Foodprint publication

This Belgian publication (Foodprint) gives an overview of all food related topics and showcases a selection of Belgian top photographers.
For last year's edition, I invited Ellen for a night-time picnic, where as a Russian princess she indulged, with a bit of guilt, in a few precious strawberries.

This year, I have something else in mind.
Keep an eye on all channels, by the end of next week I should be able to show you something: it's gonna be finger licking good.

More about Foodprint: http://www.foodprint.be

It's all about the details

London, day 2.

The charms of the english country side in the city? On Sloane Street? Hackett, of course.
My boyfriend, Thomas, is a huge fan of this extremely british brand (men only) and what can I say, he has great taste! When we got to the Hackett shop, we raised some eyebrows... I guess it was partly due to the fact that unlike most couples, I'm not the one selecting the clothes.
That and the fact that we're both very attentive to details which made the shop attendant curious (he thought we were designers or merchants, checking Hackett out... Maybe we should be mystery shoppers?).
The only shame about it though, is that just like other brands, their 'slim fit' shirts aren't really slim... As we already knew, American brands (Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren...) don't do slim fits. So why not, Hackett? After all, you provide for the rowing team, aren't they eager to wear slim fits?

I'll spare you the details of the afternoon, we visited more shops, and more shops... Ah, London!

As we had reservation for Bentley's at 8, we thought about getting a quick aperitif before hand. I had found Dirty Martini online and it seemed like a good moment to try it out. Well, it didn't work as planned: I guess the happy hour combined with a table of 8 ordering cocktails didn't help us, but soon, it was 5 to 8 and we had to rush, without martini's! So sorry about that, Dirty Martini, we'll come back.

Bentley's was once again, a perfect experience. We love to sit at the bar, watch the waiters fight the oysters... The food was delicious: grilled squid with hummous and of course lobster linguini. We finished off with a shared dessert, lemon curd-like mixture with rasperry and shortbread: amazing!

But more disappointment followed from the Gaucho, not allowing us to have drinks on their terrace anymore (but we could stay seated if we wanted to?).
For a friday evening, London was quick to go to bed... we followed and retired to our room in the St Martin's lane, happy and exhausted

On a side note, I'm nicely surprised by how friendly all shop attendants are in London. They help you with a smile, they ask about you, where you come from, they give you a personalized card so you can contact them regarding your purchase... It never happens in Belgium. In most case, you feel like you're lucky to be allowed in the shop. Beware shop attendants, if I'm not feeling welcome, I won't give you my money. There.

The A/W 2010 jacket

London, day 1.

Since end of July, I have been drooling all over any ad, catwalk photo or edit featuring this amazing shearling aviator jacket by Burberry Prorsum.
So when we got to London, one of the first things we did was checking out all Burberry stores in the center (Regent Street, Bond Street): no luck.

Then we headed to Liberty's where I try on a nice Rick Owens jacket and a terrible Acne version of the Shearling aviator jacket, it's not looking good, it's big, it's shapeless... But I secretly hope that 'the one' will be different.

Since the jacket I'm looking for sold out on net-a-porter in a few days,  I couldn't believe my luck when I saw it hanging in the Burberry store in Selfridges!

I'm afraid to try it on, and I'm right to be: it fits like a glove and it looks awesome (the over-sized collar is wow, the materials are gorgeous and the model is cinched at the waist making the aviator jacket more feminine than ever). Last one in my size in the whole of England, oh my. All I need is the "Just get it" from my approving boyfriend's lips and I do. 

I remember Coraline (the friendly french girl at Burberry's) saying something like "You can bring it back in the 14 days if you change your mind" and the boyfriend thinking "oh, no, not gonna happen".

This jacket is mine!
Waiting for the temperature to drop under 15°C, surely, it's ok to wear shearling then.

The IT(able) bag

Having completed my previous personal project (it's a secret for now, but I will tell you more in September), I've started brainstorming about the next. I have an image in my mind but in order to make it, I need a cake artist (is that how you call them?).

Basically, a cook, a baker with a creative itch who could make me a cake shaped like... a fashionable handbag! The complete picture (with fashionable model) will be published in a book about food so exposure for the artist is sure to follow.

It doesn't necessarily need to be pink, but it does need to be real size. If you know a "cake artist", don't hesitate to contact me via www.stephaniefraikin.com

Hedgren - This bag is mine

For this assignment, the aim was to create a special serie of images for the back to school collection of Hedgren. We planned the shoot in June, thinking the weather to be mild: it was freezing!
Despite the cold, I loved the atmosphere, the enthusiasm of the models (Lynn and Ellen) and the constant bouncing on/off ideas with Gunther, AD for Hedgren and former colleague.

As the two girls started fighting for the bags, the concept of the shoot came to life: This bag is mine.

MUA Sanne de Wolf

Models Lynn Vandenbroeck, Ellen Deckx

Hedgren bags and travelgear http://www.hedgren.com
Make-up artist Sanne de Wolf http://www.sdw-stylingandmodeling.be/