HARVEY NICHOLS LOVES LULA

Guest Post by Fashion Junior at Large (George Langford)

The beautiful setting for the party

Last night Harvey Nichols hosted a dinner for Lula, to celebrate the magazine turning 5 years old and their collaboration with editor Leith Clark to produce a Lula pop-up boutique on the 4th Floor.

World famous set designer Fiona Leahy created a stunning room for the dinner, complete with gorgeous peony arrangements, kitsch statuettes and walls lined with silver heart shaped balloons.

Leith had invited all of Lula's favourite friends, including the truly elegant actress Clemence Poesy, our new favourite singer Coco Sumner, and designer Erdem.

Clemence Poesy

Coco Sumner

Leith Clark (wearing the specially designed Rodarte for Lula dress) with Erdem

Other fashionable faces included model Liberty Ross, Charlotte Dellal and Daisy de Villeneuve.

The meal was completely chic, with delicious food created by the Harvey Nichols in-house team, including this adorable dessert which caused a ripple of 'ooh's as they were served!

The entire evening was a celebration of all things 'Lula', and was complimented by a great performance by Coco, who serenaded us with a few songs from her debut release. 

 I Blame Coco at work

Leith, along with the Lula staff and the team at Harvey Nichols have been feverishly preparing the 'Pop Up' boutique, which features a choice selection of exclusive, limited edition pieces created especially for the event. Rodarte designed the beautiful green dress Leith was wearing for the evening (which she said made her feel like a beautiful cake, which is hard to disagree with!) It is also available to buy from the boutique, along with a brilliant 'Radarte' t-shirt and pieces from Miu Miu, Erdem, Lover and Rachel Antonoff. The Pop Up is only open for a short while, so if you are in London make a beeline for the fourth floor of Harvey Nichols, otherwise you can purchase pieces online. 

http://shop.harveynichols.com/fcp/categorylist/dept/lulaloves?resetFilters=truel

It was a lovely evening, executed with all the attention to detail you would expect from a magazine that makes every page a work of art. Leith was obviously overjoyed with the event and the collaboration itself, perhaps because Harvey Nichols is her favourite shop in London. The only downside to the Harvey Nicks/Lula love in is that it is around for a limited time only - this is the kind of retail 'happening' that should 'happen' more often, as far as we are concerned!

To discover what it is like to attend an event like this as a fashion newbie, have a read of today's Glitterbird post.

(Images Fashion Junior, Rex Features)

SOOO CRAZY FOR COCO

Guest Post by Fashion Junior at Large
(George Langford)

Coco captured by Mert & Marcus for Love Magazine in 2009. Those eyes!

Fashion Editor at Large and Fashion Junior have this week realised we have developed a significant style crush on Miss Coco Sumner, who you will already know to be a key player in the London scene, lead singer of I Blame Coco, and the daughter of some old bloke called Sting (but we don't mention that part).

There have been rumblings of interest about this singer/songwriter for a while, and her striking look first came to our attention in a Burberry campaign last year:

That's Coco in the middle. Doesn't she scrub up nice? Photo by Mario Testino

However, this talented 19 year old is not content with a life in front of a camera. She is carving out a musical career with her band I Blame Coco and recently played the first in a string of summer festival dates. Sumner's unusual, husky voice (some of that musical DNA helps!) blends with 80's influenced electro-pop-rock, which makes for a very distinctive sound. However, where her music may stem from influences 30 years old, her fashion sense is fresh, new and very much her own.

In true fashion speak, her style would probably be described as a grunge-preppy hybrid, but basically, she is a bit of a tomboy. Rarely seen with makeup (aside from the statutory rock n'roll eyeliner), her hair is a tangled mess of dark, natural curls that infer she has been on a beach all day -  you get the impression Coco doesn't do 'high maintenence'. Whatever the outfit or occasion, she loves to cover up with a big hoodie/parka/wax jacket, and is a big fan of the new Barbour styles we posted about recently.

Red carpet event? Forget couture, Coco cracks out the wax jacket!

This is also a girl that doesn't do heels, and she is amassing a pretty impressive collection of vintage ankle boots, Doc Martens and Church's brogues (also the Fashion Ed's favourite, she has increased her collection from one to three pairs in the last month). Her style may be more on the scruffy side of casual, but she chooses strong, classic pieces with a masculine feel. Her super slender frame allows her to carry off tougher, over sized looks whilst still looking elfish and feminine.

Coco (and her scarf) perform at Glastonbury last weekend

 One key Coco piece is the woolly scarf, preferably of the type worn by public schoolboys, draped casually round her neck come rain or shine (she was even rocking one in the 90 degree heat at Glastonbury!). This makes a very refreshing change from the usual Afghan scarf/pendant combo still seen on many festival goers, with the added bonus of making her easy to spot in a crowd. She also favours a classic, plain button down shirt, which continues the androgynous theme but is pretty chic at the same time.

Fashion Editor at Large is wearing an almost identical outfit today. Spooky

It is extremely rare to spy Coco in any form of skirt, and she wears the recent mannish trouser trend with aplomb. Comfort and practicality obviously factor heavily in her outfit choices, but at the tender age of 19, she is already impressing us with her unique and innate style. Everything about her fashion sense exudes self confidence and an assured manner beyond her years. If nothing else, these straight talking, directional looks compliment her dynamic songwriting, which if the hype about her debut album 'The Constant' is to be believed, is where her true talent lies.   

Watch Coco's latest video for single Selfmachine (available to download from the 11th July)





**UPDATE** Funnily enough, just a few hours after we had posted this, I had the pleasure of witnessing Coco perform up close at the Lula/Harvey Nichols dinner yesterday evening (more to follow on that). She was just as beautiful in the flesh, wearing the same outfit that she had performed in at Glastonbury, and super tiny - she is a proper waif. She performed brilliantly and sounded even better live than on the radio, which is no mean feat! A genuinely talented, unique character.

Coco before she performed at the Lula/Harvey Nichols dinner - that's some attitude!

www.iblamecoco.com
www.burberry.com
www.thelovemagazine.co.uk
http://www.church-footwear.com

(Images: Love magazine, Burberry/Mario Testino, Rex Features)