Author: Alicja Jasnikowska

London based Fashion Stylist & Writer with over 10 years experience working in TV, editorial & advertising. TV credits include: Ashley Banjo's Secret Street Crew (Sky 1), Gok's Fashion Fix (Channel 4), The 21st Question (ITV), Pop Goes the Band (Living). Published editorial work: Harrods magazine, JFW magazine, The Sunday Times Style, The Guardian, Country & Townhouse magazine, Exalt Magazine, Drafted, The Sun 'Buzz' magazine, She, Velvet (Dubai), Spoil Me (Greece). Advertising: Aspinal of London, Barbour, Burton, Gap, Gok for Tu at Sainsbury's, Interflora, Marks and Spencer, People Tree, Puma, Sleek Make-up, Timberland, Tusting Luggage, Weight Watchers, White Stuff. Celebs: Danny Dyer, Gethin Jones, Sarah Beeny, Gok Wan, 911, Joe Hart.

Architectural adventure

Published on September 21, 2013 by Alicja JasnikowskaLeave a comment

If you’ve always wanted to take in the view at The Shard or explore the inner towers of the iconic Battersea Power Station, but don’t fancy having to remortgage for the experience, then this may be the weekend for you. For two days only, a vast number of London’s finest architectural landmarks are opening their doors for free. Yes, that’s free! Named ‘Open House London’ this annual weekend event allows you to take in Tower 42 in the City (once the tallest skyscraper in London) and even snoop around 10 Downing Street. Well, technically numbers for the viewing of the Prime Minister’s residence and The Shard have already been allocated by ballot, but there are still plenty of other famous buildings to explore.

Battersea Power Station (image source: Creative Commons/Aurelien Guichard)

No 10 Downing Street (image source: Open House)

Open House was started in 1992 as a not-for-profit organisation promoting our fantastic architecture. Their aim is to get people to look around them and learn about the structure and history of some of our beautifully designed constructions. Often buildings that are not usually accessible to the public (like the aforementioned Battersea Power Station) are included in the long list of participants. The event has been so popular that it has been replicated in numerous cities internationally, including New York, Melbourne, Rome and even Jerusalem.

Tower 42 (image source: Open House)

Dalston Eastern Curve Garden (image source: www.timeout.com)

Most of the buildings are on a first come first served basis, so you best be quick if you want to peruse the plum locations. It’s already mid-morning and we all know what they say about the early bird…

London’s Open House runs from 21^st-22^nd September- visit www.londonopenhouse.org for more info.

For ideas of where to head this weekend check out Time Out’s guide to the top venues: http://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/open-house-london-our-highlights

Main image – Cutty Sark. Source: www.timeout.com

London Fashion Week SS14 at Somerset House

Published on September 17, 2013September 17, 2013 by Alicja JasnikowskaLeave a comment

Yesterday I finally made it down to Somerset House to check out the London Fashion Week SS14 showrooms. The Courtyard houses the main tents where models take to the catwalk in the designers visions for Spring 2014. Yes, just as normal folk are beginning to pull on jumpers and dust off their coats, the fashion folk are projecting what will be the hottest trends when the sun reappears sometime around March. Here is a summary of what I saw and what I loved.

London Fashion Week SS14 New Gen entrance hall

First stop was the Topshop sponsored New Generation hall where the next big things in fashion tout their wares. My favourite shoe designer of the moment, Sophia Webster, showed off a display of her signature candy coloured, kooky heels, predicting bold colours and clever heel detailing for next spring. Oh and jelly heels! My particular fave is the ‘Killer’ stiletto, surely the shoe Bridget Fonda’s rival should have worn in Single White Female…

Shoes, such pretty, pretty shoes by Sophia Webster for SS14

A lot of the New Gen hall was empty as catwalk collections by the likes of J. JS Lee and Simone Rocha hadn’t made it to the showrooms yet, so I headed upstairs to the Ready to Wear Emerging and Contemporary collections.

First stop was Zoe Jordan who showed at the early hour of 9am on Saturday morning, and put out a collection inspired by a grown up skater girl. Expect sports influenced pieces such as white punched leather tees married with printed silk dresses, in a palette of white mixed with bold hues.

Fresh from the catwalk: Zoe Jordan’s ‘Pretty Vandals’ SS14 collection

Christopher Raeburn’s collection also had an overlying sportswear feel (a trend that refuses to go away) with high-tech fabrics worked into chic printed separates.

Christopher Raeburn’s SS14 vision

Georgia Hardinge has this year decided to focus on her buyers and will be presenting a show in Shanghai next week, but for London she was on hand to explain her pretty printed silk dresses and clever pleat inserts. Collaborating with a specialist, she has created intricate origami shapes hidden within her box pleat skirts and tops. Beautiful!

The designer herself, Georgia Hardinge wearing a pleated piece from her SS14 collection

Another brand that caught my eye was Paper London, which featured gorgeous laser cut jackets and wide sculptural garments in a tight palette of white, red and navy.

Paper London’s intricate cut-outs for SS14

Onto emerging talent where Jane Bowler’s hand-cut leather and PVC plastic creations were drawing attention. Strong editorial garments, plus amazing jewellery and reworked trucker caps means this brand will be a winner with the streetwear and music crowd.

Hand cut leather and PVC plastic pieces from Jane Bowler SS14

Finally I loved the pleat work, colour combinations and printwork of Heohwan Simulation’s SS14, who showed off-schedule on Day 1 of London Fashion week. Definitely one to watch…

Monochrome and yellow at Heohwan Simulation SS14

In the afternoon I managed to catch a presentation at the stunning Freemasons’ Hall showcasing the work of Natasha Zinko – a cute floral stage and pretty ethereal vibe in a succinct collection.

Natasha Zinko SS14

I was supposed to attend the dramatic Pam Hogg show at 5pm, but after queuing for over 30 minutes with what felt like half of London my tired feet got the better of me and I decided to give it a miss. I hear it was quite the crazy with magpie hats and more refined silhouettes mixing with the usual latex catsuits.

London Fashion Week SS14 draws to a close today and the crowds of fashionistas in towering heels will move onto Milan for the next round of shows. Although not until they have partied at tonight’s closing parties, put on by the likes of Harper’s Bazaar and Dazed and Confused. When in Rome…

London Fashion Week SS14 runs from 13-17 September 2013 http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/ at Somerset House

For further details of featured designers: www.sophiawebster.co.uk; www.zoe-jordan.com; www.christopherraeburn.co.uk; www.georgiahardinge.co.uk; www.paperlondon.com; www.janebowler.co.uk; www.heohwansimulation.com; www.natashazinko.com.

Dining at The Shard

Published on September 14, 2013 by Alicja JasnikowskaLeave a comment

Last night I visited The Shard for the first time. Or to be more specific I dined at the restaurant Aquashard on the 31^st floor of London’s latest architectural triumph. Whether you love it or hate it, The Shard is definitely a prominent landmark on the London skyline, boasting a lift that can scale 30 floors in 30 seconds and stunning views of the city. Unfortunately, the first day of London Fashion Week also brought with it the rain, and the rather spectacular view was somewhat ruined by the cascades of water running down the windows. Nonetheless, the beauty of Aquashard made up for the view. A sexy, low lit, slick interior – reminiscent of a chic New York cocktail bar – is complimented by a three-storey high atrium and plenty of glass. As the world’s fashionistas descend on our fair city, I thought it more than worthy of a blog.

Stunning cocktails – a Margarita

I am incredibly lucky as I, along with my cousin Joanna, were being treated to supper by my lovely aunt Irma. We had a fantastic evening. The atmosphere and service at Aquashard was superb. Our dishes for each course were brought out simultaneously, so no-one at the table had to wait to start their meal. Our wine was topped up regularly and empty plates disappeared discreetly. My only complaint was that drinks did take some time to arrive, but this could be due to the large, lively crowd at the bar on a Friday night.

Britain’s finest artisanal cheese selection

So to the food… Aquashard ‘serves innovative contemporary British cuisine’ and the menu is succinct and well written. The food itself is creative and beautifully presented, but a little hit and miss. We ordered three different fish starters and shared them all. The confit salmon with Dorset crab, and a puree of avocado and courgette was delicious and definitely our favourite of the three. For mains, my cousin ordered the lamb, my aunt had the Diver Scallops and I opted for cod. Each dish was lovely and very subtle with some intriguing difficult-to-place flavours, although the scallops were too lightly cooked for my palette and the lamb was quite rare (admittedly this was requested). Unfortunately I was too busy dining to remember to take pictures, and I didn’t think an image of an empty plate would suffice. For dessert we opted for two cheese plates, which came with wafer thin walnut bread and a delicious chutney. Not only were these very tasty, but as you can see from the images they also looked very stylish. All in all, I had a wonderful evening – the setting and atmosphere was fantastic and the dishes were beautifully presented, but make sure you choose wisely as certain dishes are better than others.

Me and my aunt Irma

If you’re in town for Fashion Week, it’s worth noting that reservations need to be made in advance and we did have to wait over a month for a suitable time slot. However, you can come for cocktails at the bar and to soak up the atmosphere while taking in the view of London by night. I would definitely recommend it…

For more information and to make a booking go to www.aquashard.co.uk

Topman X Black On Black

Published on September 12, 2013September 12, 2013 by Alicja JasnikowskaLeave a comment

There has been a huge expanse of streetwear labels in the last few years, fed by the popularity of hip-hop culture and powered by the strength of social media. Subsequently brands that may have remained small scale have now become a force to be reckoned with. Streetwear label Hype is a fine example of this. With 11,000+ twitter followers and stockists including the influential Topman this fresh label has burst into the limelight.

This week sees the launch of their first ever collaboration – a chic range of black garments, including printed bandanas, gloss textured tees, a cotton sweatshirt and leggings (for men!). Appropriately named TOPMAN X Black On Black, and available exclusively in Topman Oxford Street and General store, online and at www.justhype.co.uk, the collection is clean, effortless and affordable. Each item is limited to a production run of only 100 pieces, with prices ranging from £14.99 to £75. Also their customer service is second to none. When I needed some beanies for a TV show I was work on, a request on twitter was answered within hours. The next day 6 identical beanies arrived at my door. Genius!

Hype X Topman Black on Black tops, both £28

Today sees the launch party of the range at Topman General store in Shoreditch (5-8:30pm), where DJ Cable will be spinning the tunes as you shop. An after party follows at Casa Negra hosted by @ShorebitchUK, so be sure to pick up your wrist bands in store. Exclusive clothes, beer and an after party – what more could you want from this rather dull Thursday?

Launch party tonight at Topman General Store, 98 Commercial Street, Shoreditch (5-8:30pm); after party at Casa Negra, 54-56 Great Eastern St London, EC2A 3QR (9-2am).

Or visit www.justhype.co.uk or www.topman.com to shop the collection.

All images from the Topman X Black on Black range, courtesy of Hype Clothing.

My perfect day in London

Published on September 3, 2013September 7, 2013 by Alicja JasnikowskaLeave a comment

On Saturday I spent the day in London. Due to a combination of weddings, hen do’s and visits to my parents I have not spent a weekend in the city I live in for nearly 2 months. It was one of those perfect, spontaneous exploratory days, and to top it all off the sun was shining too. On days like these I am totally in love with London.

First stop was Granary Square in King’s Cross, the recently refurbished area surrounding the new Central Saint Martins building. This was my first visit to the square and came highly recommended, as did the Grain Store which is where we ended up. I had been warned that bookings for lunch are usually snapped up in advance, but as we were looking for just drinks and snacks they happily accommodated us in the bar area. Perfect!

The Grain Store is the new opening by The Zetter Group (famous for The Zetter Townhouse in Clerkenwell – winner of Hotel of the Year in 2012) and is headed up by Bruno Loubet, a French born Michelin star chef who has trained under Pierre Koffmann and Raymond Blanc. The result is a slick yet warm combination of great interior design, fabulous service and interesting yet reasonably priced food combinations. The all day bar menu includes a quirky mix of treats such as hot dogs (both meat and vege, with not a Linda McCartney in sight) and courgette, broad bean and prawn falafel. The presentation is very considered and our elegant beer glasses definitely pleased my prop stylist friend Davina.

The square outside was teaming with children running through the mini fountains in their swimwear, but we bypassed this and decided to sit by the canal and soak up some sun. A great place to laze and people watch on a sunny day.

Next stop… ice-cream, where Google provided my second fabulous foodie surprise of the day. A short walk up the canal to Camden Locks resulted in a quite marvellous Heston Blumenthal style experience at Chin Chin Labs www.chinchinlabs.com. What we thought was going to merely be a pleasant ice-cream turned out to be a ton of amazing dairy fun! Chin Chin Labs is a liquid nitrogen ice-cream parlour (the first in Europe apparently) and a great place to visit. You choose your ice-cream and your topping, then watch as they create it in front of you. Like something from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the small space is filled with liquid nitrogen ‘steam’ and toppings are sold in chemistry lab utensils such as test tubes and conical flasks.

I opted for vanilla with salted caramel sauce and my friend Davina had chocolate ice-cream (which was bitter rather than sweet) with a caramelised pretzel on top. It was delicious. At £4 a pop this isn’t an everyday snack, but is a fabulous treat and an experience that I guarantee you will talk about after. I certainly did…