Eat the Designers with AnOther Magazine & Selfridges (London, UK)

With so many events and exhibitions going on during LFW this past week (not to mention the shows themselves), there was one showcase that literally left me drooling. Since I do have a bit of a sweet tooth, I might have been better off staying away, but a girl can rarely resist the combo of fashion and dessert. Some may remember my coverage of the Salon du Chocolat in Paris, where dresses were created out of cocoa ingredients. This time around, big-name designers themselves were asked to envision their ultimate fantasy cake.

To celebrate AnOther magazine's 10th birthday, Editor in Chief Jefferson Hack (also of Dazed & Confused fame) asked a few luxury designers to come up with their dream birthday cake design just for fun. The idea snowballed when some of UK's most prestigious cake makers decided to actually execute a few of these ideas. The result was hosted by Selfridges, who presented these creations in their (appropriately titled) 'Wonder Room' concept store under the name 'Eat the Designers'. A birthday bash in-store with special guest Daphne Guinness also saw a real live model emerge from the 8-foot Lanvin cake. Now why can't I have birthdays like that?

Below you'll find a few photos I took while browsing the cake selection the day the presentation launched. As tempting as it was to plant my face in one of these beauties, I didn't feel like getting arrested (or worse yet... being banned from the store) and let's be honest... many of these are just too pretty to eat. I have included the descriptions and ingredients though. Just so you can imagine what it would be like if you were to take a nibble...

So tell me, which cake would you want for your own birthday?

Calvin Klein Collection by Francisco Costa

(Top right image: AnOther).

“Interactive floating mobile cake. Small, matchbook-sized cakes covered in edible silverleaf suspended in a dégradé presentation. Cake flavour: lavender. Approximate size of each cake: 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" square. Thickness of each cake: 1/2"” ~ Francisco Costa. Made by Brett Redman, featuring silverleaf marshmallows.

Gucci

Right: Overview of the space at the Selfridges concept store.

Made by Andrew Stellitano. According to the tag description, the ingredients are: bakery selection (doughnuts, cupcakes), gold candles, pink marshmallows with green/red/green web, liquorice strips, strawberry marshmallow, caramel fringes, pink meringue, silver icing, chocolate logo on biscuit, Christmas hard candy mint stick, cream, dark chocolate, Gucci diamante pattern icing, silver sugar praline, milk chocolate, lollipop, biscuit.

Philip Treacy

“I would imagine it could be made with fondant icing as it is sculptural, but as you can see it should be made by somebody who really knows what they are doing!”~Philip Treacy. Made by Julie Walsh of Le Cordon Bleu. The final cake was made of pulled sugar.

Dolce & Gabbana

“Inspiration: memories of embroideries from a Sicilian hope chest and the Sicilian baroque. Shape: heart; a tribute to passion for food. Description: a sponge cake imbued in a light and sweet-smelling citron juice, Sicilian orange blossom custard, wild strawberries, blueberries and small passion fruits. For the glazing: marzipan glaze, orange-flavoured dark chocolate coating, citrus and fruits of the forest- flavoured red and maroon small chocolate flowers (inspired by baroque velvets). The micro, white flowers are made of soft marzipan, whilst the darker ones are caramelised violets”~ Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana

I don't believe these cakes were actually made (right images: AnOther). Top: Christian Louboutin, bottom: Dolce & Gabbana. Illustrations and magazines decorated part of the store walls (left).

Christian Louboutin

“Bûche de Noël Bottée: chestnut cream, chocolate, vanilla extract, Génoise cake (flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, sugar, vanilla), chocolate ganache (chocolate and heavy cream), covered in shaved chocolate (to make the bark), egg whites, sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder dusting (for the meringue mushrooms), marzipan (for the sole), almond sugar, red food colouring, cocoa powder dusting” ~ Christian Louboutin


Gareth Pugh

(Images on the right... top: Annie Nichols, bottom: AnOther).

“A simple cube shape with the pattern tiled onto the surface. The triangles forming the design should be in relief and the gaps should be sunken – very crisp and sharp. Something around 6" square would be a nice size”~ Gareth Pugh. Cake made by Paul Wayne Gregory: 6" x 6"' chocolate quilted cube dusted with powdered edible sugar.

Missoni

(Right image: Annie Nichols).

According to AnOther magazine: "The multicolored cake is made with smoothy creams, layers of flavours such as cherry, cream, pistachio, nut, chocolate, raspberry, blueberry, apricot and strawberry. The layer tops are covered with colored marzipan and little biscuit, candies and sugar or chocolate flakes. The cup-holes are in creams, crunchy nuts and candies." Cake made by Caroline Hobkinson.

Burberry

(Left image: AnOther).

Burberry Lights: light, soft lemon sponge cake with sugar icing top, illuminated with miniature studded lights. The cake is wrapped in a metallic iconic check casing.

Vivienne Westwood

"It is heart-shaped and can be made out of chocolate, strawberries or vanilla; it is absolutely up to the baker’s imagination"~ Vivienne Westwood. Cake made by Fabien Ecuvillon at Mark Hix (consisting of chocolate and an exoctic fruit of sea/buck thorn jelly).

Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel

"Ten candles, lace and sugar. Another Magazine as a temple of modernity. Happy Birthday"~ Karl Lagerfeld. Cake made by Peggy Porschen.

Lanvin

(Right image: Annie Nichols).

“I wanted to make a luxurious, tasty, happy and colorful yet chic birthday cake. I took inspiration from 1950s girls who jumped out of cakes – even though they were covered in cream they looked amazing! There are some pearls, and we use meringue at the centre, with cream, white chocolate, and truffles. The cake is big enough so that a real size girl can fit in it”~ Alber Elbaz. Cake made by Bompass & Parr.

Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci

This was the most elaborate and also most provocative cake hidden in a black box, only viewable from the top or via peepholes and mirrors. For adults only (a sign nearby said it was for 18+), this orgy of a sculpture was more like a work of art than an actual cake (and who knows where Tisci would have put the candles... I won't venture a guess). It was truly amazing.

(Left images: Annie Nichols).

“Dark decadence, sensuality, something that recalls pure pleasure”~ Riccardo Tisci. Made by Simon Smith out of pure margarine.

For more, head over to Annie Nichols' blog for additional images or visit the Selfridges page for videos of the 'making of' and the party.

All illustrations and cake descriptions courtesy of AnOther magazine.

Impressions of Hong Kong

Thank you everyone for the well wishes. I'm doing a bit better and have stopped feeling sorry for myself (a little). So without further delay, here the impressions of Hong Kong from a few weeks ago. One of the reasons I procrastinated doing this post was because I was born and raised there, which makes picking suitable photos that portray such a diverse city a little tricky. Another reason is that even though I know the place very well... I don't actually. It's been over 10 years since I moved away and despite visiting at least once a year, HK changes so quickly that within 12 months, 20 new buildings would have popped up, half the stores I know would have moved or shut down and new restaurants would have taken over hot spots I didn't know existed. (Note: all images can be enlarged by clicking on them).

The Hong Kong skyline (and Kowloon across the harbor) as seen from The Peak. Most of the high rises are actually residential.

It's fast paced, modern, busy, crowded, overpopulated and has happily embraced a Western look. But at the same time it also remains traditionally Chinese - a cultural diversity stemming from its history as a former British colony that has since gone back to China. It is essentially still an island... or a cluster of 236 islands to be precise, which means that beyond the expansive skyline, you'll find beaches, country parks, nature reserves and reservoir lakes. What does break my heart though is the rising pollution (a result of fumes from factories in China) most evident by the smog that blankets the skyline on most days, and the reclamation of land from the harbor to make way for new building sites.

Hong Kong Island's hazy skyline as seen from Kowloon.

A few of the landmark skyscrapers, incl. Bank of China (top left), Lippo Centre (lower left), HSBC (lower middle), the IFC (lower right) and residential high rises of the Mid Levels as seen from Hong Kong Park (top right).

Land being reclaimed from the harbor. The construction site used to be all water... the shore of the harbor used to stretch right up to the buildings.

View of downtown Central - Hong Kong's business district and home to plenty of shops of course.

A few remaining colonial style building, though the tea museum (left) is a replica. Right: the Court of Final Appeal.

The cheapest and easiest way to cross the harbor is to take the iconic Star Ferry (top). Occasionally you'll see a lone junk or dinghy in the waters as well.

One of Hong Kong's many beaches. Here: Repulse Bay. And yes, I realize that name doesn't sound enticing, but the beach is pretty.

A Chinese temple near the beach.

Cheung Chau Island, a former fishing village and still renowned for its great seafood can be reached easily from Hong Kong via a ferry. Here a few of the fishing boats along the pier.

The rugged shore of Cheung Chau and some of its hiking trails.

You are never alone.... bustling crowds and a mix of old and new buildings in Causeway Bay's shopping area.

No visit would be complete without eating Dim Sum (the dish on the lower left is rice & chicken in a lotus leaf).

Aside from being a financial hub, many people associate Hong Kong with being a great place to shop. It is... and it isn't. The city's shopping scene is slightly bizarre to those who've never been to big Asian cities (or Dubai). Very much a mall culture where real estate is precious, few shops or even department stores can afford to be housed on street level, making multi-storey shopping centers a common sight. Big name luxury brands are the most prominent, with excessive branding visible wherever you go. Despite the fact that locals were once obsessed with anything adorned with a big Chanel or Dior logo, they have since embraced less glitzy labels, whether it's A.P.C., Comme des Garçons or Tsumori Chisato.

Forget The Gap and food courts... shopping center 'The Landmark' is filled with every designer boutique imaginable, whether it's Balenciaga, Stella McCartney or TOD's (above left). It even houses a Harvey Nichols (lower left) and a Michelin-star restaurant courtesy of Joel Robuchun, if you do get hungry.

Unfortunately none of the Western and Japanese brands are cheap here, with items retailing for up to double the price of what they are in Europe or the U.S. Even though sales were on, discounted items were more expensive there than their full-priced counterparts in Paris. One explanation is the money flowing in from visiting mainland Chinese who can't get such products in their own country and happily pay any price requested for the coveted designer brands. Even the more obscure designers such as Margiela, Isabel Marant or Ann Demeulemeester have standalone flagships in Hong Kong... which might seem strange considering the latter two don't even have boutiques in London or NYC. Needless to say, the big brands are still available in abundance: there are at least a dozen Burberry stores in HK... London has four; Prada has 10 boutiques on the island... Milan only five. Even my beloved Lanvin is represented three times, whereas Paris only has the one flagship. Crazy? Perhaps. But they're all well frequented.

This is only a fraction of the branding visible throughout the city. These are not adverts... they are actual storefronts, with large logos emblazoned on mulit-storey buildings. The Chanel one is particularly blatant, as the logo appears on a bright LCD screen.

Nonetheless, local and indie brands are there if you look close enough (or keep reading this blog). Smaller shops are scattered around Central's Soho area, Causeway Bay or the busy streets throughout Kowloon... and for something cheaper, you can always head to one of the bustling markets.

Another shot of Hong Kong from above. Slightly different from the image at the very top, this one also shows the stretch of harbor towards Wanchai and Causeway Bay.

Burberry Flagship (London, UK)

I've always loved traditional fashion houses regardless of whether the items they sell are my style or not. There's just something wonderful about a company that has witnessed so much in history and in the case of Burberry, founded in 1856, they've been through quite a lot - from economic depressions (not just this one) to wars (they supplied the trench coats) to various British monarchs (they have two Royal Warrants). But Burberry never really piqued my interest until Christopher Bailey came into the picture. For the longest time, this company had no brand identity, not even a design team - it was purely a product-oriented institution. Bailey himself says that it "had this magnificent history and this beautiful soul. I saw it as a diamond that had been trampled into the ground and my job was to just shine all the facets of this diamond."

Pre-fall and FW09 looks from Burberry London (left two) and Burberry Prorsum.

Many people still have a love-hate relationship with the brand, mainly because the ever-so-popular plaid print was widely copied and since the 70s it was this (generally counterfeited) pattern that ended up being the symbol of the so-called 'chavs' in the UK - a subset of the youth culture I can only describe as 'white-trash aggressive teens trying hard to look gangsta'. They sported everything from Burberry check caps to scarves. It took the company various ad and marketing strategies to rid themselves (at least partially) of this connection. To better illustrate how widely associated Burberry was (and still is to an extent) with this movement, I found some highly entertaining examples below:

Left: the Furberry. Right: Various caricatures. Note how they're all wearing Burberry caps. Click to enlarge.

Mr. Bailey of course played a big part in giving Burberry a younger more modern edge and it was a recent interview between him and Will Young (in Elle UK) that inspired me to check out one of the London stores again. Here's the part I really want to share:

Will: Talk me through the new stores. How do you approach those?

Christopher: Whether it's designing a fragrance, eye wear, a coat or a shop, it's always the same things: materials, colours, attitude, proportion. From the smell to the smile somebody gives you when you walk in.

W: That's so important. Because you walk into some shops and it completely changes your perception of a brand.

C: When I was a student, my dad wanted to buy a beautiful watch for my mum, so he sent me the money and a magazine picture and I went to the Bond Street store to get it. The experience was so intimidating, quite frightening and clinical. I wasn't welcome, I wasn't good enough to buy their product. My dad worked really hard to earn the money for that watch, and he was buying it with such love for my mum. It shattered the illusion of buying something special and beautiful. It stuck with me, so I always said that if I'm in a situation where I can control that experience, it will be the opposite - welcoming, friendly and warm.

FW09 campaign featuring Emma Watson.

Which is why I ended up going to the very big Burberry store in Knightsbridge, just to see if I got warm fuzzies from it. What I liked the most, was the fact that they had a giant version of the current ad campaign featuring Emma Watson plastered on the side of the building. Different images of the campaign could also be seen in every window and - as I would soon realize - they are also prominently displayed in-store as well. Sales were still in full-swing, so the boutique was pretty busy. Though I must say the London stores always tend to be full of people, just because the UK prices are better. And, because Bailey did his job well, the store is quite welcoming, casual and not intimidating at all.

Left: The shoe section. Right: Bags and accessories for women.

The boutique is a little glitzy, with shiny marbled floors, light wooden parquets or plush carpets (depending on which section you're in), various Plasma screens showing the current runway shows on a loop and sleek furniture. I started in the shoe section which still had an impressive range of all SS09 pieces available in many sizes. There were bags and scarves everywhere, with next-season's stock already displayed as well. And the staff was surprisingly friendly, despite the large influx of tourists, though I have heard from friends that they can be snooty as well.

Below right: Menswear

I spent some time in the menswear area, just because it was more quiet and I had no idea Burberry created that many accessories for the male consumer. I spent a while browsing briefcases, laptop bags and wallets I never knew existed. There were more people near the second entrance, which housed men's casual wear (shirts, jackets etc.). So I decided to head up towards the first floor.

Left: Accessories for men. Right: More menswear.

I was once again greeted by a giant Emma plastered along the two-storey-high wall near the stairwell. I'm sure she's used to seeing herself in magazines and on the big-screen, but if I were her, I'd be freaked seeing myself in such a large proportion.

Behold the giant Emma (left) near the stairs... Right: More Emma in the women's Burberry Prorsum section.

The upper level was slightly less busy. I checked out the new Burberry Prorsum range, then looked through the sale items (nothing in my size, go figure). I was really surprised by how heavily reduced the items were. Entering the main area that sold outerwear, I noticed that even the classic black or beige trench went as low as £350. A few girls near the mirrors were trying some on, so I joined them, but thankfully nothing really suited me.

Trenchcoat heaven.

I have to admit I'm not the biggest fan of the classic Haymarket check or any other variation such as the Nova check that shares the same colors. Having seen too many Burberry knock-offs in my life (I did grow up in Hong Kong after all), the pattern was too ubiquitous for me to ever think of it as special. Of course this tartan pattern is everywhere once you enter the store, but as I do like tartan in general, I quite liked seeing the non-traditional checks on wellies, umbrellas and scarves.

Tartan mania.

I also took a quick look in the children's section, which was fairly large. I have no idea why someone would spend that amount of money on something a child will outgrow within a few months, but the mini Burberry trenches all looked quite cute, so I can understand if certain women end up buying one of these on impulse.

I actually quite like the wellies on the lowest shelf (left). Right: Children's wear.

The flagship definitely had a department store vibe, meaning people were wandering around, pulling things of racks and trying them on. It's really a nice change from boutiques that are so museum-like, you're scared to touch the pieces or (even worse) feel like you should have dressed up just to enter the building. Staff was milling around, but you were never followed or watched - a good thing, because I have a huge aversion to what I refer to as 'SA-stalking.' It's definitely the least intimidating designer boutique you'll find, so well-done Christopher Bailey - you've definitely achieved your goal. And if you're a huge Emma Watson fan, you should head on over - seeing her projected larger-than-life is is the next-best thing to meeting her in person.

Left: More from the women's collection. Right: Overview of the upper level.

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