Creating & Branding my own label

One of the subjects we are studying is branding and creating an image for your label.
We have the option to either revive an old brand, and suggest new ideas for the image, marketing, or positioning or create our own. and since my dream is to establish my own fashion house in Amman, I'm working now on the presentation for my label to present it tomorrow.

My brand/label will be designing mainly evening, cocktail and wedding dresses, all dresses will be made to measure, and ofcourse doing custom-made designs.
In the presentation we talk about many thing, starting from the vision, mission and values of the brand, character definition, to the archetypes.

I'm also talking about my muse, which she lives a Cinderella story, in a magical enchanted world, she also materializes the dreams of many girls, as well as very beautiful, where you can put anything on her and still look gorgeous.

I've created a mix of pictures that represents my muse, inspirations & brand archetype, which you will get to see before the presentation! :) hope you like it!


Love,
Styloholic.

Queen Rania radiates in Rome

Queen Rania was in Rome for a short visit, she left back home today!
Again, words can't describe how gorgeous she is! I'll leave you with one picture, I didn't want to add another one, because this one says pretty much everything! :)


Love,
Styloholic.

I'll never look at Vogue the same way again...

last week I watched The September Issue, honestly I was expecting something else, something slightly better, I mean we were expecting to see things gets canceled and changed last minute esp. at Vogue, some panic, drama, late deadlines, we kind of expected all of this, but nothing was too shocking or unusual. The movie showed a slightly softer side of Anna, maybe not in a direct way, but because we always see her very serious, and doesn't wanna talk, but watching her talking to the camera, smiling , makes you think, after all she is a human, and she has a soft, nice side.

from some of the scenes in the movie, you can see how influential and powerful Anna is, talking to department stores CEO's , checking collections before they are displayed, there is one scene with Stefano Pilati while she was checking his collection, it was obvious she didn't really like it and how he looked terrified! it was nice to see that, designers always look and sound very tough and confident, but not so much infront of Anna, also the snobbish editors I ran into in Paris and how they behave infront of her! :) It was also nice to see how she supports young designers ( Thakoon in the movie), and how if she believes in someone, she can easily boost their business, with probably a single page in the magazine.

Last night I was flipping through the Oct. issue, and looking at the editorials, or the interviews, makes you think how did they end up with this, how many other pictures they took, why did they pick up those pictures, and everything it makes you go through the whole movie again but with the material in hands.

here is a trailer of the movie incase you didn't see it yet, and if you've seen it, let me know what do you think!



Love,
Styloholic.

Paris SS '10 Fashion Week

It's been a very long time since I wrote anything here! and I feel guilty about it!
BUT I have some nice things to share with you all! :)
Some of you know that I moved to Florence last June, to do a Masters Program in Luxury Management in Polimoda, I was sponsored to do this program by Chalhoub Group in Dubai.

Last week I went to Paris for fashion week, and I had such a great time!
I went to 6 shows! yes 6! :) Chanel, Giambattista Valli, Celine, Elie Saab, Hermes & John Galliano! My favorites were Chanel ofcourse, Giambattista Valli & Galliano.
It was so exciting, because I don't know how I managed to get in! I mean they are very strict with the invitations and everything, yet I managed to go to the best shows!

I met so many people, people I see only in Vogue and Bazaar, I saw almost everyone from US Vogue, editors in Chief, contributing editors, models, muses, you name it!
some of them were very nice and I talked to them, some were very snobbish!
I met Tim Blanks and Candy Pratts Price from Style.com, both were very nice, I met Glenda Bailey Editor in Chief of US Harper's Bazaar, she was very nice too! I met everyone from the Signe Chanel documentary, Mme Cecile & Mme Jacqueline, Virginie Viard & Karl!.

The Chanel show was amazing! when I got in, I couldn't believe that I'm actually inside the Grand Palais for Chanel show! I mean it has always been like a dream, Chanel, Karl, the show, the people and this time it was magical! The set was a farm house in the country side, seconds before the show started everyone was standing and moving around, and when the show started with a roosters sound, everyone was in place in exactly 1 second! :)
Then came the surprise, Lilly Allen came up from nowhere and performed her song "not fair" then disappeared again! it was a great show!

Next day I managed to go to Elie Saab, I was standing in the back, and just like 2 minutes before the show, I found a free seat in the front row , right in front of Nelly Furtado and Dita von Teese, rushed there, and thats how I got my front row seat at Elie Saab.
Couple of hours later I was outside the Hermes show, ofcourse they were not letting people in because the show was about to start, but luckily we managed to find a back door that leads to the backstage, where I met jean Paul Gaultier, Eva Herzigova, Chanel Iman, Isabeli Fontana & caroline Treniti - and by we I mean me and people I meet there who is trying to get in too! :)

The Galliano show was taking place at the same venue, right in the next hall, and there was noway to miss his show, so Michele and I managed, and again please don't ask me how because we were so lucky to get in, the show was about an hour late, and only staff were inside as they were still rehearsing and John was checking everything out, and ofcourse the show was fantastic!
I was so happy to meet Ms. Laila Hamdaoui, a Stylist and Fashion Editor, we had previously met almost 3 years ago in Dubai during the LCDA and she remembered me, she was such a sweetheart! :)
I also went to see my friend Srdjan who launched his own footwear label Aperlai (website coming soon) I loved it ! very nice designs, and he had good responses from buyers and im so happy for him! I also met Zoe Saldana at Giambattista Valli's showroom the day after the show and we had a small chat on what she was picking from the collection. I got my copy of The Sartorialist and I met Scott and got it signed, I met him first in Milan but all bookshops had ran out of the book, but I'm happy i bought it from Paris, you know, it's Paris! ;) I met Mario Testino again (first time in Milan also) he told me he maybe coming to Jordan soon (hope I'll be there). Models were so tall, and more beautiful in person, esp. Claudia Schiffer & Natalia Vodianova.
The sole purpose of my visit to Paris was to try to get an internship with Giambattista Valli in December, unfortunately he was very busy, but I managed to send him an email asking him for it, so wish me luck with that!

Over all it was a great trip! and if I'm in Paris again, I would for sure do it all over again and try to get in! :) RTW fashion week is great, but I still wanna experience Haute Couture, so January maybe? ;) Please find some pics on my twitter account.

Love,
Styloholic.

A 10 years old Queen!

Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary for Queen Rania & King Abdulla's taking the throne.
For the occasion, a Royal Parade took off from the Royal palace to Amman's stadium where national celebrations were taking place.


During the past 10 years Jordan has changed alot, whether in the IT sector, and having Jordan called The cradle of internet start-ups, projects that supports and works for a better local community, and very recently, launching the Madrasati project that helps local schools.

I remember on June 9th 1999, watching the coronation and royal parade, and thinking how does queen rania feels now? she must be excited, afraid, overwhelmed, first she was a next-door type of girl, leading a normal life in Amman, then marrying Prince Abdulla must have changed her life, and now she is Queen of Jordan! I cant wait to ask her that! :)

On the other hand, It was nice to see the then 29-year-old, youngest Queen of the world making fashion headlines, and being mentioned among the best-dressed people of the world! I remember her first official visit to France in Dec. 1999 when she wore a burgundy GFF dress at a dinner ceremony and a Chanel outfit while visiting the Musee de Louvre, thats when the the whole world started paying attention to the Queen! And for so many years, she's been on the list of Vogue January issue's annual best dressed list & In the september 2001 issue of the magazine, there was an article about the new queen, Mario Testino Flew to Jordan and took amazing pictures for the queen at the royal palace and Jerash ( she also appeared in the magazine in March 2009 ).

Yesterday, Queen Rania wore the same dress 10 years ago on her coronation day, designed by Elie Saab, but with some changes, like wearing a belt and doing something with the sleeves. I met the head seamstress, Ms. Sophie in 2006 at ES workshops in Beirut, who came to Amman to do the fittings for the queen then, she said that it was such a nice and touching experience.


Queen Rania looked more fresh, younger yesterday than she did 10 years ago, wearing a smaller tiara, a more simple hair do and make up. She is gracing the cover of HELLO magazine's latest issue.

She is an inspiration & muse to many fashion designers, and friends with the likes of Giambattista Valli, Ricardo Tisci, JPG & of her favorite brands, Prada, Burberry, YSL & ES.
She is such a cool Queen! I mean, she twitters! she has a facebook page, she wrote some journals from a trip to India & NYC recently & attends fashion parties, like the MET's gala in 2007!

Today marks the royal couple 16th wedding anniversary so congratulations and looking forward to more fashion statements by the queen! :)

Love,
Styloholic.

The Bride wore Balenciaga!

Salem Hayek married french billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault, CEO of PPR- a group that owns brands like Gucci, YSL, Sergio Rossi & Bottega Veneta - for the second time in a star studded event in Venice on Saturday. They married first time on valentine's day in Paris' city hall.

Salma wore a gorgeous Balenciaga dress by Nicholas Ghesquière (a brand also owned by PPR). 150 guestes gathered at the wedding ceremony, included Charlize Theron (in Dior) , Gucci's head designer Frida Gianini, Ashley Judd, Ed Norton, Anna Wintour (in chic Chanel Couture), Stella McCartney, former French president Jacque Chirac and his wife Bernadette. Jordan's ambassador to France, Dina Kawar was also among the guests.

Dina Kawar & Anna Wintour

Penelope Curz & Javier Bardem were among the guests

The ceremony took place at the Palazzo Grassi, a white marble palace built in 1748-1772 and owned by the Pinault family since 2005. The home has a special meaning for the couple because It's where they first met when he held a gala party there in 2006.

Salma & Francois after the wedding

Love,
Styloholic.

Rania meets Michelle

Queen Rania met U.S. first lady Michelle Obama in the Yellow Oval Room in the White House Residence on April 23. Couldn't find any more pictures. If you came across other ones, let me know!


Love,
Styloholic.