing of the sort, in fact, they empower women. This photo came from his book Pola Woman, which was of the polaroids he had taken throughout his career. Aside from the fact that I am obsessed with all of Helmut Newton’s work, there is something memorable, touching, and personal about this image, and it has stuck in my mind for years.

What do you think of the Damaris video?

I love this Calvin Klein Fall 2010 campaign with Lara Stone, shot by Mert & Marcus. It is such a great look for her, and it shows her versatility, which is something I had never really considered before (I sort of through she had one look, and that was it.) I also love that this campaign is so Calvin Klein, bringing the brand back to the minimalist roots. Francisco Costa has done a great job with this collection.

These photos came from Fashion Gone Rogue, which is one of the latest additions to the Searching for Style Reading List (on the right of the homepage), which I recently updated. Fashion Gone Rogue posts tons of great campaign images and photoshoots.