New Sensations 2011

The Saatchi Gallery and Channel 4 's annual prize-giving and show was a delight this year. The prize was finally won by the Royal College of Art's Jonny Briggs, whose wonderful staged photos we loved when we saw them at the RCA degree show in Battersea earlier this year (his work the mostly black image at the start of this entry). Also sharing Victoria House's vast basement space was The Future Can Wait, a curated show again as far as I could tell, of recent graduates - some great great moments there as well.

These next two are one of my favourites, showing side view and then front view - the screens together form one whole image...

And finally my favourite image, by Suzy Moxhay... is it real?

National Treasures at Liberty

Liberty's annual British Design windows (to coincide with the London Design Festival more or less I think) are the usual beautifully executed showcase of the best of what's out there right now. My impression is that they commissioned a bunch of pieces by different British icons (including a suitcase by one of Dragon's Den, cufflinks by Vinnie Jones, and a tea towel by Nigel Slater (on a side note if you haven't seen Toast the film of his life with Helena Bonham Carter and Freddie Highmore then see it, it's great). Turning some of the windows entirely into the interiors of wooden tea chests was really great, and the graphics were beautiful as well. My only problem was when I looked for some of the pieces in store and couldn't find them - maybe they had sold out or I was looking in the wrong place but... nowhere to be found. Still, it made me go into the store to look for them, so they clearly worked well even to a cynical retail hack like me.

Yayoi Kusama at the Pompidou

ASVOFF 4 at the Pompidou Centre

ASVOFF FOUR TRAILER from ASVOFF on Vimeo.

Excitingly his weekend just gone saw the 4th A Shaded View On Fashion Film Festival take place at the Pompidou Centre in Paris. Curated/organised by Diane Pernet and her dedicated band of followers,it seems to be, as far as I can tell, the only event of its kind in the world. Unfortunately, even though I ran to the Pompidou Centre from the Eurostar terminal, I still only made the last few hours of the Sunday - the actual awards and initial screenings having happened on the Friday and Saturday. I wasn't sure what to expect, thinking it would be mobbed, but in fact while busy it was very comfortable and chilled out. I would imagine something like this in London would be guestlist only and massively over subscribed, especially the week after fashion week. However at this the filmakers, organisers, and special guests (including Rossy de Palma and Daphne Guinness) all mingled pretty freely with everyone in the lobby. The screenings I was able to see were comfortably filled, people ducking in and out, but mostly quietly taking it all in. Clearly it was a labour of love for everyone involved - it really showed in the atmosphere and the thoughtfulness and breadth of the programming - so many things I never knew I wanted to see. Some films we managed to get to included Gareth Pugh Pitti 11 by Ruth Hogben Inez and Vinoodh and Antony and the Johnsons and Kate Moss Rocus on Kathy Rose as part of the Dance program Erevos Aether's Gaping Void by Konstantinos Menelaou

EREVOS AETHER'S GAPING VOID from KONSTANTINOS MENELAOU on Vimeo.

Rossy De Palma at Manish Arora - and Rossy did a speech and presented another film she was in in 1997 called Francesca Page

Susan Tabak at Prêt-à-Porter Spring 2012: Manish Arora & Trash-Couture from Susan Tabak on Vimeo.

and finally The Murder of Jean Seberg by Joseph Lally starring and presented by Daphne Guinness

THE MURDER OF JEAN SEBERG from Joseph Lally on Vimeo.

and my terrible terrible picture of Daphne Guinness in the auditorium

and there were prizes for a lucky few from the many entries - none of which I managed to see on the big screen sadly The Grand Prix was taken by I Want Muscle by Elisha Smith-Leverock featuring the most graceful bodybuilder you could ever imagine.

I Want Muscle from diane pernet on Vimeo.

Best Styling was won by Justin Anderson for the film Twin Parallel showcasing Jayne Pierson S/S11

Twin Parallel from Justin Anderson on Vimeo.

The Beauty Prize was won by Kira Lillie for Waters (one that I did manage to see) http://belarusianmodels.blogspot.com/2011/10/olga-sherer-in-by-kira-lillie.html and the Young Talent Prize won by Suzie Q and Leo Siboni for Is This Real Life

IS THIS REAL LIFE from suzieq.leosiboni on Vimeo.

Reflections of the way we used to be

Great new window at Topshop on Oxford Circus - mannequins arranged on the floor and then reflected on big slanted mirrors towering over them. Simple and nice.