VANS Van Doren Collection for AW12

CARHARTT AW12: Brand Book Launch Party

The ultimate coffee table bible landed in the UK this month with with Carhartt launching their hugely renowned brand book for the AW12 season. I headed to the launch party in Shoreditch to check out the hype and get a sneak peak of the new collection...

Guests piled into the brand's flagship store to get their hands on the hefty brand book before general release (and to grab a beer or two...). Just like the wood and brick store, the rustic, autumnal quality of the brand book reflects the true nature and colour palette of the brand's AW collection, with standout pieces across outerwear, trousers, shirts and chunky knits. I also loved the way they styled the girls with the guys clothes, effortlessly androgynous as quality streetwear should be.

October Is For: ONE GWEN STEFANI

My personal number one girl crush seems to be Autumn's flavour of the month too (ahem nothing to do with the return of No Doubt, I'm sure) with a mesmerising selection of cover shoots for some of the most prestigious glossies out. 

Here's Gwen Stefani's impressive media haunts for this month, drool... DAMN we're glad she's back!

P.S. if you're yet to hear No Doubt's new single 'Push and Shove'(ft. Busy Signal and Major Lazer) check it now. You'll wake up singing it for days, and for all the right reasons (- fear not it's no Swagger Jagger).

Elle UK - October 2012

Marie Claire USA - October 2012

Harper's Bazaar UK - September 2012

L O V E

INTERVIEW: Courtney Conlogue

I caught up with Billabong surf pro and superstar in the making Courtney Conlogue in France, ahead of her final world tour stop back home in CA. As well as being the lovliest girl on the tour she's also the most exciting rookie in the game when it comes to taking on the waves...

Courtney - you're currently lying 5th in the world tour rankings... what would it mean to you to get a podium spot on the tour?

To get to the podium at any spot on the world tour is special. I mean my first one this year at Dee Why (Beachley Classic – Australia) was monumental for me, just that whole experience. I didn’t know what that had felt like until getting there and you don’t know exactly what you’ll feel and how your mindset will be when you’re up there at the podium. I think for anyone who gets there then that moment is so special even if you’ve had it so many times, it’s always a new experience.

You're pretty good friends with the other girls on tour, what's it like competing against your mates?

It’s definitely different competing head-to-head with friends, but I think when you’re in the water you just have that mindset of competition and when you come back to the beach you’re friends again... it’s business in the water and fun on the beach! With our amateur and junior careers you kinda learn how to separate it. And it does get a little tough in those years but I feel like when it gets to this point it’s pretty easy, you put the jersey on, get in your zone and do the job and then you come in and you’re all laughing at the end and celebrating.

How do you prepare for the world tour?

I do a lot of cross-training and just a lot of physical conditioning so my body’s not something that holds me back when I get in the water. There’s also a lot of training in the water and just getting the water time. It’s just a mixture of everything and I thing everyone has their own little routine, but mines a little fitness, a little mental and just not overbearing too much stress into the water.

You used to be a dancer and a bit of a track and field star... but how other action sports like skating and snowboarding?

I used to do quite a bit of skateboarding but I was never insanely good at it so I can’t claim that I able to do crazy airs or any of that! I definitely love doing skateboarding but i’ve had a few crazy road rashes from downhill skating so I was just like you know what, it probably won’t be good if I injure myself skating and I was out of surfing because of it. So I still kinda skate around the neighborhood a bit but not as crazy as I used to.

Well water’s definitely a softer landing!

Yeah water’s a lot softer! I mean you have the reef breaks and the crazy conditions sometimes but most of the time it’s beach break stuff so you hit sand and it’s no big deal.

At your last event, the Roxy Pro in France, there was lots of lay days; what do you usually get up to on a lay day?

Normally I love to just cruise around where I am and if I’m in France there’s always somewhere you can go to, with the cool little villages and towns and trying the cheese and all the little pastries... I always feel like I end up eating so many little tapas everywhere and hor d’oeuvres! Today I went to Bayonne because my brother’s never been to France and he’s been studying it for three years so I thought I’d show him a little bit of France!

Look out for Courtney competing in The Nike US Open Of Surfing at her home break of Huntington Beach, California this weekend!

Batman X Lazy Oaf

And so The Dark Knight Rises in East London as local brand Lazy Oaf launches a stunning Batman collection pour les mesdames et messieurs.

Available online and instore the range, in collaboration with DC Comics, features six menswear styles and nine pieces for women. Whilst the men's apparel is of a retro, tongue-in-cheek flavour the women's collection exudes rather a stunning, gothic twist on those infamous DC logos. 

Particular love goes out to the women's sheer top, batwing blouse, leggings and body suit. They're fun and they're hawwt, so get involved before this much-hyped collection goes:

Life's a Beach at the Roxy Pro

Last week I was pretty fortunate to be sent to France cover the penultimate stop of the Women's World Surfing Tour - The Roxy Pro... if you haven't seen my event round up check it out on the SD lifestyle blog!

Not only was I there with the team there to bring you the latest surf reports and event gossip, hang out with the pros, eat croissants, vin rouge and get my own feet wet (hard life!) - I was also out papping the most fashionable faces in Biarritz. So here they are!:

Name: Britta

Lives: East London, UK

Occupation: Fashion Ed at Cooler Magazine

We say: Britta looking cool as ever; particularly love her Element Valerie top - styled back to front!

Name: Celine

Lives: Saint-Raphael, France

Occupation: Student

We say: This student's tribal print shorts and headscarf caught the fashion radar straight away

Name: Nathalie

Lives: Biarritz, France

Occupation: Women's Marketing Coordinator at Billabong Europe

We say: Laid back beach styling at its best - I want those oversized sunnies

Name: Courtney Conlogue

Lives: Santa Ana, California

Occupation: Pro Billabong Surfer

We say: Court always looks effortlessly cool in and out of the water; loving the pink top/watch/nails combo... and that California tan!

Name: Helene

Lives: Paris

Occupation: Fashion Designer at Panetone

We say: Colourfully boho in mint green shorts that are perfect for this season. I love the fresh flower headress that she made herself - my festival inspiration!

Eluned Stephens: Summer Grunge

Mystic, quirky and unashamedly cool - grunge takes on a whole new meaning for 2012. 

With her lesson in how to style summer grunge, supreme stylist and friend Eluned Stephens (Surfdome stylist, ex Dazed and Confused) has just revealed her edgy take on this season's trend using brands Altamont, Afends and Firetrap, to culminate in a fusion of urban attitude with a slice of rock.

She makes this previously rebellious trend work for summer by adding shots of sparkle with studs, buckles and jewellery and lifts it’s traditionally dark colour palette using colour pops and different textures, such as lace, leather, denim, plaid and mesh. 

While this trend is fierce don’t take it too seriously for 2012 - mix 90s punk with carefree surf/skate style and take an effortless lead from celebrities such as Alice Delall, Mary-Kate Olsen, Alexa Chung and Pixie Geldof. Remember, less of the ‘S&M’ and more of the effortless ‘summer cool’!

Mouthwatering treats good enough to eat (well...almost)

Tell me these don't play havoc with your sweet-toothed cravings...

Now would you believe me if I told you it's not edible? Not even an installation. It is in fact the delicious handiwork of Mary Ellen Johnson, an American Precision Realist oil painter renowned for her food paintings. 

Johnson's hyper-reality instigates a truly powerful, sensual experience, particularly thanks to its almost tangible glossiness that oozes a real mouth watering sugary quality. More than just paintings; these one dimensional visual delicacies not only stir wonder with their qualities of realism but also create a common yearning and appreciation that transcends language barriers. Hungry yet..?

If you like this, then check out my feature on Jonathon Kambouris.