The Rock star and the Fashionista

For decades there has been a distinct correlation between fashion icons and rock stars (think Jerry Hall & Mick Jagger). In more recent years, there seems to be a resurgence of the musician man-candy on the arm of our favourite style icons.

Here's my pick of our favourite trend-setting rock ‘n’ roll couples:

Kate Moss & Jamie Hince (of The Kills).Recently married Kate and Jamie couldn’t be more suited for one another. Kate has been romantically linked with a whole host of musicians over the years and lists Primal Scream singer Bobby Gillespie as one of her closest friends. Dueting with Primal Scream and starring in a White Stripes video have all added to her “indie” credentials (not to mention her relationship with Johnny Depp back in the day and the father of her daughter Lily is Dazed & Confused founding editor Jefferson Hack).

The supermodel’s previous tumultuous relationship with Pete Doherty seemed to put Kate’s head in a spin, but it looks like Kate has finally found “the one”.

Katy Perry & Russell BrandOkay so not strictly rock stars but between Russell’s previous lifestyle and Katy’s music, they certainly tick the Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll boxes. Add both stars’ ability to set fashion trends and you have the perfect fashion-rock duo.

Prior to meeting Russell, Katy had had a bumpy relationship with hip hop star Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes, whilst lothario Russell was an admitted sex addict who played the field.

The recovering drug and sex addict comedian and the 'I kissed a girl' singer have been happily married since last October.

Kate Hudson & Matt Belamy (of Muse)

Not to be outshined by the Beckhams, the A-List couple recently announced the arrival of their new baby son Bingham "Bing" Hawn Bellamy. (Yes, you read correctly.) Matt and baby Bingham will now be Hollywood royalty with Kate's parents mum Goldie Hawn and stepdad Kurt Russell.

The new parents got engaged in April following a year-long whirlwind romance.

Kate has a son to previously husband Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson. Since their divorce in 2007, Kate has been romantically linked to a whole host of male stars the one that stuck was (again) a lead singer in a rock band. The role that kick-started her career was that of a rock groupie (sorry, “band-aid”) in Almost Famous.

Alexa Chung and Alex Turner (of Arctic Monkeys).The model-turned-TV presenter had previously been linked with members of The Lost Prophets, The Horrors and Klaxons before hooking up with Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex in 2007.

The ultra-cool couple are often spotted in their natural habitat of music festivals wearing complimentary laid-back chic outfits. Alexa even starred in an Arctic Monkeys music video.

Unfortunately, rumours are abound that the pair have split up. Photographed in May mid a less than enthusiastic kiss, the two haven’t been spotted together since - not even at Glastonbury despite them both being in attendance.

Keira Knightley & James Righton (of Klaxons)

Having split from long-term boyfriend actor Rupert Friend, Keira’s heart seemed to be broken until friend Alexa Chung introduced Kiera to Klaxons keyboarder James.

In just a couple of months the two have been spotted unable to keep their hands off of each other and look set to become the new fashion/indie power couple.

Top 5 wishlist for August

Some achievable, some not-so achievable:

Topshop 'Psychic' black studded ankle boots £110

Chanel 'Boy' bag in white (and/or red) £1525

Tina Lilienthal silver skull and arrow necklace £66Barbour flyweight tartan beadnell jacket £179.95

Topshop honey glossy faux fur cossack hat £22

I like dolls at the moment...

...as you can see by my last 2 posts and the next 2.

Lily bares all.

Is it just me or does Lily Allen look increasingly amazing? Perhaps this is what happens when you become best chums with Mr Lagerfeld. (Be my friend Karl!)

This time she has gone topless for Harper's Bazaar Russia in vintage lace underwear and charcoaled eyes.

David Bowie - Fashion

My first introduction to this song was from the film Clueless when I was 10 years old. Loved it then - love it now.

Dress

Balmain handbags.

So the news has just broke the edgiest label in Paris, Balmain are to launch their own handbag collection. WWD has just dished the dirt: Retailers are in Paris for viewings of the pre-collections showing a half dozen styles. Like their clothes, expect a lot of silver, black leather, studs, crystals and fringing.

The Beth Ditto Doll.

So the Beth Ditto for Evans collection launches in July following months of consultations to create a commercial collection reflecting her personal style. It signals a brave new step in a younger direction for the plus-size brand.

But Beth couldn't make it along for the recent Autumn Winter Arcadia Press Day. Instead, Evans teased visitors by showcasing a replica doll of Beth and promotional postcards wearing 2 garments from the up and coming collection.

Apparently Beth's team decided to commission specialist doll-makers to create a one-off babydoll of her. Arcadia say that the detailing of the hand-crafted doll is indicative of the amount of passion and care that the Gossip's lead singer has put into her first clothing range. 

This range is said to be very vintage and 80's pop culture inspired (check out the sequined slouch dress), particularly drawing from Ska and Two Tone.

Marc Jacobs in Sugar Kane.

I was just watching Sonic Youth video 'Sugar Kane' from 1992 and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that the catwalk themed video featured none other than a young Chloë Sevigny acting as a model AND Marc Jacobs! 

Turns out the young fashion impresario Chloë wasn't very well known at the time out-with the New York fashion scene and Kim Gordon knew someone who knew Jacobs so he volunteered to do the clothes for the video. 

Smells like Marc Jacobs.

OK so about the origins of Grunge and how it came into the fashion forefront... In the late 80s, a bunch of musicians started to form bands in the Washington state, escaping the gloomy weather in their garages.

The music tended to be influenced from punk and the hard rock of the 70s.  

It wasn't until Nirvana's second album "Nevermind" and in particular the first single from the album "Smells Like Teen Spirit", that the scene was catapulted into the mainstream. 

Of course grunge was extremely anti-fashion. The music reflected the unhappy mood of America and Europe's children ("Generation X") and the clothes were further validation of the "we don't care" youth attitude. The messy hair and clothes were intended to counteract the image of plasticity that MTV sold.

When Marc Jacobs designed a SS '93 collection for Perry Ellis, stylizing grunge, consumers were shocked and rejected it stating "you cannot charge $1200 for a dress that looks like it was bought in a second hand store". Subsequently, Jacobs was fired by the Perry Ellis Company despite tremendous editorial support from fashion critics who felt that the look was significant - it showed women they didn't have to dress in a certain style. They had choices. 

Perry Ellis SS '93, Marc Jacobs AW '06

Unfortunately, by embracing the look, the fashion critics killed the anti-fashion trend and with Jacobs' firing, grunge suffered a backlash. On the musical front, the bands that had started the movement rejected it's new associations with the fashion world and with the untimely death of Kurt Cobain in '94, grunge too was pronounced dead. 

I feel their has been a slight resurrection of late.

The power of Levi's music.

Today I went thrift shopping and bought a bunch of vinyl records including this 1982 Levi's Strauss compilation 'Fingers off!' for just 99p. 

Of course Levi's has been associated with musicians for a long time, with the likes of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, the Strokes and even Massive Attack all sporting the jeans and their TV ads famously use music as a marketing tool to reach a specific audience.

My favourite one I remember being in awe of when I was just 8, was this advert featuring the song "Inside" by Stiltskin. At the time, Grunge was massive so this song and band were created specifically for the advert and went on to get a lot of airplay off the back of this advert alone. (Also good ones to watch are this Brad Pitt one and this fab one directed by Michel Gondry).

Recently, Levi's have taken it one step further with their Record Company label, Levity which has been signing up what they view as some of the best young acts around.

Label of the moment - PPQ

PPQ (of Mayfair) has gathered itself a loyal following since it's beginnings in '92. The fashion brand is particularly popular amongst the style savvy 'Get-the-London-look' celebs and pop stars and Peaches Geldof seemed to be wearing a PPQ creation every day at one point. 

But now the 19 year old 'It' girl has joined forces with the fashion label to create a capsule collection which you can only buy the collection at oli.co.uk. Not being a particular fan of Peaches, I was pleasantly surprised to see that a few of the designs are really nice and very wearable for the current high street trends. 

I came across these pictures in OK and thought Peaches looked really nice, especially in the one below where she looks very Alice in Wonderland.

Another PPQ collaboration I loved was with Ben Sherman last spring. The 'Five Decades of Dresses' encapsulating the music in the UK of each decade of the Ben Sherman brand's existance. Ben Sherman had picked PPQ for the collaboration because they felt that - like themselves and the music - they too are pioneers of British style.

The Rockstar boyfriend accessory.

For decades there has been a distinct relationship between fashion icons and rockstars (think Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall). This year there seems to be a resurgence of the musician man-candy on the arm of the UK's favourite style icons.

Here's a few examples:

Agyness Deyn & Albert Hammond Jr (of the Strokes). 

She previously dated Josh Hubbard of the Paddingtons but has now bagged the Strokes guitarist. For Britain's new favourite style icon it is so suitable that she partner up with one of the men who brought indie rock 'n' roll back to the forefront. The 2 being completely down-to-earth, seem very happy and extremely natural despite the constant attention from the press.

Daisy Lowe & Mark Ronson (Musician, Producer & DJ).

Ok so they're not together anymore but for the up and coming model to snatch up Mr Cool himself increased her already celebrity status. Her parents are Pearl Lowe (singer turned fashion designer) and Gavin Rossdale (lead singer of the band Bush and now happily married to Gwen Stefani). Having such parentage, it is understandable that Daisy partnered up with one of the world's best known producers. Unfortunately it didn't last unlike Daisy's model career which has went from strength to strength this year.

Katy Perry & Travis McCoy (of Gym Class Heroes).

The 'I kissed a girl' singer has been dating the hip hop star for over a year and the 2 try to keep their private life exactly that. Recently McCoy was arrested after an incident where a fan insulted him whilst he was performing. Katy has stuck by him and the incident only adds to his, indeed their, rockstar credibility.

Alexa Chung and Alex Turner (of the Arctic Monkeys).

The model turned TV presenter turned model again had previously been linked with a member of the Lost Prophets, the Horrors and the Klaxons before getting together with Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex. The pair have been going out for long over a year and Alexa recently starred in the Arctic Monkeys music video for their song 'My mistakes were made for you'.

Kate Moss & Jamie Hince (of the Kills).

De ja vu. Kate Moss has been romantically linked with a whole host of musicians and has been close friends with Primal Scream lead singer Bobby Gillespie for many years (even dueting in a single with him). Kate has also starred in a White Stripes video. 

The supermodel previously had a tumultuous relationship with Pete Doherty but it seemed like her relationship with Jamie Hince was more evenly matched. The couple have had an unsettled relationship however. The cynical part of me thinks that Kate seeks out those who will increase her "indie" cool factor but time will tell if their relationship will survive. 

Peaches Geldof & Max Drummey (of band Chester French).

Daughter of Bob Geldof, 19 year old party girl Peaches married American singer Max in Las Vegas in August this year. The married couple have each others names tattooed on their hands. There have been rumours of divorce already but Peaches seems happy enough following her husband on his band's tours. 

Courtney Love photoshoot

I get emails from Elle UK and I saw that Courtney Love is on their January cover and looks pretty damn good. She still looks like her usual rock star self as she is wearing this season's trends but this time it looks a bit more polished than the usual smeared red lipstick look. I used to have really mixed feelings towards her as I was a huge Nirvana fan growing up but I'm so glad to see her looking so good. Speaking of which, I got a Nirvana t-shirt in Urban Outfitters recently as it was reduced from £32 to £15. I used to have a vest-top like this when I was younger which I bought off another girl in school who was a whole lot bustier than me at the time. The Nirvana logo was therefore a bit stretched horizontally but I loved it anyway.