I adore the AW 09 collection, but I think I might even like the photoshoot by Willy Vanderperre more.
Anna Jagodzinska is exquisutely ethereal against a pure horizon, whilst the garments themselves are delicately crisp (above) or smudgily soft (see the knitted jumper below.)





This is the behind the scenes video for the shoot "The Softer Edge".

My favourite outfit from the AW 09 10 lookbook.
This dove grey top is only £45, and skims the figure beautifully. Semi-sheer and subtley evocative, when paired with these elegantly voluminous trousers £65. The whole look is exquisitely simple and yet very different to similar looks on the high street.

Most magazines fashioned to promote a store or brand and communicate its spirit are frail, dwindling publications. The Cos magazine however, is surprising. This issue features interviews with artist Sam Taylor Wood, the creative director of American Vogue Grace Coddington, actor Harry Treadaway, and former model turned photographer Christina Kruse, alongside the AW 09/10 collection and lookbook, and a couple of beautifully shot photoshoots.

I may have fallen slightly in love with this gorgeous shoulder-detail LBD (a girl can never have too many!) I feel the Sales Assistant (an immensely cool, oriental chap, very tall with a shaved head and wearing the most ridiculously wide pair of black wool trousers that i have ever seen) may have helped this along with his subtle (but noted) flattery.
On the whole in fact, the assistants at Cos are incredibly inviting, smiley and helpful, even when I (very embarrasedly) asked one red-haired and immaculately dressed girl how the jupsuit I had snatched from the sale rail actually worked. She did have a bit of a giggle at my expense and when (perhaps slighly pink cheeked by this point) we'd both fought long enough with the arms and legs and finally admitted defeat, she did apologise for actually not having a clue, the same as me.

Located on Regents Street, Cos is in expensive company. With Liberty only a stones throw down the road, and amongst designers Aquascutum and Burberry. Banana Republic and Jaeger are close neighbours and perhaps convey a lot about the kind customer Cos wants to attract and its niche in the market. Hoping to entice the "middle-market", the shop's location is crucial, and amongst companies with a similar target market, the job is half done.

Bearing this "middle market" in mind however, its worth mentioning that Cos' customers are a diverse collection. There's me for a start, fashion student with a dwindling budget to match. I also spot quite a few middle-aged, fashion concious, professionals; perhaps looking for subtley extraordinary workwear staples. Milling in between are a few arty types. Long haired 50-somethings, a woolen scarf haphazardly strewn around their necks.

The interior of the Cos shops is an extension of the brand's simplistic signature. The Paris store, with its pure white interior is exqisitely clean and fresh, a minimal pedestal for the garments. London's Regent Street store (the new Cos flagship) is similar in many ways. Designed by architect William Russell, its smooth white walls, angular black rails, generous loft-style windows and squared European oak shelving units and furniture, lend a distinctly natural and calm atmosphere. The afforementioned subtle yet unexpected detailing which makes Cos garments so distinctive is played out in the intricate square pattern of the floor. Beautifully regular and precice, the flooring is a minimal patchwork of Larch wood tiles.
William Russell also designed the Margaret Howell concept store in Tokyo (below). Which is beautifully simplistic and minimal in a similar way.




The seating areas (which are a feature of almost every Cos store) are relaxed and cosy, with modern magazines and books, and help create a calm, hassle-free environment whilst also elevating the vibe to one of exclusivity.