• blouse vintage COMME DES GARCONS
    skirt FENDI
    boots ALAIA

    photography by JESSE LAITINEN

    amake up YIN LEE using MAC COSMETICS

    hair LYNDELL MANSFIELD

    Interview with Wendy Bevan

    Written by Mari Florer by Fashion Tales

    “Each song tells a story and opens a door into another world”

    Wendy Bevan arrived home to her hometown Los Angeles in the nick of time, right before Trump closed the airport gates to protect the Americans against COVID-19, the virus that is on top of every human's mind nowadays.
     
    Bevan has been working in London, finishing her upcoming album – a collaboration with the producer Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran). She is proud of the result and excited to release the album later this year.

    I video call Bevan, when she is back home in her classic 1930´s Hollywood Apartment. She is in a good mood after have talked to her parents in London. We start talking about the weather in California. “It´s morning and the weather is nice — a perfect day for hiking!” She smiles.

    M: Are you staying home?
    W: Yes, I will do, but I don´t have to yet. I think it´s quite easy here for me. Because in London I’d have been in a small place with lots of people. Here I have my own place, which is big enough and even includes my studio.

    M: Please, describe your home. How does the interior look like? 
    W: It’s a classic 1930’s Hollywood apartment, pink from the outside; and reminds me of a little space ship in its shape. I have a papaya tree, roses and birds of paradise in my courtyard and the apartment itself has a huge amount of natural light, which I absolutely love. Its beautiful throughout the day and the light constantly shape shifts through the windows from morning to evening. The interior is very simple, chic  1970’s meets a mid-century modern vibe. I’ve tried to design it so the shadows cast from the light are not disturbed.

    M: Tell me about your collaboration with Nick Rhodes – how did you two meet each other? 
    W: Nick and I met through mutual friends and we have been collaborating on my second album for the past 18 months. 

    M: Why is he producing your album? 
    W: We both think in a very visual way, what constitutes a huge asset for our album collaboration, including building mood boards, finding picture references that create a visual world, echoed in the music. He completely understood the sound I wanted, what usually appears to be difficult to find in a collaborator. I love the world Nick has conceived with his projects in the past, including Duran Duran. Furthermore, he still very much continues creating an amazing, rich world that stands the test of time. It possesses a permanence that makes the songs sound like they were from another world.

    M: What is your favourite Duran Duran song? 
    W: That's a tough question!! To name a few, I love; Hungry Like a Wolf, A View To A Kill and Union of the Snake. 

    M: Tell me about your new songs – what is your inspiration behind them and how does this “record” stand out from your earlier releases? 
    W: This album is one of my favourite projects so far. For me, as an artist, it’s a big step up from my past releases. It feels like we’ve captured something extremely special; Nick and I have sonically created a very, otherworldly, unique sound that is hard to put into words. We have cast a wide inspiration net for this project. Hopefully, it conjures up different feelings for every listener to relate to and question. 

    M: Do you write all the lyrics yourself? 
    W: Yes, I write the lyrics for the songs. Lyrically, it’s my world and Nick is a great source of inspiration when it comes to support and nurture my ideas. It makes my lyrics become something strong. I’m proud of my work, where each song tells a story and opens a door into another world. 

    M: What projects do you have during 2020? 
    W: This album is my main project this year, which I will be focusing on the most. Setting up up a live show and performing all the songs live is one of the things that I’m most passionate about but, may now may have to reaches how this will happen under the current situation. But, now we have the album completed, this can start to develop as we understand how to adapt to the new world. It’s an exciting time.

    M: You have fantastic outfits and are a true inspiration. Do you have any favorite boutiques? 
    W: Thank you! I have always loved dressing up. I think I got this from my grandparents, who were terribly glorious and worked in the wool trade. I also inherited my love for theatricality and costume from my parents, who were theatre actors. My grandfather's first wife, Doris Langley- Moore opened a museum in Bath, England with her clothing collection, which is still open today and where you can visit her archive. She was one of the first female fashion historians and a truly dynamic and rather scandalous woman for her time…. I’ve always found a huge amount of inspiration in fashion and costume. It informs some of the characters I have created in the past through music and pictures. There are some labels that I love older and new, but I do like to buy a lot of vintage pieces that possess real elegance and shape. Some of my favourite designers are Thierry Mugler, Westwood, Comme des Garçons and Dries Van Noten. I’m also a big fan of the newly vamped label Ganni. I particularly love their 70’s flared pants! In fact, anything with a 70’s edge, also 1940’s & 50’s is my vibe. 

    M: How does an ordinary Friday look like for Wendy Bevan? 
    W: No day is ever the same for me, as I may be in the studio from early hours either recording or taking photographs. If I’m not, I have a routine that works for me. Before working out every morning, I get up and meditate for at least 20 minutes. Later, I try to squeeze in a hot yoga class during the day at some point or go for a hike. While living in LA, it’s easy to get into a healthy lifestyle, fresh juice and amazing vegan food. Normally, I start the day by writing some lyrical ideas, I try to discipline myself into this routine otherwise words are in my head during the day and the written page is lost. By the afternoon, I may be in a rehearsal or even in the studio recording something. By late afternoon and before sunset, I try to practice the violin and spend some time practising on my vocals. Since living in LA, I have also started to draw and paint a lot. If time allows, I might spend some moments doing this during the day - it's a great creative release for me. Throughout the quarantine, I’ve been working on several different projects including a new series of surrealist self portraits.

    M: If we want to look at your art projects – where can we see them? 
    W: Follow me on my instagram @wendybevanofficial or check out my website www.wendy-bevan.com. I’m also represented by RSA (Ridley Scott Associates) for my photography and moving image work, you can follow my work there too. 

    M: What dream of yours haven´t you realized yet? Why so? 
    W: I have so many dreams, it´s hard to realize everything by now, but surely, I will one day. I look forward to the future. Mainly, it´s about remembering those dreams through the hard times and keeping focus on your long-term goals. That´s not always easy, especially when life throws so many surprises on your way. But these days, I stay focused and dream of the future with my feet on the ground. In 2020, I’d love to be performing my work more, it´s how I build my world. But, it´s hard to plan right now, no one knows what the future will look like.

    M: Which of your qualities are you most proud of? 
    W: One of the things I most enjoy about life is the opportunity to be kind to one another. I have a big heart and like to be there for the ones I love. I have been practicing Buddhism over the last few years which has changed my life perspective. As an artist, things are not always secure and life offers a lot of uncertainties. At some point, I needed to understand how to create balance, which I feel I can now easily achieve with meditation. This foundation allows me to be who I am with some clarity. Maintaining self-belief throughout your career is a real challenge that I have faced many times. It has also helped me maintain stability throughout the isolation period of COVID-19.  I’m proud of the quality of strength and courage that somehow I seem to be able to sustain no matter how hard the storm is. 

    M: Name three people that have inspired you the most in your life? 
    W: My sister, my mother and my father. They have been my foundation, my house, my day, night and sky of everything I have learned and become. As I grow in this world, my understanding of human nature has become integral to knowing and loving my family. I now can imagine having my own one day.

    dress ROTATE
    coat with faux fur CLIO PEPPIATT
    boots TOPSHOP
    jacket JEFFREY BRYANT
    leather & lace skirt CLIO PEPPIATT
    boots & gloves ALAIA
    jacket JEFFREY BRYANT
    leather hot pants R&M LEATHERS
    boots ALAIA
    corset, veil & stockings SIAN HOFFMAN

  • #odalisquestaycreative

    Written by Fashion Tales

    We are all experiencing challenging times, where our physical health and creative souls are endangered by COVID-19 and its consequences. For many of us it has also exacerbated the financial woes leaving one standing alone against the vicissitudes that the world currently has to offer. Therefore, we have started a project #odalisquestaycreative and asked our contributing friends to answer four questions in a video format:

    How do you use your creative side to adapt yourself to the circumstances caused by COVID-19?

    What have you learned so far about yourself and your business field during this crisis?

    What kind of support would help you today to survive as a creative entrepreneur?

    What do you think is the future of your business field after the crisis?

    Our intention is to share our stories and thereby to make the world aware that we — creative entrepreneurs — still exist, still active, still ingenious, and we still need constructive support that should be properly incorporated into the cultural policy.

    Let’s inspire and conceive changes together! Let’s prepare the world for tomorrow! Let’s save the culture!

  • MILK MAKEUP - GEORGIE GREVILLE

    Written by Pari Damani

    Georgie Greville grew up all around the world, having a father who had a job that required travelling and a lot of moving to new exciting places, entitled Georgie to explore and develop her creative mind. She finally settled in New York and continued her work as a creative for many different lines of jobs including MTV and within fashion until she started working with Milk Makeup.

    PD: What is your title at Milk Makeup?
    GG: Co-Founder, Creative Director

    PD: Tell me about the name of the Brand, Milk Makeup, for people who are confused about the name and that it is Vegan and cruelty-free.
    GG: Milk Makeup got its name from being born out of Milk Studios, a cultural hub in NYC that has been bringing together all sides of the creative community for over 26 years. Since Milk has always been at the forefront of culture, it only makes sense that we would have progressive NYC values. We are all about good ingredients and epic payoff. Being cruelty-free, 100% vegan and non-toxic are givens for us as a modern, conscious brand. Milk itself is an inclusive space with a vibrant creative community, so we naturally wanted our products to be able to speak to a wide range of people. We hope that by promoting that inclusive spirit and representation, more brands and people will do the same.

    PD: Please tell me more about yourself, where you are from, where you have lived, career, work, and done up until the moment you started a beauty brand? And why you choose to join a beauty brand.
    GG: I grew up overseas moving around from Australia, Singapore, London, New York, and Boston because of my (British) father's international banking job. My first jobs were working for fashion/culture magazines and then being a writer/director in the MTV On-Air Promo department from 2001-2007. MTV was my marketing and film school. I learned how to combine pop culture with modern values that resonate. From there, I co-founded Milk's in-house, multi-media creative production company called LEGS Media where I directed and creative directed a variety of work from music videos for Florence and The Machine and Selena Gomez, to fashion films for Rag and Bone, advertising for Evian and Paco Rabanne, and interactive installations for Target and Made Fashion Week. It was a wild ride, and I learned so much from each different job, but I yearned to spend more time bringing one vision to life- to create something over a longer period of time where I could really nurture it and bring it to life. That is when I joined forces with Milk to think about what Milk would do if it had a beauty line. I had worked so closely with Milk, that it was second nature to me to intuit both the Milk values and what a savvy, modern customer expects in a product. The rest is history…

    PD: When the idea was born, to start a makeup line, what did you see was missing in the industry that needed Milk Makeup?
    GG: There was a real void between efficacious color products like MAC/NARS and more hippie natural brands. We wanted to be the holy grail of color and skincare products that combined both clean ingredients and great efficacy so that you didn't have to sacrifice anything for the looks you want. We also weren't seeing many gender-neutral brands — everything was still very binary in terms of packaging and marketing. We wanted our product design and ethos to be chic, minimal and truly inclusive (genderless). Not only is the product design more aesthetically relevant and chic, but there’s also no one telling you who you need to be in order to use the products. I wanted to demystify beauty and make it as approachable as art supplies while also delivering clean, high quality, unisex products. Products that are as highly functional, spontaneous and fun as New Yorkers are. The thing that really sets our products apart from other than the gender-neutral packaging is the quality — they’re ingredient-conscious (non-toxic, cruelty-free, paraben-free, vegan), user-friendly, and deliver an instant payoff.

    PD: I absolutely love the cooling stick, which Milk product can you not be without?
    GG: KUSH Mascara!

    PD: Your beauty routine and favourite products of all time?
    GG: My beauty routine starts in the shower. I will cleanse skin with our amazing, gentle ‘Vegan Milk Cleanser’ and do one of our mask sticks depending on what my skin needs that day — usually the ‘Watermelon Brightening Mask.’ Then I apply ‘Matcha Toner’, ‘Vegan Milk Moisturizer’ and ‘Hydro Grip Primer.´ I wait 1-2 minutes for the primer to set, then apply ‘Sunshine Skin Tint’ in ‘Honey’ under my eyes and my T-zone, blending it out with my fingers. I then apply ‘KUSH Mascara’ ‘KUSH Brow Gel, Lip + Cheek’ in ‘Rally’ on the apples of my cheeks, a bit of ‘Matte Bronzer in Baked’ on the cheek contours, again blending it all in my fingers. Finally, I will apply a coat of our Lip Color in ‘Hype’, ‘OG Red’ or ‘Wifey’ depending on the outfit.

    PD: What inspires you the most, in your work as a creative director?
    GG: The vibrancy of New York City's creative community. I love meeting new people in the city and constantly challenging my perspective on art, aesthetics, beauty, philosophy etc. I ride my bike everywhere, which is super inspiring.

    PD: What is your first beauty moment/memory?
    GG: Pinching my cheeks to flush them before going into a middle school class to see a crush. I later got the same effect by using a cherry flavoured chapstick or a red lollipop.

    PD: As a creative, is there a dream project you would like to do?
    GG: I would love to direct a TV show and/or feature film.

    PD: If you would choose a different line of work, what would that be?
    GG: Holistic Wellness Guru

    PD: Do you have any tips for someone who aspires to work as a creative director?
    GG: I think being a spiritual person and being constantly curious are huge factors in doing good work as a Creative Director. If you develop your spirituality, you can truly tap into your unique POV on the world and hone your unique style from there. I also constantly read and experience live art.

    PD: Were there any products that were difficult to produce?
    Dianna Ruth (COO): KUSH mascara was the most difficulty, based on packaging and formulation.

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