Pink hair has thus far symbolized the punk rock queens of the 80s, the grunge-fiends of the 90s, pop stars experiencing psychosis in the aughts, and now the queens of the Top 40 charts have taken ownership. Here’s a look back at some of the best, worst and most iconic magenta to pastel pink strands of the century.

The neon lights of NYC inspire the deepest of culture, the throes of fashion, and the cutting-edge of art. The lights of Broadway, Chinatown, Lower East Side bars. And sometimes the flashing lights of a police car mid-arrest work too. In a place like New York you just go with it — the city infiltrates your work, and you’re better for it.

Neon City Lights is a photoshoot-cum-fashion film from French Brooklyn-based photographer and director Guillaume Miquel, who organised and shot the film while participating in a fashion photography workshop at the ICP. Integrating the city culture and his experience in fashion media, Guillaume decided to create an editorial fashion film — short, sharp, sweet, edgy, and perfect for digital media.

Managing to gather together some models (Frenchie Lea Manon and New Yorker Wendi Lui), designers (Joel Cidenzi, Zenam Couture) and stylist Nurra Barry, the shoot became much more “independent fashion film.” Shot in NYC’s Chinatown and Lower East Side, they crew had to work around the spontaneity and interruption that is in the city’s nature.

“We had to be fast and deal with rain, low light and ‘night’s world’,” Guillaume said.  ”In some shoots, those flashing lights are from a police car that was carrying out an arrest right next to us.”

“We shot with light equipment and a small team to remain quick and spontaneous. Like most of these films we also used the existing light and dealt with the elements coming from reality and our actual environment.”

Apart from Guillaume’s inherent French influence, he cites the photography of this film as inspired by Asian directors like Wong Kar Wai or Hou Hsaio Hsien. The unnatural light and distorted reflections create a moodiness and sense of body and space that is confident — dragging you in, but only showing you glimpses of a whole story. Light is constantly featured as a part of the city and a part of the clothes.

“There are two aspects of light that I consider: the way it reveals the fabrics, color or transparency of the pieces and the dramatic effect that light can give to a story — the mood of a shoot,” Guillaume says. “The fashion films are often silent movies. Then the light, just like the attitude of the models or the decor, plays a very important role in the narrative.”

“Here the idea was to use the ‘natural lights’ of the night: colorful neon lights, and play with reflections and transparency, with sober outfits, black and white.”

“I wanted to create an atmosphere of blurred memories, like a partly erased story that the viewer could try to recover.”

Imagine it’s a warm, summer night. You’ve borrowed your parents’ car, squeezed in too many of your friends and you just want to kill some time because when you’re young, time seems endless. Also you’re really good looking. That’s how we felt upon first viewing of Percival’s latest film for SS12, directed by Chris Gove and Luke Stenzhorn, the brands’ designers. Talk about jacks-of-all-trades.

Mixed with more contemporary/generally steezy pieces, the clothing featured subtly nods to elements of 50’s style bowling threads you can imagine being worn by the Bob’s and Mike’s of the world. However in Percival’s style, they are anything but tired. Their modern interpretation maintains just the right balance of cool without tipping the scales to op-shop disaster, as is often the case when vintage prints and styles are appropriated for the present.

The film itself follows a group of cute boys and the token mega babe girl doing what hot young people do in a lonely bowling alley on a Friday night, and reminds us of those lazy summer nights when you have nothing to do and nowhere to be. The cinematography is definitely its strongest point (props to D.O.P/Editor Laurence Halstead), and Glove and Stenzhorn have really utilised every aspect of the location to creative a visually dynamic piece, in a warm palette lit by garish arcade neon reds.

Imagery of the flashing games, team ping-pong and lazily rolling bowling balls combine to create a sense of contemporary nostalgia; there’s something familiar about this place we’ve never been, and those people we’ve never met. You can practically taste the bottomless soda topped up with cheap flask vodka.

There’s a resounding theme to my contributions to Portable.tv of late. I lady crush. Hard. Meet two of my favorite crush-worthy gals. Chloe and Parris Gordon — the sister duo behind Canadian fashion line Chloe Comme Parris —  have every quality a proper lady crush should obtain. They went from students at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design to full-blown fashion powerhouses before both of them had even graduated, making things happen for themselves like proper independent ladies (thanks Beyoncé) of the 21st Century. And though their killer style and assortment of bad ass accessories might make them appear like unapproachable “cool girls”, the pair have the charm and genuine nature of a true Canadian.

This month, Chloe Comme Parris took part in FashionMagazine.com’s video series, collaborating with fellow “cool girl” Sarah Elisabeth Blais on a great new fashion video for their ultra-covetable Spring 2012 collection. I spoke to the designing duo about their inspiration for the video and how they feel about fashion in the digital age.

Portable: What approach do you take when creating a fashion film to go along with your collection? Is it something you’re thinking of when you’re designing each season?
Chloe Comme Parris: Video is a part of the process for us, it’s not the first thing but more and more we are aware of its potential and excited to explore different ways of utilizing it. For us video is always in the back of our mind because we are always thinking of movement when planning the collection.

Usually it’s a collaboration, we seek out photographer /videographer that we like and look for or someone who compliments our work. We approach it like creative collaboration – where two artists or a team of people come together to create something beautiful.

P: How do you feel about the movement towards film over photography for fashion? We like the movement.

Chloe Comme Parris: We love the experimental nature, the chance for something to go in a million different directions. We like it because it can be expressive and tends to be more unexplored. Anyone can delve into more exciting ways to present an idea. Sometimes with a single photo that is all you get – with video there is room for so much more with music and editing etc.

It seems like a natural progression the way that technology is moving. It’s being used for the promotion of everything from political to artistic endeavors. YouTube is such a phenom, so why not. It’s also a great way to see another side of our collection. In photos head on can be stagnant. It’s important for us that the details can be viewed, and that movement from all angles is visible. So yes, we dig that it is becoming more and more the norm to see moving images rather than stagnant ones.

** Loving this: Givenchy couture video is unbelievable.

P: What made you decide to work with Sarah Blais on this project? Was it a collaborative effort or did she come to you with an idea in mind?

Chloe Comme Parris: Randi [Bergman, Editor of FashionMagazine.com and a fellow awesome Canadian] presented us with the idea and Sarah then chose to work with us. We took a look at Sarah’s work and then decided it was a project we really wanted to take on! Creatively we brainstormed some ideas together. Sarah then developed her own storyboards, decided on props, the studio and interpreted the line how she saw fit. Basically the SS12 collection was the inspiration / her muse.

P: What’s next for Chloe Comme Parris?
Chloe Comme Parris: S/S13! AND CCP really tackling and breaking into the New York market. Establishing ourselves in the New York market is high on our list.

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Last night New York City played host to the iconic MET Ball, and y’all know what that means. Celebrities wore dresses and the rest of us became hyper judgemental fashion critics. Amy Smith and I, obviously, had quite a few things to say, so click through and find out what we thought…

Australian label Ksubi managed to do two things with their SS12/13 collection and matching runway video from Mercedes Benz Australian Fashion Week. Firstly, the iconic denim label seems to have succeeded in doing whatever it was Kanye West was attempting to do the past two seasons in Paris, namely, create sleek, sexy sportswear with a luxe/glamour edge. Hats off to Ksubi for showing Ye not only how it’s done, but for making it look pretty damn easy all the while.

The second thing is taking .gif culture and giving it a great big cuddle. The Lorin Askill directed runway video is shot in .gif style, with the image stuttering in the style of the iconic format, and lending itself to the newstalgia of 90s culture. We love this innovative mix of influences, and the way Ksubi always manages to stay one skip ahead of the sword.

She may be a self-titled “man repeller” but Leandra Medine is the girl-crush of many a burgeoning fashion blogger. Perhaps it’s her enviable (and I mean, I would kill a puppy for it) wardrobe. Perhaps it’s her palatial UES apartment. Perhaps. More likely, it’s the fact that this fashion horse is obnoxiously hilarious, intelligent and uninhibited. Oh, and she’s also buds with the queen of lo-fi hipsterdom, Lana Del Rey. So it was no surprise when this video popped up on our twitter feeds today. Introducing: Lean Del Ra.

In this parody video of the crooner’s “Video Games”, Medine writhes on the floor, strokes a stuffed panda and spreads cream cheese on a piece of matzoh (ya, we Jews like that stuff for reals) with panache all while wearing a fantastic violet shift dress from the ever-so-stylish Theysken’s Theory. Her impression of Del Rey’s blank stare and pouty mouth are spot on and I had to muffle myself from bursting out laughing in my silent office while watching this 10 times. Back to back. No big deal.

Consider me a fan-girl Lean Del Ra. You’re the cat’s meow.

Azealia Banks is all up in our grill at the moment, and not just for swearing 93028432 times in less than 4 minutes. The 20 year old rapper/professional sick bitch has recently emerged as the fashion industry’s new play thing; performing at both the Mulberry and Kanye West after parties, personally requested by Karl Lagerfeld himself for a party in his home… just all the normal things regular 20 year old girls do.

If that wasn’t enough to make you sob naked in the shower, Banks announced on her Twitter a couple of days ago that she would be attending the MET gala as Alexander Wang’s date (and unlike us, we doubt she’ll be wearing T by Alexander Wang) as well as performing at the event. This girl has steeze, and we’ve compiled a list of her best looks to date.

Are they models, basketball heroes or lizards? It’s delightfully hard to tell in Australian designer Emma Mulholland‘s latest fashion film. We’ve always loved the designs of that fantasy world down under, and Mulholland is our new favorite Aussie to hit the fashion circuit. With styles ready for Katy Perry’s next outing (Editor’s note: this is the biggest compliment I could possibly bestow upon anyone, so I hope you really appreciate the import of how fabulous Mulholland’s designs are), Mulholland rejects recession-time austerity to celebrate fashion the way it was supposed to be: bold, brash, glittery and vibrant.

In Mulholland’s SS12/13 film, directed by Portable favorite Alex Goddard, two models face off on a basketball court, slowly peeling of layers of the new collection like lizard skin, each turn revealing an outfit more daring than the next. Which lizard lady wins? Neither; this is Mulholland’s victory alone.

In honor of the release of Disney’s whimsical classic Cinderella on Blu Ray and DVD this fall, the purveyor of all things glamorous, bedazzled and excruciatingly painful, Christian Louboutin, announced last week that he will be designing a special edition recreation of the fairytale’s famous glass slipper. Yes, you read that right folks. Christian Louboutin has somehow found a way to make those gorgeous torture devices even more tortuous with the addition of the living-on-the-edge possibility of wedging a shard of glass into your pedicured heel.

Sarcasm aside, it’s likely that these blister-inducers will be an absolute work of art. Afterall, Louboutin is the creative mind behind some of the world’s most exquisite footwear, and has single-handedly made the red sole of a symbol of power and prestige among those with and without fashionable inclinations. I’m sure the secret password to get into Hogwarts will be hand-etched onto the slippers by Tinkerbell. Because they are magical. Get it?

This renaissance of the classic fairytale accessory got us reminiscing over other famous shoe-movie moments, and what designers might choose to revive them today? Here’s a few of our favorites.