Is trendy Ashish the new JC de Castelbajac ?

Discovering the designer ASHISH I felt in love of few of his original and flashy clothes.

My favorites :

But isn't it like a "deja-vu" of JC de CASTELBAJAC ???

Work out who's is who ... 

Galeries Lafayette vs Harrods

Europe's most luxurious department stores are in Paris and London. Two different countries with different cultures, but there is something that makes them play in the same league: TRENDS

Harrods has 90 000m2 of selling space vs. Lafayette, which has 70 000m2. Two shopping paradises. But what make us go into a store? Its WINDOWS.

Both Harrods and Lafayette are famous worldwide for their windows. People from everywhere come to see them to get inspired.

Let's have a look at their differences and similarities. 

This month Lafayette divided its windows into three big style themes: "Neo-cruise", "Ethni Festival" and "Hipster", plus a few windows dedicated to brands like Chanel, Michael Kors, Marc by Marc Jacobs, etc.

Three styles full of colours, accessories and visuals, but in my opinion they could do better. It is just too simple.

I was surprised by the "Hipster" style because it is more of a "British style" and what makes the difference between these two countries is that the French always keep fashion classic. Apparently they decided to break the rule of monotonous colours and go for the rainbow.

Harrods has a bigger floor space and more windows than Lafayette. Many brands take an individual space and create their own universe. Acne, Prada, Bottega Venetta, Burberry, D&G... 

We shouldn't forget that certain brands make most of their money and survive from selling perfumes: Dior, Victor & Rolf...

Luxury at all levels, everything is allowed if it is expensive.Which is the most "show-off" accessory you can wear? A car. Don't worry, you will find it here too. 

Harrods is the place to be and The Spanish Office of Tourism knows that. Where better to promote a country and its culture abroad? Two windows are constantly dedicated to promote the first industry of Spain: Tourism.

I have to say that the 3/4 of Harrods windows didn't make me feel any excitement but when I arrive to the side of Brompton road I felt like in a dream. Every window has their own story with plenty of tiny details. It is not only about fashion clothes it is also about design, decoration, make-up and imagination. I could say it was an inanimated stage telling a story through the objets. Amazing!!!  

Few details that make the difference.

Lana del Rey: The trendy artist for 2012

Lana del Rey is the sensation of the moment. I heard about her not a long time ago and I loved her voice. I saw her pictures and videos and thought, wow, she's too pretty to have such a powerful voice.

Her past is quite hazy. Internet fans are divided. She seems to have had a hard start, and a past of drugs and alcohol when she was a teen. She likes to describe herself as a "gansta Nancy Sinatra" and before becoming Lana del Rey she was Lizzy Grant. You can still find things about her old self on internet. 

Lizzy Grant was a young, shy and not very stylish new yorker who used to sing in bars and who  suddenly became Lana del Rey. Her singles "Video games", "Born to die" and "Blue jeans" have become must-knows of the indie culture. Home-made videos with vintage images made by herself. Original voice, music and videos. What else could we ask for?

She has simply made the most outrageous mistake that an original "underground" artist can make: plastic surgery. She thought she wasn't pretty enough and filled her lips with collagen.... the result: people start feeling disappointed.

Then all the story about her living in a caravan, having hard times...it all becomes weird. Then we discover that  her father is a millionaire (he is one of the first investors in the internet domain business) and has indeed helped her market her career. Next we learn that her artistic name was decided by her managers and today it happens that her Wikipedia entry has been substantially modified. Two weeks ago so much different information was available.... naughty naughty PR campaign.

Is she a real star or a marketing product? The only thing she has never changed is her long nails.(Have a look)

She made a terrible performance on Saturday Night Live and the bad reviews started pouring in. Despite these controversial aspects to her career, she has managed to win the Q award of the "Next big thing",  is nominated for the Brits as "International breakthrough act" and the MTV Brand New 2012. After that catastrophic performance she experienced a big jump in the Billboard charts. Her album was launched on Monday. Thanks to this huge but polarizing campaign, she has already sold 70 000 copies.

Like magic, she is the girl of the moment and has already featured on the soundtracks of the London fashion week SS/12 for Christopher Kane and Emilio de la Morena.

Her style is a mixture of pop star, 60'glamourous Hollywood actress, and hip hop singer....too many different styles to make it work. Right now she is just too wrapped in her marketing campaign. She needs to be natural, her colorful voice needs to prevail. A more unprocessed style is what she needs,  otherwise Next Model Management, which she just signed with will know what to do with her, as they are currently doing with Alexa Chung and Alice Dellal.

For the moment, we have just had a starter of Lana del Rey. Bad reviews are not going to stop this machine so well backed up by a powerful record company.

Personally I don't like all the songs on the album, but the ones that I do, I absolute love and can't stop hearing them in loops. That is what is precisely so polarizing about Lana del Rey.