The Passing of Many Moons

So just over 2 years ago I started this blog. I never thought I would have kept it up for so long. Granted I haven't been the most consistent of bloggers but my point is that I'm still here. I've come a long way since I first entered the world of blogging and I would like to thank my readers for being around (I promise not to make this a tacky acceptance speech for an award I haven't even received). A few days ago one of my new readers (Benny, he's new to blogging. Click here to check out his blog, it's nice) asked me how I got into styling. It's a pretty long story but I'll give you a rundown of the best bits...

2005 I had just finished secondary school. My GCSE grades were good but they were not good enough for me to go to the college that I wanted to attend (it was one of the best in the country). This is down to the fact that I didn't study (I was to busy defending my throne of popularity). My initial plan was to study English Literature, English Language and Music Technology. I wanted to be a singer/songwriter and producer. This in my opinion was never going to happen due to the fact that I didn't make it into the college of my choice so after a lot of wallowing in depression I decided to apply for another college (one of the roughest in London. Someone got stabbed on the first day). I initially applied for both the music course and the fashion course. In the end I chose fashion because I was to shy to audition for the music course.

Little did I know, that shyness would have a massive effect on my life...

So I ended up studying fashion. At first it was great but then in my second (and final) year it turned sour. I went from being star pupil to the black sheep of the class. My main tutor hated me and the feeling was mutual. I failed the course. I knew I was going to fail and for that reason I went and started working part time as a tailoring assistant while I was studying. It's funny because I was learning so much more there than I was while I was in college which just goes to show that the system for creative education doesn't work effectively. So anyway college finished and I left with no qualifications but I still had my job at the tailors so I stayed there for a while. My time there totalled a year when an internship opportunity at SuperSuper magazine opened up. I went for it and I got it (because I'm amazing!). On August the 16th 2007 I started out as an intern. By October 4th 2007 I was the fashion coordinator.

That is basically how I got into this side of the industry...

Since leaving SuperSuper in 2009 I've gone on to work with a number of brands, celebrity clients and magazines. It really has just been a case of networking with the right people. I'm a Pisces born in the year of the snake, I'm naturally charming. In this industry that's all you really need. Make the people love you and they'll give you the world. How do you think I manage to stock my wardrobe?

I do love what I do but there are a lot of things I hate about this industry. I won't go into detail because there's no need to. There are loads of things I love about this industry too. It's not for everyone but if you make it your own you'll be fine.

P.S

Sorry for the essay, I know you people don't like reading much.

SUPERSUPER Issue 21

OUT NOW!

So regardless of what happened between SuperSuper and myself (I still haven't told you guys, just know it was a messy break up) I do have to admit, the new cover for issue 21 looks bloody fantastic. It's totally a step in the right direction. It says that they now what they were and they know that it's time to move forward.

Well done to them!

I've always been fly and you fucking know it!

In 2006 I was 17 years of age and I was studying fashion in Lewisham college. I had the cutest smile in town even though I had braces. I had the freshest hair in town and was I never afraid to spend money.

But that was then...

It is now 2009, I am going to be 20 in a month and I'm currently the fashion coordinator of London based magazine SuperSuper. I'm a freelance stylist specializing in menswear but dabbling in ladies wear from time to time and I'm as pennyless as hell but my teeth are perfect.

This is now...

(Photo by Julia Eskell)

Don't call me fierce.

Bitch You Better Work!!!

So for those of you that don't know what I do, I am a stylist. I work with brands and I see a lot of things. I also get given a lot of things too. Do not by any means think that I get these things for nothing. I have to work, I have to work very hard.

One of the perks of being a hard worker isn't just the fact that I get given things. The real perks lie in what I get given. For example, here I have an image of my latest acquisition courtesy of Reebok.

A pair of Ex-o-fit Hi tops in Radar Yellow.

Now I'm guessing that not everyone reading this is a Reebok connoisseur so I'm just gonna come right out and say this...

THESE TRAINERS WILL NEVER EXIST.

Well I say never but what I actually mean is not until autumn/winter 2009 (this time next year), and even then they won't be available in this colour. There are only 2 pairs of these trainers and one of them belongs to me.

So yeah, just in case you didn't know.

P.S
They did come in a pair but the other one looks exactly the same as this one so you don't need to see it.

Thank god for Facebook because this could have been embarrassing.

Those who know me will know that I have the worlds worst memory. They will also know that I have an attention spac comparrable to that of a fly. These two factors have been know in the past to get me into a hell of a lot of trouble. Today however I was saved by the grace that is Facebook.

Here is how the story goes...

There is a certain person who's name I have always believed to be synonymous with legendary. He is always at the forefront of any conversation regarding his specific craft within the fashion industry. Dominik and I are always talking about this person with such admiration it is actually insane. It's one of those scenarios where I would have been more than honored to meet this person and simply shake his hand. So I decided to request this persons friendship on Facebook. I felt that it was probably the closest I was ever going to get to actually meeting them in person. They accepted my request however no form of communication was established by ether of us which I was totally fine with until today.

I decided I wanted to learn a little more about this person so I clicked on their profile and thought that maybe I would even leave a comment stating how amazing I thought their work was. Well, after clicking on said persons profile I decided to have a good old gander at their photos and boy did I recieve the biggest shock of my life. It turns out that not only did I recognize the face of this person, but we had actually met. On several occasions.

I think it may have been a case where every time we met I was either too drunk or to unfocused to take note of his name and profession. How stupid do I feel?

Extremely

Thank god I discovered this via Facebook though. Just imagine if we had met again at another event with all our peers and colleagues and I had said something stupid like

"So what do you do?"

I can just imagine the expression on everyone's face as I literally commit social/career suicide. It would be a travesty. Even my great great grand children would be ashamed of me.

P.S

Legend!

Armani Spring/Summer 09 preview

So for those of you that don't know part of my job as a stylist and fashion coordinator is to go around to different designers and brands to view their collections a season in advanced so that it can be worked into the shoots I style in time. Today I bring youa sneak peak of some of the key Armani menswear peices for Spring/Sumer 09...


(They had a lot more but this is a selection of what I deemed worthy to grace my blog)

Now, this final piece is not menswear but you know I had to throw in at least one piece of jewelery.

I am loving the purple shorts and the single strapped dungarees.

SUPERSUPER issue 13

DISTURBAN

So A few months ago I did a shoot for SUPERSUPER with the amazingly talented and just down right sexy Zach Burns. I turned him into a Glamorous Man and I know he is definitely loving what I did.

I also got to work with Akio who is the most amazing photographer and lighting technician I have ever known. Click Here for more of his work.

The idea behind the shoot is that the subject, Zach has entered an environment unknown to him. He is clearly not dressed for his "urban" surroundings which as a result has left him "Disturban". I could write a whole manifesto on the concept but I'll just let the images speak for themselves...

You'll notice the Swarovski studded motorcycle helmet is a very present force in the 3rd image. I think this shoot personifies my style as an individual. The day of this shoot I was feeling very very ill. By the middle of the day I was literally on the floor trying to keep myself together. The sweltering heat didn't help either. In all honesty, I can't complain too much because zach is the one who truly felt the full effects of the summer temperatures. Especially in all the clothes I put him in. It was all worth it in the end though. I'm very proud of what we achieved.

You can buy SUPERSUPER from all good news agents but not from any bad ones. You can also order it online HERE. Maybe even buy a subscription.

P.S
Some of the clothes are creased but you cant see them because it's too dark!

Another Glamorous Man (and I got to work with him)

So I come to you with another installment of The Glamorous Man. This time around I bring you Mr Pharrell Williams. Oh, and before you ask I did get to do a shoot with him for SUPERSUPER. I don't really need to talk about his personified mode because everybody already knows that he has it on P.O.I.N.T (sorry, I'm watching Bring It On)

Even though many months have passed I still remember the shoot like it was only 10 minutes ago.
After a morning full of dramas, we went to his hotel room where we set up a mini studio to do the shoot and interview. After about 4 hours there was a knock at the door. There stood 3 people one of which looked a little bit like Pharrell I said quietly as I turned away.
Make no mistake, I snapped my head back so fast it almost fell off. It was him in all his fabulous glory. My body began to shake as I struggled to contain the scream that I had already slightly begun to let out.

The way he answered the questions in the interview was so inspiring. His mindset is totally amazing. He truely is a Glamorous Man.

I also got my guy Raphaël D'Ascenzo to model too. I met him on a shoot a few months ago. We were both modeling for New Era and I just thought he was amazing at it. There was no way I wasn't gonna use him for the magazine.

For the full interview you need to go and purchase your own copy. You can buy one from all good news agents but not from any of the bad ones. You can also order it online HERE. Maybe even buy a subscription.

P.S
BUY A FUCKING SUBSCRIPTION!

I must warn you...

In the shoot that I styled for the next issue of SUPERSUPER this makes an appearance...

Yes that is a motorcycle helmet coverd in Swarovski crystals.
Yes it is worth £3000.
Yes I did have to sign a form saying that I will give my left arm, right leg, 4 fingers of my choosing and some hair should anything happen to it.


Brace yourselves. It's gonna be major!

T-Magic: Loaded With Meaning

One of the coolest street artists had the private viewing of his exhibition on Brick Lane. The thing I like about T-Magic is that his work exudes positivity. Take a look...

This is the piece I got to know him by. It was printed on a t-shirt which was the first thing I featured in SUPERSUPER when I was appointed fashion coordinator...

I love this one...

Click here for his site!

A day in the life of Mr Crown...

Today has been quite an interesting day. I say interesting because I don't really know how else to describe it but for those of you who ever wondered what it was like to be me, (I know all of you have) this is a typical example of a regular day as Niyi Crown.

(This is a very long post however the ending is worth it all)

I woke up this morning and got ready for work. Before I left I spoke with Annoushka from the Bape press office to arrange an appointment to view the Spring/Summer 09 collection.

(Oh my sweet shitties, as I type this I can hear a mouse squeaking from the other side of the room. I've never heard this before, I thought mouse squeaking was just an urban legend)

So I left my house to get on the bus to the office and there was a crazy woman in the street near the bus stop going ballistic because nobody had a lighter for her to light her cigarette. I would have offered her mine but I was a little intimidated by the fact that her ass was hanging out of her trousers from where she had been stamping her feet like a kid throwing a tantrum. Cellulite is not sexy!

So I got to the office and had to leave shortly after my arrival because there was a press day for me and Dominik (assistant) to attend. We went to view the Lee Cooper and Jean Charles De Castelbajac collaboration. I did a few fashion returns while Dominik went back to the office.

After making the returns I called up George (tech editor) to organize the return of a Sony Ericsson phone that he was testing. Turns out that he was near Selfridges so I walked over to meet him. He gave me the phone after exchanging our greetings and stood chatting for a few minutes before I decide that I wanted to take a trip into Selfridges. We walked through the jewelery section (obviously) and into the Wonder Room (again, obviously) still talking and making comments as we passed by the amazing objects of desire. Our conversation soon turned into me totally just bitching about how life isn't great and how it could be so much better when the lady behind the till decided to join in. Without going into too much detail me and Taline get to talking about fashion (turns out she's a designer). We exchange details and then something realy weird happens. She just pulled out 2 back issues of WOUND magazine (which I love) and says I can take them. She putt them in a nice yellow bag and says here you go.


Freebies from selfridges are always good right? Anyway the fabulousness of the situation quickly came to an end as my mouth slowly filled with blood due to the fact that I had bitten the inside of my cheek. Thankfully I was well on my way back to the office so nobody could see the horrid face I was pulling. Before all of this though I bump into superstar Video Director Mo Ali. This was the first time we had met in person so it was a nice greeting. Through out our whole conversation all I remember thinking is "WOW I'm jealous of this guys eye lashes, they're so dangerous". So anyway, I get back to the office only to be greeted by an invitation to a music event being hosted in the Swarovski Crystalized store by Music Matrix.

Namalee and myself got to the event in the middle of a performance which was actually amazing at about 7:45. The thing about this event is it was a music event. It was a music crowd. I was totally alien to this kind of environment because I am fashion. I'm used to walking into a room and everyone competing to be seen in their best outfit. Not at this event. Everyone just looked so normal. Me an Namalee stood out like a fire in the woods. I loved it.

On my way home I was absolutely shattered and my feet were killing me because my trainers are a size too small. As I walked home from the bus stop I decide to start taking all of my jewelery off. It is a long process and I didn't want to wait till I got home before I began. I got home and start to take all of my jewels out of my pocket only to find that one was missing. After frantically searching for about half an hour I forgot what I was even looking for to begin with and sat down to eat some pasta instead. With a mouth full of food I suddenly blurted out "OH MY GOD I'VE JUST LOST THE MOST EXPENSIVE PIECE OF JEWELRY I OWN".

All I have to say is that some luck bastard is about to stumble across a platinum and diamond ring and should they choose to sell it...
££££££

P.S
Don't think I didn't go out to search for the ring because I did. This isn't the first time this has happened to me either, I just didn't learn my lesson the first time around. I'm pretty calm about it because if not I will just break down and cry.

I did that, and what!

On Tuesday I decided to do a bit of promo work for the magazine...

But if you notice, the SUPER on the left isn't so straight, so...

Perfect!

All in a days work of The Glamorous Man!

SUPERSUPER issue 12

The current issue of SUPERSUPER sees my debut shoot. I have been a stylist on photo shoots before but never have I been the main creative director behind one until now. On previous occasions I have been a secondary stylist, taking direction from my colleagues but on this shoot, it was all about me.

The shoot was called "No Retreat", there wasn't really an overall theme so I just based everything on what I would wear and the way I would dress. I was pleased with the final edit however there were some shots that didn't quite make it which was a little disappointing.

THE FINAL EDIT

THE ONES THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT :-(





I think, the ones that were edited out could stand alone in a separate shoot but that's subject to personal opinion. Quite like when your mother tells you that you're beautiful but everyone else clearly doesn't agree...