Albertus Swanepoel

(Image via Style.com)

South African-born Albertus Swanepoel is being hailed as the U.S version of Stephen Jones. He's now a regular on the catwalks, creating hats to top off designs by Proenza Schouler, Carolina Herrera, and Alexander Wang, to name but a few.

In 2008 he was a finalist for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award which meant that he was asked to design a limited edition for GAP this year based on the classic Gap khaki. He's in good company - Alexander Wang and Vena Cava (one of my favourite designers) also produced khaki collections. (More on that at Nitrolicious)


(Image courtesy of GAP)

More about Albertus:

- a great Fashion Spot thread featuring photos of Albertus, his studio and creations
- Style.com asks Albertus 5 questions

Oh, Karl!

Chanel's Pre-Fall Paris Moscou collection features the most divinely over-the-top headdresses that have started my mind wandering on pearls, fur and fringes.

I'm intrigued by the creative process behind these collections and am delighted to have stumbled across these two gorgeous videos that help explain the creative process.

Karl encapsulated his inspiration in this 10-minute silent movie that dramatises how Madame Chanel herself may have come up with a Paris Moscou theme for the collection. The movie stars Edita Vilkeviciute as Coco Chanel and features so many gorgeous hats! Coco was a milliner before she was a fashion designer.



And then there's the present day - a behind-the-scenes of the fitting for the headdresses. The glamour! It's a beautiful day dream of pearls, feathers, jewels, fur, sequins - even wool.



The mood, the music, the lighting - it's all on brand for the collection. Chanel's doing a really nice job of using new media to complement and even extend their collections themes.