Kenzo AW13

Honey! aka Jessica Alba.

Kenzo AW13 collection in Paris

Put a cork in it and store in a cool, dry place, out of the sun, is how I like to treat some of my fashion week posts. It wasn’t the fact that I was a lazy butt and missed that one-week window in March to post this – no no. (yes :( ). Well, whether it was grey-beard’s wise foresight, or a happy accident, I’m surprisingly glad to be sharing this Kenzo collection now. Isn’t now its proper season that is Autumn/Winter ’13, anyway? Like all fashion things that I pretend to understand but don’t, eventually I’ve come to appreciate it in its entirety. Five months later to be exact. Alas, shall we clarify a few things – I’m a spectator, not a fashion journalist – I was educated in judging things at face value and I’ve personally taught myself how to obsess over pink macarons. I don’t know how the creative duo Humberto Leon and Carol Lim came to join powers, and what exactly it was that inspired this collection (eyes I THINK) without reading up on Style.com. All I know is ISN’T THIS COOL? (See, fashion journos, nobody here is trying to take your job) (that’ really is the only adjective I know.) I mean look how the Asian mythical patterns and kimono shapes mingle with the Art Nouveau interior of La haunted Samaritaine… a funky East-meets-West temple in the heart of Paris! Plus, I really enjoyed how they shot the campaign, which really just adds to the whole picture. We likey, as simple as that.

Floral print-cami – Topshop. Sunglasses – Celine. Flower garland – Topshop

Hat + Dress – Topshop

Top – Topshop, Skirt – Kenzo. Clutch – Kurt Geiger

Look 1 (Crop-top): Linen crop-tee, Coulottes – Topshop. Rope belt – DIY. Bracelet – Saught.

Look 2 (Floral patchwork Dress):   Dress, straw boater hat – Topshop. Bag – Bottega Veneta. Heels – Zara.

Look 3 (Maxi-skirt):  Printed strappy-cami – Topshop. Basket-weave skirt, Tiger bracelet – c/o Kenzo. Clutch – Kurt Geiger. Loafers – Hudson. Leather bracelet – COS

The classic British Summer is here – hot, muggy, air-just-shy-of-armpit-consistency, one cloud away from November degrees. I’m not complaining though, at least not on Thursdays and Fridays. See, I’m trying out a new career path where I now professionally complain part-time and the rest of the week I focus on freelance weather forecasting, because apparently in this country you don’t need a particular degree to read the weather. Here’s the secret: a rusty slot machine at the BBC does the job for you – the reels groan a bit and a series of icons forecast the weather. Today I played with a few pieces from the new Topshop Reclaim to Wear collection, in which disregarded prints from the previous seasons got upcycled into airy, summery pieces. The slots pooped out a perfect weather for this: Fog – Cloud- Sun, 28 degrees, humidity 2,000%; there also may or may not have been a Tsunami looming but unsure as the icon for it is a Bucket of Water. They’ve been using the machine since the 70’s after every single barometer/thermometer in the country quit and left for Spain. I’ll leave for Spain sooner or later, I predict.

Thank you Charlie for helping with the shots! 

There and back again, 3 minutes in Paris with Kenzo Parfum

Beautiful Aimee of Song of Style

Wearing: Trench – H&M Trend. Navy crop-top – American Apparel. Skirt – ASOS. Heels – Kurt Geiger. Bag – 3.1 Phillip Lim. Sunglasses – Celine via Sunglasses Shop

When I was younger my daddy used to go on these business trips where he’d leave at the crack of dawn and be back for dinner the same day. I never understood it – in my mind a trip that involves trains or planes meant packing puzzles, books and Barbie outfits (we never remembered to take the actual Barbies) and my brother and I would take a nap in the car to the airport and find ourselves in a hotel bed the next morning. Then we’d spend countless days trudging along in mum’s shadow chasing supposedly important, but always broken, buildings, and never actually touched any of the toys we’d packed. Only on my train back from Paris the other week it clicked, how it all worked, how my dad did all that within a day. I’d gotten on a midday train, arrived at 3pm in Paris, and by 6pm I was back in London in time for dinner with the hubby. See, there was  a big ferris wheel with a red Kenzo poppy stuck on the butts of each capsule, and we rode in it, three times. Then after a quick coffee and a nibble of something coconutty inside a little boat decorated with floating poppies, I was back in the cab headed to the train station. (And all that time I played with my Barbie once maybe.) That was it, I’ve cracked it, my daddy’s secret on coming home the same day he left = ferris wheel rides and something coconutty.

Kenzo Parfums are launching something cool in September, and this was a little sneakpeek, but also an ongoing celebration of the Kenzo Flower Wave movement with Every Mother Counts on improving health in pregnancy for every mother around the world. It’s a great cause, and so easy to get involved, pass on the poppy love!