Renee Kitchen for Grazia.it

Renee Kitchen for Grazia.it.



As it is still Australia Day (just!), I thought it was fitting to post one of my Aussie Girl Next Door features for Grazia.it. Click on over to find more photographs of Renee, and her little interview.

I met up with model and student, Renee, when I was in Melbourne in November last year. With her super cute short haircut and gamine beauty, she reminds me of another of my gorgeous Girl's Next Door, Anne-Catherine.

Lovely Renee, who actually thought I was there to film her rather than take photographs (eep! If my iphone videos are anything to go by, I would be rubbish at videoing anything without massive amounts of camera shake!), welcomed me into the inner-city apartment she shares with her mama. Originally from Geelong, Renee now lives in Melbourne where she is studying Textile Design and Development at university (although this year she is hoping to transfer to Visual Merchandising) while modelling as well. Super organised (she had all of her outfits set out before I got there), Renee also has a great sense of style, both of which are essential for styling or fashion buying, which is what she wants to do when she gets "into the real world" as she describes it. Renee's style is classic cut with quirky, whimsical, almost rebellious little twists like the bone necklace in the first outfit, the round, heavily printed sunglasses (which her boyfriend hates but she still wears...got to love that!), the acid yellow necklace wrapped around her wrist. She finds inspiration in vintage books and magazines, and from her mum who has a fantastic design aesthetic as well (as evidenced by the stack of magazines on their coffee table).

So where were Renee's outfits from?

Beige jacket and leather shorts: All about Eve , pale blue button-up shirt: Vintage Susan, bone necklace:: Shappere, shoes: Kinki Gerlinki, sunglasses: Ison

Sleeveless fruity top: Gorman, camel skirt: American Apparel

Red tank top: Sportsgirl , black jeans: Cheap Monday

Black shirt: All about Eve, black jeans: Cheap Monday, yellow necklace (worn around wrist): Escapulario. 

Many thanks to Renee's agent, Viviens, in Melbourne.

Violaine

Miss Violaine Bernard, the french Fashion Director of Velour Magazine.
Bonjour Violaine, ca va?*
And always, always Violaine greets me with "Oui, ca va!", double kisses and the cutest smile. She is just one of those girls who manages to be cheery at fashion weeks even if it is pouring with rain (LFW February 2011), sleeting (LFW February 2010) or she is just plain exhausted. Violaine has that infectious happiness that makes you want to be around her....and did I mention her gorgeous, effortless French style? I was so happy when Violaine agreed to let me photograph her for Grazia.it (you can find the interview here).
One of the things I love most about doing these shoots (apart from getting to peek into people's apartments and wardrobes!) is that I get to learn things about people I probably never would have discovered otherwise. Like Violaine's "Lucky Kid" tattoo on her left arm (it is there as a little reminder to Violaine that even when things get tough, she has had a very fortunate, lucky life so far). As soon as I spied it, I was intrigued (those who have been reading my blog for a long time will know about my fascination with ink) and knew I wanted to try and capture some photos with it in (she has another one on the upper part of her left arm).
I loved the softness and prettiness of Violaine's first outfit (Topshop sweater and lace shorts). Another great thing about doing these shoots, is that everyone I have photographed thus far has had such different personal style. I love that- I think it would be so utterly boring if everyone dressed the same.
Violaine had a few different outfits planned but it was SO cold outside and decidedly un-Springy (this was a few weeks ago in London) that we quickly shot these photos and then raced inside and wrapped Violaine up in some warmer clothes.
Her shirt is Opening Ceremony, trousers are by Parosh, hat Uniqlo and shoes are by Rupert Sanderson (Violaine has already placed an order for some black suede platform boots from Rupert Sanderson for winter- they sound divine). Violaine is laughing in the second photo as it was so incredibly windy! Probably we wouldn't have been laughing so much if her hat had blown off onto the next building :)

Outside the cafe Violaine was wearing vintage coat, J Brand jeans, cashmere sweater from Lutz&Patmos and boots from H&M. Her hot pink clutch is vintage.
Violaine's owl necklace (which opens up to reveal a little clock) she found in a vintage market in NYC.
Violaine and I went for a croissant and cafe au lait at one of her favourite brunch cafe's in London: La Vie en Rose at Broadway Market in Hackney. She also took me to the most amazing, odd shop I think I have ever been to: The Last Tuesday Society Shop. It is a treasure trove of curiosities and unusual objects that Violaine often goes to to find gifts for friends. While we were there (with me and my camera bag remaining as still as a Rodin sculpture in an effort not to break anything;) Violaine purchased a beautiful little antler wall hanging which she was going to use to keep her necklaces and jewellery on.

I made Violaine put on this Elizabeth&James top- she wore it to the launch of Velour magazine last year and I really wanted to photograph her in it that night but I thought it would be rude to ask in front of all the guests! So she pulled it out for our little session.

*The limit of my French language skills unfortunately.


p.s. you can click on the collages to make them slightly bigger.


p.p.s The chair that Violaine is sitting on in the first photos is an ex-jail chair! Apparently it is really cold to sit on for any length of time. Kinda cool as a talking point for parties, huh?!

Candice

Miss Candice Lake.
My editors at Grazia.it have very sweetly named my Friday column "Girl Next Door" and last week my feature was on Candice Lake. You can find the interview with Candice here.
Candice is the girl next door....um, kind of. She grew up in a suburb in Brisbane, Australia about 30 minutes from me, went to the same uni, and started studying law. But the similarities end there. Most girls next door don't end up being photographed by amazing photographers like Steven Meisel, land numerous editorials in Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, cast for campaigns such as Versace, Versus and Ralph Lauren, and walk the runway for Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Fendi. Oh yeah, and in between doing all that manage to gain a fine art photography degree and become international sales and marketing director for French label, Rue du Mail in Paris.
I first met Candice in September last year at New York Fashion Week. I kept staring at her and thinking to myself why has that girl got a camera-she should be in front of it, not behind it! It turned out that Candice was THE Candice Lake, model turned photographer (she photographs street style for Vogue.com and Glamour magazine). Candice is also one of the nicest and most genuine girls I have met since I started doing, err, "this thing that I do". She is one of the reasons I enjoyed NY fashion week this past February so much (she is also the reason why we missed everyone arriving at the Jason Wu show-helllllooooo we had to get a take-away from the Balthazar bakery;). Candice is a lot of fun, but she is also an incredibly hard worker. And, yes, she is rather beautiful!
Walking into Candice's house feels very much like walking into a modern Australian home: lots of natural light, clean lines and open space. And there is of course her walk-in wardrobe. For someone who works in fashion, it is surprisingly compact- or at least it appears that way. There are pieces from the SS 2011 Rue du Mail (lots of fluro), Celine handbags, Lanvin ballet flats, hats, leather leggings, and some very tiny, very gorgeous dresses for evening (the dress in the first photos is Dolce&Gabbana).

Black dress from Daughters of the Revolution- I LOVED this dress. The way it moved when Candice walked, the lace panels, the way it falls almost to the ground (and Candice is tall!)- oh so beautiful. Rings from YSL (turquoise) and Dominic Jones.
p.s. The cushions on the lounge are from Anthropologie.
White t-shirt (J. Crew), red skirt (Zara) and Acne booties.

As we were shooting these portraits in the park, a couple of guys were walking past and said (with some authority) "Oh yeah, she's that model....you know, the one from the tv!". Not quite sure who they thought Candice was but we thought it was pretty funny.
Dress (Daughters of the Revolution); Sandals (Sigerson and Morrison)

Candice wears her boyfriend's Brora cashmere jumper, and shorts by Aussie brand, My Pet Square. Bag of mandarin's (clementine's) courtesy of my corner store :)
p.s. You can click on the collages to make them a little larger.

Claire

Miss Claire Healy from Young Shields blog for Grazia.IT.

Head on over to Grazia.IT for an article on Claire which you can find here.

I first met Claire in July 2009 when we were both asked to go on a blogger's daytrip to Paris organised by Eurostar. Claire was still at school and I recall that she had to get her parent's permission to attend. Then, in September last year, I bumped into Claire again at London Fashion Week when I randomly asked if I could take her photograph.....except, to my utter embarrassment, I didn't recognise her. Claire had grown up!

Claire is now reading English literature at Cambridge University and on her uni break about a month ago, I took a trip to her family home in a sleepy Essex seaside town to take some portraits of her for Grazia. I think Claire was suppose to be working her way through the complete works of Shakespeare (her desk was stacked high with library books) but I managed to entice her away from her reading for a couple of hours ;)

I love Claire's simple, fresh, girly style (she says it leans towards the scruffy but I disagree!)- she loves vintage but not in an obvious "I am wearing head-to-toe vintage" way. The olive sweater in the photographs below (with the blue skirt) is vintage YSL she picked up for a bargain from a charity shop near her home. She is rarely without a dainty necklace (given to her by her boyfriend) and although she adores rings, she is too prone to losing them to wear them regularly.

White dress from Topshop. Blanket courtesy of Claire's mama's couch!

Striped t-shirt from Irish designer Paul Costelloe, and vintage leather shorts. Claire's favourite designers include Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Peter Pilotto, Louise Gray and Christopher Kane.




Claire's blue-green nail polish is from Topshop as is the blue skirt. Her cute clogs are from Moheda.



I loved Claire's collection of snow globes (she is in competition with a friend for the most interesting collection) and her huge telescope for looking at the night sky (her boyfriend gave it to her) which sounded all rather complicated to use but looked impressive!

We headed to the beach (complete with quintessential English beach huts and dogs frolicking in the water) to catch some afternoon light.



p.s. You can click on the collages to make them slightly larger.