Cover Girl: Cycle Style...

From an email I received from Horst A. Friedrichs back in May 2011 which lead to some amazing photo-shoots & meetings: fast forward to March 2012 and 'Cycle Style' the book has been published... with a rather familiar 'Lady' with a Pashley on the back cover... 

At the risk of sounding like a gushing mess, this is one of the best things to have happened to me! I was over the moon when Horst asked me to be a part of his project, but being the cover girl on the book has completely blown me away.

The book is beautiful, with its varied mix of London Cyclists across 192 pages. Horst has done such an amazing job on this and Prestel have produced a fantastic publication...

Some of my favourite cycling friends and style icons are in the book, including the lovely Fleur de Geurre with a red Pashley Britannia

... and it's also rather nice to say I'm in the same book as one of my favourite designers who embraces cycling with such passion... 

Mr Paul Smith! 

It has been a brilliant experience and of course, The Boy played a major part in all of this too. He came along to the Shoots, took photos for me to use on the blog and made a friend in Horst too, something which clearly didn't go unnoticed by the man himself... 

Seeing Ian being 'thanked' in the book was a rather special thing indeed.

With the official 'launch party' for Cycle Style coming up in a couple of weeks, it'll be fabulous to see Horst again, and meet-up with fellow cyclists in the book. Of course a blog post on that will follow, but in the meantime, get your hands on a copy of Cycle Style :) 

Cycle Style Video...

Still courtesy of F.Milovac on Vimeo.

With just over a month to go, the excitement for the release of Cycle Style is building up... and the promo video for the book is now online!

Meeting with Filip Milovac in December to do my bit for the shoot was an absolute blast, so seeing the finished product earlier this week was fantastic. Filip & Horst have done an amazing job with this, incorporating some of the portraits that will be included in Cycle Style.

Enjoy the video - and see if you can spot some familiar faces in there too...


Cycle Style from Filip Milovac on Vimeo.

Cycle Style - The Book...

Do you remember that Photo-Shoot that me and my Pashley took part in last Summer?

Well, it was for Horst A. Friedrichs third book, 'Cycle Style', which celebrates the brilliant and varied fashion in London's cycling scene. I'm very pleased to finally be able to tell you that I'm going to be in the book, along with featuring on the back cover too!

"Cycle Style" Book Cover courtesy of waterstones.com
Photo by Horst A.Friedrichs

Horst and his assistant Filip Milovac contacted to let me know the news, and to ask me to be in the promo-video for the book launch. I was over the moon to know I'd made it into 'Cycle Style', and was bouncing off the walls about the cover... that's something I never expected to happen.

I met up with Filip last month for the video shoot on Columbia Road. It was a gorgeous Friday afternoon in December - a bit chilly but very bright... perfect winter cycling weather! It also meant I could wrap up warm on the bike, and not be smothered in heavy & plain clothing... 

Photo by Filip Milovac* 

Scarf: See by Chloé

Leather Biker Jacket: Topshop

Black Jumper: M&S

Bag: Vintage Mulberry

Tweed Shorts: Mango

Big Ben Tights: Henry Holland

(I had to wear those tights - celebrating London's cycle style, right?)

Brogues: Topshop

The adorable Filip - photo thanks to a kind passer-by who clicked the button! 

I can't wait to see the finished video & of course the published book. It's been a wonderful experience and a fantastic project to be a part of... roll on March for the launch!

*Thank you to Filip for these shots of the day for the blog.

Sunshine and Shoots...

Last Sunday the Sun was shining and London was glowing....the weather was finally perfect for the Photo Shoot with Horst Friedrichs to go ahead!

It didn't go quite according to plan on the 1st attempt earlier this month, so you can imagine our joy when the City decided to give us the light, at last. Thanks to The Boy being the brilliant photographer he is, he took some pictures of what was going on behind the scenes for the blog - thank you so much Sir for these!

It was lovely to see Horst again & also meet his assistant Filip, who bought me my favourite flowers (Peonies) to put in my Pashley Basket for the photos :) 

The scene was very different to the Rainy Day that we experienced earlier this month - which also allowed us to do the shoot in two different outfits. The 1st one was quite relaxed and went a little something like this:

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

Necklace: Tatty Devine

Vest Top / High Waisted Shorts / Sandals: Topshop

Yellow Bangle: Camden Market

Ring: Tatty Devine

... and then for the 2nd outfit, there was a slight change in style:

Sunglasses: Tatty Devine for John Lewis

"LadyVélo" name necklace: Tatty Devine

Dress: LAFrock

Ring: Dorothy Perkins

Mary Jane Shoes: Vivienne Westwood

Spot the unexpected visitor who decided he wanted to be in the photos?

His name was Taco, and I could have easily put him in my basket and taken him home!

For a few more behind the scenes shots of the day taken by The Boy, the set can be viewed here - once again, thank you so much for these Sir :)

I can not wait to see Horst's photos from Sunday, and too see his book come together. It's such a fantastic project & I'm honoured that he asked me to be a part of it. 

Photo-shoots and Smiles...

So, I don't get to say very this often: I was recently invited to feature in a Photo-shoot about cycling & fashion in London!

I was contacted by Internationally renowned Photographer Horst A. Freidrichs, to feature in a book he is working on which focuses on the fashion culture of cyclists in the City. To say I was excited would be an understatement! The First thing on my agenda: decide the outfits. With it being June and there was blazing sunshine last Saturday, I'd decided on these for a summer-cyclist feel:

Vest Top: Topshop

Floral Hot Pant Shorts: Topshop
Ballet Pumps: Topshop

"LadyVélo" Name Necklace: Tatty Devine

Earrings: Chanel

Vest Top: Dorothy Perkins
Wide Belt: Oasis
Skirt: Dorothy Perkins
Necklace: Tatty Devine
Sandals: Accessorize

The location Horst chose for us was was Jones' Diary, just off Columbia Rd Flower Market (which is one of my favourite Markets in London). Now remember I said that last Saturday was "blazing" Sunshine? Well, Sunday didn't quite follow that weather pattern. It rained...

... and rained

...and rained

... but we ended up having one of the nicest Sunday afternoons!

Despite the downpour, our spirits were high - there was great energy surrounding the shoot, and we were still hopeful of a break in the rain. We didn't know it at the time, but the shelter we took on Ezra Street was next to Lily Vanilli, who opened their Bakery for the first time that day. Watching from their shop & feeling sorry for us waiting in the Courtyard, they came out and gave us delicious Cupcakes to keep us going!

... how sweet of them was that?!

The rain didn't really ease up, but we decided to get some test shots of the day. Natural light was beginning to fade (mainly behind more black clouds) so dashing out from the dry, we set up and did a few shots...

None of the outfit changes happened - it was way too wet for summer shorts & skirts... but I guess what I had on became my cycle wardrobe for the day, right?

Jacket: Gap

Breton Stripe Top: Topshop

Jeans: Topshop

"Lady Leigh" Necklace & Earrings Set: Tatty Devine

Ring: Dorothy Perkins

Lady & Dog Brooch: Tatty Devine

Another session has been penciled into the diary with Horst - fingers crossed the Sun will be shining for that. Wardrobe planning is in process for this one, and the whole thing will be blogged about when it happens. 

Massive Thank you to Horst for asking me to take part in this & for making it so much fun, and to The Boy, for taking the photos of me and Horst in action for my blog.... it's appreciated :)