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ANNA VALENTINE SPRING/SUMMER COLLECTION 2010
It’s London Fashion Week. “The Best of British” is on display. REALLY annoyingly my daughter has been invited to a fashion show on Saturday. I’m going to have to get her to do a review. Nobody has invited me.
Nevermind, in amongst all the Burberry, Mulberry, Alexander McQueen, Jaegar and Paul Smith is my favourite British designer (OK, she’s an old friend, but still, I’m not biased).
Here are a couple of the photos from the show I was at a few weeks ago with HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, Rupert Everett and LOADS of friends all in aid of Maggies (and btw the good news is that although she phoned me up last week to say “WHERE’S MY DRESS?”, after I said “what dress?” several times, she gave up. I think I might have got away with it. I think she might have forgotten).
You will see from the photos how gorgeous her new collection of dresses looked. Lots of muted pastel colours and beautifully layered and flowing textures and I particularly love the back detail you can see in the following photo – I think it’s really sexy (would look rubbish on my sun damaged back mind you).
ANNA VALENTINE FASHION SHOW
15. February 2010
There is a two page spread in this weeks “Hello” Magazine all about the Anna Valentine Fashion show I was on the committee for. I AM NOT FEATURED. They chose Camilla Parker Bowles, Anna Valentine, Rupert Everett and Lulu Guinness over me. I can’t think why. Gutted.
However, the Hello photographer did take some pictures of me and my friend talking to Camilla about the Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres and my friend very kindly sent them to me. Sadly, I can’t really show you the dress properly – I forgot to take a picture of the whole thing – which is another very good reason why I can’t give it back.
If you want to read about her new collection it’s featured on Vogue.com
In the meantime, since a few of you have requested a photo, here was me having my first royal moment since I met the Queen in Hong Kong thirty years ago with my friend Jo in the foreground:-
THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL ATTENDS ANNA VALENTINE’S CHARITY SHOW
12. February 2010
What an amazing evening we all had last night. Anna’s new collection is truly beautiful. Her clothes were elegant, understated and as exquisitely cut as ever. The event was held in the Royal Courts of Justice – the long corridors had been lit by hundred’s of church candles which lent a wonderful [...]
Continue reading and leave comments...ANNA VALENTINE FASHION SHOW
11. February 2010
Holy shit. I have now taught three classes in a row including a 1-1 with a client who has MS. I have now rushed home to do the following in preparation for the Anna Valentine fashion show tonight:-
Make myself look half decent which involves:-
Removing about a ton of body hair
Working out how to [...]
ANNA VALENTINE’S FASHION SHOW
21. January 2010
Here is the information on the fashion show I”m on the committee for and if you click on this link you can see some photos and further information regarding Maggies itself: Anna Valentine Fashion Show
Let me know if any of you would be interested in coming.
Leading light in the British couture scene, Anna Valentine launches her Spring/Summer 2010 collection with an exclusive fashion show in aid of Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres
The show is Anna Valentine’s first public launch of a collection in five years and takes place in the Royal Courts of Justice, one of London’s unique events venues.
Around 500 guests are expected to attend the glamourous event, which is sure to attract many famous faces, and aims to raise a significant sum for Maggie’s Centres. Taking place on Thursday, February 11, the fashion show will be followed by an after show party.
Anna Valentine has been a leading name in the fashion world for 20 years. Although Anna has dressed many society names she is perhaps best known for her recent designs for HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, which includes her wedding gown.
In November 2008 Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres was honoured when HRH The Duchess of Cornwall became their first President. Anna was inspired to showcase her latest line of clothing in aid of Maggie’s Centres, due to this connection and because many of her clients over the years have faced cancer.
This will be Anna’s first public launch of a collection since her show at the Victoria & Albert Museum in June 2006 which helped raise more than £120,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and the REACH Leukaemia Appeal.
There are currently six permanent Maggie’s Centres, five in Scotland and one in London, with five more planned across England and Wales by 2012. Each Centre provides emotional and practical support to anyone affected by any kind of cancer, empowering people to live with, through and beyond cancer.
Each Maggie’s Centre is designed by a renowned architect, for example, Zaha Hadid and Frank Gehry, with the aim to create a positive and inspiring environment so that people can receive the specialist help they need in a place where they feel valued. In fact, Maggie’s London Centre, designed by Lord Richard Rogers, was recently awarded the RIBA Stirling Prize for Best Building of the Year. Opened in April 2008 by Sarah Brown and Nigella Lawson, the Centre has already seen over 20,000 people through its doors and received a special visit from US First Lady Michelle Obama in April 2009.
Maggie’s Centres Chief Eexecutive, Laura Lee, said: “Maggie’s Centres are continuing to expand across the UK, which is testament to their great need. Although the money from the fashion show will be raised in London, the funds will support all Maggie’s programmes, especially where it is most needed. We had a hugely successful 2009 and with Anna’s fashion show, we are off to a tremendous start for 2010. What a fabulous and glamourous event Anna has organised for Maggie’s!”
Info on Anna Valentine
• Anna Valentine has been a leading light in the British couture business for 20 years, originally trading as Robinson Valentine until Anna became sole proprietor some years ago. Anna came to public prominence in 2005 when she was approached to design the wedding outfits at the wedding of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.
• Anna Valentine’s show room and atelier are based in Marylebone. Anna supports British artisans and is very proud that all her clothes and accessories are made in the United Kingdom.
Info on Maggie’s Centres
• Maggie’s Centres offer a range of support, including one-to-one sessions with psychologists; a library of information with cancer specialists on hand to answer questions; benefits and nutrition advice; relaxation and yoga classes, and much more.
• And all of this is offered – with a cup of tea – in an atmosphere that is determinedly non-institutional. Maggie’s believe greatly in the power of architecture and environment to lift the spirits. Each Centre is designed by a renowned architect, with them working to a demanding brief, which beyond the purely practical requirements, asks them to produce spaces in which people feel safe and welcome but also have their imagination and their curiosity kindled.
• Maggie’s run an Online Centre, where people can write blogs, join groups of similar interest, seek advice and join sessions facilitated by a clinical psychologist. Visit www.maggiescentres.org/community for more information.
MAGGIE’S CANCER CARING CENTRES
12. January 2010
I am on the committee for a fashion show a girlfriend of mine is putting on in support of “Maggie’s” in February this year. Things are hotting up – she’s got Rupert Everett to do the compering. I am very excited about that. We’re looking at auction prizes. Need “experiences” mostly. Any ideas most welcome.
FYI, the money raised is going to a very good cause. Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres is a charity that provides support, free of charge, for people who have been diagnosed with any type of cancer. The support is also for their families, their friends and their carers. Each individual person with cancer has to find their own way through the difficult path of their illness, but they all need information and reliable guidance.
Maggie Keswick Jencks (who was also brought up in Hong Kong) founded the charity with her husband after being diagnosed with breast cancer when she was forty-seven. It was through her experience of living with cancer that she began to recognise that taking an active role in her own treatment, moving from passive victim to active participant was the single most important step in dealing with her illness. She held a profound belief that architecture and the environment could deeply affect how you feel. She also became aware that having been diagnosed, there was no one place or person to turn to to get the answers she felt she needed.
I posted some photos last year when I went to see Maggie’s London Centre which was designed by Sir Richard Rogers and is situated in the grounds of The Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith – but I’m going to do so again, in case you missed them the first time. The building is truly amazing – a calm and tranquil space with lush green foliage both inside and out – a real haven. It recently won the RIBA London building of the year award AND the prestigious Stirling Prize.
The kitchen is the heart of the centre, giving it a very homely feel with lots of people sitting around a large table drinking tea and eating cakes and chatting and laughing:-
Once there the support you can receive ranges from one-to-one psychological support, weekly support groups, nutrition courses, benefits and welfare support, social and online support and relaxation and stress management.
All Maggie’s Centres in the UK are built adjacent to major cancer treatment hospitals but operate independently of the NHS. Their vision is to open centres next to every NHS Cancer hospital around the country: 5 are in progress in Oxford (this one is being built like a treehouse with wood made by local boatbuilders), Newcastle, South West Wales, Cheltenham and Nottingham. Internationally plans are in place for further centres in Hong Kong, Barcelona and Denmark.
My friend will show her 2010 Spring/Summer Collection and is aiming to raise in excess of £100,000!!
What a difference that will make.
TEEN FASHION – OUTERWEAR…
30. November 2009
My beautiful daugher’s latest must have jacket:-
Strangely in a Campbell tartan which is good.
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25. February 2010
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