press up's

wednesday! viva day!! and what could make our morning flat white at alleluya even better but seeing a dear prudence 'rose cross bag', company of strangers scarf and ffixxed dress all featured. yay! thanks viva!

on company time

designer sara aspinall (and frankie madonna!)

we reckon dunedin based label company of strangers is one of the most exciting labels to emerge from new zealand for quite some time. after many years spent working with margi robertson on the legendary label nom*d, sara decided it was time to forge her own path, starting her label with recycled leather jackets deconstructed and then reconstructed into super cool bags, jewellery coming next, and then finally the label was expanded to include a collection of effortlessly cool and dark yet quirky clothing...

name of designer: sara aspinall

right now the time is: cup of tea time!

and where abouts in the world are you?: dunedin or fun-eden

date of birth: 9/1/1978

label name: company of strangers

year label started: 2008

my new collection is entitled: misery loves company

concept/motivation behind new collection: take one part motorcycle gang, one part multiple personality disorder and one part constant indecision and shitloads of leather and you get silk georgettes weighted down with chains and leather, a lady who is equally as bad ass biker as she is luxury prima donna. her superhero after dark lifestyle starts creeping into her everyday life.......

the ultimate company of strangers lady or gent is: an individual who takes a piece and makes it their own, has a sense of humour and doesn't take themselves too seriously.

what do you like about new zealand? that you can live in a bubble without being heavily influence with world trends, I can get from my house to work in 5 minutes, i can see the ocean from my bedroom without the million dollar price tag.

shoot, shag or marry: aaah i can't shoot anyone!! shag- bill munro, marry- bill munro (my childhood crush and now fiance)

complete this sentence, I had a vision and my vision was… a sea of vintage patched leather....tassles, acid wash...black, suede aaaahh

thank you.

company of strangers is available instore now or online here

if it aint ffixxed

we love ffiXXed, their subtle, understated clothes have an unmistakably quirky sense of humour. they are clever with out being difficult, classic and edgy at the same time. and they seem like mighty nice folk too. find out more about them below...

names of designers: kain picken, fiona lau
 
right now the time is: 01:16am
 
and where about in the world are you?: melbourne + hong kong
 
date of birth: 1980, 1985
 
label name: f f i X X e d
 
year label started: 2008

our new collection is entitled: unseen utopias
 
concept/motivation behind new collection: the motivation for f f I X X e d s/s 2010 collection is that we need to build a civilised space here. all garments and objects in the collection are constantly active and engaged with their specific situations. clothing that looks amazing and different every time and is always engaged in the process of life whether it is on the back of your chair while the lights are off, teamed with your Lanvin trainers and cosmic wonder jacket, or thrown on quickly so you don't have to answer the door naked. Each piece is developed as an individual and a whole, consideration to established functionalities and the production of new suggestions for function are crucial where cool grey linens meet apricot cottons with sleek, fit lines.
 
the ultimate ffiXXed lady or gent is: ultimate lady: claire fontaine, gent: forrest gump
 
what do you know about New Zealand? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand, http://www.gambiacastle.net
 
shoot, shag or marry: we are lovers, not fighters. lil' wayne + f f i X X e d models. kain picken marries fiona lau + fiona lau marries kain picken.
 
complete this sentence, I had a vision and my vision was… belle-epoque cuvée de prestige + UPLANDS + sushi + chocolate + hand-made chairs + green liquid + parisian e-mails + interview + exhibition design + slavoj zizek vs avatar + hot videos + world food books + fabrication + publication + relaxing and cooking + talking to beijing + ffiXXed patches workshop + green tea and livin' in italy + shenzhen + hotel rooms + BBC + on the run + limes + green drink + work + mail + phone + looseness + more kuramata atmospherics + more and more maison martin margiela + paint + avatar work + roast + book + text message + fire + laguiole + movies + hanging out + de-install + screen printing + rain + painting + less than zero outfit + double cupping + tex mex + dancing + unsteady bookshelf + bbc world service + replay + green tea + king to nin jiom pei pa koa + fit + box of strawberries + box of blueberries + women that make your heart skip a beat + black skies + ice + waterfall + home cooked macro-biotic lunch + mangostein + paint + chat + homemade lasagne + cough + bath + sizzurp + OCT + y3k + meetings + e-mails + cold + catch up + openings + steak + pear + what is design? kenji ekuan, design is like an autumn leaf falling to the earth + bath + stephen chow + new sheets + f f o R R e s t + paint+ eat + tomato olive oil basil and sea salt on corn bread + green tea with soba + pistachios + chocolate + tofu + corn + pasta + ginger + pineapple & coconut soy soft-serve + strawberries + blueberries + green tea with soba + cat + LANVIN + sweet dreams + avocado corn bread lemon pepper and olive oil on toast + R&Sin(e) + fried bee larvae + shekau + green tea and whisky + EMOi stashie bag + green walls + security guards + free school + check out + new show + fake avatar + jota castro hotel room + rooftops + la mian + coffee + salma hayek in 'from dusk till dawn' + ciara + boarder crossing + all wrapped up in wonder + char siu duck on rice + more maison martin margiela + hot malted vitasoy + lamps + discovery channel + 26th floor view of hk harbour + early mornings + laundry pick-up + magic glass + squatting and smoking + sizzla + nothing

sisters are doing it...

gorgeous sisters leah and erin forsyth talking about their 10 favourite things in this weeks viva magazine. erin forsyth is the artist responsible for the beautiful installation currently inhabiting the store, and she also happens to be wearing the ffixxed double tie rope dress... and wearing it well if i may say so...

meet and greet: raphael hauber

the super nice raphael from postweiler hauber (which incidentally from next season will be called raphael hauber - appropriately enough) whom we met for the first time at our appointment in paris. the collection features amazing photo prints of multi coloured rag rugs, in some cases zoomed into at a microscopic level, and some beautiful tailored pieces with panelling featuring super soft leather.

meet and greet: peter jensen

we had a lovely time yesterday with peter and gerard from peter jensen, drinking cups of coffee, going through the super cute collection and finding out that peter's favourite new zealand film is NOT lord of the rings (we've had that all week!! peter hasn't even seen it...) but angel at my table. love it!

rad by rad hourani appointment

we had our appointment to view the rad by rad hourani collection in paris yesterday, the lovely thomas took us through the range and was the perfect rad hourani ambassador wearing the tightest of leather pants, a sheer silk singlet and a pair of the rad hourani heels - too shy for a photo, but here's the appropriately monochromatic studio they were selling from.

the collection was stunning, drape fronted jackets with removable sleeves, two tone denim and pvc jeans, drapey waistcoat fronted silk tops and much more. beautiful! too much black? never!

meet and greet: annalisa dunn from cooperative designs

one half of the dynamic duo behind cooperative designs on the streets of paris outside the london showrooms.

the pleasure principle

photo courtesy of francois hugon

new to children of vision this season is new york label pleasure principle - think super soft and incredibly fine tee shirting fashioned into drippy hooded tops & voluminous dresses, and washed down fleecy sweatshirting hooded capes, and the season's must have silk biker jacket cape dress. it's equal parts dark and androgynous, and they make pieces you cant ever imagined you lived without. we asked them a few questions about their latest collection:

name(s) of designer(s): diva pittala & adrian cowen

right now the time is: 6.55pm sat feb 27th

And where abouts in the world are you?: manhattan

label name: pleasure principle

year label started: 2002

our new collection is entitled: high as a kite

concept/motivation behind new collection: part of the collection has been about taking generic items like the over-size t-shirt and using that as the starting point for more abstract designs, so from this point of departure some items have an oversize draped quality that works for either gender. when designing pieces that are specifically women's wear we avoid the cliches of typically 'feminine' decoration, which may result in the items appearing unisex.

the ultimate pleasure principle lady or gent is: martin cohn - our andrognye model this season

what do you know about new zealand? nothing..

shoot, shag or marry: this is the question that's been holding us up....

complete this sentence, I had a vision and my vision was… blurry

thank you.

view the entire pleasure principle collection instore now or online here.