Raf Simons has a real knack for producing incredibly beautiful and delicate clothes and presenting them at impressive and unique shows.
Here are a few where he has incorporated his love of nature into the runway.
Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring/ Summer 2013
Jil Sander Ready to Wear Autumn/ Winter 2012
Christian Dior Haute Couture Autumn/ Winter 2012/13
I’ve seen a few photographers working with this theme lately, there’s something quite poetic about it.
Billy Kidd uses dramatic colours.
Derek Henderson has a more natural aesthetic.
Amy Merrick gives these poppies her Dutch master makeover.
Jon Shireman is simple and striking.
For christmas this year I gave my uncles and aunties and family friends a pot of chilli. It’s a simple, pretty, inexpensive gift that I like to think most people would enjoy receiving.
For my brother I bought a truffle inoculated holly oak sapling. I potted it in a wine barrel. When it gets a little bigger he can plant it in his newly purchased house and then in six to seven years they should be able to dig up some truffles!
I was given a terrarium couriered up from bosky in Melbourne which is an incredible little world unto itself and some great books, including a beautiful one by Grandiflora with photography of Saskia Havekes’s amazing floral creations by Andrew Lehmann (available here).
From Stella McCartney’s spring campaign last year.
One of my all time favourites – whether it’s bare, with fruit, or flowering as it is here in spring at the old farm.
My first issue of Wilder Quarterly arrived last week, thanks to a very good man.
It’s a beautifully designed US magazine all about the natural world. This issue has stories about foraging for mushrooms in Finland, planting a winter garden, Kyoto’s Moss Temple, migrating butterflies and heaps more. I have a subscription now and I’m excited to keep reading.
Check out their blog here.
Cover images from Wilder Quarterly.
Photographs by Gavriel Maynard.
I was in the UK and France earlier this year visiting some friends and my little sister who is currently studying in Bordeaux.
I spent a couple of days in Reading (half an hour out of London) with some family and we got to visit one of my favourite gardens, the Harris Garden at the University of Reading where my grandfather was Dean of the Faculty of Science for a period.
The modern botanical garden was established in 1972 and is set on the home paddock of a now demolished Victorian house which in turn was built in the landscape garden created by George, Marquis of Blandford between 1798 and 1810.
The above pictures are film, the rest are just from my phone.
This garden is quintessentially English. Very lush, with paths winding through, crossing over, and gently tapering off. There are structured lawns with hedges, flowering meadows and herb gardens. I found a bunch of wild garlic which we discreetly dug one head up to use for dinner that night. It feels quite magical and makes me nostalgic, I felt like a child again.
Garden plan from Friends of The Harris Garden.
All photographs by Sophia Kaplan.
Eric Madigan Heck is an incredible photographer and I especially like this Mary Katrantzou Autumn Winter 2011 ‘Surreal Plains’ shoot. Flowers are a theme through a lot of his work.
Photographs by Erik Madigan Heck.
Earlier this year my brother got married and I helped the lovely Nhu Christy with the flowers.
The bride and groom are both big foodies so along with the incredible catering from Aria and fresh pizzas from Rosso Pomodorro we tried to incorporate this into the flowers as well, using rosemary from the garden as well as fig branches from the markets. My sister and I wore simple flower crowns and we had big ‘buckets’ of blooms around the gardens.
Check out my sister-in-law’s food blog The Gourmet Forager for more pics from the day.
Photographs by Tealily Photography.
The Secret Garden 