Best of London - Awsa Bergstrom

Awsa. Pronounced with the same vowel as ‘Awesome.’ This is no coincidence. They are one and the same.

In the past the Scandinavian singer/songwriter Awsa Bergstrom has sung backing vocals for Stevie Wonder, Madonna, P Diddy, Elton, and more recently the amazing Emeli Sandé, but soon after Nick Cave asked her to ‘tone it down in the background,’ Awsa realized it was time to step up and take centre stage herself. 

Currently living in West London, and now with a band of merry musicians in tow, Awsa’s soulful electro pop rock has all those who have watched her perform (including me, several times) simply floored. This girl can SING.

I forsee BIG things ahead for Awesome Awsa. 

Awsa's hobby is Parkour (just too cool... seriously...) and with this city providing her with a playground for her Free Running who better to ask about their London favourites?

Cocktail - A good Margarita with Stephen Fry at Paramount Restaurant, which I think has one of the best views of London.

Date Night – With Superman Henry Cavill and a bottle/cup of whatever, walking along the Thames at night where anyone can dream big, followed by dinner at the OXO Tower. 

Sunday Brunch - Hopefully still with Henry Cavill... at mine!  I make the best Sunday Brunch. Alternatively, Smith of Smithfields, which reminds me of a New York loft.

Boutique - Scared of them. The entire concept means you have to have time and taste.

High Street Store - Topshop - It has everything a lazy girl could need.

London’s Best Kept Secret - Heygate Estate, Elephant and Castle. Perfect pearl for Parkour.

Your London Icon - Vivienne Westwood, for being THE definition of 'doing her own thing,' for having a boyfriend 25 years younger than her and looking at Graham Norton like he spoke Alien when he asked her if she "found inspiration in magazines..."

Above: 'If I Could Let Go,' 2010

Left:  You can hear Awsa Bergstrom singing live at her next London gig THIS Friday, 30th March at The Notting Hill Arts Club.

Doors open at 8pm and Awsa will perform at 9.15pm. 

Tickets £8.00 on the door.

www.awsamusic.com
@awsamusic

Columbia Road Flower Market

Every Sunday since the 1980’s, Columbia Road, in London’s East End, transforms itself into a beautiful and bustling flower market...

Jessica and I went along to experience the heavenly scents and intense colours of this magical oasis on the sunniest of Spring days last weekend.  We were instantly surrounded by an oasis of flora and fauna; plants, flowers, seedlings, herbs and fruit trees from all over the world emitting powerful perfumes (jasmine, orange, lily, pine, rose, etc) alongside endless, energetic chatter and chants from the sellers.

The street, and its surrounding maze of small alleys, are lined with cake shops, cafes, pubs, vintage clothes shops, small art galleries and an eclectic menagerie of buskers who enthrall the punters mingling amongst the flower stalls. 

One band I watched (left) had an adorable dog tied up to their guitar case… It nonchalantly basked in the sunshine, soaking up the relaxing atmosphere, whilst its owners loudly and zealously entertained us all with some actual Sunday blues.

This market is other worldly... A thoroughly recommended Sunday stroll, coffee in hand.


Columbia Road Flower Market

Every Sunday, 8am - 2pm

Musical Moment: Lissie ('Everywhere I Go')

30 year old Lissie (Elisabeth Maurus) is a Mississippi raised folk rock artist living in LA. Described as having ‘Laurel Canyon prettiness stewed in campfire and bourbon’ this blonde and freckled singer has a remarkable voice and her debut album, ‘Catching A Tiger,’ is both powerful and honest, “I'm direct, I'm not hiding anything… I don't really know what or why or who I am... but I don't know how to not be how I am."

‘Everywhere I Go’ showcases Lissie beautifully and I find the video incredibly powerful… this is obviously helped somewhat by the enormous elephant faithfully following her.

Whenever I feel a little helpless I find this song to be really comforting… That despite any overwhelming circumstances, I’m never truly alone.  I soon feel my spirits lift and smiles always follow. It also reeeally makes me want an elephant. Enjoy this – it’s a special one.

'Angels will follow me now everywhere I go...
Angels will call on me and take me to my home'

www.lissie.com

Nick Brandt Photography

Above:  Lions Head to Head, Masai Mara, 2008

It was this beautiful and extraordinarily intimate photograph of a pair of loving lions which first introduced me to the work of wildlife photographer Nick Brandt last year.

In 1995 British photographer Nick Brandt (then, a music video director) directed Michael Jackson’s 'Earth Song' in Tanzania and he immediately, rather understandably, fell in love with East Africa and its majestic animals.  In 2000, Brandt embarked upon an ambitious photographic project; a trilogy of books immortalizing these animals and the vanishing natural grandeur of East Africa – up close, and very personally.

With a combination of dramatic panoramas of animals featured within epic landscapes alongside more soulful, graphic portraits, Nick Brandt manages to find an intimate connection with his wild subjects that reveal personalities and relationships far more so than any other wildlife photography I have ever seen.  The titles of the trilogy of books will eventually be revealed to form one consecutive sentence: 'On This Earth, A Shadow Falls.....' (the final installment is due for publication in 2013.)

“What I am interested in is showing the animals simply in the state of Being. In the state of Being before they are no longer are. Before, in the wild at least, they cease to exist. This world is under terrible threat, all of it caused by us. To me, every creature, human or nonhuman, has an equal right to live, and this feeling, this belief that every animal and I are equal, affects me every time I frame an animal in my camera. The photos are my elegy to these beautiful creatures, to this wrenchingly beautiful world that is steadily, tragically vanishing before our eyes.”  

Above Right: Elephant With Exploading Dust, Amboseli, 2004

In 2010, in urgent response to the escalation of poaching in Africa due to increased demand from the Far East (raw ivory fetches up to $800 per kg and rhino horn is worth more per ounce than gold dust) Nick Brandt founded the non-profit organization called Big Life Foundation.  With donations, the organisation has placed multiple fully equipped teams of 120 anti-poaching rangers in both Kenya and Tanzania, who collaborate with communities to reduce poaching and conflicts between farmers and wildlife.

Above: Windswept Lion, Serengeti, 2002

Above: Elephants Walking Through Grass, Amboseli 2008
(Leading Matriarch Killed By Poachers, 2009)

Above: Hippos On The Mara River, Masai Mara, 2002

Above: Rhino on Lake, Nakuru, 2007

Above: Giraffes In Evening Light, Masai Mara, 2006

Above: Leopard In Crook Of Tree, Nakuru, 2007

Below: Nick Brandt's next exhibition, in New York from March 29th:

Above: Elephant Drinking, Amboseli, 2007

(Killed by Poachers, 2009)

www.nickbrandt.com

www.biglifeafrica.org

Matthew Williamson Spring Sample Sale

The Matthew Williamson Spring Sample Sale, with up to 80% off womanswear & accessories:

Wednesday 21st, 8am – 7pm
Thursday 22nd March, 8am – 7pm

The Music Room,
26 South Molton Lane,
Mayfair, W1K 5AB

Credit Buy - Project D's Aphrodite Sequin Dress

Friends Dannii Minogue and Tabitha Somerset-Webb’s label ‘Project D,’ launched in 2010, continues to go from strength to strength.  The two ladies have created a beautiful capsule collection of feminine, empowering dresses, balancing Dannii’s sophisticated, red-carpet glamour with Tabitha’s more rock’n’roll edge.  Dannii shared,"we will do the hard work and get the details on the dresses right, so all you have to do is enjoy them."

Below: The Aphrodite Sequin Dress is utterly show stopping…

RRP. £610 available at Austique.

Beyonce and Ivy's Cat and Mouse Footsteps

Last week Beyonce was photographed in NYC wearing a pair of much sought after Charlotte Olympia leopard print kitty flats (that I wrote about here) whilst 2 month old Blue Ivy, followed in her Mummy's fashionable footsteps, wearing teeny tiny Marc Jacobs gold mouse pumps. The diddy mice have attached socks and embroidered tails. Adorable!

La Belle de Jour - Caroline Sieber in Paris

Vienna raised/London based super stylist Caroline Sieber, stepped out to watch the Chloé fall 2012 runway show ten days ago during Paris Fashion Week in this more than gorgeous ensemble.  

Wearing the enviable collection of a navy Pringle of Scotland sweater over her sugar pink Chloé dress, a Maison Michel hat, a Christopher Kane clutch and a pair of (I would sell my own Granny to own) Louis Vuitton bowed heels, Caroline looked the epitome of simple Spring elegance.

As one of only five brand ambassadors for Chanel, Caroline Sieber frequently tops all the most prostegious ‘Best Dressed’ lists, alongside her famous clients.  Caroline lists Balenciaga, Balmain, Yves Saint Laurent, Charles Anastase, Burberry Prorsum, and of course Chanel, as her favorite designers and brands. New Style Crush.

Below:  Caroline Sieber in some of my other favourite looks...