London – Page 7

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…

I finished off the day with a trip to a beer garden in Dalston and a bit of dancing later on. My perfect London day. I love this city.

Grain store, Granary Square, 1-3 Stable Street, London, N1C 4AB. T: 020 7324 4466. www.grainstore.com

Chin Chin Labs, 49 – 50 Camden Lock Place, London, NW1 8AF. Open Mon 12:30-6:30pm & Tue-Sat 12-7pm. www.chinchinlabs.com

One for the kids

Published on August 23, 2013 by Alicja JasnikowskaLeave a comment

If you have children, or nieces and nephews that you love to buy clothes for, then you’ll be excited to hear today’s news. One of my fave stores Uniqlo – the Japanese brand that has been bringing us staples such as merino wool jumpers in a Pantone style range of colours for several years – is launching a range of kids wear. I am a huge fan of Uniqlo, and have long extolled its virtues – their jumpers and flannel check shirts are 100% cotton and a snip at just under £20. So it’s safe to say I am very excited about today’s store launch.

The collection includes adult favourites such as their poly filled down parkas and colourful skinny jeans being downsized for kids up to 12 years old. Jackets come with name labels sewn into the interior so you can ensure your mini-me returns home with their new duffle coat (a clever touch considering these pieces will be the envy of the playground). Many trousers also come with adjustable waistbands for ultimate comfort and reinforced seam pockets to reduce tears.

Furthermore, next Saturday (31st Aug), three key Uniqlo stores will host a special event to celebrate. Head to Uniqlo in Bluewater, or Westfield Stratford or White City and enjoy an interactive photo experience and if you’re lucky, a free kids goody bag (available to the first 100 customers to purchase from the collection on the day). If you’re not near London, you can still get your hands on the lovely range as all items are available online. Ready, steady, shop…

Kids wear collection launches in store today. Or shop online at http://www.uniqlo.com/uk

All images provided by Uniqlo

London Letters

Published on August 22, 2013 by Alicja Jasnikowska2 Comments

Well, what a busy and inspiring 10 days I have had. As well as filming the last Ashley Banjo’s Secret Street Crew of series 3, I have also just styled a 4 day online street style campaign for Gap. This featured real people and the casting was superb – a truly unique & creative group. My blogs over the next few weeks will be a testament to all the new things I have seen or heard about recently.

The first I would like to mention is a great company called London Letters that I stumbled across in Old Street tube station early last week. Being both creative and interested in words this really caught my eye. The concept is naturally occurring unique letters on the streets of London, be it buildings, graffiti, railings, doors – you name it, owner Richard has shot it. He has even been known to spot an O in a pile of litter…

With a background in architecture you could say Richard has always had an acute eye for detail, however it was after an inspiring trip to Chicago in 2011 that he decided to start the London Letters project. The images can be purchased as individual letters on cards or postcards (cards £2 each, postcards £1) or as A4 or A3 prints, with London area names such as Brixton and Wood Green currently available. Richard also happily takes commissions & letters can be spliced together to create personalized messages or prints, making a fabulous present for that difficult-to-please friend who has everything.

The top letters are those featuring bold colour or a strong graphic shape – check out the R above – but the key is that all of these can be found around London and there is no editing or rotating of images. Each comes with a distinctive tag with the company logo and the location of the letter, so you can go and see it for yourself in situ. Buy some to give as birthday cards or go for a full set of A-Z and use them to teach your child the alphabet. As you can see I have created my own version of my blog name using the letters. So much fun!

For more info and to buy online go to London Letters www.london-letters.co.uk

Magical mending

Published on August 16, 2013 by Alicja JasnikowskaLeave a comment

This week I was on a shoot and the lovely Assistant Editor Ellie mentioned an amazing company that (I am embarrassed to admit) I had never heard of. As a stylist I am often asked about my top fashion tips and tricks and I have to say this one rates very highly.

The painstaking process

The company is called British Invisible Mending Service Ltd http://www.invisiblemending.co.uk. I know it’s not the sexiest title or the trendiest name, but it does explain exactly what it does ie. invisible mending. What this means is that if you have a jacket, trousers, coat or a cashmere jumper (in fact any woven or knitted garment) that has been torn, tarnished by a cigarette burn or eaten by moths this amazing company will fix it. As new! I kid you not. The pictures on the site are astounding. With nearly a century’s experience this business employs clever and highly skilled technicians who remove threads from the inside hidden seams, and hand-weave these back into the damaged garment to fill any holes or tears.

Before

After

It comes highly recommended by Ellie who once used it to fix a huge tear in a vintage velvet maxidress, and from looking at the website most of the fashion, TV and film industries are also huge fans. Even Sir Alan Sugar has paid a visit (or one of his assistants has on his behalf). They also offer alterations and a made-to-measure suit service in their London store, or you can send your repairs to their head office in Wales should you not live in London. The repairs aren’t cheap, but they do look fantastic and are well worth the money if you have a favourite designer piece that has been damaged. Thanks for the recommendation Ellie.

For the London store call 0207 4874292.
Opening hours: Monday to Friday 8.30 a.m. – 5.30 p.m. Saturday 10.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.

For Head Office contact 01443 433344

Further information at http://www.invisiblemending.co.uk

All pictures are copyrighted to British Invisible Mending Service Ltd