Luxury fashion brands embrace social media

As if it weren’t enough that, according to Times headlines this morning, bloggers are snatching the LFW front row seats right from under the noses of their traditional print counterparts, it seems that the high-end luxury brand marketeers are no longer directing us in store – or even merely online. But to our iPhone apps.

Flicking through the March Vogue, I started to see brand after brand including a call to action within its glossy DPS advertising that promoted online videos, behind-the-scenes exclusive web content and invariably how to download the brand’s iPhone app in order to access all these goodies.

Ralph Lauren:

The luxe oceanic ruffles of Ralph Lauren flow from one page to the next but check out the call to action nestling in the bottom right...

'View the Runway Show and behind-the-scenes video with the Ralph Lauren application on your iPhone or visit RalphLauren.com'

Donna Karan:

Ethereal brush-stroke imagery makes the message in the bottom left barely visible...

But it's there: 'View the System of Dressing on the Donna Karan iPhone application and at DonnaKaran.com'

Fashion advertising is traditionally a work of art. Hours and hours of painstaking designing, casting, styling, photography shoots and post-production go into every double page spread. For said art teams and designers to soil their canvas with a one-line advertisement for the iPhone, it must really mean business. Literally.

Finally it seems, high fashion has accepted that whilst all of their devotees do still subscribe to the monthly fashion Bible, they probably flick through its glossy pages whilst simultaneously checking their emails on their bejewelled iPhone and surfing the internet all at the same time.

I’m both glad and saddened to see luxury branding rapidly becoming fully integrated in this way. It’s both a positive and necessary adaption to the current market and a shame that the artistry I pour over every month has to relinquish its perfection for the sake of sales. But to every budding fashionista out there who is remotely technically savvy, you can bet these guys will now be coming after you from every possible angle.

GANT – how pastels lit up the autumn news

I pulled this out of The Times last Friday as it literally jumped off the page at me. Granted it was largely due to the gorgeous pink bag prominently placed (and the obvious focus of the composition), but on closer inspection the ad really appealed to me. And Gant is not a label I either love or know at all well.

On further research, Gant sells itself as ‘American-style clothing with a European flair’. Sounds a lot like the sort of label that I would love. Some persistence was required with their website – the main site took an age to load and the UK version that Google points you to appears to be completely defunct – but I was dead keen to find that bag.

Being Miss Americana that I am, I’m surprised this brand is no new to me. The main site is currently re-directing to a special 60-year anniversary version, which tells a very American Dream story about the formulation of the brand and its traditional heritage. That said, it has next to nothing of the product to display, so I took the call to action in the advert and visited www.GantUK.com.

But still that elusive bag escapes me. Unfortunately the only versions of the Leather Chelsea Handbag available online (for £219.00 by the way) are black and red. No pink in sight.

The reason the ad stood out so significantly to me was because it seemed so unseasonal. Look at the weather, the pastel shades, the picture perfect couple out on a summertime drive. But unseasonal though it may have been, it provided the prefect escapism  from the rainy doom and gloom of the British autumnal climate (and news surrounding the ad).

Clear call to action with the site, that got me logged on… and yet no product to purchase at the end of it. They wouldn’t have made their £219 instantly, but it sure would have been added to my Boxed Up Christmas list. Shame.

Legally Blonde hits London – 5th December

Omigod you guys – from Broadway to the West End, it’s finally here:

The Times’ Playlist magazine had a very pink looking cover wrap this weekend, shouting loud and proud that Elle is coming to town.

I’m a huge fan of the movie – that low-budget, enormously profitable surprise smash hit of 2001, that grossed $141m worldwide and catapulted a young Reese Witherspoon firmly into the A-list (she went on to command $15m for the sequel). My girlfriends share the love of the Blonde, but arguably I am the most ardent fan amongst us.

Hence why, on our New Year break in New York the year before last, when we were searching Broadway for a show that we all wanted to see, I somehow ended up winning the battle and dragging all four of us along.

Safe to say, they may hate to admit it, but we all had a total blast.

The biggest success for me – I guess as every musical should boast – was the music (rightly so, the Original Score earned the show one of its seven Tony nominations). The soundtrack, in lyric and arrangement, perfectly captures the exuberant, confident fun and frolics of Elle as she careers through the Harvard Law application process to win back her man. From the explosive opening Omigod You Guys to the empowering  So Much Better (Elle’s first victory over Warner at Harvard). The bridge of the piece (the titular Legally Blonde) comes when Elle admits defeat and decides to pack her bags back to LA - one of the only slow numbers of the show, it culminates in a powerful duet with Emmet.

The Broadway cast in action, led by Laura Bell Bundy

A fairly eclectic mix of a cast are bringing us the West End version. The naturally comedic Sheridan Smith (TV’s Gavin and Stacey, Two Pints of Lager…) takes the lead, and from the video preview on the show’s website, we’re assured she kicks ass with some very strong vocals. Boy band Blue’s Duncan James (having already proved his worth in the West End from a stint in Chicago) plays the smooth, gorgeous, arrogant object of Elle’s affections, Warner – while her emerging love interest Emmet is played by Canadian-born Alex Gaumond (fresh from We Will Rock You as Galileo). Two other very promising castings can be found in Jill Halfpenny as Paulette and the wonderful Peter Davison as Professor Callaghan.

Fairly obviously, it’s decidedly a show for fans of the movie, girls and those who are willing to suspend and notion of serious theatre for one night of unabashed silliness. It’s very pink, very blonde and never claims to be anything else – but if you are not enthusiastically tapping your foot and wholeheartedly rooting for Elle by the key change of the final reprise, I’d be surprised.

Tickets are on sale now, with previews starting towards the end of the month. Naturally I’ll be taking a front seat to see if the West End measures up to Broadway – and no doubt I’ll be dragging the girls along again. Only this time, they know they’ve got a guaranteed fun night ahead of them.

And if you’re not convinced, at least get your hands on the soundtrack. I personally promise it will get you dancing round your bedroom with a hairbrush.

Swine flu gets the Ashes treatment by Morland

The Times‘ Norwegian satirical politcal cartoonist, Morten Morland freqently delivers great insight onto topical issues with the stroke of his pen. What is quite striking about his style, is his tendency to cleverly merge two newsworthy subjects from completely different sections of the paper, juxtaposed to create a strong image with a cutting underlying message.

Case in point was today’s offering which I found particularly striking and worthy of sharing:

© Morten Morland for The Times

And the below, after a particularly vociferous day in Parliament within the Wimbledon fortnight, shows another of his sporting endeavours. Disappointingly, he doesn’t seem to have published a book collecting together his best work (though I’m sure there will be one forthcoming) so for the time being check out his stuff online here.

© Morten Morland for The Times

Giles Coren wages war on the British squirrel population

As a well-established fan of Mr. Coren’s writings for some time, I was not disappointed in the least by his Saturday musings in The Times this weekend. On this occasion, his dry wit was aimed – with a freshly sharpened barb – at the small grey vermin now prevelant throughout most suburban gardens in the UK.

This particular piece hit home given that Coren’s words could well have been those of my father who shares with ardent passion his deep set hatred of the grey matter infiltrating his own green sanctum down in Surrey.

But whether or not you can sympathise with Coren’s rantings, they are well worth a read for pure amusement alone. He has a very natural way of presenting the smallest of anecdotes with innate humour – OK, so it’s only squirrels eating tulips, but have a read and I challenge you not to be giggling by the end.

Brawn GP signs up Branson’s Virgin brand

Richard Branson / Ross Brawn

The news of the above union only reached me this afternoon when having coffee with a friend (rather embarrassingly given that he had just flown in from New York and already had more of a finger on the pulse of the UK news agenda than me…).

But what excited me more than the fact that the naked Brawn GP car will finally be clothed in logos and livery this season after all, was the fact that the story was broken exclusively on TimesOnline before anywhere else.

Another triumph for UK online media topping the global news agenda. Awesome.

RBS 6 Nations drinking games

© Getty Images for RBS

For the millions watching the highlight of the European rugby calendar this weekend, I should think a large percentage of fans will have a pint in hand – be they cheering from the stands or tucked up in the (warmer) comfort of their own front room.

So how to spice up your RBS 6 Nations viewing? Just follow the Sunday Times’ drinking games and at least there will be a method to the mullering:

SPICE UP YOUR SIX NATIONS VIEWING

Can’t get a ticket for the game but want to recreate the tension and excitement in your own living room and forget about the global economic misery? Why not have a load of friends over to play our Six Nations drinking game*, with forfeits based on the BBC’s coverage:

Danny Cipriani kick charged down:  
2 fingers
Kelly Brook looking through her fingers as Cipriani has another kick charged down:  
3 fingers
Charlotte Church sitting in the stands with five of her girlfriends, all of them enjoying a Bacardi Breezer:
Half pint
Welshman with tears streaming down his cheeks as his national anthem is played:
2 fingers
On-air argument between BBC commentators Eddie Butler and Brian Moore:
2 fingers
On-air punch up between Butler and Moore
Pint
Moody Martin Johnson with furrowed brow:
2 fingers
France coach Marc Lievremont delivering a Gallic shrug:
2 fingers
Member of the royal family and friends sitting in the stands:
Half pint
Member of the royal family who is sober / has a proper job / has not offended ethnic sensibilities:
Pint
Wales coach Shaun Edwards with his head buried in a book on the bench as his team rack up another score:
Half pint

*The Sunday Times does not encourage excessive drinking, except when England are losing

English cricket hits the headlines for six

Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images

Not since England’s Ashes glory of 2005 has the British press devoted such column space to cricket this week.

And understandably so. While the continuous Breaking News ticker rolling across Sky Sports News may have displayed the hyperbolic phrases of ‘crisis’ and ’chaos’ with characteristic indiscriminate abundance, it cannot be denied that English cricket is enduring a state of turmoil.

I do not wish to add my own twopence-worth to the volumes of commentary on the subject, but would rather highlight some of the more quotable and insightful words of wisdom expressed by some of our best sports journalists this week:

Gideon Haigh, in Thursday’s Guardian:

From an Australian perspective it all seems a uniquely English muddle, everyone just being first a little too polite, then rather too panicky.

Too true.

Andrew Miller likened the whole situation to a Shakespearean history plot in his creative piece on Cricinfo. Lawrence Booth’s outline of the divisions within the England camp created the impression of a high school common room more than a national side’s dressing room. And Jim White’s hilarious depiction of KP placed in Celebrity Big Brother merely emphasized what a farce the whole mess has become.

The schoolboy cliques that had been allowed to develop and divide the ranks were also named in The Times on Thursday – including a small posse, amusingly named (for obvious reasons) ‘The Young and Blonde’. This sat alongside Patrick Kidd’s hilarious introduction of the current situation in the England camp, dramatizing the storyline as all our favourite American drama series introduce the next episode with ’Previously, on…’:

Kevin plotted against Peter but ultimately may have lost his job because Andrew doesn’t get on with Kevin and made sure that Hugh, who has long been a buddy of Peter, knew that he didn’t like Kevin…Michael and Kevin get on but could Michael just be using Kevin to get what he wants? And why does no one ever mix with Monty?

But above all, the most eloquent piece I’ve read throughout all the to-ing and fro-ing this week has to be Ed Smith’s summary of Pietersen’s merits that ran in today’s Telegraph. If you read nothing else on the subject, read that, and then tell me that KP won’t regain the captaincy before the year is out.