Illustrating Chanel

For the past five months I have been working away in my library writing and illustrating two books. One of them is a book that looks at the real story behind the novel Picnic at Hanging Rock (and believe me, there is a real story, and a scandalous one too!). The other is an illustrated guide to Chanel, entitled How To Live A Beautiful Life. While the first book was both an eye-opener and a sentimental literary trip down Picnic lane, it was the second one that really captured my heart. 

Chanel has become Big Business in publishing circles. Everyone wants to write books about her, film movies about her, or simply idolise the iconic black and white logo and the gorgeous collections produced from the prestigious French fashion house each year. As such,  there are already  a couple of beautiful Chanel books out there, including Justine Picardie's impressive biography. However, I wanted to do a book that was like Chanel's own diary or fashion notebook. The idea came from a Chanel press release I received many years ago; a press release that was so extravagant it took my breath away. Chanel produces these extraordinary designs on August 19 every year in celebrating of Miss Coco's birthday. Each year the Chanel team comes up with ever-more fanciful ideas for press releases and each year beauty editors ooh and aaah over the stunning results. Quite frankly, I don't know how these release can become any more gorgeous. Unless they sent a couture Chanel gown out with them. 

Anyhow, the 2005 press release (which was so beautiful it was featured in Vogue, above) inspired me to do this book. And so for the past few months I've been trying to think of ways to illustrate it. Without using the name, the interlocking Cs, or any photographic images of the collections, all of which would be illegal. Somehow, I found a way to illustrated it, mostly via the marvellous medium of college. The art materials and manuscript have now gone off to an editor I know, for her to mull over them and offer her professional thoughts. In the meantime, here are some of the discarded "off cuts" from the creative process!

Trend {Spot}ting...

The beautifully quirky Kate Spade image of the black balloon in a recent post has started me thinking about polka dots and their classic charm. I've always loved polka dots – almost as much as I love stripes. There's something so cheery about their cheeky playfulness. And if you think polka dots are just for  girls, well, Miss Sarah Jessica Parker shows that they can be downright sexy too. Spots have been huge in fashion and interiors this season, and although the trend may be waning, I think there's still room for some polka dot glamour this coming Australian summer.

Polka de résistance: SJP in a black-and-white polka dot ballgown. How beautiful does she look with her slicked-back hair and her tuxedoed husband standing handsomely beside her? {Image via Ivy and Piper and Gild and Grace}

Going dotty: A page dedicated to polkas from Vogue Australia.

Spot-on style: Sumptuous spots in a sumptuous salon. {Image by Tim Walker for Vogue Italia via This is Glamorous blog}

Coming out in spots: A birthday party setting for Cassandra Lavalle of Coco & Kelly Blogspot.

Doing the polka: British model Jacquetta Wheeler in a sweet Jigsaw frock from the 2011 collection.

Oh my: Michael Kors' memorably sophisticated version of spots.

Join the dots: Tommy Smythe's chic living room, featuring Kelly Wearstler's confetti-printed KWID fabric. {Image via Style Redux blog}

Hitting the spot: A page from Harper's highlighting the playful polka.

Seeing spots: Kate Spade's iconic iPhone cover.

Dot to dot: Kate Spade dinnerwear.

Spots are the new stripes: Playfully spotty sun loungers – the perfect place to spend all day in the sun. {Image via cococozy.com}

{More} Iconic Ad Campaigns

As a little addendum to the last post, here are few more beautiful ad campaigns from the archive files. I collect these because they're often great inspiration for photographing books, or for writing briefs and shot lists for other photographers when you're commissioning them to shoot books. The Bruno Cucinelli (below) is one of my all-time favourite ad campaigns. I often refer to this when I'm looking for ways to shoot people, particularly families. It's so original, so fresh and fun and full of laughter and life. You could almost believe it was an authentic Italian family getting together for a reunion at their Tuscan villa.

Bruno Cucinelli ad campaign for the cashmere collection (top).

A Ralph Lauren campaign from 2001, featuring Penelope Cruz. This was an inside front cover for Town and Country magazine. Such a beautiful collage of glamorous images. It doesn't even looked staged, thanks to the delightfully haphazard way the images have been placed in the design. It looks more like Penelope's summer photo album.

A GANT by Michael Bastion ad campaign from S/S 2011 (above). GANT never fail to do fabulous ads. I always try and grab a copy of the GANT magazine whenever I'm near one of the stores. They're full of inspiring photography and great articles. It's marketing dressed up as a magazine!

A Chanel ad campaign from S/S 2011. Love the flirty pink dress, the setting and the delicacy of the table set for high tea. This ad was a change for Chanel. Normally Karl likes his ads darker, moodier, more Gothic in tone. {Image via ministryoffashion.co.uk}

A Chanel ad campaign from 1958. © Lillian Bassman: Anne-Saint Marie, NY. {Image via theculturalist.com}

One of the ads for Louis Vuitton’s spectacular celebrity-focused ad campaign. This one features filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter Sofia sitting in the sun-kissed countryside of Buenos Aires. The image was shot by Annie Leibovitz. The Louis Vuitton bag is almost overshadowed by this father-and-daughter duo. (NB I'm not sure why Annie Leibovitz and Louis Vuitton took them to Argentina? To me, the Coppolas are always associated with the Napa Valley and Paris, where they have a second home. I think LV should have shot them in Paris or Napa. But that's just my humble little opinion.)

Iconic Ad Campaigns

There are some ad campaigns that you remember long after the collections have come and gone. These are the ads that mix fashion with whimsy and humour, and style with sassiness and cute street scenes. They're ads that Grace Coddington could have directed, with Rodney Smith standing behind the camera. They're ads that show a life we often wished we led. In fact, they're ads that we often wish lived in! Here are some ad campaigns that stand out from the rest.

J. Crew. August 2007. Such a cute ad.

Kate Spade. Fall/Winter 2009/2010. The balloon with the polka dots was an inspired idea.

And a few more from Kate Spade's incredibly creative and memorable ad campaigns over the years... (The company was certainly a leader in marketing until the Spades sold it and a little of the magic and talent was sadly lost.)

Lilly Pulitzer (below). The queen of bright colour, bold patterns and cheeky wit.

Ralph Lauren always shoots great ad campaigns. The one with Penelope Cruz (above) was spectacularly glamorous.

Here are two more.

Images from Ralph Lauren ad campaigns throughout 2008. I'm not sure which one I prefer? The image with the gorgeous gilt frames or the image with the gorgeous gentlemen...

These shots are not exactly an ad campaign – they're images from German Amica – but Karl loves the pix of Diana Kruger wearing Chanel so much he's posted them in his diary on the Chanel website. Clever marketing.

Cabana Drama

Cabana curtains are nothing new. They've been seen at swish hotels and chic pool houses for the past decade or more. But now I'm starting to see them on verandas, porches and entrances, too.

The sight of these glamorous swathes of fabric draped around a verandah or creating a stylish frame to an otherwise bland entrance has inspired us to sew our own theatrical drapes for this place. We hope that the effect will be as dramatic as these ones.

A country house outside Sydney. {Image via Vogue Living} I love the way the box hedges have been trimmed into geometric shapes to reflect the sharp lines of the house, and the way the curtains are cream so they blend into the architecture and don't detract from the lush, rich greens of the garden.

Another image from the same house. {Via Vogue Living} Notice how they've grown jasmine up the columns to create a kind of 'horticultural hem' to the ballgown-style drapes? The jasmine is also white and green, so it acts as a lovely segue between the white of the space and the green of the garden.

A Portland, Oregon, home belonging to designer Henry Brown and his partner Steve Bedford. {Image via Traditional Home} Look at how the pond matches the greens of the box hedges and jasmine... A truly gorgeous terrace design.

The Massachusetts home of Robert and Cortney Novogratz. This image has been featured in several places but I still love the freshness and originality of it. Those yellow and white drapes (which perfectly match the shutters) turn this entrance into a spectacularly dramatic space. I would have perhaps replaced the front door with a glossy black one, but I hate to nitpick so I won't. It's lovely.

A sweet cottage in North Carolina. {Via countryliving.com} 

This is a very old image from my archives so forgive me but I've mislaid the credit. (Please email me if it's yours and I'll duly credit you.) I believe it was a house somewhere in the Hollywood hills. In any case, this poolside scene reminds me of something out of The Great Gatsby... Only with a Spanish design focus rather than a Long Island one.

Musk Farm Garden

As part of the ongoing series of posts about beautiful gardens, I thought I'd show you one of my favourite Australian gardens, Musk Farm, an enchantingly sweet country garden near the village of Daylesford, in western Victoria.

I first came across this garden when I interviewed the owner, the renowned Australian interior designer Stuart Rattle, for the Sydney Morning Herald and Age newspaper's Sunday magazine. It was for story on city professionals who had moved to the countryside. He told me that when he first set eyes on the old dilapidated school house that would later become his home (above), it gave him something of an architectural shock. "I was expecting Howard's End," he confessed with a laugh, "but this looked like the World's End". But then he returned at twilight and in that shimmering golden light, the old house made his heart skip a beat. "I no longer saw the reality," he said, "but the fantasy."

Having fallen head-over-welingtons with the idea of country weekends with roaring fires and lots of whisky, he set to work on restoring the building and overhauling the grounds. It took a herculean effort, but according to Stuart it was worth every breath. Others thought so, too. In fact, when he was finished, the place looked so stunning that many design writers were astonished. The BBC included the property in a documentary about outstanding international gardens. Other publications, such as Vogue Living and Country Style, rushed to feature it in their magazines. And when Stuart opened the property to the public on a special spring Open Day, the place was inundated with visitors.

The house, which was inspired by New England architecture, has now been transformed from a run-down school house to a dignified gentleman's retreat, while the surrounding 35.6-hectare estate has been rejuvenated and turned into a productive farm. It even features a herd of rare British whites, a breed beloved of Winston Churchill. Not that Rattle's transition from city to country has been completely smooth. "I'm still waiting for tractors to come out in automatic," he told me, with a wry smile.

Here's a look at his magnificent house and garden at Musk Farm.

{Last two images via Vogue Living and Country Style. I'm not certain of the photographer so if these images are yours please let me know and I'll credit them. The remaining images are my own.}

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is an amazing site, isn't it? How many of you savvy bloggers use this site to analyse your readers and traffic? I've only just started blogging (despite having this website name for four years), and am rapidly trying to catch up with the systems of social networking. Google Analytics is part of the blogging learning curve.

Google Analytics shows where your readers are from. And how long they linger on your site. For example, I've discovered that most of my readers are Australian, and the majority are from Melbourne. This makes sense as I'm a Melbourne writer – and I also happen to adore this city. I've also discovered that the COLOURED posts are SO much more popular than the monochrome ones. (Are we Melbourne people the only ones in the world who like black and white?) But what was most surprising was that readers in other parts of the world came from the most unlikely places. Such as Alaska. And the UAE.

Google Analytics also shows you which sites your traffic is being referred from. And what keywords they're using to find your blog. (For example, my readers seem to like gardens, travel, hotels and Paris.) These kinds of analytics help you to figure out what your readers really like, and where you should perhaps be concentrating your writing energy.

If you're not using Google Analytics, try it. Just don't look at the "bounce rate". If it's not under 40% it can be a little depressing!

PS If you're a newbie blogger and disillusioned by your stats, don't be. It takes years to build up a readership. And everyone thinks they don't have enough readers. I once met a lovely girl in Savannah called Layla, who writes a blog called The Lettered Cottage. She has – wait for it – 40,000 readers a day. And yet she still feels it's not enough. Don't let your blog stats define who you are.

Country Life Cover

Last week, a lovely magazine called Yarra Valley and Ranges Country Life magazine published its Summer issue. This is a beautiful magazine that's distributed throughout Melbourne, the Yarra Valley wine region, the Dandenong Ranges and beyond into Gippsland. We often read it because it features achingly beautiful scenes of the countryside, and envy-inducing images of stylish interiors – which are usually far more stylish than ours. So it was rather a shock when the summer issue appeared on the newsstands and our house was on the cover! We thought we might be featured – the Country Life crew had asked to come around and do a little story – but we thought it might be shoved up the back of the magazine, between the Classifieds ads and the Subscription page. Not on the summer cover.

We were so touched, and so impressed by the quality of the shots. The CL crew did a wonderful job of shooting what is, in effect, a half-renovated house. Every week we're overwhelmed by the To Do list for this place, and every week I beg to sell and move back to an apartment in town! But houses take time to settle into, and this Country Life article shows how far we have come. It also brought a little bit of cheer into our life this week. Thank you Country Life. We were very touched.

{PS Will post some "before" and "after" shots of the interior tomorrow. I apologise that the quality of these scans aren't great. It's very late at night here!}