Friday Best 110610

Question: I gotta ask, who are the amazing hair and make-up duo that work their magic on Zeta Makripoulia of 'Dancing with the Stars, Greece'? Do you know who styles her?

Each week she rocks a different kinda look and she looks every inch a starlet. Check out some of the different looks below and the anonymous guys who do their creative thang-do any of you know who they are? They are seriously awesome!

Every since I came over to Greece I have long admired the talent of Hair and Make-up artists - all the TV presenters here look fabulous and the glossies have slick made-up spreads!

I want this dress!!!!

Sexy hair? Check, Sexy frock? Check, Do I look stunning? Check!
Images via Antenna

It's that time of the year again - Graduate Fashion Week! I used to go every year (when i could escape work) to check out the new talent. River Island have been the main sponsor of this event for the past 6 years now, showcasing all the top Fashion Insititutes across the UK. Check out the winners & more info here and see Kelis (where has she been all this time?) wearing the Graduate Fashion Week designs here.

Images via River Island

Newsflash!
Business of Fashion's exclusive interview Natalie Massenet on launching Mr. Porter - yes, menswear is going to be available soon! Click here for the whole interview and story.

Make!
Most of you already know Maddie of Wardrobe Recycle, she is one talented lady if anything and could probably whip up an amazing dress if she was given a black bin liner!
Click here for her SATC 2 Revisted post where she makes a very cool cutaway dress in a few easy steps!

Buy!
Katerina @ Fashion Algorithms and Alecca Rox recently posted about online shopping - Pink Caro and the 20% discount code.
Tex @ Fashion Butter sure made good use of that code and bought herself a stunning draped, full length, jersey s - she looks every inch the Grecian Goddess all at the bargain price of around 26 euros after a original 60% discount and 20% discount at checkout - check her out here she looks amazing.

Join!

Image via IFB

If you don't already know about the Independent Fashion Bloggers (IFB)or haven't signed up yet and have a Fashion Blog - do it now!
I was recently left a comment from Cara@IFB - promptly reminding me of their fabulous existence and what they do, see here for more info.

I don't nearly write enough about fashion though, it's not intentional... but having had some interesting experiences over the past 11 years in this industry, I could share some industry info with you all (from Buying, Styling, Visual Merchandising, Public Relations etc etc) if you're interested in getting a career in fashion.

I'm not sure how it all works here in Greece though, my experience is purely based on a semi typical route into fashion in the UK... So drop me a comment if you'd like to see the odd post about the world that is fashion!

Ciao Bella & Have a fab weekend!

x.o.x.o

My other hero: Natalie Massenet

There are a few people in life that I totally respect and am simply in awe of, depending what their speciality is & what they do. One of my heroes in life was my late Grandmother (aka Billy Por - por por is Chinese for yiayia/grandma-no idea where the Billy bit came from but it just stuck) and my hero du jour? - Natalie Massenet, the woman who founded Net-a-porter.com, global e-tailer selling luxury fashion, is an internet extraordinaire and power business woman has just sold her retail business for an approximate £50 million! Go lady!



Natalie Massenet rocks on so many levels, setting up and launching Net-a-porter.com whilst pregnant - that's insane right? The business went from strength to Superman style strength, with a growth turn over of 47.8% in 2009 and profits soaring at a whopping 234%!

Formally a fashion journalist with killer buyer & business instinct, she bought in designer collections selling them online, thus changing the way women shop forever. The gap in the market 10 years ago for designer brands (exports from the US) and buying online was virtually non-existent back then.
Net-a-porter is pretty much genius, selling to women who are way to busy to hit the shops, mums at home, women who don't live near a major city and don't have time, women who can't get their mitts on the 'must-have' item featured in Vogue and celebrities who basically want to shop in private, blowing an average of £7k per shop. Not bad i say.

The website has a really clean, easy to use format along with magazine style guides, fashion tips, must-haves, speedy delivery service, get the look "Dress-me" fashion guides - imagine ASOS.com but with luxe fashion. This kind of format and input has spurred many high street retailers to do pretty much the same thing, I always get my newsletters and style guides delivered to my inbox weekly from high street to online fashion boutiques, but there is so much more drool-worthy items on Net-a-porter, seriously in the words of Rachel Zoe, "I-Die"!

Although Natalie has sold the website to luxury Group (i personally thought it would eventually be sold to LVMH) Richemont, she will continue to remain actively involved in the business re-investing some £15 million into the business.

Not only has she succeeded in creating the most amazing and powerful luxury fashion e-tailer, she also understands "chic-onomics", launching a sister site in 2009 (my fave, credit friendly fashion site) - The Outnet.com which features and sells last season's high fashion at discounted prices - what's not to love here?

This is what she has to say about The Outnet:
"Great fashion won't disappear – it will go to the Outnet and we are delighted to create a vibrant, fun and edited destination for the global sale shopper to call her own."

My fave Natalie quotes?

Believe in yourself: "My dad taught me never to be afraid of what's on the other side of the mountain."

Innovate: "If we come up with an idea and someone says it's never been done before, that's when we get going."

Disregard your doubters: "There were a lot of unimaginative private-equity people who said that women would never shop online. I think about those people a lot. I'm sure their wives are having Net-a-Porter bags delivered to their homes every day."

She's pretty brilliant, What next Natalie? We're waiting...

Ref & images via Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Vogue, Drapers & Net-a-porter