The Good Mixer pub in Camden, London.

Here’s some more photos from my trip. The first ones are from a night out with friends that I used to hang out with in Camden. Camden Town is a North London neighbourhood well known for its vintage clothing market and its indie rock bars. We all used to hang out in a pub called The Good Mixer, which was famous for its bad lighting and its weird clientele. The usual Good Mixer crowd would include the guys who worked in the market stalls opposite the pub, some randoms from the halfway house next door, indie rock kids, heavy metallers, punks, rockabillys, and whoever else who happened to be in the area. It also had quite a lot of famous clientele, including the guys from Blur, Oasis, Pete Dogherty, Amy Winehouse and many more.

When I lived in Paris, my friend and flatmate Susanna, who worked at Emanuel Ungaro at the time, had told me all about this amazing pub where all the cool Camden kids hung out. That is one way to describe it, but she forgot to mention it was the worst lit bar in the world (fluorescent lighting), with the most horrible toilets, and a security guard who was in and out of prison and known for giving Glaswegian kisses to anyone who caused trouble. But no one caused any trouble in the Good Mixer, because the minute there was a sniff of trouble, the Australian bartenders used to jump out from behind the bar with their baseball bats and “deal” with the problem. So although there were a lot of dodgy characters in The Good Mixer, it was a very safe place to be, which is why at one stage, we used to congregate there about five times a week.

My friend Jurgita.

My friend Konrad, who is proof of the vast difference between male and female modeling careers. His career has flourished now that he is well into his 30's.

Konrad's tattoo (well, one of them.)

Omar (aka Dirty Omar), me, and Konrad. We used to call ourselves "The Debutants" and run a monthly club night called Karate Boots, a few years ago. I am going to talk more about Karate Boots in a later post.

Omar and Konrad.

These next photos are from Saturday night, when I went out for dinner with Dean Sidaway, Oonagh O’Hagan, and Dal Chodha. We ate in the Rivington Grill (yummy food and some plastic seaweed garnish which we thought was edible) and then had a drink in the Bricklayer’s Arms, which was another famous London pub. All the fashionistas used to hang out there about ten years ago, people like Giles Deacon, Katie Grand, Katie Hillier, Luella Bartley and that East London 90’s fashion crew.  Its certainly not the same in there anymore, but it was fun to have a drink and take some photos of ourselves and our shoes.

Oonagh, Dal, Dean, and I. Oonagh and I look absolutely ridiculous in this photo, but I decided to post it anyway. (Sorry Oonagh)

Oonagh and Dal in the Bricklayer's Arms.

Me and Oonagh, with Dean looking out the window.

Here's when we tried to get a bit "Jak & Jil" and try and get some great shoes photos. I wanted to show off my new Finsks.

Out shoes look awesome.

My new Finsk sandals.

Dal had to lie on the ground to get those shoe photos. Thanks Dean for taking this photo, and thanks Dal for risking your Prada to lie on the ground to get a good shot.

Check out the other London Photo Diaries…
London Photo Diary Part 1
London Photo Diary Part 3
London Photo Diary Part 4

I definitely think that North Americans are a little less generous than the British when it comes to using the F word. I agree its vulgar and rude, but at the same time, its effective and straight to the point. I know I say it too much, but after living in London for ten years, it becomes a part of your day-to-day vocabulary. One of the biggest challenges here in Vancouver is NOT to say it in work situations, with clients or in front of students.

I suppose I became desensitized to the F word when I studied at Central Saint Martins, under the tutelage of Professor Louise Wilson OBE. Louise is the MA Fashion Course Director at Central Saint Martins, and, after my mother, is probably the person who has had the most impact on me as a person, and whom I credit for shaping me into the person I am today.

I remember during the last week of my MA, while we were finishing off our collections, I said to my friend Richard (Nicoll, a fantastic designer) that we would remember our times at Central Saint Martins as the best times in our lives. He told me that I was crazy, and he was dying to get out of there. Only a few months later, he said that I had been right.

I’ve decided to talk about Louise today because there is a fantastic article in the Guardian about her and the MA at Central Saint Martins. The article makes her sound terrifying but portrays her as one of the most influential people in the fashion world. I think when she describes her students as “lazy fuckers” she is being quite kind. She used to call us the “tragic cunts.” (Sorry, I know that is a very, very bad word, but it is a quote.) I’ve also been told my work is “shit”, I should lose weight, and that we were all hopeless. She told me I was going to fail the course so many times, that I had planned to give up fashion become a surf bum in Cape Town.

Richard Nicoll Spring Summer 2010

But this hasn’t stopped me from admiring and loving Louise. The hell she put us through prepared us for an even worse hell: the real world. I remember my first interview after my MA course at CSM was with Christopher Bailey at Burberry. He laughed at my work. Most people would have run off sobbing, but I didn’t really care. I was used to much worse. (On that note, Burberry did hire for a project me shortly after…)

What the article doesn’t fully explain, and what Louise doesn’t fully prepare us for, is the fact the 18 months in the MA studios is a holiday compared to the upwards battle you have to fight to be successful in the fashion world. I had already worked for Sonia Rykiel by the time I was at CSM, so I knew what the industry is like (and Sonia Rykiel is pretty easy compared to some brands who do everything at the absolute last minute.) We graduated at a pretty bad time, right after 9/11, so jobs were scarce, and there weren’t many options. Almost everyone started their own business, or opted to take a more quiet route in fashion. After the Burberry project, I started on my own business, and then when that wasn’t making me millions, I too opted for the quiet route.

When I look at the other graduates from my year, and other ex-colleagues from the industry, I see that nearly everyone is either a slave to the industry, or has chosen to have a life, which means a much more modest profession in fashion.

Illustration by Miss Marc by Marc Jacobs, by Will Broome.

I chose the latter, and here I am in Vancouver, not having done a twelve hour shift in several years, and having time to watch TV, walk my friend’s dog, maintain a healthy relationship with my husband, and get eight hours of sleep a night. Then there’s Neil, who left his designer job and is now teaching fashion illustration classes in New York, something he loves to do (check it out, Harbor at Dawn.) Jens (Laugesen) started his own business, and was a slave to it for many years. The only thing I have heard people say about him since he gave up his business is “he looks amazing.” Will Broome, an incredible illustrator, is still doing his own work, but judging by the amount of time he spends on Facebook, I think he too has prioritized a personal life and time with his daughter. Oonagh writes books and teaches and does projects when she wants. Dean teaches and has his own collection, but its low key and he still finds time to have a drink at the pub.

Jonathon Saunders Spring Summer 2010

On the other side, there’s Jonathon, who has been working like crazy over the past few years, first to build and then to maintain his business, and I cant even begin to imagine how he must be feeling right now, as the brand is at that stage where it will become a major player, or fade away. Bora and Miki who got a lot of attention after graduation, but then had to compete with the many new brands being launched every year. Kim, now at Dunhill, who is facing some tough criticism from the press at the moment. Another example is Susanna who is senior designer at Dior. Yes, she gets nine weeks holiday, yes she can afford amazing 5 star hotels, but she hasn’t maintained a normal social life in years. Last time I was supposed to see her, we had booked a trip to the Swiss Alps, and she had to cancel the day before because John wanted to do fittings. Did I mention her boss Steven died at a the age of 38, from a heart attack after many years of complete and total dedication to John Galliano and his work. I am sure I was not alone in thinking “that could be me if I continue to work like this…”

L'Wren Scott Spring Summer 2010

My friend Julia who started as Carine Roitfeld’s assistant, and then moved on to be a successful stylist at French, US, Japanese, and Chinese Vogues, is quite a sad story in my eyes. She was one of my best friends, but I gave up on her when she was too busy to RSVP to my wedding invitation. Florence used to sleep under her desk when she works at Alaia and now she has a job she enjoys with L’Wren Scott (Mick Jagger’s girlfriend), but it’s a small company and she works extrememly hard (I definitely didn’t complain when we walked down the red carpet with the Rolling Stones at their Shine A Light premiere in London, but I can assure you that there’s a new degree of stress when you’re not only trying to run a fashion business but also being surrounded by some of the most famous people in the world.) Avshalom, who did a short spate as creative director of the relaunched Ossie Clark brand, only to have it shut down shortly after. His own line still exists, and although he has two young children, he still has a bed set up in his office.

The higher you are, the harder the fall.

So, as much as I respect Louise and credit her for preparing us for the world of fashion, no one can prepare you for the real world, which is in many ways far more terrifying than being called a “tragic cunt”, or a “lazy fucker”. And I am sorry to all those fashion hopefuls out there thinking that the industry is all about glamour and fun. Yes, those things are definitely involved, but the industry gives a new definition to the term “slave to fashion.”

On that note, I am now going to have dinner and lie in front of the TV for a few hours. I’ll get up at 8am tomorrow, do a one and a half hour yoga class, go home and make myself lunch, and then do a bit of work and attend a meeting in the afternoon. The only deadline I have in the near future is the next blog post, which is not very stressful at all. Maybe I’ll get bored of this soon, but it is so nice, for once, not to be tired all the time.

I am sure most of the people mentioned in this article will agree that our time as fashion students were some of the best times of our lives. Students who are reading this, take note, and enjoy it while you can.

I was going to change names in this article, but then I would have had to change brands, and that would have defeated the whole purpose. I hope I haven’t offended any of my old classmates and friends, good luck to those of you still slaving away.

Images: Hello Kitty source, and all catwalk images from Style.com. Will Broome illustration from his website.

This week, like next week, is the time for a lot of socialising and meeting friends. Vancouver seems to have a lot of good restaurants, many of which I have yet to explore.

I met my friend Hannah on Tuesday at the Secret Garden tea shop in Kerrisdale. The concept is interesting, tea and cakes and lunch in a cutesy tea room environment. The location is perfect, as there are a lot of people around Kerrisdale that can probably afford to take long lunches (let’s just say the typical Kerrisdale lady is probably pretty time-rich as well as cash-rich.) We met at 3pm and it was almost full, so they must be doing quite well. When I sat down I saw this lovely tea cup with sugar cubes on the table, and looked at the menu, which had an amazing selection of teas.

The decor had a lot of potential. personally I would have bought old chairs and tables, so that none of them match, but the counter area had a lot of charm.

The tea and cakes was lovely, but I have to say I was really disappointed by their tea pots and cups. Why go through all the trouble with the decor and the pretty tea cup sugar holders on every table, when you are going to serve the drinks in these generic, boring tea cups.

Another slightly disappointing drinks situation was last night when I went to Uva with Debra, Valdimir, Tin, and the husband. Great company, beautiful venue, fantastic decor, great wine list, but very disappointing service. In fact, I am regretting the 10% tip I left, they deserved less. But at least everything looked good.

Love the light fixtures!

These wall patterns look great, definitely something to consider for a wall in our living room.

Speaking of looking good, today I used my Oonagh O’Hagan bag for the first time. Oonagh is an old friend, we studied together at St Martins and we have stayed close ever since. She is the author of a fantastic book, called I Lick My Cheese and Other Real Notes From The Roommate Frontlines. It is a book filled with notes that people have left for their roommates. I supposed I could say I was the author of one or two of the notes in there, but I won’t tell you which ones, as they weren’t very nice.

She did a limited edition run of bags early this year, which were only available at Browns, a beautiful little department store on South Molton Street in London. in London. Her design took after the famous Anya Hindmarch “I’m not a plactic bag”, which sold like crazy a few years ago but was criticized because it wasn’t ethically friendly and it was made in China.

Marisa V’s version was also very funny, I never got around to buying one, but I defintiely wish I had.

Anyway, here is Oonagh’s bag, I don’t think you can get it anywhere anymore, but you can definitely enjoy my picture!

Its a cotton bag with a photo of a Louis Vuitton bag printed on it.

SO cool!

Perfect size for my MacBook.