Catwalk to Couch

mary katrantzou's creations artfully fuse fashion with interiors

WOW! That was my initial reaction upon seeing these pictures of fashion Mary Katrantzou's AW11 collection. The London-based fashion designer is often inspired by interiors (who can forget her lampshade skirt?) and this season, Katrantzou imagined her muse as a connoisseur, surrounded by objects of beauty (Fabergé eggs, Meissen porcelain,Ming vases) and dreamt up her hyper-realist prints accordingly. In this shoot by the photographer Erik Madigan Heck for Nomenus Quarterly, the woman in the room is wearing the objects in the the room. It's a surrealist tour de force.

Spanish Prize

these traditional soaps are bathing beauties

I discovered the iconic Spanish soap Heno de Pravia while holidaying summer. The deep green bar has a distinctive sweet, herby scent. Although it doesn't remind me of hay (heno means hay in Espanol) is does remind me of sunshine skys and carefree days, provding the perfect early morning pick me up on grey London days. The story goes that in 1903 Perfumer Salvador Gal passed through the small village of Pravia and was utterly taken by the smell of freshly cut hay and flora on the air. He sought to recreate it and the Heno de Pravia range of soaps and colognes was born. I stocked up on a couple bars at the local Farmica and wish I had bought more. I also LOVE the packaging of these soaps from Portugese store A Vida Portuguesa, which sell beautiful range of traditional products. You can buy them online here.

In Bloom

vic brotherson's floral displays are full of vintage charm

West London flower shop Scarlet and Violet is brimming with all manner of loveliness; cut glass vases, chintzy ornaments and armfuls of beautiful blooms. Owner Vic Brotherson is renowned for creating romantic, naturalistic arrangements in pale, chalky colours. They have a trad feel to them, but the result is anything but stuffy - think Constance Spry for the 21st Century. Brotherson has just penned her first book Vintage Flowers (Kyle books, £25) which shows you how to recreate her artistic arrangements at home. Even if you don’t get busy with floristry wire it’s well worth adding it your pile of coffee table tomes thanks to the uplifting imagery. I’ll let the ultimate domestic goddess Nigella Lawson have the final word: “Vic Brotherson does beautiful bunches of wild flowers and roses the colour of parchment, tinged with the palest of pinks”. High praise indeed. www.scarletandviolet.com

Cold Shoulder

nuclear wintour shows her icy displeasure

Hilarious! Anna Wintour looks thrilled to be sitting next to Nicki Minaj at the Carolina Herrera show during New York Fashion Week. I'm not sure what to make of Ms Minaj's increasingly outlandish outfits and neither, it seems, is the editrice of American Vogue from the look of things. Methinks Nicki is more of a fashion fool than an advantgardist but I salute her for rocking a strong look regardless.