The best thing you can wear is your skin. A phrase coined almost by accident by Italian bag designer Barbara Boner: “It just popped into my head without me even thinking about it,” Barbara says. “I’m now 37 and at a stage in my life where I am completely comfortable in the skin I’m in – What I would love is if all women had the self-believe and self-assurance to believe in this too. I like to think that I can communicate with my customer through my brand motto.”

In March 2009, Barbara launched her first collection; a series of animal skin fringed bags aimed at the nomadic woman and inspired by the excitement of adventure and travel from both her own experiences and those belonging to her gypsy grandmother: “She was a traveller with the circus in which her act involved driving a motorcycle around a ring of fire.”

As Boner continues to elaborate on her family’s curiously unusual story, I am intrigued to know more about hers…

You’re originally from Italy — when and why did you decide to make the move to London?
I first moved to London with my parents when I was four years old but we only stayed for a couple of years. Being in London is actually one of my earliest memories. I remember that I loved the parks, in particular I loved the squirrels – we don’t have them in Italy!

Four years ago I was living in Ibiza where I met my husband – he’s from London so that’s why I decided to move here permanently.

You are professionally trained in psychology — what effect has this had on your design work?
I try to see the woman wearing my bags through both women’s eyes and men’s. I think I have quite a strong masculine vision of things as well as a feminine one.

I also studied Latin and Greek so that trained my mind to think with concepts. With my work there’s always a theory behind things – an imaginary world that supports my brand and designs. I enjoy creating this world each season just as much as creating the bags.

Each of your collections are centred around an imagined inspirational woman — tell me about the latest for spring / summer 2013…
The woman I have conceived for this season is totally connected to her environment and nature, so much so that she can morph her human-self into an animal but also a plant – She is both flora and fauna.

Sum up your label’s aesthetic in 3 words…
Rebel, regal and romantic.

Thanks to a stylish celebrity following including the likes of Kate Moss, Poppy Delevingne and Olivia Palermo, you’ve become the ‘go to girl’ for fringed bags — why did you decide to focus on fringing as your signature?
My mother was a hippy and was always wearing fringing so when I created my first collection I decided to feature it in homage to her. Everyone loved that aspect of it so I thought ‘OK – you want fringing – I will give you fringing!’

Also for me it means freedom and movement; the Native Americans have used fringing for centuries to disguise themselves as animals and plants for hunting purposes. So yet again it’s bringing back this idea of nature, flora and fauna.

Who are some of your favourite women from both the past and present?
I’m a massive Kate (Moss) fan. I also love women of the 60s like Bridget Bardot and Anita Pallenberg. My most recent bag design is called the ‘Tura’ after Tura Santana who was an actress and one of the first famous exotic dancers – She was truly revolutionary for her time and has the most incredible life story.

All my bags are named after strong and powerful women: There’s ‘The Ginger’ (inspired by Sharon Stone’s character in Casino), ‘The Roxanne’ (thanks to The Police song) and ‘The Lilith’ (who according to a Rabbinic legend was the disregarded first wife of Adam.)

How do you juggle running a business and being a full time mother?
It’s been difficult because I moved to London, started my label, and got pregnant all around the same time. But I just went for it and made it work – it’s amazing what us women can do!

Where are you stocked?
My pieces are stocked in over 50 locations worldwide. In the UK I’m in Feathers, London and Coggles, York as well as my own online store.

barbaraboner.co.uk

This month sees the re-launch of The Row’s renowned Alligator rucksack, which despite its hefty price tag, sold out in stores worldwide last year. This time round Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, the twins behind the high-end luxury label, have teamed up with Damien Hirst who has treated the iconic bag to 12 separate spotty makeovers exclusively for Just One Eye; the first in a series of artistic partnerships fronted by the online fashion retailer.

justoneeye.com

Saved from the choppers this year, the almost closure of the Women’s Library forces a moment of reflection on women’s rights then and now.

From having a £4.2m lottery funded building gifted to them ten years ago, how is it that this year the Library opened in 1926 by Millicent Fawcett and home to Europe’s most extensive archive of women’s rights material could be so on its uppers?

The culture of chops have left many institutions that prioritise culture and thought over profit scrabbling for survival, but the change in fortune of the women’s library could also be viewed through the increasingly antediluvian attitudes to women’s rights creeping back to the fore. Whether it’s the ongoing debates on abortion, or the uniquely strange views of Republicans on the nature of rape, the threatened side lining of the Women’s Library seemed a further example of the changing tide in issues affecting women.

For now the Women’s Library has been guaranteed continued funding from LSE. While opening times seem forever sporadic, for those who can, check out their current exhibition The Long March to Equality for some apt reflection.

The Long March to Equality: Treasures of the Women’s Library is on until 22 February. For more info visit here.

Ok, we know Twin’s been posting thick and fast about, hem hem, Christmas, but this we just had to share too.

Topshop’s gift to fashion lovers everywhere this year is Kate Bosworth channelling Michelle Pfeiffer in the Fabulous Baker Boys, resplendent in sparkle on top of a grand piano. Directed by her fiancé Michael Polish, Kate’s a very modern chanteuse and the very coolest kind of Christmas decoration. Enjoy…

Next Spring will welcome a new addition to the high street. HM Hennes & Mauritz, the Swedish retail group behind world-wide fashion chains H&M, Cos, Monki and Cheap Monday has revealed some exciting yet slightly secretive details of their latest venture ‘& Other Stories,’ through a series of sneak-peek snap shots hinting at what will become the brands’ central concept as well as glimpses of pieces that will feature in the debut collection.

The product offering will be purely womenswear with the addition of accessories, shoes, lingerie and beauty to complete the package. Each collection, which is built around inspiring fashion stories, will be created by ateliers based in both Stockholm and Paris reflecting the quality of a designer capsule line but at affordable price points.

To a share a story subscribe at www.stories.com

In 2001 Elin Nyström set out on an adventure to New York; what was initially intended to be a three month visit turned into a two year residency, swapping
her projected life as a professional gymnast — a role she had been training for since a child — for a career in fashion.

After trying her hand in styling and enrolling on a design course at New York’s F.I.T (Fashion Institute of Technology), stylist Elin soon became Stylein; an
independent fashion label which, now 11 years on, has grown to become one of Sweden’s most coveted fashion exports with stockists in over fifteen countries
worldwide.

Elin herself is a typical Swede – tall, blonde, cool and unfairly beautiful. So it was no surprise when she recently announced that unlike her womenswear
collections, she is now officially off the market: “Of course I’m going to design my own wedding dress” she told us, “I’m not really one of those girls who has
been thinking about it since forever, but I do have an idea of how I would like it to look.”

In-between discussions of possible wedding venues, cakes, flowers, and that all important honeymoon, Twin threw in the occasional question to Elin about
Stylein’s past, present and future for good measure…

You initially launched Stylein whilst living in New York — what made you decide to return to Sweden and carry on with the label there?
I was brought up in the countryside in Sweden so I think the contrast between my hometown and the hectic (but fascinating and fun) world of New York became too much for me. In the spring of 2003 my father was celebrating his 50th birthday and my sister got married so it seemed like a good time to return home and settle with a slightly more grounded life. I left New York as abruptly as I moved there.

Swedish design is typically known for its minimalism — do you think Stylein fits it in with this aesthetic?
We definitely have elements of minimalism in our collections — some of the cuts and shapes are quite clean, but we also have pieces that are a bit softer, feminine, and luxurious, embracing the female silhouette.  Because of our large client base we always want to be able to cater to as many different markets as possible – it becomes a very inspiring thought for me whilst designing the collection to know that it’s going to be accessible to all kinds of different women across the world.

You worked as a stylist before setting up the label — do you think this influenced your vision when it comes to design?
Probably without knowing it – I really just design pieces that I would want to wear myself. It’s as simple as that. Sometimes I might feature colours that I’m not a big fan of myself (I’m quite boring with colour in my own wardrobe) because I know it will be right for my customer, but design-wise it has to be something that I can relate to.

Tell us a bit about the inspiration behind the SS’13 collection ‘Split Second’?
The new collection has quite a spiritual reference looking at the forces of nature, water, wind and light and how they can create a momentary impression that only exists there and then. Like in a kaleidoscope, elements co-exist side by side and are moved around in sequences of an organised chaos. The collection represents this through its clean straight lines and solid silhouettes with prints that were created through a colourful and playful experiment with light and shadows.

I’ve noticed that you are a bit of a social media whizz — is this an important additional feature to your business?
I love that I can now get closer to my customers through social media — I am an avid blogger, tweeter and Instagram user as I think it’s really important for my customers to see the more personal side of the label. Also it enables me to get some amazing firsthand feedback from them.

Any exciting plans for the near future?
It’s really fun designing for women but I would also love to do a menswear line at some point too. Also we are currently in the middle of confirming plans to open a new  flagship store in Stockholm that we’re all super excited about.

stylein.com

From 2007 to 2012 photographer Itai Doron took a polaroid of each of his subjects that came through his studio door. The result is Fifteen Minutes With You, 69 intensely raw and intimate images that weigh heavy with the nostalgia that defunct polaroid photography has quickly engendered. Doron’s images at once recall a studio casting shot but ones that’s grungier, darker and more sexual. As each Eastern European migrant worker, boxer, builder and MMA fighter  prepares to pose for Doron they are in turn awaiting their own fleeting moment of fame.

Fifteen Minutes With You is available at The Photographers’ Gallery bookshop, Claire de Rouen Books and online at photobookstore.co.uk.