Happy Birthday to Makeda! My wonderful assistant who is unspeakably brilliant in so many ways (on top of working fabulously, she bakes brilliantly and rocks a hat/headpiece nearly every day) – A suitable birthday honour then to be featured on the Vogue Blog. Modeling a sneak peek selection of headpieces for Vogue Fashion’s Night Out at the Louis Vuitton store. We can’t wait for Fashion’s Night Out. Lots of fun planned!

Slice of lime with that ?

]]> http://www.fionaleahy.com/fl-journal/makeda-strikes-a-birthday-pose-vogue/feed/ 0 http://www.fionaleahy.com/fl-journal/shuck-it/ http://www.fionaleahy.com/fl-journal/shuck-it/#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:52:35 +0000 admin http://www.fionaleahy.com/fl-journal/?p=1835

A little tardiness on the blog front as I took myself to Ibiza (again) for the last of the summer wine. Or last of the summer hierbas as the case may be.

Sunning ourselves at El Chiringuito a vision approached our cluster of loungers. A mirage of sorts. Well for me anyway, beach mirages for other people are probably the man/woman of their fantasies wearing very little. For me a beach mirage goes a little something like this…I am hungry, a ruggedly handsome man in a Breton top accessorised by a beautiful leather holster comes toward me holding a pail of oysters on ice. Think more Hermes holster than tequila shot holster and you get the idea. Freshly shucked bliss…

Love the chainmail shucking glove with his silver bracelet. How gorgeous is the leather holster? Ah the details…

Would madam like the shallot vinaigrette? The green or red tabasco, the lemon juice? Everything?

Nasturtiums. Love the appeal of eating beautiful flowers. Raw food canapes from Zenses Ibiza.

I used to be a fan of the radical detox holiday. It was like a prescription of drastic correction that I enforced anually for having too much of a good thing (a convent school upbringing can do that to you). Detoxing in Thailand, fasting in India, bootcamp in Mexico. A masochistic set of healthy holidays. The last time I went on a fast in Thailand I persevered through two weeks of “nothing broth” while fellow holiday makers filed past me with plates of lobster further cementing my misery. Mission accomplished and bursting with rude health we finally went off to a neighbouring island where our exquiste teak villa awaited…complete with a mini bar stocked with my favourite red wine. Oh dear.

I woke up the next day and instead of glowing with post detox gorgeousness. My face was covered. IN. RED. WELTS. The shock of the alcohol on my impeccably clean bloodstream. The rest of my holiday was spent hiding behind a penguin classic, large sunglasses and a giant hat. A distinctly post op Look that in retrospect was pretty hilarious. That experience taught me the lesson of trying to achieve balance and not living in such extremes.

Now Instead of going on extreme health kick holidays I try and temper my everyday life to incorporate the positive aspects that I learned on all those holidays and I save my holidays for doing, well Holiday things. I like a trip where I wake up and can sip a Spirulina smoothie and at sunset have a glass of good red wine. Balance.

Delicious healthy lunch that Ibiza Retreats arranged at our villa.

On a recent trip to Ibiza (an island that can knock you off or put you on balance like no other) I met the lovely Larah from Ibiza Retreats. Larah runs retreats in Ibiza which run from a day to a few weeks. They serve delicious raw food, have life-coaching, yoga, massages…all the good mind, body and soul stuff. On this trip Larah was our holiday “wellness concierge,” now this is a concierge service worth having both away and in everyday life. She booked us reflexology, massages, vibrational healing (this is amazing) and liberally sprinkled healthy fairy dust on our holiday. You’ve got to love someone who adds cucumber and strawberries to your daily pitchers of water. Vitamin Water indeed, this is the original and yet another trick I took back home.

Phone Detox. We placed our mobiles on trays of cleansing Ibizan sea salt. Mine is now switched onto another vibration (and devoid of inappropriate texts)

Larah took us on a one day multi sensory retreat which was just extraordinary. Set in a private villa we had an unforgettable afternoon of eating raw superfoods (a shot of raw cocoa we downed contains the same nutritional value as a large steak) having treatments, listening to music and engaging in wellness rituals. I loved the Multi Sensory Ritual where we were blindfolded and had scents placed under our noses, different tastes planted in our mouths. This took me out of my comfort zone and is not something I would usually do but I found it strangely liberating and left with a heightened senses of awareness. Always a good thing.

This is a wonderful mindful experience to have with friends and I highly recommend it. Of course you can also run off to Aura afterwards for more wonderful experiences. Mojitos on the terrace, Dinner in the garden, Disco indoors…it’s my favourite place to escape to this Summer. Ah The Joy of Balance…Happy Holidays!

Lunch at Cas Gasi. Incredible food that comes from…

…their garden.

Ibizan hens. We ate their eggs for breakfast every morning.

Silk blindfolds for the multi Zensory experience. Delightful.

At the Retreat. This cat has the ultimate water/fountain bowl

The Goddess like girls from Zenses who do the Multi Zensory day retreats with Ibiza Retreats.

After a night at Aura. A smoothie at the organic juice bar on Benirras beach works wonders.

We’ve developed a thing for playing with paper recently. It’s nice that something so practical and utilitarian can, when artfully crafted, pleated, folded and manipulated becomes something quite spectacularly sculptural. For the Pandora Press day in the Mandarin Oriental last week we decked the ballroom with thousands and thousands of paper flowers. We have yet to calculate how many hours went into creating these but it was many…many…hundreds. Paper worker elves mushroomed and multiplied in our studio, intricately folding and finessing over Frappucinos. Thank you to Anna and all our paper helpers who held the paper forte while some of us wafted around The Secret Garden Party and Port Eliot. When Vogue Blogs it. It’s worth it.

In a very glamorous act of paper recycling we are re-using each and every paper flower at Pandora’s next event in Monaco. Sure beats the recycling bin….

Anna tending to her flowers

Makeda and Pascale’s Secret Flower Party…..

Paper Pillars

We still love lace and had bespoke Pandora panels woven in Scotland for the event

A long stretch of Gold Mirror displays Pandora’s new collection of watches

We lit golden birdcages showcasing Pandora watches with beautiful antique filament bulbs and gold flex

Cocktails in the garden from our living herb bar. Herby Wallbanger anyone?

We transformed the Fifth Floor Restaurant wall with miles and miles of mylar.

Artfully pleating, folding and taping. It takes a lot of effort to make it look this effortless. Honestly.

We made a Dj booth out of all the Bang mini trays that are used for merchandising.

Love how this looked…

Love how it looked even more when Jesus Luz popped behind it. He played a brilliant set.

Cue much energetic dancing and arms in the air…finishing to Madonna’s “Celebrate”. Sweet…

Jake Shears from the Scissor Sisters played after Jesus

Bang cocktails with Bang ice cubes. Double bang!

My second Port Eliot Literary Festival and I’m totally smitten. It’s my idea of the absolute perfect festival. Beautifully art directed, wonderfully curated, intelligent and thought provoking all supplemented with the most delicious food (provided by The River Cottage and Chris Sherville’s Seafood Cafe.) I came away inspired, informed and eager to read more, do more and learn. Port Eliot is an enlightened festival and I could write about it for days. There was so much to do, see and listen to. Here instead are my edited highlights…

• Murray Lachlan Young. How we laughed, cried and sang. Hilarious. Possibly the funniest poet in the world.
• Eating seafood in the walled garden. Many times…
• The Hermes Gold horse balloons. How I love a good balloon (They wouldn’t give me one as I’m not a child…arguable)
• Jarvis Cocker’s Dj set. Awesome. Anyone that ends a set with Black Betty is instantly promoted to demigod status
• Speaking of demigods GRAYSON PERRY. So loved listening to him. What an incredibly intelligent articulate man…




• …And then there’s Alan Measles, Grayson’s teddy bear who drove to the festival in a shrine on a motorbike. No joke
• The one minute disco. Genius van that pulled up every hour by the river for exactly that. A burst of one minute disco
• Wild swimming in the St Germans estuary with the Outdoor Swimming Society. So invigorating we did it both days.
• “Flights of Fancy” Stuffed birds as interior decoration in the English country house. A brilliant talk with brilliant slides by Tim Knox (Director of Sir John Soane’s museum)
• Toy Story 3. The subliminal star. Referenced many times by the intelligencia

My only low-lights, the things I missed. But like anything worthwhile you are always left wanting more…

The Hat Competition with master milliner Stephen Jones

Grayson Perry’s talk. Witty, intelligent and pretty damn funny.

The KLF’s Bill Drummond making his own bed. Intriguing. How I loved the KLF

Loved the Hermes scarf tying Horsebox. A vibrant splash of luxury goods and the best gold horse balloons

Learning how to tie a headscarf in the Hermes horsebox. I have a new appreciation for the art of headscarfage and can see an expensive habit cropping up.

The boys from the One Minute Disco roll up.

Swimming with the wild Outdoor Swimming Society…’Water needs no roof’.

Rosette making. Honestly. This is a workshop everyone should do, we all deserve a rosette

Flower arranging competition. An arrangement of weeds in a wellington boot. Genius

An arrangment of flowers in a thimble…for a Mouse’s tea party

Delicious oysters

Went for a walk around the grounds. What a striking view of the viaduct.

]]> http://www.fionaleahy.com/fl-journal/port-eliot-literary-festival/feed/ 2 http://www.fionaleahy.com/fl-journal/jessica-mccormack-xiv-the-seven-deadly-sins-the-seven-contrary-virtues/ http://www.fionaleahy.com/fl-journal/jessica-mccormack-xiv-the-seven-deadly-sins-the-seven-contrary-virtues/#comments Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:58:22 +0000 admin http://www.fionaleahy.com/fl-journal/?p=1529

Jessica McCormack’s jewelry is something I have lusted after for quite some time. My friend Sophie stocks a selection in her  store,  The Merchant Archive and I love nothing more than playing dress up with some of her gorgeous bespoke pieces. Her jewelry is delicate but strong, the perfect combination of avant garde with old world glamour . Jesicca’s Salon in Clerkenwell is equally gorgeous, behind big black wooden doors lurks the most exquisite  Salon /workshop/studio that I have been to in London  …… and she has a swing, a fully operational working swing by her desk. Perfect.

We were thrilled to design Jesicca’s press day for her new fine jewelry collection, The Seven deadly sins and the seven contrary virtues . The Clerkenwell kitchen made delicious black and white food to reflect the darkness & lightness aspect and we did what we love to do best . We played with beautiful things….

Love this Diamond Bow ring.

and this one . The more Diamond heavy Bow ring which is my favourite ring in the universe .

The armed magnifying glasses worked beautifully at magnifying the jewels

We had the Blackest Rook we could find come to symbolize the darkness of the sins

These  feathered  earrings symbolize sloth …. feathers being sleepy, lazy and bed like.

A bevy of vintage black ceramic swans held  bespoke Jessica McCormack cakepops from  Pop Bakery.

A feathered Grape eater

Delicious Monochrome food from The Clerkenwell Kitchen

The bathroom doors at Hotel Raphael. Old world Parisian glamour at it’s best.

I just fell in love with Paris all over again. Summoned for a last minute work trip, I decided to spend the weekend and couldn’t help but wish that every Saturday night was this much fun…….

The Chic-O-Vator. The chicest elevator ever and the gateway to many a memorable Paris evening.

The Python clutch was a present from a lovely Vintage Store owner. A present from a stranger? J’adore! Studio W

Derriere the most fun a restaurant can have. Ping Pong tables inside! And on a Balmy Parisian evening the pom pom swing in the background is truly inspired…as was Melissa’s cocktail ( and nail varnish)

An inviting wardrobe door…

…that led into a hidden smoking and games room. I wish every restaurant had one of these.

After dinner we hotfooted it to Le Renard the BEST karaoke spot ever. Looks like how I imagine the Copacobana was , all louvred mirror and palm leafed chic.The perfect backdrop to singing some bad Black Eyed Peas..

Karaoke with the resident pianist. He was amazing …. and very patient.

And another one.

On the way home. Sealed with a kiss.

We love Lula Magazine, it is like opening the pages to another dreamy world. So we were delighted when we were asked to design and produce their 5th Birthday Dinner Party and a Pop Up Shop on the 4th Floor in Harvey Nichols (which is open for a month from today and on-line). It has lots of essential treats curated by Lula editor in chief, Leith Clark. I want the Lover white romper and a copy of Derek Blasberg’s “Classy “ for the weekend. Essential romping and reading.

Lots of photographs to follow but in the meantime here are some behind the scenes snaps. We installed the dinner and the shop on the same night so we need to catch up with some much needed beauty sleep…Fast.

Lot’s of balloons and lot’s of girls and this is what we call work.

Erdem – We like it when the guests take home the flowers and the placement. It’s worked it’s magic.

Emma Rios the hugely talented illustrator who painted the Pop Up in-situ.

Got to dash! Spinning class anyone?

I love Jelly. I particularly love the spectacular jellies that are the signature of Bompas and Parr. An inspirational pair that I have had the joy to work with on many fun filled projects. When I first came across Bompas and Parr a few years ago I had to pinch myself. I walked into their architectual Jelly Banquet at UCL and what lay before me was my personal version of heaven. A long wobbling fluorescing stretch of illuminated pink architectural jellies. The perfect merging of food, architecture and art. Delightful.

They are a genius double act. Well spoken, incredibly knowledgeable and often exquisitly dressed. Sam at one of our first meetings arrived dressed in a smart suit with a bow tie, pink socks and wielding a giant spoon. Most importantly they have the most infectious enthusiasm, they believe anything is possible and with them it truly is…Breathable alcohol, scratch and sniff cinema, architectural punchbowls and the recent phenomenally sucessful parliamentary waffle house. They really are revolutionising our perception of food in a dizzying fashion.

Last night we went to their book and studio launch. Their studio is somewhere I want to loiter in…occult jams in one corner, levitating strawberries in another and fridges full of delicious quivering jellies.

The book is wonderful and I urge you all to buy one. It’s beautifully shot, informative and dare I say it the perfect antidote to the growing legion of  ”serious” cookery books. Food is fun, this is fun and this coming weekend I’m inspired to make the rosé and rhubarb jelly. Maybe I can persuade the boys to show me how to make it levitate. A levitating rosé jelly in my garden…Pure Joy.

It’s worth mentioning their next adventure happening in July. The Complete History of Food . Go boys!

Mark Ronson’s birthday party. We got Bompas and Parr to do an architectural jelly table which ended up in a decadent jelly fight (the best parties do!)

Aphrodisiac jellies

Levitating Strawberries. What could be better than levitating food?

Some of the infamous jellies.

Laura and Phoebe get heavily involved in the breathable architecture. And inhale……..