Katie Grand | cheriecity.co.uk

Show Some Love For: Pastel Cats

May 15, 2010 by cheriecity

Surely there cannot possibly be anything more dreamy than a gang of perfectly-coiffed, candyfloss coloured Persian cats just chilling under a clematis…

This heart-warming picture is one of photographer Tim Walker’s most talked-about images, with the initial response being that it must have been Photoshopped. On the contrary, these felines were treated to a long brushing session followed by a cheeky tint to get them ready for their close-up.

Tim Walker said in an interview with Guardian: “We actually took pigment powder, mixed it with talc to get the right ice-cream pastel colours, and brushed it into the cats.”

Apparently some of the cats were furious when their pampering ended, hence the evil death stares from the bubblegum pink cat on the right (just imagine the scratches the poor assistant had to endure during the shoot).

In Tim Walker’s stunning hardback book Pictures, Vogue’s Grace Coddington reveals her love for this image and that she has her own print. If you love fluffy high fashion and incredible sets with roaming cats and bunnies (like Katie Grand-era POP), then Tim Walker’s Pictures is a must for your bookshelf.

Image: (c) Tim Walker

Designers, Events, Exhibitions, Fashion, London

Katie Grand comes to the V&A!

April 21, 2010 by cheriecity

As if the V&A’s new Grace Kelly exhibition wasn’t enough, they’ve enlisted Katie Grand to come and give a talk on her life in fashion and her working relationships with some of the most iconic fashion houses, on Friday 14 May, as part of their Museums At Night programme.

Katie Grand helped launch Dazed & Confused and moved on to the best magazine ever (in my opinion), The Face, but she really came into her own with POP, co-founded with Ashley Heath.

Under Katie’s direction, POP was all about the fun and ‘jolly’ side of fashion, favouring bunnies, muppets and lashings of pink over heroin-chic dreariness.

Katie had a knack for bringing celebs out of their comfort zone on photo shoots and for the inaugural cover, she herded up her Central Saint Martins chums Stella McCartney, Luella Bartley, Phoebe Philo and Liberty Ross to pose as futuristic pole dancers.

Leaving POP in the hands of Russian art princess Dasha Zhukova, Katie moved on to Conde Nast to set up rival bi-annual mag, LOVE.

Along the way, Katie Grand has styled and consulted for the likes of Giles, Prada, Miu Miu and Louis Vuitton and was Creative Director of Mulberry. The fashion industry loves Katie for her ‘outside’ style and down-to-earth attitude and it is her refusal to conform that has made her such a leading force today.

On her friendship with Luella, Katie says: “‘I suppose we’ve always been a loud gang in a way. Luella and I were really aware from the minute we started being friends that we annoyed people. Like there was one London Fashion Week when we wore fluoro for the whole week and just got photographed everywhere.

“It was just those little things, like not wearing black and heels, and how easy it is to be anti-establishment without doing anything very wrong. Or like being at proper parties drunk and loud and obnoxious and falling over. It’s not like we were very influential or anything. It was much more people saying, “Oh, I wish those girls would go and wash!” We were quite scummy really.”

While trying to find ticket details for the event (not yet available, but I’ll find out), I spotted some other upcoming talks about conversations with Juergen Teller, Peter Blake and quilting chameleon Kaffe Fassett.

Museums At Night takes place from 14-16 May, with over 220 national events, including Stitch And Bitch at the Hunterian Museum, free arts festival No Soule For Sale at Tate Modern, a silent disco at the Tate Liverpool, a Jane Austen-inspired evening at The Assembly House in Norwich and an exclusive viewing of London’s Apsley House.

Visit www.culture24.org.uk/museumsatnight for the full programme and more details.

Fashion, Photography

Photo girl: Wendy Bevan

February 14, 2010 by cheriecity

It’s finally the day of amour, but I reckon most of us want something more than getting soppy over chocolates and roses. In between toiling away on an epic three-course roast for my beloved (don’t worry, he’s been given tasks like fetching more Diet Coke from the corner shop), I’ve been getting all schmaltzy over these dreamy pics by fashion photographer, Wendy Bevan.

Two years ago, my desk buddy on a fashion mag website told me about Wendy and we spent many hours cooing over her photographs. I promptly switched my smouldering Robert Pattinson screen wallpaper for Wendy’s candy-coloured circus monkey.

Wendy Bevan is known for her painterly, ethereal, innocent and often alluring images of wistful models, pastel scenes and femme fatales. Her work has featured the big fashion mags like RussianVogue, Italian Marie Claire, British Harpers Bazaar, and more specialist titles like Qvest, NYLON, Lula, POP and i-D.

As if Wendy isn’t talented enough as a photographer, she has also been a jazz singer and accessories designer! Not only was her jewellery featured in Italian Vogue, i-D and Dazed & Confused (pictured here, worn by Patrick Wolf), but she was also commissioned by Kylie and Gwen Stefani and was stocked in the POP Magazine Boutique at Dover Street Market.

So, have Wendy’s pictures inspired you to grab a Diana Camera, rally some friends together and get snapping in the park or a disused mansion? You can keep up with Wendy Bevan’s latest photo shoots on her blog.