Northern Women in Chanel

 Chanel, one of world's most fascinating Houses and visionary photographer Peter Farago along with Klemetz Farago collaborated on an exclusive project in 2010 and 2011, creating full fashion stories featuring 45 of the top supermodels of the Nordic and Baltic countries. The highlights of this collaboration are gathered in a glossy coffe-table book titled Northern Women in Chanel starring some of the North's greatest beauties with Freja Beha Erichsen, Helena Christensen, Carmen Kass and Frida Gustavsson among them, all dressed in Chanel Pret-a-Porter and Haute Couture creations. The book and project images will be presented at the Design Museum Danmark by the 8th of April, 2012.

Enjoy the exhibition video below:

Acne Backstage

One of my favourite brands, Acne, presented its F/W 2012-13 collection in London to a fabulous crowd of 800 selected guests. Taking cue from Acne Paper's next issue titled Body in Art, Acne built a collection inspired by various artists, based on unexpected colour, material, shape and texture combinations.
 The distorted abstract images of surrealist photographer André Kertész, the erotic sculptures of Hans Bellmer and the colour contrasts of  Hanneline Røgeberg's painting offered the best ingredients for a completed collection full of fluid shapes, surrealistic volumes and traditional materials used in an un-traditional way. Among the highlights of the collection are definitely the eye-popping colours (the best medicine for winter) and the sculptural sunglasses.

All backstage images courtesy of Acne

Hahn Bin

"The world's a circus. Own your inner clown!" That's Korean-American Hahn Bin's motto, an artist who is not afraid to express his talents and odd personality through the deepest venues of music. Considered as one of the best violonists in the world, Bin performs the most spectacular and revolutionary music shows blending music, art and fashion. He made his international music debut at the age of 12 at the Grammy Awards in 2000 and since then he has become one of the leading classical music personas worldwide. Deeply inspired by Maria Callas, Pedro Almodovar and Liza Minelli, Bin has built a dinstictive, unique and really special style. He presents his "Till Down Sunday" show on February 19th at the Royal Albert Hall.

The Blonds Backstage

Hot designer duo The Blonds presented their new collection for next winter during the NYFW and it was much more exciting than ever before. Titled Dye Blond, the collection featured contemporary Amazons dressed in armour-like encrusted and leather bodysuits, bodycon dresses and luxurious fur jackets. The killer looks are completed with cut-off gloves, horsetail-decorated helmets, oversized jewellery and spiked Louboutin shoes and boots.

All images by fab photographer Veronica Ibarra

Visit Veronica's blog for more coverage from the NYFW

The Woman Dress

Au Revoir Simone

 On the 14th of February, Miu Miu unveiled in New York the trird in a series of short films directed by distinctive female directors exploring women's love affair with Miu Miu. Following the Powder Room by Zoe Cassavetes and Muta by Lucrecia Martel, the brand's new exciting film project is titled The Woman Dress, directed by Giada Colagrande with italian actress Maya Sansa in the leading role. The haunting soundtrack is written and performed especially for the film and the event by the electronic pop trio Au Revoir Simone. The film tells the story of three witches (played by the Au Revoir Simone girls), who among their cauldrons and magic potions, sacrifice a woman, transforming her into the object of her desire - a red blood dress.

Enjoy the film below the event images:

Giada Colagrande

Leighton Meester

Y-3 F/W 2012-13 Collection

"There is poetry and elegance in the way nomads dress. I want to capture that feeling and make it modern." This how Yohji Yamamoto describes his inspiration for the latest collection of Y-3, drawn from the steppes of Central Asia. Through a mystic journey from the past to the present, Yamamoto's contemporary Nomads are adventurous, sporty and with a smart taste in fashion. The collection is full of exceptional pieces: long dramatic wool coats, shearling jackets, fleece knits and fierce leopard prints are teaming with billowing capes, fisherman's pants and ponchos. The final result of the travelling collection is a parade of flowing, draped silhouettes screaming "Comfort".

All images courtesy of Y-3

Tips for Taking Street Style Photographs

Within the past few years, street style has become one of the most popular topic in the blogosphere. You may aspire to be the next Sartorialist or Tommy Ton, but it takes more than a passion for style to become a great street style photographer/blogger. Here are some tips to help get you started:

1. Get a Good Camera – This seems like a given, but lots of aspiring street style photographers make the mistake of trying to get by with the basic digital camera they have. High-quality images will bring out the colors and details of the outfits you shoot and set you apart from the masses who are trying to emerge in street style photography. Carrying around a serious camera will also help your subjects take you more seriously. And don’t worry – you don’t need to spend your life savings on a camera. There are lots of great basic D-SLR models on the market for under $500.

2. Take Lots of Shots – Famous street style bloggers may post one or two photographs on their blogs each day, but they’ve probably taken a hundred other shots that day that didn’t end up on the site. You may get lucky every once in a while with a great shot in the beginning of the day, but in general you should take lots of pictures. This will give you lots of shots to choose from and help you hone your photography skills. You may even consider taking several pictures of the same person so that you ensure one will be a good photo.

3. Pay Attention to the Background – Although the fashionista you’re photographing is the most important part of the picture, you should pay attention to the background as well. Since you’ll be photographing out in the city, you won’t have much control of what goes on in the background. You may try to have subjects pose against neutral backgrounds, like brick walls, or areas where there aren’t as many people. This will keep the attention focused on the subject.

4. Make Friends – As a street style photographer, you’ll be interacting with strangers every day. This means that you need to be friendly and become comfortable with approaching strangers and asking them for a photo. It may be intimidating at first, but you’ll probably find that most subjects are flattered to have their picture taken for a street style blog. Interacting with your subjects before photographing them also allows you to give them a little direction in terms of posing and expression. 

5. Be Original – The best thing you can do to become a great street style photographer is to harness your own creativity. Perhaps you want to photograph people who embody a certain style or philosophy, or you hope to tell their stories along with their photos. Whatever your idea may be, this is what will make your photographs and your street style blog unique.

This article was written by Madeline Barbour. She is an experienced photographer who owns the site How to Become a Photographer.