Who better than Kate Bosworth – the style Queen of the chic Palm Spring’s festival Coachella – to star in our summer campaign film dedicated to the season of festivals? Kate brought her nonchalant and effortless style to our summer short filmed in California’s beautiful Mono Lake by director (and fiancée) Michael Polish.
Working her fashion magic, Kate worked with our in house design team on our Festival Edit which she wears so well in the film and are now set to be firm festival favourites with girls around the world for the summer ahead. (Don’t forget to check the full shoppable version of the film over on Topshop.com!)
We chatted with Kate to find out music influences, and her essential festival kit.
How was it working with your fiancée Michael?
I adore working with Michael. I am such a fan of his work, of his artistic process. His mind fascinates me and I learn from him daily. We live an incredibly harmonious artistic life. For this particular project, I worked with the Topshop design team on the festival pieces from concept to final product. Michael then creates the vision for the campaign based off the look and feel of the pieces.
What was it like filming in Mono Lake?
I had never experienced Mono Lake before. Shooting in Mono Lake was like traveling through time. The entire place is desolate, serene, with large crystallized salt stalagmites jutting from the earth. We traveled in a little crew on a large bus over a three day shoot. It was a true American road trip, crossing huge expanses of land every day.
How did the collection with Topshop come about?
I have worn Topshop for years. The brand has their finger on the pulse of creating relevant fashion at an affordable price point. When the Topshop team and I worked together on the “Winter Wonderland” holiday project, it was an effortless fit all around. In the midst of that creative process, we all started to think about the next phase… How could we expand upon our collaborative relationship.
What inspired the collection?
The exterior expression is such an intuitive, emotional one. For the “Festival” collection, I channeled sunlight… freedom… joy… youth… rebellion. I’m attracted to a counterbalanced feminine / masculinity. To me, this is the most sexy. A faded cropped t-shirt with loose distressed boyfriend jeans, slung low and a plaid shirt tied round the waist. The choice of a suede material on the laser cut pieces was critical because it gave them a tougher edge, like the chaps on a girl in the Wild West.
Did you have any music references for the collection?
Neko Case is a huge influence in my life. Her song, “Favorite” plays to our film for this collection. I love country music, the best and most heartfelt stories are born within these melodies.
What does festival mean to you?
Music, freedom, sunlight, energy.
Can you talk us through some of your favourite pieces?
The dove grey suede laser cut separates I wore to Coachella. This design also comes in a burnt orange & in a mini dress version. To me, these pieces represent a modern take on western design. The laser cut out is inspired by a piece of Victorian lace I found with the design team in Portobello market. This feminine touch matched with the rawness of suede is a nice, balanced representation of my aesthetic.
The cream shearling vest (also worn to Coachella). I wanted to push the idea of Bohemia with this piece. It feels quite special, as if found in a market someplace far away.
Perfect denim shorts! It’s no secret I love denim… They are a staple in my wardrobe. I wanted to create the perfect denim short. Something a bit tomboyish, but quite sexy. Again, playing with the idea of feminine masculinity.
Boyfriend plaid shirt – oversized, soft, a mix of earthy colors with a hint of turquoise on the back panel. A nod to 90′s grunge. In fact, this shirt is very similar to one I wore back then.
What is Topshop for you?
The brand has their finger on the pulse of creating exciting, relevant fashion at an affordable price point.
What makes a festival for you?
This year, the highlight at Coachella was mad dancing with Michael to New Order.
What is in your essential festival kit?
Band aids, Chapstick, sunscreen, sunglasses..
What are your key wardrobe pieces at a festival?
Important to layer as most festivals are battling the elements!
What bands would play at your dream festival?
Dwight Yoakam, Neko case, The Cure, New Order, Other Lives
Kate at Coachella in April wearing pieces from our Festival Edit.
A colour-burst of dancing talons and nail shaped flowers take over our screens in the short animation above from wonder-team Sadie and Joe. Showing off our latest line of rainbow-hued nail varnishes the animation gives a quick and quirky glimpse into the nail colours we’re loving for SS13.
There’s a lot of love at Topshop HQ for animators Sadie and Joe. The duo started making their pop, playful and brimming with colour, animations whilst at university and before they knew it jewellery and accessories designer Katie Hillier was knocking at their door. Hillier’s penchant for adorable bunnies, charms and heart-shaped jewels worked in perfect harmony with Sadie and Joe’s equally saccharine aesthetic. Once their debut feature started doing the industry rounds, the rest of the fashion world took note and commissions from Ungaro, Vogue and Loewe came flooding in before the ultimate deciders of cool, Love magazine and Colette snapped them up too. This pair was an easy choice for us to show off our mouth-watering new nail varnish hues and the little short premiered on Grazia and Luckymag to rave reviews.
We spoke to the duo about sibling rivalry, the creative process and the importance of Blu-Tac.
How did your partnership come about?
We both went to the same uni- Joe studying Moving image and Sadie studying Fashion Design. Sadie had a project and wanted to bring it to life more than by just taking photos. Together we realized that animation would be a great medium for us to work with. Here’s a link to out first animation, http://vimeo.com/22437632 – it’s quite rustic.
A lot of people would find working with their sibling difficult: how is it for you two and how do you make it work?
We generally get along pretty well and it’s never been issue to work together – there can be the occasional midnight madness after animating all night but we seem to be able to put up with each other.
Where did you both train?
Sadie studied Fashion BA at Brighton and now is in the final year of her MA at Central St. Martins. Joe also studied at Brighton doing Moving Image. Since graduating he’s worked at Sola Lights, where he has been trained in lighting for photography and video
What was the concept behind the film for Topshop Make-up?
It was to beat the January blues… With a bit of sparkle and colour!
What’s the process behind these films?
After getting a brief we both knock heads and brainstorm ideas together. Sadie creates the sets and props and Joe sets up the lighting and camera… We both animate together, this can take ages because most of the animation is stop-frame. Joe will take the hundreds or thousands of photos of tiny movements and turn them in to a film. Finally we work with our friend Joseph Bond on the music – he’s really good at sussing out what we’re after. Done!
How long does a normal 3 minute film take?
Erm, a while! Our longest is about one and a half minutes and it took 5 days of solid animating. We can crack a short one out in a day once it’s all been prepped.
What materials did you use to make the set? And what are your go to materials for most of your films?
BLU-TAC – They should sponsor us! For Topshop Nails we used loads of different nail polish on tons of fake nails, lots of glittery paper, coloured acetate and collage. We’ve used all sorts; cocktails umbrellas, overhead projectors, sequins, papier mache, pom-poms, coloured lights, stationary and lots of Blu-Tac!
A lot of your films feature bunnies and other cuddly critters – do either of you have pets?
We have a dog, he’s a whippet-lurcher, he’s 15 now and a bit of an old man. The bunnies are a major feature because alot of our animations have been for the accessories designer Katie Hiller – she’s bunny mad and we love her.
What would be your dream commission?
We’re living the dream – we’re so happy to be working with Topshop.
Take a look at our latest nail colours and be sure to let us know what shades you’re coveting! We’re expecting some seriously amazing nail art form all of you this SS13.
Never one to shy away from the hype, our celebrations for Vogue Fashion’s Night Out has been growing since the global shopping event kicked off in 2008 and this year was no exception! Non-stop makeovers, free shoes for a year and a live set from London singing sensation Delilah, we knew this would be a night to remember.
In true Topshop style, our Oxford Circus London flagship store saw the gorgeous and incredibly talented Delilah take to the shop windows for an exclusive acoustic performance. Dressed in an amazing Topshop lime peplum skirt and stacks of encrusted rings, the rising star practically stopped traffic as swarms of shoppers headed to catch her.
So overwhelmed with the amazing reception Delilah returned to the stage for an unexpected second gig and continued to wow the hoards of fashion and music lovers with unheard tracks and an amazing pair of rust coloured Unique shorts. We knew she was really enjoying herself when she tweeted, “REALLY DO LoVE YOU GUYS! SLoW AnD StEAdY WIns THe RaCE. TODAY WAS EPiC!! @Topshop xxxxxx”
But it wasn’t just Delilah who forked out the non-stop tunes, Karin Park, the Swedish musician kicked off the evening working the decks with the likes of Effigy rocking her staple all-over-black ensemble.
To accompany the beats there were endless free makeovers and fancy nail art on tap and, lest we forget, a fashion raffle with prizes that dreams are made of including £200 voucher to spend at Topshop Unique and a pair of shoes a month for a whole year! Talk about fashion heaven…
Watch Delilah singing ‘Shades Of Gray’ below and download her debut album here.
It's been a crazy, yet totally inspiring few days down at the Topshop showspace for London Fashion Week AW12! From the bedlum backstage to the trend spotting out front, and from catching up with the designers straight after their shows, to chatting with the style set sat front row, we've been hard at work from dawn until dusk every day.
As we love being a part of London Fashion Week and we're so happy about celebrating our 10th year of sponsoring NEWGEN, we wanted to share the whole experience with you on film! Watch what we got up to each day with our brilliantly atmospheric mini-films, which document everything that went on over the three days we spent at the Topshop showspace. It was a whole lot of fashionable fun…
Day 1 at the Topshop Showspace: Topshop Unique, Louise Gray and Nasir Mazhar AW12
Go backstage with the Topshop Unique team & find out what inspired our AW12 show
Day 2 at the Topshop Showspace: Peter Pilotto, Michael van der Ham and Fashion East AW12
Day 3 at the Topshop Showspace: Mary Katrantzou and Meadham Kirchoff AW12
Join us for Model Moments where we catch up with fashion's prettiest faces
As you've seen, AW12 was an amazing season! To get all the front row and backstage action from the shows, take a look at our blog coverage here.
Get excited for spring with our SS12 lookbook, which you can now shop from! Watch our brand new lookbook film below for inspiration and fall in love with the season's newest trends. From futuristic finishes to perfect pastels, it’s time to start shopping for the season ahead.
@frannyknickers Hi Francesca, sorry to hear this - please DM us the details and your e-mail address and we'll look into this further. about 2 hours ago
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