New Hats On The Block

The five-panel cap has been a familiar silhouette of headwear since people started wanting more than just baseball caps and beanies. However it wasn’t until Supreme took the design and put their spin on the cap that it became what it is today. By combining the fashionable flat peak of the New Era hats with a sense of New York ‘90s style they made a winning combination and this season every street wear brand has their own variation on the 5-panel from Alife to Zoo York. My favourite of the new releases by the many brands are the five panels from Norse Projects. They take the familiar shape and make it their own, by using traditional Scandinavian materials and a perfect colour range to make an understated and elegant cap that manages to make thestaid shape seem a brand new design classic. The cap is the perfect addition for summer and a much more unique hat to wear than the traditional street staples of New Era or Supreme. For the Norse Project brand the cap is a statement piece of their brand values and direction, by combining traditional northern Europe fabrics, material techniques and colour palettes with streetwear classics you get a brand that, although may have the same design staples as all the others, they are doing them in a way that invokes a sense of a re-envisioning of the flat cap.

A Trip To Durham

- Charlotte

Summer Daze

'What we see and what we seem are but a dream, a dream within a dream.'

The opening line in 1979 picture Picnic at Hanging Rock sets the whimsical tone for the rest of the film. The film starts on Valentines Day in 1900 - the eerie yet romantic feel of the film resonates in the SS11 runways; this meant we saw white, billowing chiffon dresses paired with subtle and youthful styling. The calm, hazy visuals of the film run seamlessly alongside this seasons summer trends, especially with Dolce and Gabbana's women's show as shown in the image below. Though you may want to leave out the more sinister aspects of the film, in which the schoolgirls are consumed by "dreamtime", a parallel dimension that exists in Australian aboriginal mythology - the beautiful aesthetic of the film will inspire you to be on trend this coming summer.

- Charlotte & Zoe

artist militia

Whilst reading the April issue of Dazed&Confused earlier today there was one article that really hit me. Artists Jake and Dinos Chapman have formed a campaign to "interfere" with the recent Tory-Lib Dem coalition's decision to triple university fees; they were furious with the government and media reaction to the student protests where many innocent teens were injured. The campaign's petition is called 'Can't pay your fees? We'll pay your fines' - it's already had support from over 80 actors, designers and artists including Stella Mccartney and model Lily Cole, who have been contributing clothes and artwork that'll be auctioned off to raise funds. The money made from the auctions will then be used for the fines students receive for their protests and as Jake Chapman calls it, "civil disobedience." I think the campaign also aims to correct some of the things the media fabricated in order to tarnish the student's message; some innocent teens needed emergency surgery after being hit by the police yet it was the paint thrown back at them that was "outrageous". The auctions will launch sometime this week and I really hope it does make a difference, even if it just encourages young people to fight their cause. Photo above shows controversial work from Jake and Dinos Chapman.

- Zoe

colour me crazy

The bright colours of this season have filtered down to hair which could be partly due to the model Charlotte Free, whose candy floss coloured hair contrasts perfectly against her punky style which has seen her model for Chanel and Topshop Unique. The trend has also emerged amongst catwalk shows such as Meadham Kirchoff whose models had multicoloured hair (shown in the photo above).

Yet the trend is not only apparent on the catwalk but on the high street aswell. With Topshop introducing "Bleach" salon to their flagship store at Oxford Circus, the public can choose from dip bleached ends to an all over colour; and even stencils in all different shapes such as pink hearts. Although most may not be brave enough for an all over colour, the dip bleached ends look incredible and are more of a subtle way to get in on the trend. This is visible on Charlotte free here in Interview Magazine.

- Charlotte

fresh faced fashion

This years awards season and red carpet are long gone and only a few people stuck in our minds. 2011 saw a lot of new faces making big first impressions with their looks; one in particular being 14 year old True Grit beauty Hailee Steinfeld. I think her most memorable red carpet appearance was at the Oscars wearing Marchesa shown here, no one could seem to take their eyes off her and it sent the fashion watchers crazy. The Marchesa seemed to be so successful because of the perfect balance of age appropriateness and beautiful princess design. This however wasn't my favourite look of hers; Click Here to see Hailee in Miu Miu at the BAFTA awards with yet again the right balance of high collar sophistication and sheer material sexiness. The vintage look gained her as much recognition as her first class True Grit performance did. I hope the rumours of her being Miu Miu's new muse are true as she's definitely one to watch in the future. Above photo shows Hailee Steinfeld and fellow child actor Elle Fanning in Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue.

- Zoe

Lohan & Franco

There's been rumours circulating the web about a "sex book" featuring Lindsay Lohan and recent Oscar host James Franco. The project was set to be shot by Terry Richardson and would feature graphic shots and full frontal nudity; Lohan was set to earn between $2.1 and $3 million. However upon leaving the London West Hollywood Hotel in the last couple of days she denied all involvement in the book - saying the idea was "gross" - and is instead working with Richardson on a photography book showing the 'glamour and history' of Hollywood. With Lindsay being in and out of court recently, and being dropped from the majority of future roles, the rumoured sex book could have provided the publicity and come-back she needs; the same could also be said for Franco after his soul destroying debut as an Oscar host. I would love to see Lindsay do this sort of thing, watch this space!

- Zoe

an introduction: what's in our bags