Amazon Opens Huge Photo Studio In London- the online retailer

Amazon has opened up a new photography studio in Shoreditch, London — a 46,000 square-foot venue with 22 photography bays that Amazon says is one of the largest of its kind in Europe and will help it create and add more than 500,000 images of clothes to its sites every year.

The studio is a brick structure that dates to 1850 and was built under the arches of the Hoxton railway line and is leased from Transport for London, the city’s transportation authority.

The site was derelict before Amazon got a hold of it. It has been home to a glass factory and a steam train workshop, both of which seem kind of apt when you consider the fragile and fickle nature of the fashion industry, as well as the machine-like force of Amazon’s growth and ambitions.

The move comes as Amazon is hoping to ramp up significantly in fashion sales both on Amazon.com and other properties that it owns in the UK, France, Italy and Spain. The company says it has added 100 new fashion brands to its platform in 2014, with brands including Hugo Boss, Gucci watches, Emporio Armani, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, 7ForAllMankind, American Retro, Petite Bateau, Levi’s and Lacoste.

Online fashion is very big business in Europe already, with companies like Rocket Internet making large investments alongside the likes of luxury conglomerates like LVMH. Startups like Net a Porter and ASOS have been big breakthroughs, and others like Farfetch now also coming up steadily as rivals. In other words, Amazon is moving into a very busy market.

Opening a studio to shoot items would help Amazon boost its inventory in two ways: by selling more items itself and also helping third parties sell more on its marketplace. The company says between April and June it sold over 30 million fashion products in Europe — although, as is often the case with Amazon, it does not say how that translates into dollars.

“Our aim is to make Amazon the best place to buy fashion online,” said Sergio Bucher, VP of Amazon Fashion EU, in a statement. “The opening of our new fashion studio, in the heart of one of the leading fashion capitals of the world, illustrates our ambitions.”

In addition to photography, the studios will have an editorial suite that will also include video editing and a library, as well as offices for Amazon’s fashion staff charged with bringing more merchants and advertisers to the platform.

Amazon has been a significant force in driving the growth of the tech scene in London, with one big development being a move of its UK offices from the outskirts of London — in Slough, the dreary suburb that was the setting of the original Office series — to a 15-story building on the outskirts of London’s financial centre currently being built to house 5,000 employees.

This new photo studio will add 35 jobs plus another 75 at seasonal peaks. It’s also been trying to position itself as a brand in the fashion world. In February, the Council of Fashion Designers of America announced that Amazon would be a major sponsor of the first-ever menswear Fashion Week in New York this year.

NICKY HILTON'S WEDDING

When Nicky Hilton got engaged to boyfriend James Rothschild in August 2014, she had no doubt in her mind which designer she'd choose for her big day. "Ever since I was a little girl I wanted Valentino to design my wedding dress. Valentino is the definition of timeless elegance, I don't think there's another couture house like it.The hotel heiress worked with the couturiers for six months to create her dream dress. "I went through every look from their collections over the last 10 years. I studied the archives, and I just sent notes about details I liked—a certain sleeve, a high neckline." The final confection was a guipure lace gown, embellished with crystals, attached to a precious balloon skirt with a 3 meter-long train—adding custom Christian Louboutin pumps inscribed with "Mrs. Rothschild" on the heels. Hilton says most of all she will miss jetting off to Paris for her fittings

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BRAD PITT, ANGELINA JOLIE HAD TEA WITH PRINCE WILLIAM, KATE MIDDLETON

Has there ever been a more A-list meeting of afternoon tea?

On June 26, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie took a trip across the pond to meet Prince William and Kate Middleton for the first time.

"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Pitt at Kensington Palace on Friday afternoon," a Kensington Palace spokesman told Us Weekly. "They discussed their shared interest in combatting the illegal wildlife trade."

Hollywood's royal pair had apparently been communicating with the royal couple for months about the get-together, and the visit reportedly did not disappoint. According to the magazine's sources, the foursome got along "splendidly"—and Brangelina even got to meet the one-and-only Prince George. "They ended up staying for almost a few hours," adds the source.

The Jolie-Pitts are staying in London so Jolie can attend a lunch for her work on UK foreign policy at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on Monday

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Street style at Milan Fashion Women 2015

What’s not to love about the street style outside the Milan shows? Always polished, a little retro and 100 percent awesome. See below for our favorite looks from the Spring 2015 showgoers so far.

Street style at Milan Fashion Week Men 2015

One of the main highlights of the bi-annual fashion weeks are the well dressed men attending the shows and presentations. After our London Collections Men and Pitti Uomo street style galleries, here are the best shots from the streets of Milan. A case in point that fashion week isn't just about the catwalks.

MORE PICS ARE ON THE WAY, TO KNOW MORE  SUSBCRIBE TO FASHION STYLELIST BLOG

Skinny jeans cause 'fashion victim' to collapse in Adelaide park at night, after cutting blood flow

A woman who squatted in skinny jeans for hours while helping a family member pack had to be treated in hospital for four days, doctors in Australia say.

The 35-year-old woman went to hospital with severe weakness in both ankles after she'd spent the previous day squatting while emptying cupboards.

She'd been wearing tight-fitting skinny jeans and recalled they felt increasingly tight and uncomfortable.  By evening, she experienced numbness in her feet and found it difficult to walk. The woman spent hours lying on the ground before she was found

When she was examined in hospital, her calves were so swollen that the jeans had to be cut off.

In Tuesday's issue of the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Kimber of the neurology unit at Royal Adelaide Hospital and his colleagues describe how the muscle and nerve fibres in her lower legs were damaged.

"The present case represents a new neurological complication of wearing tight jeans," the team wrote in an article titled, "Fashion victim:rhabdomyolosis and bilateral peroneal and tibial neuropathies as a result of squatting in 'skinny jeans.'"

They suspect the tight jeans worsened the prolonged compression from squatting.

The result was reduced blood supply to the leg muscles, causing swelling of the muscles and compression of the adjacent nerves.

She was treated with IV fluids, the swelling and neurological function in her legs improved and the woman was able to walk without assistance when she was discharged four days later.

 

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THE BEST CELEBRITY FATHER'S DAY INSTAGRAM PICS

Father's Day is a time to wish the men in your lives, who have been there for you over the years, well. It's a time for celebration, love, and, of course, laughter
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!
See how celebrity fathers and their families are honoring their paternal figures on their special day

Barack Obama with daughters Sasha and Malia

Tom Brady with children Benjamin, Vivian and John

Khloe Kardashian shares photo of Caitlyn Jenner and Robert Kardashian

Justin Timberlake with son Silas

Gwyneth Paltrow

Stella McCartney

Miley Cyrus

Madonna

Ciara

Kim Kardashian

Caitlyn Jenner with daughter Kendall

Caitlyn Jenner with daughters Kendall and Kylie

Ryan Reynolds with daughter James

David Beckham

Jay-Z with daughter Blue Ivy

Gwyneth Paltrow with dad Bruce Paltrow

Beyonce with dad

Hugh Jackman with dad

Prince Charles with sons William and Harry

Doutzen Kroes with husband Sunnery James and children Phyllon and Myllena

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Emma Watson Showcases Her Toned Legs In Patterned Mini Skirt and White Blouse

Emma Watson was seen putting on a stylish display during a night out in London on Saturday night.

The 25-year-old was pictured making her way into celebrity hotspot, The Chiltern Firehouse, in a while blouse and patterned mini skirt.

Opting to showcase her slim legs in an on-trend skirt, she kept her look casual with black boots.

The first trailer for Emma’s upcoming thriller, Regression, was recently been released online.




Directed by Oscar winner Alejandro Amenabar, the dark thriller sees the actress star starring alongside Ethan Hawke and her reuniting 

with her former Harry Potter co-star David Thewlis.

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BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

The first look at Disney's next live-action film is officially here, in the form of an Instagram of course. Josh Gad, who will star as Beauty and The Beast's Le Fou, shared the first cast photo including Emma Watson (Belle), Dan Stevens (The Beast), Luke Evans (Gaston) and Kevin Kline (Maurice). Although the remake isn't expected to hit theaters until March 2017, it looks like filming is now underway.

 Disney has announced an official release date for the live-action Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens. The new remake is set to debut in theaters on March 17, 2017. 

Two new castings were also announced along with the release date, Emma Thompson will be playing Mrs. Potts while Kevin Kline has secured the role of Maurice.

 British actor and former Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens has officially been cast to star in Disney's upcoming live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. Stevens will play the Beast, starring opposite Emma Watson who is set to play Disney princess, Belle.

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She's played a witch (the Harry Potter series), a biblical figure (Noah) and a thieving spoiled brat (The Bling Ring), but now, Emma Watson is set to take on arguably her most high-pressure role to date—bringing a Disney Princess to life. The actress has been cast as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, the latest Disney fairytale to get the live-action treatment (Cinderella, starring Downton Abbey's Lily James, hits theaters March 13). 

Watson is the first to be cast in the film, helmed by director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn). The actress took to Facebook to make the announcement, expressing her "heart-bursting" excitement. 

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NEW TREND FOR INSTAGRAM WILL TELL YOU HOW TO DRESS BETTER

If you're anything like us, your Instagram feed is full of carefully framed selfies and snaps of your latest #ootd. (Because, what else?) The app was pretty much made for fashion. And while we're not style blogger status andgetting paid thousands for a single post, we've all gone to embarrassing extremes to get a good photo, a.k.a. one that will get maximum likes. Now there's a new tool to improve your Instagram pictures, starting at the foundation of it all: your outfit.

Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed an algorithm that will analyze your photo and make suggestions to improve it. As explained in the report provided by the Computer Vision Foundation, "People want to look good; business or casual, elegant or sporty, sexy but not slutty, and of course trendy, particularly so when putting their picture online. Our goal is to learn and predict how fashionable a person looks on a photograph and suggest subtle improvements the user could make to improve her/his appeal." Um… yes, please!

The researchers mined data from chictopia.com, a social website where users share photos of their outfits. Using the site's 144,169 posts, the team was able to amass highly detailed statistics for each user, their photo and the fashion it features, along with the comments and response it received from the rest of the Chictopia community. This Fashion144k Dataset, as it's called, revealed certain correlations and patterns between aspects of a post and the interest it generated, which information the smart folks in Toronto then crunched and coded into their intricate (and seriously brilliant) fashionability-predicting algorithm.

Input a photo and the algorithm assesses "the type of outfit and garments, the type of user, the setting/scenery of the photograph, and fashionability of the user's photograph." Then, the code will churn out a rich set of feedback including outfit recommendations, suggested locations to show off your look, plus notes on how well it fits, the lighting and angle of the photo, and other similar elements that may affect the aesthetic quality.

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