Culture
Mary Queen of Shops
Mary Queen of Shops is a British television series presented by Mary Portas broadcast on BBC2. The series began with a four-week run starting on 7 June 2007, and returned for a second series of six episodes beginning on 9 June 2008. A third three-part series, titled Mary Queen of Charity Shops, began on 2 June 2009. The show returned for a fourth series on 7 June 2010, featuring various independent shops, rather than just fashion boutiques.
In each episode, Mary Portas troubleshoots her way around the UK on a mission to help turn around struggling fashion boutiques. Mary is a leading retail communications expert and is the founder and creative director of Yellowdoor.
Her aim is to turn the businesses around and put glamour back into shopping.
First, she visits the boutiques while the owners are away. Then she revamps them, gets the shop owners right up-to-date and hopefully helps them to start making money again.
In season 3, Mary takes on other retail shops.
Alex Polizzi - The Fixer
An appetizer on this page, but you should see the complete series. If you can.
Alex Polizzi: The Fixer is a business documentary show that has aired on BBC Two since 31 January 2012 and is presented by Alex Polizzi. The programme sees Alex turning around family businesses who are struggling for various reasons to attract customers.
Work-Songs for Drella
The words and music of this song are an inspiration.
Songs for Drella is a concept album by Lou Reed and John Cale, both formerly of the Velvet Underground, and is dedicated to the memory of Andy Warhol, their mentor, who had died unexpectedly in 1987. Drella was a nickname for Warhol coined by Warhol superstar Ondine, a contraction of Dracula and Cinderella, used by Warhol's crowd but never liked by Warhol himself. The song cycle focuses on Warhol's interpersonal relations and experiences, with songs falling roughly into three categories: Warhol's first-person perspective (which makes up the vast majority of the album), third-person narratives chronicling events and affairs, and first-person commentaries on Warhol by Reed and Cale themselves. The songs on the album are, to some extent, in chronological order.
Work
Andy was a Catholic, the etic ran through his bones
He lived alone with his mother, collecting gossip and toys
Every Sunday when he went to church
He'd kneel in his pew and say, "It's just work,
all that matters is work."
Andy was a lot of things, what I remember most
He'd say, "I've got to bring home the bacon, someone's
got to bring home the roast."
He'd get to the factory early
If I'd ask him he'd tell you straight out
It's just work, the most important thing is work
No matter what I did it never seemed enough
He said I was lazy, I said I was young
He said, "How many songs did you write?"
I'd written zero, I lied and said, "Ten."
"You won't be young forever
You should have written fifteen"
It's work, the most important thing is work
It's work, the most important thing is work
"You ought to make things big
People like it that way
And the songs with the dirty words - “make sure you record them that way"
Andy liked to stir up trouble, he was funny that way
He said, "It's just work, all that matters is work"
Andy sat down to talk one day
He said decide what you want
Do you want to expand your parameters
Or play museums like some dilettante
I fired him on the spot, he got red and called me a rat
It was the worst word that he could think of
And I've never seen him like that
It's just work, I thought he said it's just work
Work, he'd said it's just work
Andy said a lot of things, I stored them all away in my head
Sometimes when I can't decide what I should do
I think what would Andy have said
He'd probably say you think too much
That's 'cause there's work that you don't want to do
It's work, the most important thing is work
Work, the most important thing is work
Lou Reed John Cale
Buy Songs For Drella
Find all about Andy Warhol on these Artsy pages
Inside the house of Chanel
If you are interested in what the world of one of the most prestigious and billion euro companies is all about.
From Karl Lagerfeld’s first sketches, through the daily grind of the workshop, and into the hands of the client, this documentary follows the incredible journey of a haute couture collection, taking the viewer behind the scenes of this legendary atelier on the Rue Cambon 31.
One of Karl Lagerfeld's excellent quotes: 'Chanel is dead, don't touch it, that's what people said to me, in the early days, when I was talking about going there'
Some appetizers on this page, but you should see the complete series.
Signe Chanel – Haute Couture Collection [DVD]
DVD ~ Signe Chanel
Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000A6M9YY
Fendi Hotel
Brand Extension to the max
Fendi has opened its restored Palazzo Fendi palace in central Rome as it seeks to woo the richest shoppers.
After a refurbishment lasting about a year, the building will include a “by invitation only” suite, a seven-room hotel and a roof restaurant. The customer experience “will link that person to our brand,” Chief Executive Officer Pietro Beccari said in an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg TV. “It’s a place to cement a relation.”
Fendi is mirroring the strategy of Louis Vuitton, also part of France’s LVMH, to make even the wealthiest customers feel special. Maintaining exclusivity is becoming more challenging for luxury labels as the industry’s growth slows amid collapsing demand in China and a strengthening dollar.
Paul Smith - Gentleman Designer
Sir Paul Smith, CBE, RDI, (born 5 July 1946) is a British designer, whose business and reputation is founded upon his men’s fashion with a special focus on tailoring. He is known for his idiosyncratic take on traditional British styling having coined the term ‘classics with a twist’.[1] Smith was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 for his services to British fashion. After founding his company in 1970 with one shop, Paul Smith now has more than 300 shops worldwide with an annual turnover of £200m.
Some appetizers on this page, but you should see the movie.
Paul Smith: Gentleman Designer
Stephane Carrel
Buy DVD: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009KPQBBS
'You can find inspiration in anything'
Paul Smith
Awards and honours
In 1994, Smith received a CBE for his services to the British fashion industry.[5]
In February 2007, Smith was awarded an honorary fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects – an organisation that rewards outstanding contributions made to the world of art, design and architecture.[5]
In 2011, Paul was awarded the Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Design award at the British Fashion Awards for his exceptional contribution to the British fashion industry.[21]
He was named one of GQ‘s 50 best dressed British men in 2015.
On education
How far, though, can creativity be taught? Sir Paul’s genius was already there when he ended up on the shop floor of a clothing warehouse. He developed it, with the help of night classes in tailoring, and his fashion student girlfriend, now wife, Pauline Denyer.
“Creativity can be encouraged,” he says. “You can teach people skills of observation and absorbing the details of the world around them. I’m a curious person. I notice what is kitsch and what is beautiful. All of that is totally relevant to my job. You have to justify your existence. If the navy blue suit pays the rent, you have to give people a reason to buy it from you.”
