We are having yet another hot weekend here in London, and British strawberries are still in season. Conclusion: a cooling dessert with flavour! What I like about this quintessentially English treat, is that it is not too sweet and the fruit makes it even more pleasant during the hot days. Plus, I made some fresh mousse from the rest of the fruit. Perfect combo.
Wipe the double cream to create the thick and fluffy consistence.
Cut the strawberries into quarter pieces. It is up to you whether you prefer to finish it neatly or, lets say, in a more bohemian way.
Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the cream.
Add crushed meringue ( the nests I have used here are from Tesco Finest ).
Place it all in the bowls before serving and garnish with the freshly blended mousse.
Finish with mint leafs and icing sugar.
Talented, tireless and elegant. Mr Liberman certainly matches these 3 words, and his qualities permeate this extraordinary album. Often called the Art Director of the 20th century, Liberman was also prolific in painting and sculpture. It was his creative talent that produced the famous cover of Vogue in 1941 using a photograph by Horst P. Horst, turning the red beach ball held aloft by a model into the ‘O’ of the magazine’s logo. He was also responsible for turning the face of her generation Twiggy into a piece of Pop art, in floral fur and make up, on the July cover in 1967, shot by Richard Avedon. This Russian émigrée educated in Europe, became a truly dominant tastemaker with such a modern taste for that time. Mr Liberman had an eye not only for extraordinary images but also for people – Marlene Dietrich and Coco Chanel were good friends of his. He saw the enormous potential in Diana’s Vreeland editorship, and convinced her to leave Harper’s Bazaar in favour of Vogue (where she continued as editor-in-chief between 1962-1971); and also spotted Anna Wintour – an extraordinary talent with an understanding of the “new reality” in fashion and a keen sense of the rise in celebrity culture, keeping pages of this American title irresistible since 1988.
Left page: Alexander Liberman and his friend Christian Dior. Right page: Thanks to fierce support of Monsieur Vogel, Liberman had an enormous opportunity meeting and as a result, working with Mr Condé Nast himself.
Left page: Iconic cover designed by Lieberman in 1941, photographed by Horst P Horst. Right page: Family portrait. Liberman with french editors in front of Vogue office in Paris.
It’s remarkable how Liberman controlled editorial aspect of each Condé Nast publication during challenging and uncertain periods of the 20th Century and still managed to express his artistic vision. Whereas now, a few decades later and with digital taking over print, his creative processes seems to belong to a bygone age; however I think we can all still learn a lot from his legacy.
Art&Craft. Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair highlighted once, “Liberman’s ability to run high and low is an amazing gift…able to do the ‘Self‘ in the morning and a sculpture in the afternoon.”
“The very bizarre thing is that Alex was not interested in fashion. At All!
He was interested in the image, which is a different thing. He knew the dress in the space, like an object d’art seen in a certain context, but not the fashion.” Beatrice Monti.
Propaganda meets Pop Art. Promotional cover of Vanity Fair featuring Baryshnikov in 1983, designed to resemble an early avant-garde Russian poster.
“Alex Liberman connected many worlds: Old and New, art and commerce, Europe and postwar America, high society, and the general public. He was driven to create and communicate, which he did tirelessly, and his work was always evolving, proving that (what’s) modern, never stops – pointed Charles Churchward, former designer, art director and design director at Condé Nast and author of this album. Published by Rizzoli.
I remember very vividly when I saw this album for the first time.
It was during the Guy Bourdin’s exhibition at Somerset House, London 2015.
It was love from the very first sight. First edition, sold out everywhere else, available to purchase in the bookshop. Sadly, this Style Bible was out of my means during this visit. £350 cover price wasn’t an impulse buy option at all. However time passed by and one day at the office I heard through the grapevine that Phaidon was reprinting an album and was to be available soon.
Thank God I was at the Condé Nast towers that day! And thank God for my colleagues for their support in this matter!
This album is a chronicle of Grace’s significant input towards fashion, styling in particular. It is her who styled the famous grunge editorial, shot by Steven Meisel for American Vogue with model Kristen McMenamy in 1992.
There are far too many iconic editorials to present here, so don’t waste any time and secure your copy now!
We all know how desirable the recent collection of Gucci has been since Alessandro Michele took helm of the brand.
But 6 years ago, when Frida Giannini was presenting her menswear collection for the same house, I remember clearly those oh! ah! sighs of the editors after the fashion show, and the greatest gasps of all were directed towards the high black leather boots.
So, of course, I’ve got them.
I hope that Signor Michele will succeed for much longer than Ms Giannini, and his kangaroo slippers will become as iconic as Frida’s studded boots, which still provoke envious looks every time I put them on.
It was Jane Birkin who made the Aran jumper famous worldwide. It looks to me like aviator sunglasses also owe her a credit!
Icon is not fashionista.
Of course it is not. An icon has their own style and approach to fashion.
An icon dresses up with confidence and this is where it all starts.
The trend. We owe to the icons these so-called trends. Yes, we do. Thanks to these idols we see their style re-imagined on the catwalk, reproduced in the glossy magazines, then later filtered to the high street as affordable items of desire.
Because of their timeless style pedigree we post via Instagram the photos of young Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling, Jane Birkin, Anjelica Huston and many more. Why? Just look at the photos I’ve selected below and you’ll understand everything.
Does the concept of a chunky knit, oversized blazer, fisherman’s hat or a pair of flares sound a bit ‘deja vu’? What about ‘le smoking’? Well, God bless those who invented them and those icons who mastered it to an effortless statement.
And for that I do love fashion, or rather style to be frank.
Kate Bush in high boots. How very recent!
Mlle Deneuve wearing a fishermen’s hat and slouchy shirt. A perfect combo.
Farah Fawcett gave us a famous lesson on to how to make skateboarding look sexy and stylish.Anjelica Huston in flares and a shirt with rolled sleeves. An excellent example of what effortless style is.
Charlotte Rampling mastered to perfection the androgynous look of le smoking.
Anjelica Huston accessorised a suit perfectly by wearing it with a wide-brimmed hat.
What I like about my work, is that there is also time to have some fun (trust me, fashion is a rather serious business!).
Like here, when the photographer asked me to stand in front of the camera as he wanted to check the lighting on set.
Well, it was also a great excuse for me to try this amazing coat from Mary Katrantzou which, to be frank, proves that some fashion has no sex!
Feminine? Masculine? Mine!
style dispenser 