All Babes are Wolves: Helena Christensen

Showing posts with label Helena Christensen. Show all posts

Sunday, October 18, 2015

H&M in NZ

Sasha Pivovarova by Terry Richardson for H&M, Fall 2009

I first came across H&M in London in 1997. My Scandinavian friends raved about 'Hennes', a 'high street' store from Sweden with cool designs at affordable prices. Sure enough, upon checking out their store on Oxford Street I was thrilled by the fantastic buys. I went in Winter and found some fabulous jumpers. Then in Spring I stocked up on their awesome bikinis, the range being fronted by my fave Helena Christensen at the time (1998).

Helena Christensen for H&M, 2009

Picture I took in Zurich of using the H&M campaign, from the inaugural Cow Parade

Upon returning to the Antipodes, I sorely missed H&M. The closest we had during the late 90's was Sportsgirl (Australia) and Glassons (NZ). H&M opened in Västerås, Sweden as Hennes, selling women’s clothing. Founder Erling Persson bought Mauritz Widforss, a hunting and fishing equipment store in 1968 and they included men's and children's clothing. The name is changed to Hennes & Mauritz. In 1976 they opened in London and by 2000 they were across Europe and opened in New York.

Karl Lagerfeld, 2004

H&M's designer collabs have caused mass hysteria, the first collection being with Karl Lagerfeld in 2004, then followed by others including Roberto Cavalli, Rei Kawakubo and Comme des Garçons, Stella McCartney, Versace and Alexander Wang. I recall grabbing the last few designs from their collaboration with Matthew Williamson in New York in 2009, taking a size too small just to own a few of the covetable pieces.

Stella McCartney, 2005

Roberto Cavalli, 207

Matthew Williamson 2009

Versace 2011-12

There are also collaborations with celebrities such as Madonna, David Beckham, Beyonce, Kylie Minogue and their first artist collaboration with Jeff Koons, in 2014.

Madonna by Steven Klein, 2006-7

Jeff Koons, H&M NYC 2014

H&M is now in 21 countries from China to the Middle East across and is finally coming to New Zealand! Their range also includes beauty, sportswear and homeware. H&M's business concept is Fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way. Their commitment to being sustainable by using friendly and ethical practices and partners, reusing and being climate smart and is admirable. What's not to love?!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Supermodel Legends

Cindy, Stephanie, Claudia, Naomi, Linda and Christy

by Mario Testino, Vanity Fair 2008

As my Blog readers know, I grew up in the supermodel era, back when Linda Evangelista wouldn't "get out of bed" for less than $10,000, they strutted for Gianni Versace and appeared in George Michael's iconic 'Freedom' video in 1990. I even had to try the Fashion Cafe in London (they had curiously great fries - which was about all I could afford in 1998).

Stephanie, Cindy, Christy, Tatjana and Naomi

by Herb Ritts, 1989

Very few models have come close to the beauty and the enigma of the originals - Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell (dubbed 'The Trinity), Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss and Stephanie Seymour. Also to be included in this rarified group should be Helena Christensen, Tatjana Patiz, Kristin McMenamy, Nadja Auermann, Yasmin LeBon, Carla Bruni, Eva Herzigova and Amber Valetta. Nowadays there are few models who could be bestowed with the same honour. Perhaps Gisele, and now Cara Delevingne who is fast tracked to being a force to be reckoned with. Time will tell. "Gisele Bündchen—with her curvaceous figure, $35 million annual income, and sex-symbol boyfriends (Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Brady)—is probably the only true supermodel around today. On the other hand, as Stephanie Seymour points out, the term has become so overused in the new century that now everybody’s a supermodel. “It’s very embarrassing,” she says, “when you meet, like, a Russian prostitute, and she says she’s a supermodel. And you’re like, ‘Hey, me too!’” (A League of their Own, Vanity Fair).

I never would have imagined that 30 years later, we would still be seeing those famous faces gracing campaigns and editorials - and looking amazing! Naomi just closed Diane von Furstenberg at New York Fashion Week, and as E New correspondent Alicia Quarels put it "She was like 'Listen kiddoes, this is how you do it', because nobody can walk like Naomi, right? She came out like 'I'm not playing', I love it!" Sure, they may have had a few tweaks here and there, but you cannot deny those naturally stunning features or that bone structure! Check out these shots from 2012-13.

Kate Moss - Age 39