self service
editor’s note
Dear Sheena, We have handed our magazine over to the most extraordinary people in the past, but no one quite like you. I’ve always been very particular to who I handed my magazine over to and seen people create wonders with the magazine but you took on a challenge that I admit I was quite worried about at first but you outdid yourself. Thank you for taking on the challenge of this shared and intimate creative experience. Having you in our offices here in Paris as an invited guest editors-in-chief and creative director proved to be a unique and enriching dialog. Never have I seen such addiction to the creation of a magazine. You lived and breathed the creation process only have I seen such dedication in myself . From shooting to editing, debating, writing and reviewing copy with the magazine editors, working on layouts with our designers, creating and producing a rich and dense magazine. It was a fascinating feeling for me to sit back silently and for the first time ever, observe such a remarkable process instead of being an integral part of this. I must convey to you my sincere admiration for that very exceptional instinct you have that enables you to just stop just in time, to express no less and no more than is necessary so as to recognize the essential. This issue of self service is not about our journey but yours. With affection and respect. Ezra
self service Editor-in-Chief & Creative Director Fashion Editor Advertising Director Managing Editor Art Director Senior Editor Fashion Associate Editor (Fashion and Beauty) Senior Fashion Editor At Large Contributing Fashion Editors Design Director Designer Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief Copy Editor Contributors Contributing Photographers. Subscriptions Photographic Retouching & Printing Engraving Printing Distribution
Self Service Office
Publisher
Sheena Darby Suzanne Koller Stephianie Morel Claire Thomson Pierre Consorti Edward Brachfeld
Sabrina Marshall Marie Chaix Ondine, Bethan Fenton, Rhiannon Hardie, Phoebe Day, Becky Grainger, Olivia reeves, Camilla Nickerson, Olivia Rizzo, Panox Yipanis Zachary Ohlman Aude Delerue, Joan Braun Camille de Vaumas Faterma Ahmed Derek Blasberg, Jen Brill, Michel Gaubert, Humberto Leon, Benhamin Liu, Stephanie Moison, Sarah Mower, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Harriet Quick, Peter Petronio, Pedro Riberio, Aaron Rose, Jean, Touitou. Cedric, Richard Burbridge, Todd Cole, Roger Deckker, Mac Faragoo, Hans Feuer, Daniel Jackson, Maciek Kobielski, Thomas Lagrange, Alasdair Mclellan, Guido Mocafico, Ranee Oakibe Flyn, David Sims, Mario Sorrenti, Juergen Teller, Sheena Darby, Willy Vanderperre. info@selfservicemagazine.com Box Ltd Stella Digita D Touch Manadrine. 120 rue jean jaures 92300 Levallois, France. Groupe PPA Mahe. 2, avenue President Salvador Allende, Zi Mozinor 93100 Montreuil Sous Bois, France. International: Export Press, dir@exportpress.com Paris: OFR, info@ofrpublications.com 7, rue Debelleyme 75003 Paris, Fance Phone 331 4461 0605 Fax: 33144610616 Info@selfserivicemagazine.com www.selfserviemagazine.com
contributors
Olivia Reeves is our cover girl this month. Not just a beautiful face does Reeves have she also graduated from London college of fashion with the fashion public relations degree. At the tender age of 21 things are still looking up for Reeves as she hopes that her modeling career will give her the secret passage into the public relations world of fashion.
This harsh northerner tells it how is it, there is no messing about this one. From the preposterous Doncaster we have received this gem. At a young age she ejected herself from the beauty that is Doncaster and moved to London where she studied journalism at the prestigious Central Saint Martins which she later decided that she was too good for and dropped out which at the time to anyone would have looked like a bad mistake but our Phoebe went on to work for the likes of Dazed and Confused, Nylon and the Sunday times and now a contributing editor to Self Service. Lucky girl!
born and bred in the south Grainger spend her youth running through farms wearing tweet dreaming of the day when she would be brushing the hair of kate moss instead of sheep. Now she hasn’t quite got to kate moss standards yet but our cover girl Olivia Reeves comes as a close second. Grduating from the presisous Northumbria Univirt studying fashion communication Grainger is now make up and hair artist to them all working from backstage of dior to the likes of Vogue Japan to the best magazine in the work of course us SelfService.
Now judging from Rhiannon Bliss’s own attire you wouldn’t really expect great things from her styling, its not that she dresses bad atall, lets just say she has her own ‘unique style’ its like a mix between a librarian and Anna Wintour. She’s been working the office sleek trend since 1985. But this is why we love her, also her styling is nothing like her own so its bloody fantastic! Grduating from the presisous Northumbria Univirt studying fashion communication Grainger is now make up and hair artist to them all working from backstage of dior to the likes of Vogue Japan to the best magazine in the work of course us SelfService.
Balmain vintage leather jacket
Vintage leather balmain jacket Bowler hat Olivias own
Olivias own
Rosamosario’s feathers on my mine chemise
Kiki de montparnasse bra Balmain leather trousers
Chloe crepe de chine shirt Alexander wang chord trousers Bow tie by Lavin
Olivia Reeves family heirlooms
For all the subjects that divide the sexes, female to male, the female love of the accessories is one. For a man a handbag is merely a device used to transport useless goods too big to fit in their jean pocket. But for women its something entirely different. You could be wearing a bin bag and no shoes strolling down Regent Street but if you had a Chanel bag you’d just be seen as a crazy trendsetter. Handbags are a symbol of status, the perfect accessory to any outfit. Through out the years the perfect handbag accessory has blossomed, its evolved from the classic luxury of Chanel, to the colorful yet chavy essence of the Louis Vuitton speedy bag, the monogram Gucci holdall that every female wannabe gangster lusted after during the 90’s to the English IT bag’s ranging from the bayswater to the Alexa named after the British style icon Alexa Chung from the English heritage brand Mulberry and then probably the most expensive and elaborate of all bags Hermes Birkin. If you thought $3,000 for the classic 2.55 quilted Chanel flap bag was expensive then paying up to $15,000 for the Hermes Birkin in a range of exotic animal skins may seem a bit excessive and you may find yourself wondering why anyone would spend a
years salary on a bag? Even if you were the richest of them all, does that give you any more of a justification to spending $15, 000 on a bag?? Well why don’t you try 2 nearly 3 years salary?? Move over Hermes…. 39,000 dollars for a bag, not even a bag a backpack that you wear on your back so you cant even see the bag; seems a bit excessive doesn’t it? For a bag you cant even see? Now surely your thinking how could anyone justify spending that much money on a bag, especially during this recession and maybe you’d even think that the prices would have decreased due to the recession. Well then you’d be wrong as the 39,000 dollar bag has contradicted this and everything that’s right in this world. Now who’s created this bag that is the definition of everything that’s wrong in the world. Well when you look at the price tag you obviously conjure up the idea that it must be a prestigious handbag designer. Hermes, Chanel or even Louis Vuttion?? Well its none of the above ,which anyone would deem a little bit outrageous in this situation but then again it has to be expected because this situation is beyond absurd. I mean if I had more money than sense I’d at least buy a bag that had prestige. This bag has no
heritage no prestige no tradition it’s ‘The Row’. You might have never heard of the row for the reason that it’s only been around since 2010. And the designers? None other than the one and only twin power duo Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. They opened the couture fashion label The Row and before their line had even gone on sale in stores their $39,000 alligator backpack had orders which made the bag sell out. Through out all the people I’ve interviewed the answer I’ve always received from the public whether they could afford the bag or not was that they would want the bag to be from a prestigious company. Now the Olsen twins have only just started this line so what gives them the authority to sell a bag for that price? The likes of Hermes have taken decades to get to the point in the market where they can price point there handbags at such a high value. Another reason they can justify this is because they have the market brand following, the experience and the heritage that allows them to justify selling the bag at that price. But the Olsen’s have only just started they have no justification. If we look at the Olsen twins fashion history its not good to say the least.
Yes impressive they had a multimillionpound fashion empire in Wal-Mart at such a young age but nothing that can justify a couture line selling a bag for $39,000 even if it is alligator skin. Up until they went to university in New York they had a positive public persona in the public eye they were Americas sweethearts. But then they went to New York and fashion took them. Being described as America’s sweethearts to Boho Chic Tramps, their long greasy hair, dirty vintage clothes and not having the ability to shower on a daily basis is not a marketable personality. From childhood when they had their multimillion clothing range sold in WalMarts around the world then suddenly becoming unmarketable. From a multimillion pound clothing line to a Billion pound empire they went to being the tramps of New York city In the eyes of the public. Along with Scandals of anorexia, drugs and alcohol this made them look even worse in the view of the public eye. Now why has this happened? Why are people paying more money for a virtually unknown brand instead well establish brands like Hermes? Why are grown women buying backpacks as if they’ll still in school? Why is anyone spending $39,000 on a bag when there are people in this world in poverty??
And the most important question is who is even buying this bag??? Many speculate that the reason as to why their alligator backpack may be priced so high is as a publicity stunt. Think about it. From childhood sweethearts with a multimillion pound clothing line to teenage rebels who are deemed as tramps and have petitions against them left right and center from PETA to just about every anti fur organisation in the world. They needed some publicity to get there couture clothing line going because anyone with the money would not want to buy into a company with Designers so controversial I mean who would want to spend nearly 40,000 dollars on a bag from trampy pretentious child star twins?? Were in a recession now usually this means that people buy less as the public don’t have enough disposable cash. Well the opposite has happened and this is what is shocking people as Ashley Olsen told WWD: ‘It was the first thing that sold off the shelf.’ She added that it was often only the most high-end brands that were able to thrive during an economic crisis. ’During our last economic crisis in the U.S., the only thing that went up was Hermes,’ she said.
Now we don’t understand how Hermes went up in the recession our idea of a recession was that people has less money to spend never mind a 39,000 dollar backpack. But according to the rows accountants the opposite has been occurring. Many stores such as online luxury retailer net-a-porter carry the bag, stores such as Browns in London and Bendles in New York. The reason why these stores are stocking such a ridiculously priced bag? Amanda Brookes the fashion director for Barneys New York said “The line fills a void within Barneys highly competitive bags and accessories department–a younger more streamlined Celine-esque sub-in for the Birkins they don’t stock. Obviously we don’t carry Hermes bags in the store so we were trying to find something that appeals to that customer who is willing to spend a lot of money on a bag that’s going to last a long time and has a classic design.” Amanda has always been quoted saying “If you were ever going to spend $39,000 on a bag, that’s the bag you should buy” Now with constant fashion shows happening its easy to get swept up off your feet and get infused into a fashion fuelled high this is the only way I can get my head around anyone buying this
backpack. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen are smart, who ever is buying these backpacks has more money than sense and the Olsen’s have definitely taken advantage of the select few in the world. $39,000 is the average starting teacher salary, spent on one bag‌ At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. Now remember that the next time you decide to splurge on a backpack.