Musical Moment: Lily Allen ('It's Hard Out There')

Just when we thought it was safe to relax, sit back, tear in eye, and enjoy a more sereneLily Allen singing Keane’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know’  in the John Lewis Christmas advert(as an aside… are that bear and the hare actually an item?!) the singer goes and releases the track, Hard Out Here,’ knocking us for six.  No, Lily has not become the all sugary sweet, apron wearing, strawberry jam-making, mother of two John Lewis would have us believe!  Still a feminist to her core, this week Lily released a casual evisceration of the pop music industry sexism we have, particularly of late (thanks Miley and Robin) had violently twerked in our faces.  Lily’s song is a sarcastic take on body image and the outlandish expectations projected upon women, the ridiculous phenomenon of twerking and the horrendous double standards women still seem to endure.  I love the subversive swipe atRobin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ balloons and the liberal use of the word ‘bitch’ repetitively sung alongside the catchy tune - another statement against its unimpressive overuse in popular culture.  Yes.  Just Yes.  Welcome back Lily.

" I won’t be braggin’ ’bout my cars, or talkin’ ’bout my chains
Don’t need to shake my ass for you ‘cuz I got a brain..."

The Chanel 'Little Black Jacket' Exhibition Comes to London

Chanel’s latest photographic exhibition, ‘The Little Black Jacket,’ inspired by a coffee table book created by Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld, will soon be hitting our very own shores after huge successes in Tokyo, New York, Taipei and Hong Kong.

The iconic ‘Little Black Jacket’ was first designed in the 1950s by Coco Chanel and has undergone several transformations and reinventions since.  Karl Lagerfeld believes firmly that style is not a result of the garment you wear, but how you wear the garment, and this exhibition shows the versatility and timelessness of this iconic jacket.  With 113 ‘friends of the House,’ including models, stylists, actors, designers and musicians, all photographed adapting the classic jacket in unique and modern ways their very own individuality and inimitable styles are highlighted.  

Photographs include Lily Allen wearing the covetable tweed jacket as a cape, Claudia Schiffer wearing hers with a white apron, Alexa Chung teaming hers with cut off Daisy Duke shorts and SJP creatively wearing her jacket as a crown!
Eek!  I'm SO excited!

Running simultaneously with the exhibition, window displays in Chanel's boutiques across London will present a selection of jackets from the latest collections.

The highly anticipated book, ‘The Little Black Jacket: Chanel's Classic Revisited by Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld,’ will also be available worldwide in bookstores this autumn.

October 12 - October 28, 2012 
The Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's HQ, King's Road, London, SW3 4RY.


Admission will be free.

 
www.thelittleblackjacket.chanel.com