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| Joan with Frederic Merlin |
Joan is enjoying her annual break in the South of France and had a fun evening at Gigi Restaurant for Frederic Merlin's birthday dinner. Joan was delighted to catch up with her good friends Massimo Gargia and Francine LeFrak...
Joan with Massimo Gargia
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| Joan with Francine LaFrak |
The Flower Market goes A-list with a range of celebrity bouquets by Dame Joan Collins, Kelly Hoppen and Katherine Jenkins...
The Marks & Spencer Flower Market has just launched an exclusive range of celebrity bouquets designed in collaboration with Dame Joan Collins, Kelly Hoppen CBE and Katherine Jenkins OBE.
When it comes to celebrity collaborations, no one does it quite like M&S, from the England women's football team to the designer homeware collection by Kelly Hoppen.
This chic new celebrity line-up offers an unrivalled approach to choosing flowers to gift a loved one or make your home look expensive, thanks to some of the biggest names in the business.
Channelling Dame Joan’s signature sophisticated style, her bouquet is all about glamour and fragrance. Filled with Avalanche Roses, Oriental Lilies, Freesias, Laurel sprigs, and Gold eucalyptus stems – the truly breathtaking arrangement, featuring some of Dame Joan’s most loved flowers.
“From London to Los Angeles, I always mark special occasions with my favourite flowers," says Dame Joan Collins. "The timeless elegance of white lilies and roses makes them the perfect gift.”
Available exclusively at M&S, the bouquet is priced at £75, including a timeless vase to show off the display.
Joan dropped into Waterstones on The Kings Road to help friend Michael Brandon celebrate the release of his autobiography ' That's All I'm Sayin '. Along with Michael's wife Glynis Barber, other guests included Bill Wyman and Cherie Lunghi.
You can order Michael's book at the following link!
THAT'S ALL I'M SAYIN by Michael Brandon
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Mike Newell
Starring
EXCLUSIVE: John Gore Studios and Embankment Films have unveiled a first look at Joan Collins and Isabella Rossellini in Mike Newell’s The Bitter End.
Miranda Richardson, star of The Last Anniversary and Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Game Of Thrones and Frankenstein actor Charles Dance, and Elle star Laurent Lafitte have joined the cast, as production gets underway in the UK. It is the first production to shoot at the historic Ealing Studios following its recent expansion and renovation.
The film charts the untold story of the final years of Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee who became the Duchess of Windsor after marrying King Edward VIII, the British king who chose love over duty.
Collins stars as Simpson alongside Rossellini as Suzanne Blum, the formidable French lawyer and confidante of Simpson who at the hands of Blum found herself ensnared in a menacing grip of obsession and coercive control.
Four Weddings And A Funeral filmmaker Newell directs, with John Gore of John Gore Studios, Richard Holmes and Francis Hopkinson producing. Louise Fennell writes the script.
Richardson is an Oscar and Bafta nominee and Golden Globe winner for her role in Enchanted April. Dance is Emmy-nominated for his role in The Crown.
Further cast includes Buom Tihngang, Yves Heck, Roxane Duran, Jill Baker, Lambert Wilson, Philippe Spall, Richard Meek, David Langham and David Bamber.
Key creatives are Oscar and Bafta-winning Shakespeare In Love costume designer Sandy Powell, Oscar and Bafta-winning Poor Things hair and make-up designer Nadia Stacey, Emmy-winning Game Of Thrones production designer Gemma Jackson and the Bafta-winning director of photography Mike Eley, whose credits include The Dig.
“We are thrilled to announce the exceptional cast and creative team joining Joan Collins and Isabella Rossellini in The Bitter End,” said Gore. “Assembling a team of this calibre – under Mike Newell’s direction, from Louise Fennell’s sharp script to the extraordinary talents of Sandy Powell, Nadia Stacey, Gemma Jackson and Mike Eley – speaks to the strength of the project. It’s an exciting project for John Gore Studios as we commit to producing distinctive British stories for global audiences.”
Embankment handles world sales on the film
Stepping out in silver at a recent V&A exhibition, “The Dame” looked ever the diamond – and continues to sparkle in a buzzy new acting role..
By Rebecca Cope
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| The Dame dazzled earlier this month in a silver sequinned top and matching silk trousers by Karen Millen, a Ralph
Lauren grey tweed coat and Chanel jewellery Credit: Getty Last week saw the V&A fêting its latest fashion exhibition, a showcase that celebrates the glittering history of jewellery house Cartier. Amongst its attendees was one of life’s true diamonds, the eternally stylish and seemingly ageless Dame Joan Collins. The actress arrived at the event arm-in-arm with her friend (and occasional stylist) René Horsch, wearing a silver sequinned top and matching silk trousers by Karen Millen, a Ralph Lauren grey tweed coat and Chanel jewellery – in other words, absolutely nailing the cocktail attire dress code.   According to Dame Joan’s longtime PA, ‘shoes, bags and hats are her biggest spends’ (as seen here in Knightsbridge the day before her 2002 wedding) Credit: Getty Indeed, with her life-long devotion to glamour above everything else, “The Dame” or “JC” – as she’s known to her friends – puts Gen Z to shame. In case you need any further convincing, just see her latest Instagram post: a video in which she is promoting M&S’s Foodhalls wearing a white trouser suit and panama hat. It certainly raises the game as you peruse the pasta salads (why hasn’t she been made an ambassador for the brand yet, one wonders?) One thing’s for certain; you certainly wouldn’t catch her perusing the fruit and veg aisle in athleisure, crop tops or ripped denim. She told Glamour as much back in 2009 – the same year she hosted a reality show for ITV dubbed Joan Does Glamour, which promised to get the public out of their tracksuit bottoms– that “she likes to go out ‘fully dressed.” “She has been vocal in the past about the general decline in dressing up and a collective slobbishness,” says Penny McCormick, Joan’s PA for two decades. “Shoes, bags and hats are her biggest spends.” Not that she’s averse to high street. In fact, mixing high and low is something she does with aplomb (case in point, the aforementioned V&A launch look). And she’s certainly known for “keeping it real”, despite her diva-tastic reputation (likely a hangover from her most famous role as Alexis Carrington in Dynasty) – she’s been quoted in the past as championing the Princess of Wales’ “recessionista chic”. For us mere mortals, that means being papped wearing the same item twice or more. McCormick describes her former employer as a “self-confessed shopaholic and fashion lover”. “She is aware of trends but doesn’t follow them slavishly,” she shares. “She loves popping into Zara and I recall visits to Topshop on Oxford Street and M&S – she particularly loves their cashmere edit. She loves every aspect of fashion, from attending and walking in catwalk shows to perusing magazines and gossiping about the royals and their outfits.”  Throughout her life, she’s also focused on what suits her, rather than following trends, and she came of age in a climate where a sense of old school Hollywood glamour could help you go far; see her late sister Jackie’s fondness for that same full frontal approach in terms of vampish OTT. The two of them veritably ruled the Beverly Hills roosts back in the 1980s, and that sense of power dressing finessed during the Dynasty years parlays into how Dame Joan dresses to this day. As she told Harper’s Bazaar in 2021: “I think style is knowing your body, knowing your physicality, your hair, your legs, your eyes and picking the two or three things – and everybody has those! – that are the best you can find and making yourself look as good as you can… you have to f ind your look and your style… rather than slavishly copying things.” For Dame Joan, this has meant focusing on emphasising her legs and her bosom, favouring square necklines, loose-fitting tailored trousers (often suits), f loaty sleeves, cropped jackets and of course, fabulous jewels (you can take the girl out of the 1980s…). “Joan knows what suits her fabulous figure,” explains McCormick. “She also knows the benefits of having a trusty dressmaker, who can alter or whip up pieces – often from tear sheets or her own design. I’ve often accompanied Joan to Joel & Son Fabric, a real treasure trove for design inspiration.” Her other secret? Aside from winning the genetic lottery (which she undoubtedly has – after all, she was often compared to Elizabeth Taylor in her youth) she’s on the record as saying her phobia of needles means she’s never had any “work” done. Instead, her relatively wrinkle-free appearance is down to a strict skincare regimen and a life-long dedication to staying out of the sun, something that is evident in her sheer dedication to headwear, if nothing else.  |
