Busy week

This week has been London Fashion Week. There are only a handful of shows showing menswear, and so it's been a time for us to catch up on updating portfolios, cards and online material. I went along to 2 parties on Tuesday evening; the launch of Volt magazine which was in a shop off Carnaby Street. Volt magazine is a new large format tome, the launch was for Issue 2. It's beautifully printed and the menswear shoot by Dominic Cooper is fantastic. Of course, it's new so they don't pay anything. The party was pretty busy, I was with Greg and Soraya from the Women's desk, we only recognised a couple of people and the music was too loud to talk over so we left and headed over to the iD/Kickers party at Marylebone Library. Various designers had been asked to come up with their interpretation of the classic Kickers boot. Each design had been given it's own shelving area within the library. On the second floor there was a dance floor and a screening room, but as we were fairly early it was still quite empty. We grabbed a couple of Mojito's and had a look at the shoes:



Wednesday evening was the opening night of the new Christopher Wheeldon Company, Morphoses. There has been much buzz about this project. Chris has gathered the cream of the crop of classical dancers from London and New York and the programme sounded exciting, with both new works and old favourites. The first piece from which the company draws it's name, Morphoses is set to a string quartet by Gyorgy Ligeti. It's one of those modern pieces that you either love or hate and I would not have listened to before I moved in with Flattie. Two pairs of dancers weave complex patterns and unusual lifts, sometimes as a four sometimes as duos. The dancers were incredible and I loved it. However the next section was very disappointing. Vicissitude by Edwaard Liang, just showed what an inventive choreographer Wheeldon is. It seemed incomplete and uninspired. Next up was Slingerland pas de deux an old William Forsythe ballet. It served to demonstrate the source of some of Wheeldon's inspiration but the costumes are a real distraction. The boy looks like an oven chip and the girl is wearing a Pringle as a tutu. Finally the Prokofiev pas de deux, again choreography by Wheeldon, danced by superstars Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg. This combination, composer, choreography and dancers should have been breathtaking, but it just failed to ignite and seemed rather pedestrian. I was really disappointed. The third section proved a redemption, After The Rain was a return to choreographic form by Wheeldon and beautifully danced by the six men and women. I had expected to leave feeling elated, but honestly was a little disappointed.

Friday was due to see Fiona and Bex, but Fiona had to cry off so we ended up in Strada with the Johns and Iain Mac. Bex was on top form and we had a great evening. I taught her how to wear her McQueen scarf properly. Some of us ended up in The Sewers. Messy.

Saturday I slept in late and then rushed into town to pick up Paul White's birthday present. (The new novel by Julian Clary and the new Hed Kandi Summer Compilation CD) Town was horribly busy, so kept it to a minimum although did treat myself to a couple of CD bargains. A Kruder and Dorfmeister, An Ibiza Compilation and a Master Cuts bar compilation. All would be brilliant to play in the office but of course I broke the CD player and so we are stuck with the radio. In the evening the Johns had the unveiling of the work they had done on their house. It's taken about 4 months but the result is amazing ! the entire downstairs has been reworked and it looks incredible. A huge living space, internal courtyard and new kitchen dining area. Paul White, Amir, Flattie Iain Mac and I are all totally jealous. We had a brilliant evening and didn't leave until the early hours.