Lifestyles of the rich and famous? Katherine Perrington lives vicariously and reviews The Bling Ring, a glitzy and seductive tale about when crime and consumerism meet celebrity.
A superbly entertaining yarn, The Bling Ring is Sofia Coppola’s take on the true story of a group of teens who robbed famous Hollywood houses in 2008-09. It’s fast-paced, focusing at first on Marc Hall (Israel Broussard) and Rebecca Ahn (Katie Chang) as they roam around neighbourhoods stealing from cars and houses as if it’s the done thing to do after school instead of hanging out at the mall.
Image Credit: Business Insider
Soon ‘The Bling Ring’ is formed, with these fashion conscious and morally ambiguous kids targeting celebrities solely for their style (and likelihood of leaving doors unlocked). Though the film appears on the surface as somewhat vacuous, with ample shots of the teens fawning over Chanel and Louis Vutton, its sparkling satire gives us a small glimpse into the celebrity life that many secretly crave but few actually resort to crime to achieve.
That being said, one of my favourite lines has to be from Nicki Moore (Emma Watson) as she ransacks Paris Hilton’s vast clothing collection, exclaiming in a whiny drawl, “Oh my God… it’s Hervé Léger!”.
Paris Hilton’s real house was used for filming allowing us to truly visualise these teens’ fantasy of running around stealing staggeringly expensive goods. More startling is the fact that Paris Hilton did not realise she had been robbed until two million dollars worth of jewellery had been stolen (how much stuff can one person own?!)
Image Credit: NY Daily News
The film is shot to highlight the superficial and partying nature of the celebrity lifestyle with a hip-hop and dance-heavy soundtrack, alongside shots of the thieving teens dancing in designer gear and taking obnoxious selfies whilst grasping handfuls of stolen cash.
Whilst it is satisfying to watch their comeuppance later in the film, part of me wished for more of the plundering to be shown just so that I could gawp at all the expensive things (and secretly imagine myself with all that gold jewellery). These arrogant kids see the houses they invade as their own personal shopping malls with none of them really aware of the danger until LAPD comes knocking at their doors.
They make it seem so easy; agree on whose style they liked (target houses included Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox) and them simply Google their addresses and when they’re out of town – the simplicity makes you wonder why more people don’t try it. Their own greed, carelessness and false bravado eventually lead to their capture proving that you can’t mimic the celebrity lifestyle forever without consequences.
Image Credit: Live For Film
The cynical side of my brain reasons that it can’t harm all of these designer labels to have their products splashed all over this film and on very glamorous looking actors (although I don’t imagine they’d want to inspire a crime spree).
Product placement aside, this film is an addictive viewing experience and worth more than one watch, with memorable scenes from Emma Watson and a praiseworthy performance from the rest of the cast. Overall it is a stunning film by the brilliant director, writer and producer Sofia Coppola leaving me wishing that The Bling Ring had robbed even more houses – purely so I could watch more of their antics on screen.
4/5
Katherine Perrington
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Last October I was fortunate enough to arrange an interview with Philip Colbert, the designer and creator of unique, exciting brand The Rodnik Band. The label is inspired by the Pop Art movement but is not your average fashion brand…it is an original collaboration of art, music and fashion brought together to create a ‘unique fashion concept’. The designs include some controversial and bold satires of the fashion industry whilst being themselves highly fashionable, with an array of famous supporters including Lady Gaga and Andre Leon Tally. You can Imagine my excitement at being able to have a chat with such a successful, unique and downright fun designer!
Exeposé Lifestyle: You’re Brand is really bold and unique with its quirky interpretation of pop art, could you tell me a bit more about the concept behind combining music art and fashion, as opposed to just being a fashion brand?
Philip: Basically when I graduated I wanted to do something different. I started by getting into scarves so you see I got into fashion in quite a random way. And basically the reason why I guess I tried to make it a bit different was to keep it interesting for myself and give it a bit of value. I felt it was more an art sort of brand. I just wanted to have fun with it, you know. Sometimes when you come at something from a totally different angle, if you hadn’t always imagined how you’d do something, you don’t have the same stereotypes about it. For me the idea of being a designer in the conventional sense seemed a bit boring and so that’s where this whole ‘band’ idea came because just fashion alone doesn’t give the same notion of a relationship between the creator and the product. In the art world we see the play on the notion of the artist, how the name of the artist and the way the artist thinks determines that value of what they create.
Exeposé Lifestyle: Well it definitely brings something new to the industry! You have some very impressive supporters of the brand including Lady GaGa and Andre Leon Tally, how does it feel to have such big names supporting you and become so successful?
Philip: Well fashion success is basically creating a business empire, because fashion, more that art is such a business in terms that clothes have to be sold in such volume, and you want it to have longevity. To give you an example, in art you sell something once, you paint a painting, you take it to a gallery, a collector says ‘I like that I’ll buy it and stick it on the wall, people might like it’. In fashion if you create a show, you create a dress, it’s a spectacle object for people to go ‘oh wow, I really like that’, but for buyers if they like it they have to order let’s say a thousand of them and they put them in a department store and then a thousand people have to come along and say ‘oh I like that, I’ll wear that’ because the fashion has this very commercial follow through. Even though we’ve definitely been lucky to have a fun journey and had little bits of good fortune, the challenge is the hard work and trying to sell in lots of different countries, and trying to create the commercial side of it.
Exeposé Lifestyle: You’re brand is known for being quite tongue in cheek, I saw the spoof fashion show with the front row consisting of look-a-likes (including the royal family, Katy Perry and Elton John). You obviously have a lot of fun but how do you maintain that balance between fun and the business side?
Philip: Well yes for me it made sense to start doing the spoofing because when fashion week comes around every designer is basically spending loads of money trying to promote themselves and so it’s actually a bit of a fight to get attention. And everyone is doing so many shows that I feel all the shows start to melt into each other and then all the effort and money spent doesn’t receive the best return. The shows that are most hyped who get good returns, like say Burberry, will have all these celebrities in the front row and they’ll get front pages in papers. They are the really good businesses who can afford to spend so much on the show. But if you are small and trying to compete with that then I was thinking in actuality the shows don’t necessarily relate directly to the sales figures. That’s the other side of the whole business, the sales. The shows are sort of the fantasy, the attraction. So for me if I’m not really going to compete with Burberry and the really hyped brands then instead of spending all this money and not getting a fair return I thought well, my brand is more about tongue in cheek stuff so why don’t I just be completely ridiculous so even if I don’t get commercial press I can get known and establish an identity. It’s certainly great in terms of getting publicity that I wouldn’t otherwise get. It’s different publicity because it’s not directly fashion related, its more news coverage. For me it’s the perfect kind of press because it helps push the spirit of the brand.
Exeposé Lifestyle: Some of your designs are quite controversial such as the ‘Naked Venus Dress’, Do you try and stir up a bit of controversy with your designs to try and gain this media attention?
Philip: The brand is definitely satirical, it’s a satire of fashion in a way. I want to slightly take the piss of the idea of clothing and fashion. I liked that idea particularly because it was a reference to art, to Tom Wesslemann’s paintings when he would paint a nude girl but she would have the tan lines so in a way it was giving a wink to Tom Wesselmann and the Pop Art. So it was a pop art dress but also a bit of a satire of fashion in general. That’s definitely my sort of thing, rocking the line of clothing as a fun expression of art work. Because there are different conceptions of fashion, for some fashion is a serious statement of femininity, or it can be seen in a more romantic or abstract sense. For some its more trends based and seasonal but for me there are other types of fashion, as a very bold expression or statement.
Exeposé Lifestyle: That certainly comes through in your collections! When you were at London Fashion week did you see any other designers that you particularly like at the moment?
Philip: I really like Moschino, especially early Moschino, Moschino now is more corporate but Franco Moschino the designer guy who started it definitely had a fun spirit of being an artist and making anti fashion clothing. It was fashion in the sense that it was well made and chic but it had bold statements, taking the piss sort of statements. For me, if I was a woman in fashion I’d rather be a rebel, taking the piss out of the glamour but being glamorous at the same time. There’s something quite tragic about being drawn into designer labels. I think you can look chic but at the same time take the piss out of yourself.
Exeposé Lifestyle: I think you can see that clearly in your brand, particularly with some of the clutches that are matchboxes and household items but are sequined and glamorous presenting an ironic paradox.
Philip: Yes! The bags for us are an exciting development as they’re a way for everyone can take the spirit of the Rodnik label because they can wear whatever they would normally wear and the bag can be the statement!
Exeposé Lifestyle: Is there any advise you would give to people who are wanting to develope their own brands or becoming designers?
Philip: For me, when I started I very much had this natural belief that stories sell everything and the funny thing is that when I started the idea was very different than it is now because I was importing scarves from Russia and it was all about telling a story of a princess and a romantic history. The idea of Rodnik actually came from an old shop in Moscow in 1904 and when I sold the scarves I sold them with a booklet telling the story of the princess and the shop in Moscow in 1904 and the artists that were associated with it. I think it’s true that stories sell things. Now it’s slightly different because I’ve become so focused on making the products do the talking, it’s very product focused. But when I started I was definitely concerned with creating a sense of a narrative.
It’s a challenge doing creative things. It’s like queuing in a cash point; you’ve got to wait a long time to get paid because there are so many people going to the same place wanting to do the same thing. Creative jobs are oversubscribed so I think one has to be smart and be focused in what you do in terms being distinct from other people.
To see more of the provocative and origional designs by the Rodnik Band visit their website!
Italian fashion house Versace recently released a spring/summer line for high street store H&M and, if our ‘label-lust’ and the success of the previous collection is anything to go by, it is sure to be another triumph. It is always exciting when exclusive fashion brands become available at more reasonable and affordable high street prices, yet this ‘purse-friendly’ version lead me to consider whether there is a collective pressure for consumers to purchase designer items simply because they are just that: designer.
Moreover, the market for replica and design-inspired items has never been stronger and, as a multi-million pound business in itself, it accounts for a rapidly expanding sector of the fashion industry. These days, the counterfeit products are so realistic it is practically impossible to differentiate them from the genuine article. There is a school of thought which argues that the fake items serve as free marketing for the real products by helping to establish a self perpetuating system of consumer desire and, therefore, demand. Others, however, are quick to highlight the detrimental, long term impact the increased sales of almost identical copies will have on designer brands.
Credits to H&M
Either way, I must confess to a recent spot of style stealing myself. I have always admired, and desired to own, a Hermes Birkin bag; a timeless, chic and effortlessly sophisticated accessory which should, surely, be considered an investment considering that it will remain stylish for years, if not decades. However, with starting prices that are almost too shocking for words, and with a ridiculously long and exclusive waiting list, the chances of me ever possessing one are, sadly, very slim.
Last weekend, however, I stumbled across handbag heaven; a store dedicated to the sale of imitation Birkins, and I couldn’t resist snapping up a bargain buy. There is no denying that replicas such as these make high-end fashion more accessible to the mass markets as we are able to purchase something very similar to what we want without breaking the bank. Yet, in cutting costs we inevitably lose out quality, and it is this which, unfortunately, means that nothing will ever beat the real thing.
So could you tell which bag is real? The one on the right is the faker and the bag on the left is the real deal.
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