Twenty-Seven Names AW 2012

Twenty-Seven Names showed this collection at NZFW last night as a gallery style installation - shot beautifully by Guy Coombes and featuring the one and only Ngahuia Williams wearing key pieces from the range and looking and acting very much the wallflower. Designers Rachel Easting and Analji Stewart have synched their art and fashion degree backgrounds and this collection more than ever shows why the duo are creating a cult following around the world for their clever use of prints, colour, cut and detailing. Inspired by 19th Century artist Edouard Manet the collection brings two words to mind; Impressive impressionism!

Black #15: Thom Kerr shoots Codie Young

Photo: Rue DeMail Paris

While New Zealand Fashion Week fills the fashion horizon here in New Zealand, shoots for Black #15 are continuing around the world. We are very happy to have Sydney-based photographer Thom Kerr shooting one of our favourite Aussie girls Codie Young for this issue. Thom has been working with Black since issue 3 when he flew into Auckland from Brisbane as a fresh-faced teenager and literally walked into the office but this is his first fully-fledged editorial for the magazine. Fashion editor Cassandra Scott-Finn has pulled a fine selection  of fashion for the shoot: Louis Vuitton, Prada, Miu Miu, Guder, Ms Couture, Burberry, La Perla, Beau Coops, Gucci, Therese Rawsthorne, DL & Co, Gail Sorronda and many more. H&M by the lovely Jovita Lee. Updates on our New York, London, Los Angeles and Paris shoots over the next few weeks.

Killed By Kisses? Why not...

There is something of a zeitgeist happening in New Zealand jewellery at the moment. Perhaps New Zelaanders have a latent sparkle that is only now starting to twinkle. Liking this range by Naveya and Sloane. Working with diamonds, fresh water pearls, amethyst, sterling silver and white gold in her August 2011 collection, designer Rachel Sloane is Lost In Love and Killed By Kisses. Her creations clearly reflect that state of mind...

Hello! New Zealand Fashion Week...

We're not really into apologising for not posting but umm...we are. In the past two weeks, we've moved home and office, redefined Black Magazine for the future and been head over Alexander Wang heels immersed in the Workshop and Helen Cherry show we are producing, casting, and enjoying so much. This Thursday at the Auckland Town Hall, as part of New Zealand Fashion Week, iconic New Zealand artist Max Gimblett will add an artistic swish to the Workshop Denim range, stylist Jamie Huckbody will add his unique flair, Scratch 22 will deliver the sounds and a big team will make it all happen. We're plain excited. So, to celebrate, here is the communication from valued Workshop and Helen Cherry partner, BMW New Zealand. At the end of the week, we'll be posting backstage images by photographer Greg Novak.

BLACKLOG EDITORIAL #17: Cora Keegan by Sam Crawford

One piece swimsuit by Eres, white leather jacket by R13, pink dunks by Nike

New Zealand photographer Sam Crawford has been based in New York for a couple of years now, honing his style and shooting solidly for No Magazine among others. Prior to moving to New York Sam shot a number of portraits for Black Magazine so we're stoked to be able to publish this pop'n'roll shoot for Sam here on Blacklog featuring rising model Cora Keegan at Next NY. Las Vegas native Cora is fairly new but she has already shot for i-D, and Elle US, GAP and Acne campaigns, has a Gemma Wardesque face and killer body to match. Styling by Molly Kennedy, make-up by Misuzu Miyake using M.A.C Cosmetics, hair by Linh Nguyen and photo assist was Benedict N Brink.

Black #15: Paul Empson shoots Theres Alexandersonn with Sam Ranger

A bunch of shoots are happening around the world for Issue #15 of Black Magazine and we're as excited about this one as any of them. Black Paris photographer Paul Empson teamed with the venerable London stylist Sam Ranger to shoot the gorgeous quirkiness of Swedish model Theres Alexandersonn at IMG. Ranger has long been considered one of London's premier stylists; fashion editor at Pop Magazine, stylist for House of Holland and a long list of editorial collaborations with some of the world's greatest fashion photographers sums her resume up in a nutshell. Theres has such an enchanting face yet she knows how to look tough pretty on demand. We like her so much that she is confirmed as our European cover girl for the issue...

Street Chant 'Stoned Again'

Loving this tune by Street Chant and the great clip by Andrew Moore and Stuart Page (above). Stoned Again references classic Flying Nun sensibilities in both sound and vision. Street Chant are off on a big national tour soon, be sure to catch them in your town.

Punches 'Give It Up'

Most days we listen to 95bFm's brilliant Morning Glory radio show, hosted by the velvet-voiced Charlotte Ryan. Magazine radio at it's best. Charlotte offers an open platform for new music so it is often where we hear new local tunes. This week we heard this from Punches - James Duncan (guitar, vocals, bass) and Kelly Sherrod (vocals, guitar).  Many a great composer has said that keeping it simple is the key to a great song and Punches pull that punch with Give it Up. Beautiful singing is matched with perfectly weighted, simple, guitar licks within a tune that is unashamedly funereal in pace. Love it...

Westpac Young Fashion Designer Award - Voting now online

For the second year running Westpac is holding its Young Designer Award in the lead-up to NZFW.  This year's entries showcase the considerable talent coming through the ranks with young designers like Jessica Grubisa, Roxanna Zamani and Glen Prentice joined by Ruri Castillo, Georgia Currie, Laura Marshall, Trish Peng & Qiuiae Wong, Lucie Sutichunta, Helen Trethewey and Miriam White. The quality of work across the board is very good indeed, passionate creations from a new generation brimming with ideas. So, don't dilly dally, get in behind your favourite designer by voting for them here on the Westpac Young Designer Facebook page. Simply click through the 'contests' tab to see the entries and you are allowed one vote per day. The designer with most votes wins the more-than-handy $5k prize plus dedicated business banking advice, one of the vital tools for any young designer. We are biased toward Jessica Grubisa (above) as she is of course Black assistant fashion editor but the competition from the likes of Zamani (below) is fierce.

ANEW #4: Matt Nash

Matt Nash, also an honours graduate of the AUT fashion school, last year investigated the "true Kiwi menswear aesthetic" and challenged our 'perception of how we perceive original menswear in NZ" with his honours range "The Hidden View: The reclaiming of New Zealand Menswear" as seen above. Matt reinvented the work, with the help of photographer Veronica Crockford-Pound, of seminal NZ photographer Glen Busch. More exactly, he carefully reconstructed ten images from Busch's 1981 book Working Men, recreating the 'wear and tear' of the garments and drawing form the inherent style and fashions on view, with detail extending to actually replicating marks on the walls behind the subject with chalk. The models wear masks made by Nash of the original men in each photo - which he recreated the clothing from. Attention to detail and a reverence for the past and its authenticity are clearly attributes of Matt Nash.

ANEW #3: Nadeesha Godammune

The ethos of the ANEW menswear collective leans strongly toward the hand-crafted so it made complete sense to incorporate the stunning fashion illustrations of Nadeesha Godamunne into the project. Having completed her masters in fashion illustration in 2010 with first class honours, Nadeesha is now lecturing at AUT in fashion illustration and forging a freelance career in the venerable art. Her work is informed by historical satirical artists like James Gillray and William Hogarth as well as contemporary illustrators like Julie Verhoeven and Del Kathryn Barton and has appeared in reputable publications such as The Australian Creative, Martin Dawber’s The Great Big Book of Fashion Illustration , Sandra Burke’s new Fashion Designer series and Prodesign. 

ANEW #2: Glenn Yungnickel and Sara Andrews

All photos by Alexis Brooks, styling by Matt Nash

Glenn Yungnickel made a colourful splash last year with a capsule AUT graduate range that was literally, all red. At the ANEW collective launch Glenn showed his latest range, created in collaboration with knitwear designer Sara Andrews. The new collection represents the first complete collection from the Yungnickel stable and this time around Glenn keeps the colour blocking trend going with four tonal colour pallettes that can be mixed easily giving customers the freedom to mix and match the colours for their outfit. The four colour ways are natural, coming from the undyed fabrics themselves, the others are navy, cobalt and mustard.

ANEW #1: Rawiri Brown

Photos: Ngahuia Harrison

A couple of weeks back we attended the ANEW Menswear launch above the Eco Store in Freeman's Bay and we were taken aback by the quality of design, construction, finishing and overall concepts on offer from the designers involved. In the first of a series of posts about the ANEW collective, here are a few images of Rawiri Brown's directional range that was shown with a great, simple concept show. Utilitarian boys walked into the packed room, and one-by-one stood upon small plinths, motionless to classical music, Schubert's Ave Maria from memory. All stood, facing north for a further 3 or 4 minutes whilst Ave Maria played out before returning backstage. Such a simple idea for a show but so very effective. Directional the collection certainly is, so what inspired Rawiri down the clerical path? 

New Face: Anna-May at 62 Models by Greg Novak

As NZFW approaches the local modelling world traditionally goes into casting overdrive as designers, stylists and agencies negotiate over models of choice. Internationals always have their part to play, we have our own successful faces and new models have the opportunity to make a name for themselves. Here, photographer Greg Novak captures Anna-May, a new face at 62 Models and just one of hundreds of hopefuls for this year's New Zealand Fashion Week. Hair and make-up by the redoubtable Natalie Dent. Anna-May wears Ann Demeulemeester at Wunderkammer and a selection of the model's own clothing.