Author Archives: Aidan

Avon Launch Singing Competition – 'Sing-Song'

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To celebrate it’s 125th anniversary, global beauty brand Avon today launches its biggest ever worldwide online singing and song writing talent search, ‘Avon Voices’. Supported worldwide by industry stars, including Black Eyed Peas singing sensation Fergie and song writing legend Diane Warren, contestants are competing for the rare opportunity to record a professionally produced album which will be available to buy internationally.
 
Entrants in to the singing search must be female and aged 18 or over, although both men and women aged 18 or over can enter the song writing search. Everyone is also invited to be a ‘talent scout’ by rating their favourite videos when they go live online on 1 January 2011. The Avon Voices celebrity panel will announce the 200 first round global contenders on International Women’s Day (8 March 2011), with the successful UK singers and songwriters being treated to a glamorous video shoot in Paris.
 
Further rounds will then take place in New York and Hollywood for those that are successful in the initial stages.
 
Anna Segatti, Group Vice President, Avon Western Europe and Middle East, comments: 

“In celebration of Avon’s 125th anniversary in 2011, we are inviting people from around the world to come together and showcase their talents. For generations Avon has been empowering women to find their individual voices, tell their stories and share their dreams. Now we are asking women to find their singing voices.  We are thrilled to have music industry legends on board to join us in the hunt for the UK’s next big star. If you’re an avid singer or songwriter now is really your time to shine and be in with an opportunity to win this once in a lifetime chance with Avon Voices.”

 

There’s a set song list for you to sing and it’s jam packed with cheesy uplifting female ballads. For further information including dates, voting and video submission rules,  visit www.AvonVoices.co.uk.

Lanvin and H&M present a High Street Haute Couture Show in NY {Fashion}

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The 18th Nov, Sofia Coppola, Andie MacDowell, Emma Roberts, Leelee Sobieski, Anna Sui, Tory Burch and Alexander Wang, among other guests, came out to celebrate the collaboration of the Lanvin for H&M collection and to enjoy show stopping designs by famed Lanvin artistic director, Alber Elbaz, at The Pierre hotel. The haute couture creations, which were customized pieces from the Lanvin for H&M collection, made their way down the catwalk with the help of famed models Asia Chow, Pixie Geldof, Dree Hemingway, Olga and Anna Dello Russo. Guests arrived on the red carpet, which was the landmarked Pierre Hotel façade recreated with NYC styled graffiti, and then they entered the hotel which was swathed with flowers, trees and greenery. It was a runway show that guests will not soon forget.

The long awaited Lanvin for H&M collection will be sold in around 200 stores worldwide. It will be launched November 20 in US and Canada, and on November 23 in the rest of the world. “It’s such a fantastic experience to see how creatively Alber Elbaz uses his designs to form a couture experience for our exclusive fashion show in New York. Working with this incredibly gifted designer has been like an ongoing fashion moment, and we’re thrilled to offer his masterpieces to our customers.” Margareta van den Bosch, creative advisor at H&M. Alber Elbaz, artistic director at Lanvin, has created the women’s collection with an extraordinary ambition for H&M, bringing the codes of the house to make every single piece identifiably the work of Lanvin. For women there are dresses of breathtaking cut and joyful colour, as well as pieces full of Parisian glamour and accessories with playful “joie de vivre”.

The menswear collection designed by Lucas Ossendrijver, menswear designer at Lanvin, encapsulates the label’s complete vision of how men should dress. It’s a whole new wardrobe of covetable updated classics, with tuxedos made for daywear and jogging pants adding a whole new sporting twist. Sofia Coppola said of the collection, “I think Alber

Elbaz is great, I love what he does at Lanvin, it’s so girly and playful and confident. It’s so cool he’s working with H&M, it

makes it so accessible to all kinds of young people to be able to afford it and wear it”. And Andie MacDowell said, “I think it’s genius. I’m a big fan of Lanvin. I can afford Lanvin and my daughter can afford H&M, and now my daughter’s going to have the opportunity to have a little bit more pizzazz.” Looks from the haute couture show along with five original signed sketches from Alber Elbaz went up for auction on www.lanvinforhm.com. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to UNICEF, as part of H&M’s “All for Children” project. The online auction will end on November 26th at midnight CET.

Blackberry PlayBook vs iPad on Web Fidelity {Gadgets}

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Back in September, RIM announced it was venturing into the tablet market with BlackBerry PlayBook. Matthew from RIM has made a short video demonstrating Blackberry Playbook vs the iPad when it comes to browsing the web.

On the video, Matthew quickly runs through a series of comparison tests with a PlayBook and iPad (running iOS 3.2.2), which demonstrate three things: the speed of the PlayBook Browser, its support for rich Flash content, and the performance of open web standards like HTML 5 on the PlayBook.

Useful Dog {Misc-uity}

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Possibly the happiest video I’ve ever seen. This cute Jack Russell Jesse does tricks and useful things around the house for our amusement. Jesse’s a screen dog and has appeared in commercials and even on Letterman and his owner Heather trains him with positive click reinforcement. The track on the video is called Coffee by Josh Woodward and amazingly he wants you to download it for free!

I Just Threw This On- Cape trend AW10-11 {Fashion}

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The word ‘Cape’ conjours up images of masked super heroes. Thankfully the underwear-over-tights look hasn’t become fashionable, the cape was spotted at fashion weeks world wide and hugging celebrities in print.

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If your arms are nice and toasty inside your cape then you may have to find a willing gentleman to carry your shopping. Wear them long and tailored instead of a traditional coat, knitted as a scarf replacement or caplets to bring your key pieces up to date…Once you get over the question of what you do with your arms there are so many options and here are just a few:

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(above left) Next Black Cape, £40. Simple, smart and a great piece if you want to try the trend subtly.

(above centre) Miss Selfridge Vintage Lace Cape, £25. Sling on over a lbd for an up to date Christmas Party option or try with something black, long and ott for the gothic lolita in you.

(above right) Next Feather Cape, £25. Get the feather trend look without going overboard and nail the cape trend all in one piece.

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(above left) Reiss ‘Candy’ Stitch detail black cape, £195. Leave people thinking “How did she do the zip up?” with this cleverly cut cape with front slits for your arms.

(above centre) Cooper & Stollbrand for Asos.com, £200. Wear it with jodhpurs and boots for an instant countryside look.

(above right) Genevieve Sibayan for Asos.com, £80. Does that name look familiar? That’s right…it’s my design (plug plug). I like their styling or wear it over a staple black coat for an instant update.

Animal Art de Jour – Monkeys and Mutant Rabbits {Art}

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It seems the world is going animal art crazy and the following two pieces are possibly the most unusual.

This giant passed out monkey is made entirely of flip flops. Built in Sao Paulo Brazin to celebrate the Pixel Show (an international art and design conference). Obviously if anything represents art then it’s a gigantic drunk monkey.

 

An if you’re looking for something to give you nightmares tonight then here it is…

Plush mutant rabbits by Zoe Williams. Not only does she trap the unusual weird little woodland creatures in frames, she also has a collection of mutant red peacocks and rams among other animals.

And Then They Came For Me {Theatre}

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The week before Armistice Day seems a fitting time to be reminded of the suffering caused during times of conflict.

‘And Then They Came For Me’ is one of the most widely produced new plays, yet the performance on the 7th November 2010 at the Garrick Theatre had something special about it. It’s not often such an extraordinary true life story is told when its inspiration is sitting in the audience. The play is a unique multimedia experience which combined video taped interviews of Holocaust Survivors Ed Silverberg and Eva Schloss with live actors recreating scenes from their lives and experiences during World War II. Ed (Michael Gamarano) and Eva’s (Alexandra Vevers) story are tied together by the infamous Anne Frank. Ed was Anne Frank’s first boyfriend and Eva, who was the same age as Anne when she went into hiding and like Anne, she and her family were betrayed. In this story however, the young diary writer Anne plays a cameo role.

The harrowing tales of the promise of youth cut short by the horrors of the Holocaust see the story take us from the beginnings of the Hitler Youth, through oppression and escalating to the horrific recounting of their experiences in concentration camps. One thing is clear. Even though the war is over, the trauma of what happened is still with the survivors. Numbers are easy to deal with as they are separate to our emotions, but when you hear the harrowing story of just one person, trying to relate that experience to every single one of the millions who suffered becomes a difficult concept.

The charity chosen for the performance’s wasn’t a war related one, but the Pakistan Floods Appeal. Sadly, it’s easy to forget why, every year, we wear a poppy on our lapels and even sadder that it’s often referred to as ‘Poppy Day’ as though the nation has forgotten to remember Remembrance Day.

This particular performance included a special performance by Frost’s other Editor Catherine Balavage as Ed Silverberg’s Mother. If you get the chance to catch ‘And Then They Came For Me’, you should.

Climbing the walls {Fitness}

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In my eternal search for a sport that I’ll enjoy and can keep me interested, this week I tried my hand at climbing. I don’t know at which point I thought it would be a good idea, but I definitely know the exact point I realised it was a bad idea. That point was half way up a wall in London’s Westway Centre attached only by a rope and gripping hand holds with my slowly slipping hands and weakening muscles.

 The instructor tied all the knots so that there was absolutely no chance of us falling to our deaths.

I have only good things to say about the centre itself, the facilities were spotless, comprehensive and vast. The instructor was very understanding and managed to stifle his laughing…mostly. We had one instructor between two of us and climbed and belayed (held the rope) in turn. The instructor tied all the knots so that there was absolutely no chance of us falling to our deaths. If you’re planning to have a go yourself…you’re very safe.

 If you’re thinking thoughts like “ooh, this must be how mountain goats feel” it means you’re not thinking about where your hands should be.

This didn’t stop three of our party from chickening out. I don’t judge them…climbing’s not for everyone. There are a few groups of people who probably wouldn’t become great climbers…the first is those who suffer from vertigo (I fall into this category). There’s one mantra that every vertigo suffer repeats when they’re at a significant height…“Don’t look down”. When you’re climbing, this isn’t an option as putting your feet in the right place is half the challenge. The second is the easily distracted (I fall into this category also). When you’re five meters off the ground, concentration is key. If you’re thinking thoughts like “ooh, this must be how mountain goats feel” it means you’re not thinking about where your hands should be.

Although I personally won’t be giving climbing another go, I heartily recommend it, especially if you don’t suffer from vertigo and a short concentration span. Where better to go that London’s Westway Climbing Centre.