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?!

Hot in Yellow

I used to not like yellow at all. Yellow clothes - never! But over the last few years I find myself ore & more drawn to yellow clothes & accessories, particularly neons, like at the Zambesi show at NZFW in 2011. Maybe I am finally maturing and moving away from my standard palette of black, grey or pink! Here are a few outfits & items that have caught my eye lately. 

Cavalli Spring Summer 2013

 Cameron Diaz in Gucci

 Freida Pinto in Michael Kors

 Gwen in yellow tee

 Jess Hart in Maxim mag

 Kerry Washington in Michael Kors

 Nicole Scherzinger in Miu Miu wedges

 Brooke Burke in neon jeans

 Heidi Klum in Atelier Versace

 Khloe K in yellow Rag & Bone jeans

 Kim K in Sella McCartney

Kendall Jenner in neon yellow trousers

My boyfriend's Nike trainers

 Gwen in neon yellow bra

 J.Lo in Michael Kors

Julianne Hough in Kaufman Franco dress

Zambesi 

Zambesi

Maria Menounos in Gomez-Gracia

Gwen Stefani in Miu Miu

Marion Cotillard in Dior

Chant Dress by Doll House

Freida Pinto in Versace

Coo Coo Catroux

Last year, a cafe called Catroux opened in Auckland. The name had only recently come into my consciousness, through reading a book I got for my birthday - The Beautiful Fall by Alicia Drake. 

The book chronicles the  lives of Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld from their childhoods and how they entered the fashion industry in Paris in the 50's and beyond. I guess I had seen the name pop up here and there in the past, but didn't know who it was. I had heard of Loulou de la Falaise, the Bohemian aristocratic model & designer who sadly passed away at 63 earlier this year through her model niece Lucie and muse status, but not her cohort Betty. I'm up to the part about the young YSL and Karl, and YSL's relationship and subsequent heavy reliance on Svengali-esque boyfriend Pierre Bergé. I love reading about the painfully shy Yves, Betty and Loulou, gallivanting about the Left Bank, Marrakesh, London and New York  with gay abandon, sipping cocktails and generally being fabulous.

Betty, Yves and Loulou

Betty was working part time in an art gallery on the Boulevard Saint Germain. As chronicled in The Beautiful Fall "she looked like a deviant schoolgirl with high black socks, and short black mini." Yves St Laurent first laid eyes on Betty Cattroux in 1967 at Régine's, a gay nightclub in Paris. "Seated at the table of Régine's nightclub was a young woman...in her hand was a burning cigarette, on her face was the gloss of beauty and ennui." Betty was tall, thin, lithe, bleached blonde - just like him. YSL loved her legs "just what I love. Long long long."  Betty says it was a "physical attraction" to her. I think he saw a kindred spirit.

"Yves picked me up in a nightclub!” she recalls. “It was coup de foudre when we met, and we never left each other. After that we only lived for fun, two of us against the world. We hated normal life!” The two, along with Loulou, became fast friends. "He wanted me to work for him straight away" say Betty. "He decided that I was for him, he ran after me, he harassed me, he tied me up, he wanted to posses me and I ended up doing one collection with him. I realise that in fact we were very similar."  We loved too much to drink, we loved everything bad - even our sense of humour was the same.

 

 "We loved too much to drink, we loved everything bad - even our sense of humour was the same."

Betty's flatmate at the time, Jean-Pascal Billaud describes her as "the best dressed girl in Paris. She already had her own defined look and an attitude of provocateur. She was always extremely modern.'  She was a debutante with an anti-debutante attitude. She drank Crème de menthe and swore she was drunk on the second glass; she flirted with girls and was chased by boys. There was something deliberately ambivalent about Betty." 

 

I love this series of famous pictures of the 3 musketeers in 1978, looking louche & ready for mischief at YSL's home.

 

 

   

 Loulou, Yves and Betty - then, and in 2010 

 

Betty and Loulou with Kate Moss.

 Betty Catroux and YSL portrait

 Betty photographed for French Vogue by Tom Ford

Betty & Tom

Betty front row

Not only does Betty have the looks and style but that flirty, impish yet smoldering sexy personality to go with it - an unbeatable combination. It is easy to see how this incredible woman enraptured two of fashion's greats, Yves Saint Laurent, Hedi Slimane and Tom Ford (below).  Her sexy yet masculine style is often emulated, with Tom Ford dedicating his entire debut YSL Rive Gauche collection to her. 

Tom Ford for Rive Gauche, 2001

More Betty inspired looks:

 

More Tom Ford for Rive Gauche

 

 Versace

  Thierry Mugler 

 Andrej Pejic for Jean Paul Gaultier 

Andrej Pejic by Mert and Marcus 

Kate Moss  

Abbey Lee Kershaw

Daphne Groeneveld

YSL called Betty his "twin sister". To this day Betty wears only YSL, and toasts a painting of him by Andy Warhol every night. It was given to her by Pierre Bergé, the man it took her 30 years to become friends with (pictured with Betty below).

I love this pic of effortlessly cool Betty now, lounging with her husband François at their home in front of a giant 1995 portrait of Betty by Philippe de Lustrac. 

 

Below is an interview with Pierre Bergé and Betty from Fashion TV.