Harrods can always be depended on for providing the Knightsbridge crowd with great food, finery, and fabulously exclusive experiences. The latest move is the opening of Caffe Florian, the legendary Venetian coffee house which has never before established itself outside of its native Italy.

The pinnacle of Italian cafe culture, the decadent, warmly-lit cafe is located on the third floor of the epic department store, and is the perfect place to take a brief sojourn from a day’s retail therapy. Taking inspiration from the pastel colours of 18th and 19th century frescoes, stuccoes, mosaics and Italian velvets, the cafe is at once classical and contemporary, also hosting new pieces from emerging artists on its walls.

Highly recommended are the Venetian hot chocolates, as are the fine blends of Arabica coffee. The cafe serves traditional Venetian meals, such as bruschetta bacala and panini, followed by sumptuous desserts including classic tiramisu, ricotta cheesecake, and limoncello. Whilst there, patrons can also pick up a wealth of Florian products, from coffees and teas to home decorations and gifts, thus bringing the essence of Venice into their own homes. Salute!

www.harrods.com

As the last of the BBQs sizzle out and the long dark nights creep in, most of us are in need of some R and R.  It is the perfect time to pamper yourself in preparation for the cold winds, rainy nights and for frost bitten toes.  However, as the festival season ends and the end of the month is fast approaching purse strings might be tight.  I have the solution.  For those of you who can’t quite stretch to a spa retreat, but are nevertheless in need of detoxing and rejuvenation..ILA is the answer to your prayers!  With a range of products from energizing, skin revitalizing scrubs to face oils that leave your skin glowing.

From the Sanskrit word for earth, ILA has been created- to quote the website- as a ‘source of well-being’.  Free of all chemicals these perfect luxurious treatments are purity in little pots.  All the ingredients are sourced from local produce and are harvested in unity with nature.  ILA was established by Denise Leicester, who has an in depth knowledge of many holistic healing methods, for women who want to achieve an all embracing balance, internally and externally.

So why not curl up for a girly night in and indulge in these heavenly treatments.  I recommend the ‘Body Scrub for Energizing and Detoxing’ (£34.26) which I love as it leaves you truely relaxed and smelling divine!

To restore your balance, these invigorating little treats are available online at www.ila-spa.com/index.htm.

Alternatively, you can find them at Fenwicks on Bond Street, at Fresh and Wilds in Camden, Lavender Hill, Kensington and Soho or at Wholefoods in Kensington.

The fashion pack descended on London’s magnificent Guildhall for a wedding themed extravaganza inspired by Axl Rose and Stephanie Seymour’s fictional matrimony in November Rain and stomping the divots with Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

The Duke of Wellington statue plus a star-studded front row including Agyness Deyn with that newly blackened hair, Little Boots, Pixie Geldof, Alexa Cheung and Alex Turner, Estelle and even GMTV’s Lorraine Kelly all watched Holland’s Spring Summer 2010 collection sail down the catwalk or should we say the aisle.

And it was one heck of a ceremony.  Holland proved he can do grown up tailoring with the best of ‘em with a steady stream of structured suiting for girls and boys alike in colour palates ranging from violet to nude placed atop diaphanous lace bodies and spattered with what appeared on first glance to be patches but on closer inspection and totally in line with the wedding theme, proved to be modelled on confetti motifs (which came with the invites, details of which were printed on plastic bags containing said pieces of multi-coloured tissue paper).

Best mate Agy D even sported the pattern on tights teamed with impossibly tiny black shorts, jacket and brogues.

Two tone cerise and orange dresses showed everyone there’s still ample fashion mileage in the clashing colour combo that’s so wrong yet so right and it kept coming.  A pink knitwear ensemble of crop top and tube skirt, black leather crop cape with high waisted riding breeches, white leather hot pants and bandeau top – in fact some of the models were painted white from top to toe – well all their exposed flesh in any case which was fairly plentiful.

The 80s effect was much in evidence with a cut out denim jumpsuit anddresses given the Holland treatment via leather buckles and worn with sweaters round the shoulders to complete the preppy Hamptons vibe – though the giant safety pins holding them in place was pure Holland. 

Mini dresses, tops and shorts in more of that delicately dyed lace toughened up with zip fastenings – some with the naughty bits covered in denim patches and some not.  Not quite so yacht club as St Tropez but no less covetable for it.

The piece de resistance saw a tableau of  four lovelies in pink, orange, black and green thigh-skimming lace flanking bride, Dree Hemingway in slightly more demure to-the-floor though similarly diaphanous violet complete with white veil and violet trim.  She threw her bouquet – aimed at Agy according to popular wisdom -  though it caught Little Boots full on instead.

The final roll call saw Holland poking fun at his slogan Teed origins with a parade of models all sporting cropped shirts emblazoned with the legends old, new, borrowed an blue slung over lace leggings, to the tune of Going to the Chapel, his alternative wedding march!  

But whether we’re married or single, come next summer one thing’s for sure, we’ll all be saying “I do” to lace.

Henry Holland Spring Summer 2010 Catwalk Report

Famously quirky Brixton husband and wife duo, Mark Eley and Wakako Kishimoto took us, according to the helpful printed explanation of their collection  “beyond the chintz” and  into  “a clashing of visual references in the home environment,” which, while boding well for (any) Ikea fans in the audience, was a bit of a worry for detractors of Scandinavian utility.

But while the first up nautical inspired prints and blouson sleeves were all fine and dandy they didn’t really gel with the rest of the collection.  But enough with the belly-aching.  Said rest of collection was right on the money. 

The designers took their inspiration from the fabric of the British home c. the 60s and 70s with patterns calling to mind more curtains, sofas, carpets and tablecloths than you could shake a feather duster at but somehow, while retaining all those bygone references, the prints had been digitally remastered with a really modern edge.

Elegant unstructured shift dresses, tea dresses, smocks, blouson tops with sleeves on the elbow teamed with loose fitting tube skirts and all in patterns that clashed with gay abandon.  Front, back and sleeves were often rendered in conflicting but delicious prints, forming a gloriously ****ed up melange. 

The spirit of the collection paid homage to the make do and mend ethos of the 40s 50s:  not-quite-fitting cast-offs and hand-me-downs which can only be described as ‘domestic heritage’.

The shrug meets the cardie – is that the shardie? – perfectly complimented the whole elegantly slumming vibe – as did the baggy ankle and knee socks worn with killer wedges to suitably louche effect. 

And as for the pyjama-style jumpsuit in tie-dye meets tribal print – Out of Africa via Katmandu – so wrong but so incredibly right. 

Eley Kishimoto Catwalk Report Spring Summer 2010

For those smug (I’ve got Vogue’s back catalogue from 1982) sorts who reckon they’ve a complete grasp of the LFW lexicon and can explain all the different show categories …

(On site at the BFC tent as in Paul Costello, off site as in Sass & Bide, off site at the Fashion Factory in conjunction with Red Bull as in PPQ, off site in the Topshop exhibition space as in Christopher Kane, OnOff at 180 The Strand as in Pam Hogg, Vauxhall Fashion Scout as in William Tempest … just in case you were wondering)

… with the panache of an ardent football fan describing the off side’ rule, it may be somewhat unsettling to note that the week’s hottest tickets are often completely off radar events. 

Like Nova Dando’s Rainbow Collection on Friday night at The Hospital.  Nova, the stylist of choice for avant garde artists La Roux, The Gossip, M.I.A. and Peaches, is one of the Covent Garden members club’s ‘Creatives in Residence’, its programme supporting new talent.  She is also one half of international female djing duo, Lou & Nova, with Lou Hayter from
New Young Pony Club.

Showcasing her collection in a triple pronged attack in the Hospital’s subterranean studio, an audience of hip Nyloners were treated to a trippy film of her work directed by Saam Farahmand, a performance by Brooklyn dance troupe, House of Dangerkat followed by a stunning secret gig from Mercury Prize nominee, La Roux!

La Roux and the Dangerkats, were, of course, decked out in Nova’s crazy couture with studded denim waistcoats, body-suits and multi-coloured feathered shrugs and tutus all playing a star roll. 

“Fashion and film are increasingly becoming interlaced,” says Hospital’s public relations director Ali Hillman.  “Just look at Nick Knight’s SHOWstudio website and the current exhibition at Somerset House.” 

But what makes a Nova number hotter than your average fashion talent is that the stylist-cum-designer doesn’t actually sell her work on the open market.  “I don’t want to get into the whole having to produce a collection twice a year thing,” she told me at the after show party. 

So have a good old ogle but unless you’ve a tour wardrobe that wants creating and you happen to have rather a successful hit called Bulletproof under your belt, well, it ain’t for sale.  Yup, life sucks. 

www.novadando.com
www.thehospitalclub.com