reVOLVER BLOG

So - everyone's talking about the McQ runway show at London Fashion Week. It even featured on the Spanish TV news! It's the first time McQ (as opposed to the mainline Alexander McQueen collection) has held a show, and it was up there on the Must See list, attracting industry heavyweights such as Anna Wintour, Samantha Cameron, the British PM's wife (who is an ambassador for the British Council of Fashion) and actress Salma Hayek. 

The word on the street is that the collection was as "mainline" as a diffusion line gets!  It was certainly much more high fashion than McQ's 'normal' more street style.  The setting was an enchanted forest, with real trees, and the models (including Kristen McMenamy) crunched down the catwalk on real gold and red leaves.  The designs featured plenty of luxurious velvet embroidery, tulle, long leather gloves and boots, and cinched prom-like waists.  Beautiful.

The magical forest, with real trees!

Leaves embroidered on the dresses, and scattered on the runway...

Classic Alexander McQueen tailoring, with long leather gloves and boots

And then there was the hair.... WOW. Sculpted into (magic) mushroom shapes, these do's were an alternative to the current hat trend!  I don't even want to think about how long it took them to get ready (but it's not surprising it was an evening show).

Designer Sarah Burton said of the collection: "I didn’t want it to feel like a second line. “Just because it’s a cheaper price point doesn’t mean you can’t have a special coat or a beautifully cut jacket. You buy clothes because you love them and you want have them."

With this lady in charge, McQ may well live forever!

Check out Señora Sanchez's latest blog for White Ibiza on the hat trend this season...

Hats are back! Not just because of the Big Freeze going on in Europe at the moment (the rumours are true – it’s actually been snowing here in Ibiza for the first time in decades!) and not just because we’re all getting out of bed a bit later now it’s winter and haven’t got time to wash our hair every day!  Read more...

Milan unfairly has a reputation for being a bit 'industrial'.  I happen to like the industrial look (as in East London, Berlin etc), but when people say it of Milan they just mean there are lots of factories.  Sure it's not as pretty as Florence or Rome, but I love Milan.  Especially during Fashion Week!

I love it even though it's a nightmare to get to from Ibiza at the moment (don't get me started on Ryanair canceling the direct flights this winter) and even though it's cold, and even though it's Men's Fashion Week not Womens... there's something about it that just rocks.

It might be the way everyone oozes style, from the bus drivers to the waitresses, in the way that only the birthplace of Prada could.  Those designer bags are real here!  It might be that every bar you go to gives you a plate of gorgeous Italian food to nibble on (absolutely free).  It might be that you see things in the shop windows you just don't see anywhere else.  Whatever it is, this city has style.

Milan... where the Louis Vuitton luggage is real.

We had a couple of appointments this weekend, to see McQ Alexander McQueen and Y-3, and also to check out the White Trade Show.  On arriving at Centrale Station we got caught up in the middle of a Milanese taxi strike!  Fortunately it was just ending, as the Y-3 showroom is not near any train stations but it was just a little bit chaotic.  Brilliant!

Loads of taxis, just noone to drive them.

At Y-3 there were some great collection pieces (leopard print shorts, anyone?) but it's the shoes that we love the most.  In fact while we were there the design team gave us a sneak preview of some fabulous women's shoes they've been developing... ooh I'm sworn to secrecy but they are great!

The White tradeshow was more for a look than anything else.  The entrance was via a white carpet (naturally), and there were several different areas, all of which working the industrial angle the right way.  It was actually quite quiet, as all the Italian stores come on the Sunday (they are open on Saturdays!) but with lots of interesting stuff.

The bike theme in the main hall was a bit of a mystery...

Up and coming labels in Room 2...

Not just clothes - the most comfortable cactus you'll ever sit on - by Cerruti Baleri

We were keen to check out the Basement, and it was like entering a cool club, with a spiral staircase downstairs to a series of concrete rooms, music throbbing from within and an unsmiling blonde model-type on the door.  It reminded me of the legendary Nom de Guerre store in Bleecker St used to be (minus the staff skateboarding down the corridor!). 

Here were labels such as Silent by Damir Domar, PRPS and some really cool labels I'd never heard of, some of them (very unfortunately) way too directional for laid-back Ibiza, but I wish them well... some of them you will hopefully be seeing soon at reVOLVER!

Our McQ appointment on Sunday was a bit early... those Milanese wine bars I mentioned earlier didn't help!  Fortunately the photos prove there were some very strong pieces, and the shoes... well they were an unexpected highlight.

On the way back to the airport is started snowing, so it was a good time to leave.  Fortunately not for long - the Women's version is just over a month away!

It was nice to see so many familiar faces on the dancefloor at DC-10 on New Year's Day - not to mention lots of reVOLVER outfits!  Everyone looked great and it was a fantastic night.  We also spotted lots of Emergency Sunglasses - not just from Summer 2011, but the previous year too!  There were plenty more people who possibly should have had them too :)

Sorry there are no photos for this blog post... but you must understand that what happens at DC-10 stays at DC-10...

The latest Coca Cola advertising campaign in Australia is genius - "Share a Coke with [insert name here]".

There are literally thousands of names that have been printed on the bottles - including those from ethnic backgrounds (I spotted Talaq and Wen) and also modern spellings of traditional names.

So what were the chances of finding Kate and Naomi together on Coke in the supermarket?

About as good as anywhere else I'd say.

We're currently in sunny Australia taking a mini holiday (as you do just before Christmas when you have a shop) and it's lovely and hot. Not that Ibiza is particularly cold at the moment, but it's nice to regain a bit of the tan we had over summer in the Northern Hemisphere! It's always interesting to check out the fashions Down Under - they are often quite quirky and very different to the European labels, and we've always got an eye out for something new for reVOLVER's rails.

There's a new Ksubi store where we are in Melbourne, and as Ksubi make some of our favourite eyewear, we thought we'd check it out. It's a bit like landing on the moon really, with a big flag in the middle of the shop and a giant moon beanbag at the back... and the staff gave us full permission to jump on if we felt like it!

The clothes were cool as ever (we rather fancied the rails themselves too!) but the highlight was the album cover collection.  Celebrities such as Orlando Bloom and Courtney Love have drawn glasses on the faces gracing some old rock album covers - so Freddie Mercury has dark love heart glasses, Olivia Newton-John a Batman style mask, and Billy Idol lightning bolts coming out of his odd shaped glasses.  We Like.  Nearly as much as the glasses on the stand next to them.

Not sure if these will be the inspiration for the next eyewear collection, but if so we can't wait to see it!

Last night reVOLVER hosted a little soiree in conjunction with the artist Willie Marquez, at his gallery W7B12.  It's an amazing warehouse space, the kind you'd expect to find in East London rather than Ibiza - as  soon as we stepped inside we knew if was ideal for us to do something there! 

We were perfectly happy to give Willie two rails of fabulous clothes to install as artwork, and he did an excellent job.

Fashion suspended from the ultra high ceilings at W8B12.  The candles are from the Virgin Mary processions in Seville - it was cancelled this year due to rain so presumably they had lots left over!

There were quite a few kids there early on and gallery manager Francisco kept a nervous watch on them fearing art accidents...

 Our very own J-P was in top form. 

This man didn't seem bothered that the women in the red dress was missing a head.  It's Ibiza, after all.

Despite the early start, half of Ibiza turned out to check out the venue (and for a drink!).

reVOLVER's Txema and his BSF.

Catherine with Sarah Kiff, Alberto and his wife Maite (who was wearing the impossibly high studded McQ heels all the girls were lusting over).

The man himself Willie Marquez, and friend.

Many thanks to organiser extraordinaire Mitch Clarke, Totem Wines and of course Willie.  We think there will be quite a few good parties at W7B12 in 2012, and if you'd like to host yours there then it's possible - the gallery is available for private functions, including the pimp 'suite' out the back which is actually Willie's apartment.  We don't have photos, but in our opinion it's every bit as good as the penthouse suite at the Pacha Hotel! 

In fact Pacha head Ricardo Urgell was the last to leave...

On 20-N - that's November 20th here - there is a general election in Spain, to elect a new Prime Minister.  Will it be Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba (in the striped shirt) or Mariano Rajoy (in the striped tie)?  They both look a bit too similar to me... and not in a good way.  I only wish that ropey facial hair was due to Movember... except unfortunately it's not.

According to the polls, Mariano Rajoy of the right wing Partido Popular is set to win. The PP are the ones who used to be in power in Ibiza a few years back... and now quite a few party members are the subject of investigations into corruption! 

However whilst the PP is likely to win overall, in Ibiza the socialist government (PSOE) is expected to hold power.  The PSOE are the party-poopers who first outlawed afterhours parties... in other words it's their fault we have to wait until 4pm to go out dancing at Space.

Whoever wins I hope they elect as many stylish women to their team as there are right now.  There is currently a majority of women politicians in Zapatero's cabinet, and they are the most glamorous, well dressed women in politics.  Check out the current defence minister Carme Chacon (who was nearly in the running to be PM)... even in her casual clothes she looks great.

Why the other gals in politics else can't take a lead from Carme and her cohorts I don't know.  Angela Merkel are you listening...???