There are so many talented designers out there, all around the world! One of them is Hani Sagiv from Israel who presented her collection in Berlin a while ago. I found it very interesting especially the use of different fabrics and wanna share some pictures with you taken by Mary Dellenbaugh. Also, here’s some more information on the collection and Hani Sagiv:

“A scary playground in a middle of nowhere - seven Ventriloquists struggle with their inner voices. Each one of them contains an imprisoned puppet who wants to break through the body, to be active, to speak on its own and eventually to shut its Ventriloquist down.

“Ventriloquists in a Playground” – conceptual fashion collection created by Israeli designer Hani Sagiv, presents an imaginary story which was translated into wearable items.

Hani graduated with B.A in fashion design from Shenkar College of Engineering & Design in Israel, the same school attended by the designer Alber Elbaz for Lanvin.

Hani presented her collection at the final show of Mittel Moda Fashion Awards ‘08 in Italy, won 3rd place of ID contest at the New Zealand Fashion Week ‘09, was awarded the “country prize” at Beijing Fashion Week ‘09, and was selected to be in the final show of the Golden Thread Awards during Poland Fashion Week ‘09.”

I’m still in Australia, roadtrippin up north at the moment and enjoying every second. So while I surfed the internet in my motel room I stumbled across this new editorial with Riley Keough. It’s from the Feb issue of Vogue Russia which is dedicated to the US, lord knows why I love Riley, I’ve been a cheerleader myself so this is a great photoshoot for me, yes it’s a bit tacky but it’s also a lot of fun, check it out…

I don’t know why but ever since I got to Sydney I love this mint green color and have been buying lots of things in that shade. As you can see on my picture, I bouht this super comfy T-Shirt in light green from a store called “Sportsgirl”. The one at Oxford Street reminded me a lot of Topshop, very stylish and young and Sportsgirl doesn’t only sell clothes, but also accessories, shoes and make up. So I also bought this mint green nail polish there which goes perfect with the ring that you can see, I bought that at a store called “Diva” which sells jewellery and accessories only. The green/blue bottle that you can see there is a face cream from Miranda Kerr’s “Kora” line that you can buy here at David Jones. Smells yummy and it’s all natural! Yeah….gotta love shopping in Sydney!

As you might know, I am in beautiful Sydney at the moment and besides feeding kangaroos and tanning at the beach, I also got the chance to interview Valerie Tolosa in her flagship store this week. Valerie is a wonderful designer who just opened her flagship store in one of the best shopping streets in Sydney and believe me, her store is as pretty as her clothes. She was very kind and took some time to answer all of my questions.

Nadine: Did you always want to become a designer?

Valerie: Well I always wanted to become a designer or a ballerina, but I had weak ankles so I thought I can’t really survive doing this so I became a designer.

N: How did you get there? Did you study design?

V: Yes, after I finished high school I got a scholarship for KvB which is a design school and after that I started my own label.

N: Can you describe a normal day in your life as a designer?

V: Everyday is kind of different, so if I am not looking after the store I am running around with sample makers or looking for fabrics. There are lots of meetings with agents and people who look after production in China, so if I’m not in the store I am running around, it’s busy.

N: Lots of traveling too I guess, do you enjoy that?

V: Yeah, lots of traveling, I do enjoy it, I enjoy meeting new people. That’s kind of the perks that come with the job.

N: So what is the best part of your job?

V: Seeing people buy the clothing and when they wear it they actually love it.

N: How would you describe the style of your clothes, is it for every woman?

V: Yeah, it is for every woman, but people who usually buy the clothing, they’re aged between 18 and 35 and they’re very into laces and lots of embroidery and it’s very pretty.

N: So is that your personal taste as well? Do you wear your own label everyday?

V: Yes, I think I wear it almost everyday other than when I’m in my PJs.

N: With your job is there anytime for days off or for holidays?

V: There isn’t much time but when I travel overseas I see it as a holiday and try to have some time in between meetings. But the last long holiday we went on was about two years ago.

N: What was your favorite moment of your career so far?

V: I think opening my flagship store, it’s been a long time dream and to see it now is amazing. Sometimes I don’t know how I got here.

N: Would you change anything that you did in the past regarding your career?

V: No not really because you learn from everything, so you learn from everything you’ve done and you learn from all the people that you meet so no, I don’t think I would change anything.

After that very interesting talk, of course I couldn’t resist and looked through Valerie’s collection which is full of beautiful dresses and blouses, very feminine and romantic. I tried on about five different dresses and ended up buying a wonderful beige long blouse with black embroidery. It was a great opportunity to meet Valerie and I wanna thank Violi for organizing this and taking the pictures.

If you’re ever around Sydney, go and visit Valerie Tolosa’s store in Paddington and check out her website here!

I’m not a big fan of Jennifer Hawkins, I’m not a big fan of models posing nude for fashion magazines, it’s too ironic. So when I had breakfast this morning and saw this cover of Marie Claire I wasn’t too impressed, but the thing that really annoys me is that this picture is aparently unretouched and supposed to make women feel better about their flaws. Excuse me??? Why should I feel better about myself if I see Jennifer Hawkins, nude and unretouched and she STILL looks a trillion times better than me??? I think someone missed the point in this whole cover shoot and I also think it’s unfair to say that it’s unretouched, because even if no one played around with it on Photoshop, there is still the extremely flattering light, body powder and make up to make this woman look amazing. Here’s my suggestion for you Marie Claire, why don’t you stop being a hypocrite and take a model that’s more than 50 kg for your next “unretouched” photoshoot.

Ok, rant over. Besides that, I’m doing great here in Sydney.