Python bucket bag – Bally ‘Paula’

“I love you a million cheese pizzas” is what I imagine my Valentine’s Day note would read, if I ever managed to live through this ‘holiday’ without wringing my eyeballs out. That message of course, represents everlasting, spell-binding, Disney-grade love. Because duh, pizza. Sprinkle in some love you a thousand glazed-donuts, tacos, cheese-fries…etc into the equation, and it means tonight we’re probably going to get it on. Alas, for the sake of professionalism we went for another line on this Valentine’s love-story we shot for Bally, but coincidentally one I hear every morning: Good morning, my love. (I however, cannot confirm whether my husband says this to his breakfast bowl or to me.)

Mens stripe wallet & USB Keychain – Bally

Joking aside, this year my husband and I mark our tenth year together, and as much as we love to hate on the commercial holidays, when I look back it had really been a decade of very happy unValentine’s days, with nine Valentine’s days in the midst. The timing is perfect, even if the very notion of the ‘holiday’ induces a mini barf, and if there ever was a brand out there that I would work with to ‘celebrate’ the actual day, it’d be Bally. Nonpretentious, gluten-free, grown up sort of love. A modern relationship that is all about good design and functionality. And a few pink bags strewn around just for the fun of it all because you know, glazed-donuts. So here’s my Bally love story, produced and photog-assisted by the two favourite boys that make my life easier (Brian and Ben), and composed by yours truly.

Cotton shirt and suede skirt – Bally RTW

Welcome to Mayfair, Bally!

Jacket & Bag – Bally. Sweater – Uniqlo. Trousers – Zara. Shoes – Acne Jensen boots

Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery

Hedonism Wines

Annabel’s chocolate cake, at Mount Street Deli

Mount Street Deli

Jacket & Bag – Bally. Extrafine Merino knitwear – Uniqlo. Trousers – Zara (similar). Shoes – Acne Jensen boots

Oh Mayfair. Home to old-school London opulence and playground to hedge fund boys; and reportedly – the scene to Prince Philip’s stag night, way back when. Dusty terracotta-orange bricks punctuate the neighbourhood, Victorian filigree curling around the frames. And the occasional Lamborghini, parked like boys’ bicycles on the curbs. Soon to add to the flags of the not-so-commonwealth along New Bond Street is Swiss brand Bally who, those of who will remember, my sister from another mister (in my dreams) – tucked in a corner at number 45, designed by none other than David Chipperfield Architects (of Hotel Cafe Royal, Valentino NY flagship…) In the lead-up to the store launch I worked with Bally on leading a new video series named #BallyMayfairWelcome, essentially doing what new neighbours do and knock on doors of their Mayfair neighbours, pie in hand. Of course, in some cases we ate the pies… Annabel’s chocolate cake at Mount Street Deli will change your life (TEAM CHOCOLATE) – you heard it here first. The videos are being released in the Bally blog, but do keep an eye out on their Twitter and Instagram as from the sneak peeks I’ve been seeing so far it looks a right stunner. Think leather shoe boxes lining the walls, mid-century furniture and stone stairwells…

I’m coming to realize that I never managed to share this news here, but I’ve been consulting for and managing the Bally social media accounts since July. (The amount of times I very nearly tweeted chocolate cravings and in-bus rages from that account… heart palpitations.) Do come by and say hi soon!

Many thanks to Laetitia (another sister from another mister) for helping with the photos of me. In Collaboration with Bally.

Tablet – Lenovo Yoga. Envelope pouch – Smythson. Heels – Bally. Headphones – Bower Wilkins.

London Fashion Week SS15: A visual diary

Hyundai i20

Hunter SS15

Charlie May SS15 eyewear

Mary Katrantzou final walk

Max Factor Skin Illuminator Foundation & Colour Corrector Stick

Topshop Unique SS15

Topshop Unique SS15

Food on instagram because proper photos on DSLR? Ain’t nobody got time fo that.

Wearing: Top – COS. Trousers – Zara. Bag – Marni. Shoes – Tibi. Watch – Larsson & Jennings. Rings – Monica Vinader. Cross-Ring – Elizabeth & James (via REVOLVE)

What do they say – Give a woman a house, she’ll make a home? Well, give a woman a Hyundai i20 over Fashion Week, and she’ll make a Death Star on four wheels and one 22-year old driver very, very uncomfortable. This, like many things in life – including adding soy sauce to everything – I blame my mother. Growing up, mornings were a battle of which sibling can out-stupid the other one, starting with putting shoes on before trousers, smearing toothpaste all over our faces and pretending to shave… you get the gist. This led to my poor mother having to shovel us into the car every morning along with 2 x cereal bowls, school outfits, homework, toothbrushes… (at one point I believe there was a pillow fort in the car), and she’d drive with one hand while the other ‘conditioned the air’. Fast forward to SS15 LFW, I inhale a plastic container of scrambled eggs in the car while deciding on an outfit, and with each day a new pile of clothing spilling out the passenger door. At the end of Day One I attend a makeup session at the Apartment with Max Factor discovering the new Skin Luminizer Foundation, and from that point on I use the tinted passenger window to accomplish the ‘dewy look’ in the ensuing mornings, just how Caroline Barnes instructed. My 22-year old driver awkwardly avoids using the rear-view mirror (apparently a touch worse than drink-driving) during my changing room sessions, but we somehow manage to make a split-second eye-contact just when my head is halfway through a sweater. Thankfully this Death Star is all about efficiency (close that hatch…) as we slice through morning traffic, and I arrive at the first show of the day with a Aquafresh breath and lotion behind my ears.

Stay tuned for some of my favourite collections so far!

Huge thanks to Hyundai UK for, gee wow, a car with my logo on it (!), and allowing ‘5 more minutes, mum…’ to happen. Please forgive me for any coco puffs found between the seats. 

Bag – Bally

IFA Berlin with Samsung

Announcing the newest member of the Club des Chefs

Michel Troisgras

Davide Olandi

Doina of The Golden Diamonds

Davide Olandi, Michel Troisgras, Elena Arzak and Christopher Kostow

And a fridge about the size of my first London flat.

Wearing: Bag – Bally. Top – Uniqlo. Jeans – James Jeans. Boots – Acne Jensen.

I will be the first to admit that I am exactly who they call a bad worker, someone who blames her tools for flaws in skill. I burn tea because the “kettle is old”, or, my scrambled eggs are on fire, because the stove just doesn’t… understand me. Also, I suck at blogging because my laptop is SO DAMN SLIPPERY. Yes, they call me the creative one. Lest we forget, the more you complain, the more you squirm to find a tool that will do your job better (or entirely for you). This particular ‘bad worker’ goes to IFA Berlin (trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances) and comes across a particular Samsung oven that won’t burn cookies to ash – an oven that gets you – and discovers features that will allow her to bake a perfect batch of peanut butter cookies, but also a sloppy lasagna on another shelf – all at the same time – and screams WHAT? NO WAY, SHUT THE FRIDGE DOOR. Now imagine, what a good worker brings to this equation – innovators and diligent thinkers. Like Michelin starred chefs, seven of whom Samsung have appointed into a superhero club (Club des Chefs) and borrowed the passion and expertise to produce a revolutionary new line of kitchen appliances (namely, the Chef Collection). Samsung took a couple of us out to Berlin to experience this first hand, which included a cooking demonstration in the Samsung Premium Lounge by four of the chefs themselves. The good workers bustled about, marrying cod with chorizo, negotiating temperature with the oven (the one that gets you). In the meantime, the bad worker blamed my fork for slow eating and resorted to shovelling in as much Michellin-blessed food with my hands. It was kitchen magic, a keen partnership of master and machine – finished with a fairy-dust sprinkle of crispy shiitake mushroom shreds.

A big thank-you to Samsung for a deliciously refreshing experience!

Behind the scenes: Bally AW’14 Lookbook shoot

The Sommet bag, where sides that open out like petals

Supple nappa leather plimsolls

Each boot is formed with single piece of leather with a single-seam up the back leg curve

The ‘Gentlewoman’ bag, with corner indent

Who do I want to be when I grow up? Bally AW14. A fire-fighter too, but I’m allergic to cats and they seem to get stuck on trees a lot so sadly I think I’ll need to give up on that dream. This season Bally is a sister from another mister that I’d secretly have a massive girl crush on – the one that throws a suede bomber jacket over dishevelled bed hair when picking up morning coffee, wears tailored trousers and maintains blade-sharp line down the legs all day, and her sweater – cashmere, and not a bobble in sight. She’s also quick to laugh and loves karaoke – but I may be reading in too much on this one. I had the privilege to be a fly on the wall at the AW14 lookbook photoshoot two Saturdays ago, where I spent three hours buzzing from one room to another fondling this and that from the new collection, sneaking a peek in the mirror with one or two when I thought no one was looking. Particularly loved the detail of the box-shaped bag levelled on one corner (inspired by the ‘gentleman’s corner’, a levelled corner in the heels of men’s brogues started by Bally) a design feature which I later spotted on many other pieces including belt buckles and labels. How neatly sneaky. Sneakily neat?

The crew – nimble-footed and efficient – composed each look, followed by the studio lighting up in bursts of flash, and not five minutes later the next look was called. In the meantime, Tao Okamoto snoozed in a large sofa, and in the big hall the sun sunk behind the table of shoes; I left with reluctance just as Look 13 was wrapping up.

A big thank you to Bally for the wonderful experience!  Discover more at Bally.com.

Special thanks to the Bally Design Director Pablo Coppola, and his team; photographer Paul Wetherell; models: Emma Balfour, Kirsten Owens, Langley Fox Hemingway, Tao Okamoto, Harmony Boucher, Natasa Vojnovic, Amber Anderson and Spring Studios, London.