puffy-knitting & glossing

June 6, 2013, 1:23 pm

≪ Previous: never too old to play dress up

Xiao Li, the London-based Chinese talent I met
last year in Florence where she was deservedly

awarded the ”Feel the Yarn” contest prize (previous
post here), has been in the spotlight at the Westminster
Royal College of Art graduate fashion show last
week with gorgeous puffy knits.

In Florence, Xiao made known her modern approach
to knitwear working with recycled denim yarns

introducing a technique that molds real knitted
fabrics with patterned silicone to create smooth
plastic shapes. The most voluminous shapes are
obtained by overlapping two layers of textiles
fastened by threads to keep a baggy shape.

Her graduation collection clearly represents her
blooming as a designer: Xiao Li plays with volumes
and shapes creating exaggerated silhouettes with
puffed skirts and rounded sleeves using crochet
detailing as massive necklaces. She dyed each
garment by herself in a pastel color palette that
softens the whole effect of the mesmerizing
collection. Cocooned in style.

> all images via Dezeen<

↧

voguish on a budget

June 7, 2013, 12:50 pm

≫ Next: grimed with beauty

≪ Previous: puffy-knitting & glossing

Fast fashion changed pace at the beginning of 1990s
when brands began competing for market shares
by introducing more lines per year at lower prices
while globalization paved the way for clothing brands
to manufacture rough-and-ready garments in Far East

countries, however reasonably priced fashion has never
looked so tempting as in the stunning images taken
by Belorussian photographer Tania Kezha.

Based in Minsk, Tania teamed up with stylist, decorator
and painter Darya Golova to realize ”Spring Camouflage”,
a fashion editorial for BOLSHOI magazine issue #35
featuring low-priced garments from some of the world's
most recognizable brands of the branch such as
Mediterranean Zara, Sisley by Benetton, Stefanel and
Motivi together with a dramatic sleeveless piece by

local designer Linda Namus who usually signs

her creations together with Natasha Sivtsova.

> all images © by Tania Kezha, style & design by Darya Golova <

↧

grimed with beauty

June 9, 2013, 2:57 am

≫ Next: Uta's art wear

≪ Previous: voguish on a budget

Dresden-based young photographer Matthias Haker
is a media computer science student who discovered
photography in 2008 soon building up a wide-ranging
portfolio of images including people and weddings,
landscapes and architectures yet he proved to have an
eye for emphasizing the magical charm of abandoned
buildings in his 'Decay' project that fully conveys

the exclusive beauty he sees in them.

There's a house on my block
that's abandoned and cold
Folks moved out of it
a long time ago
and they took all their things
and they never came back
Looks like it's haunted
with the windows all cracked
and everyone call it
the house, the house where
nobody lives...

He traveled throughout Germany and Europe in search
of foresaken beauty looking for these urban and rural
treasures in decay: abandoned manor houses and
country mansions, barracks and depots of former
German Democratic Republic's army, ditched salons
and ballrooms, clinics and insane asylums; Matthias
came to shoot more than 200 discarded buildings
that Mother Nature began to reclaim for herself.

Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away
Did they know what it means
Did someone's heart break
or did someone do somebody wrong?

His jaw-dropping pictures demonstrate how even the
most decrepit of buildings can communicate an aura
of magnificence despite chaos and havoc through a
sublime work on lights and contrasts (and HDR imaging,
I presume). Wisely, Matthias doesn't give any information
about the location of the cast aside beauties he came
to visit in order to avoid vandalism by ill-mannered
intruders: ”I do act very respectful inside those places,
but there are too many idiots out there that don't behave
like me. I've seen so much vandalism, theft and other
bad things happening to those buildings after they
have become popular, that I will do all I can to

protect those beauties” he writes.

Well the paint was all cracked
It was peeled off of the wood
Papers were stacked on the porch
where I stood
and the weeds had grown up
just as high as the door
There were birds in the chimney
and an old chest of drawers
Looks like no one will ever
come back to the
House were nobody lives...

excerpt from 'House where nobody lives' lyrics
© by Tom Waits from 'Mule Variations' album

Gorgeous relics of a bygone society where time stands
still; beautiful winding staircases and broad lodgings
where the paint had chipped off the ceilings, walls are
stained with mold and rusted debris are scattered all
over the place, yet they all retain their enigmatic

charm. Forsaken places where, as in one of

Matthias' titles, the glory remains.

> all images © by Matthias Haker via deviantART<

↧

Uta's art wear

June 12, 2013, 1:55 pm

≫ Next: vintage Berthoud

≪ Previous: grimed with beauty

Uta Bekaia is a multimedia artist and an ”art wear”
designer as he introduce himself born and raised
in Tbilisi, Georgia (an independent kingdom in
medieval times before being absorbed by the
Russian empire and hence the Soviet Union),
he's been living and working in NYC since the last
fifteen years primarily as a costume designer on
over 150 project with theatre and film companies.

Uta began to explore the concept of living art-wear
through theatrical creations following his inbred
knack for fashion and fine arts: at the age of 17
he took part in his hometown's avant-garde fashion
week and that moment changed the course of his
life providing the base for his development as a
designer. Uta wants to involve every aspect of
art always aiming at bringing together reality and
fictional visions while highlighting the thin

borderline between them.

Currently a member of Ideal Glass NY, a multimedia
art project involving sound and visual art, Uta came
to show his latest living multimedia performance
called 'The Purple Jester' at 'Fashion Clash' in
Maastricht, The Netherlands (it will soon appear
at Brighton fashion week) in an interactive live
show with performing artist Willard Morgan as the
Jester ”...traveling through space and time on a
quest for romantic fulfillment in a series of seven
dream landscapes” Fashion Clash reports.

Conceived by a professional fashion joker who plays
the fool creating his futuristic take on the art of
Hieronymous Bosch and European medieval art
by blending historic costume design references with
unusual and even recycled materials as well as fur,
metal shapes, leather and burlap, Uta's outfits
never fail to astonish ironically or dramatically.
”Each dream confronts the Jester with an immersive
installation in which he must negotiate phantasmagoric
manifestations of human realities, including

hunger, war, gossip and sexual desire.”

all images from the show © by Peter Stigter

A truly impressive theatrical performance with an
eerie mood that may look incongruous and absurd
at a glance, yet it uniquely combines music and dance,
interactive videos, fashion and performing arts in a
creative cross-media art form where drama, ballet,
acrobatics, stage effects and last but not least,
clothes, enhance the whole concept behind them.

FashionClash image © by Ayakamay

↧

vintage Berthoud

June 13, 2013, 1:54 pm

≫ Next: Peter, Paulette and Drella

≪ Previous: Uta's art wear

It happened again, the time-machine mood took me
all of a sudden while I was browsing through vintage
magazines. I was overcome with acute nostalgia
for regular fashion editorials made with the exclusive,
high-toned illustrations by great masters

such as François Berthoud.

Compared to photography, fashion illustration has
the power to provide more room for imagination, so,
directly from my vault, enjoy a true rarity: some of
the Swiss-born maestro works for 'Vanity'
magazine made nearly thirty years ago.

> all artworks © by François Berthoud <

↧

Peter, Paulette and Drella

June 15, 2013, 9:20 am

≫ Next: un dimanche particulier

≪ Previous: vintage Berthoud

My previous post expressed the time-machine mood that
sometimes takes me but I'm not the only one walking
through the past. Peter Jensen's resort 2014 collection
is largely inspired by two American icons of last century:
actress Paulette Goddard and artist Andy Warhol,
Drella for his friends.

Jensen, the Danish born, London-based designer who's
known for his lighthearted approach and his ”cleverly
conceived, quirkily humorous clothes” as Vogue's Harriet
Quick introduced him, imagined the couple hanging out
together in a stunning lookbook (unfortunately,

I'm not able to credit the photographer).

Inventive and playful as ever, Jensen's men's and
women's latest outfits show clever hints to the past that
are neither a copy nor a remake yet a tender homage
to those timeless icons of style through an ironic yet
sober pop art flavor that cheers me up after such a
busy week. Have a nice weekend.

> all images via Style.com <

↧

un dimanche particulier

June 17, 2013, 9:14 am

≫ Next: Frida in H's swan song

≪ Previous: Peter, Paulette and Drella

Yesterday I was delighted to join a gathering of
particular importance, LVMH's ”Journées Particulières”,
the weekend event in which over 40 sites throughout
Europe open their doors to showcase the savoir-faire
and métiers of the group's 100,000 gifted men and
women. A unique chance for a backstage look at
”where dreams are made” with tours, conferences
and interactive visits to share the passion for
excellence of expert artisans.

I chose to visit 'Villa Pucci Granaiolo', the Tuscany
country mansion of revered designer Emilio Pucci.
Emilio Pucci, Marquess of Barsento (1914-1992),
was a magnetic Florentine aristocrat whose lineage
dates back to the Renaissance as well as an
enthusiastic sportsman who excelled in ski,
swimming, tennis and fencing whose emergence
as a fashion designer happened almost by chance.

Pucci studied in Milan and at the University of
Georgia in Athens, USA, where he won a skiing
scolarship to Oregon's Reed College designing
his first clothes for the skiing team. After WWII,
while he was having a leave in Zermatt, Switzerland,
the ski garb made of stretch fabrics he designed
for a female friend caught the eye of Harper's
Bazaar's photographer Toni Frisell whose editor
soon asked Pucci to design skiwear outfits for a
story on European winter fashion. His sleek designs
caused a sensation and he came to receive several
offers from American manufacturers

eager to produce them.

By the early 1950s, Emilio Pucci achieved international
recognition for his brightly colored, boldly patterned
designs creating new codes for elegance with his
flowing fabrics and crease-resistant silk jerseys:
the press dubbed him the ”Prince of Prints” and
eventually his brilliantly colored prints became

an icon of the Swinging Sixties.

Pucci has been a true bellwether for innovation: he
introduced free-moving, lightweight fabrics and
pop art prints but he was also one of the first
designers to grasp that his company needed to
become a brand bearing a single logo but branching
out in interior design, athletic apparels and accessories.
After the founder's death in 1992, the emblematic
label remained as vibrant and relevant as before
under the direction of his daughter Laudomia and
thirteen years ago LMVH group acquired the
majority of it strengthening both

international expansion and growth.

Villa Pucci Granaiolo was bathed in the sun but as
I stepped in a breath of fresh air from the wide open
exhibit rooms and a crew of good-looking white-shirted
young male attendants with a welcoming smile on
the face made me wow! 'Black loves White' was the
theme of the first room highlighting key moments in
the past and present history of Maison Pucci through
gorgeous black & white dresses while silk jersey
printed evening gowns of the 1970s were displayed
in a dim room where Pucci's textured designs
were projected on netted panels hanging from the
ceiling. The adjacent Talent Center and Print Room
displayed the expert hands of the artisans creating
models inspired by the Maison's signature prints
and the full range of printing techniques.

Such a beautiful, unusual Sunday.

↧

Frida in H's swan song

June 19, 2013, 7:25 am

≫ Next: Hallo, it's me!

≪ Previous: un dimanche particulier

Here she comes again: a gripping fashion editorial
has been inspired once more by Mexican legendary
painter and proto-feminist Frida Kahlo. Titled ”Frida
reloaded”, the fashion story is featured in this month's
issue of 'Hache', which is better known as H Magazine,
the Spanish monthly magazine about lifestyle

trends run by Motorpress Ibérica.

The Barcelona-based printed and online magazine
has been providing for over 13 years key insights into
the fields of culture, fashion, music and technology
through high-profile articles and visuals. ”Frida reloaded”
is actually a fascinating eye-opener on Mexican style
combining iconic features such as its apparently clashing
colors with traditional motifs like skulls or images of the
Virgin Mary through dramatic colorful outfits and pictures.

Shot and directed by Miralla y Calf, a duo of young visual
artists (both born in 1990) devoted to pefection: they're
responsible for developing the concept, locate or create
entirely scenarios, design costumes as well as to shoot
and post-produce each single picture in order to suggest
a whole story behind it. Miralla and Calf joined forces
with stylist Arturo Argüelles Molinete and make up artist
Raquel Àlvarez Diaz (for Art Lab Aveda) to transform
model Alessandra Ching Vargas of Uno Barcelona into
a contemporary Frida walking through the narrow

streets of the medieval village of Albarracìn, one of the

quaintest corners of the Teruel province, in Aragona.

Sadly, the gorgeous editorial stands as the magazine's
swan song: the official fb page unhappily reports how
the ongoing credit crunch is to blame for its closure
while the editorial staff thanks all Hache's fellow readers
hoping they enjoyed the magazine as much as they
did making it. ”Frida reloaded” is too good to make us
feel downcast yet it's always sad to see an independent
magazine close down. Hoping against hope that H
would find a new way out, let me voice my

¡Gracias! for what they did so far.

> all images © by Miralla y Calf, style by Arturo Argüelles Molinete <

↧

Hallo, it's me!

June 20, 2013, 1:58 pm

≫ Next: looking at the shadow self

≪ Previous: Frida in H's swan song

image © by Yulia Zhdan, styled by Anna Litkovska

It was Halloween night when I met Dina Lynnyk's
'Creepy Kids', a spooky photo shoot she made for
the trick-or-treating nite (here) and her own label
'It's me' which is characterized by collages and
prints exclusively designed by herself.

The Kiev-based young designer unveiled the
latest 'It's me' capsule collection called ”Splitting”
that explores the all-embracing 3-D technologies
and their influence on us through clean shapes
and gorgeous digital prints in which black & white
graphic textures are blended with red, natural and
golden shades providing liquid effects.

lookbook images © by Roma Pashkovskiy, style by Olga Yanul

By splitting and stretching her collage designs,
Dina creates textures susceptible to dissolution
and disgregation producing melting effects subtly
alluding to someone who's constantly changing
in the quest for new modern forms.

Dina Lynnyk's ”Splitting” smartly suggests that patterns

and ideas, just like people do, adopt a new sense only
after being melted away. I have a liking for the
sketches and the technical specs she made
while putting together the collection:

they're worth a thousand words.

sketches and technical designs via the label's fb page

↧

looking at the shadow self

June 24, 2013, 8:23 am

≫ Next: knitted Salvation Mountain

≪ Previous: Hallo, it's me!

Atlanta-based ceramist Kirsten Stingle has been involved
in storytelling throughout most of her life: she started out
working with the Gorilla Theatre, the ”living theatre for
thinking minds”, founded 20 years ago by husband and
wife, Aubrey Hampton and Susan Hassey, both accom-
plished playwrights and former circus performers,

before taking a 90 degree turn.

Kirsten wanted to make a difference in the world, so she
went back to school earning a public policy degree from
Columbia University to work as a social welfare policy
researcher and as teaching assistant, yet 9-11 changed
the course of her life out of the blue. ”... I saw the
disconnection we all have with one another and the
destruction that can evolve from that disconnection...”
she declared to 'Combustus', the online arts and literary
magazine where ”artists and free thinkers ignite” created
by Deanna Laine, a professional writer who's a passionate
believer in the healing and even redemptive power of art.

”I knew I wanted to reenter the arts (...) I started classes
and fell head-over-heels in love with sculpture,

which feeds that need I have to tell stories.”

Kirsten's hand-built figures are an attempt at cutting through
the isolation by presenting common threads of the human
experience creating powerfully expressive artworks with
a stunning theatrical sense that comes from her background.
”I feel like we're all actors in our own dramas, but the sort of
dramas I'm doing are not Shakespearian dramas, but rather,
more gritty burlesquey, common man dramas,

absurd and comical” she states.

Her latest collection of ceramic pieces, called 'Shadow
Circus', follows ”the tradition of southern storytelling and
looking at the shadow self. There's a lot that's going on
subconsciously, and I'm trying to push it into my work.
We all have a polite veneer yet we also all contain

tragedy and brutality and absurdity.

Most of the time we try to hide that.”

Using gestures as powerful expressive tools, Kirsten's
ceramic figures are actually mixed-media artworks: she
combines her tiny storytelling creatures (handmade without
the use of molds) with objets trouvés and fancy discarded
elements from the past in an accurate balance of light and
shadow. ”The ultimate goal of my work is to create honest
depictions of the human quest toward a personal vision of
the future, (...) the mixed media not only creates an intriguing
dialogue of materials but also informs the viewer of the
scope of the figure's journey within each narrative”,
Stingle's artistic statement reads. Staring at them

is like being perched along the edge of a

deep well overlooking our dark side.

> all artworks & images © by Kirsten Stingle Studio<

↧

knitted Salvation Mountain

June 25, 2013, 1:24 pm

≫ Next: having fun with the sitter

≪ Previous: looking at the shadow self

Meeting the unconventional knitwear creations by
London-based designer Katie Jones was a joyous
surprise: although still studying at Central Saint
Martins, she was already pushing the boundaries
of traditional crocheting by skillfully playing with
proportions and stitching techniques while moving
out knitted handicrafts into high-end fashion
(see previous post here).

Katie graduated in March this year with an MA
in fashion, unveiling her latest 'Slab City' s/s 2014
collection a couple of weeks ago at the Zeitgeist
show in the imposing settings of St. Bartholomew's
Anglican church in Brighton during the latest

fashion week, the BFW13.

”Born by serendipitous necessity, the need to give
voice to the creative individuals that are taking
control of their work, their output and their vision...”,
BFW nurtures and supports emerging fashion talents
showcasing a range of key designs, ideas, skills,
concepts and innovative artistry.

Katie's creations are inspired by traditional art and
crafts, different landscapes and cultures as well as
by the colorful works of compatriot artist Grayson
Perry and mostly by 'Salvation Mountain', the unique
folk art site made of adobe, straw and paint that covers
an entire hill in Niland, near Slab City, California
(ten to one you've seen it in 'Into the Wild' movie).

Undeniably, Perry's wit found a way into the collection
while Salvation Mountain provides both the color palette
and a gorgeously vivid background to the fully hand
crocheted looks. Katie combines her cultural references
with superb workmanship creating modern tribal dresses
in a stunning parade of patterns, knitted facemasks and
fancy openworks, all spiced up with her zany humor.

original catwalk photos © by Gareth Gregg/SunshineLens Photography;
collage by Katie Jones, background photos by Kathy Mcgee

↧

having fun with the sitter

June 26, 2013, 2:23 pm

≫ Next: perfection is boring

≪ Previous: knitted Salvation Mountain

'The Sitter' is the quirky name of the s/s 2013 collection
by Taiwanese born, London-based designer Shao Yen
who moved to London in 2003 to study at celebrated
Central Saint Martins while apprenticing with Alexander
McQueen and Hussein Chalayan before launching his
namesake womenswear label right after graduation in
2010. He briskly made a name for himself experimenting
with unconventional materials in traditional forms combining
wearability and eccentricity. 'The Sitter' is the designer's
sixth collection, a lighthearted, wearable collection with
an accurate mixture of textures and fabrics in a sunny
color palette made of canary and creamy yellows, gold
and electric blue. Humorous, sophisticated and commercial
at the same time: there's even more fun with the sitter!

> all images © by Ash Lin (set design by Ting Wang) <

↧

perfection is boring

June 27, 2013, 10:13 am

≫ Next: to the stars above

≪ Previous: having fun with the sitter

I bet you remember I'm hog-wild about the irreverent approach
of young Singaporean designer Max Tan and his signature
”maximizing on minimalistic ideas”. Max conjures up silhouettes
concealing the wearer's body experimenting with playful and
innovative cuts, working on proportions and sometimes blowing
out of them. I happily met his talent when his winter 2010 collection
”Against” was showcased in Amsterdam and I've been tracing his
career in constantly redefining the relationship between masculine
and feminine by breaking the rules of drafting and tailoring.
Plain to see, Max designs for a worldly-wise woman with an artistic
and intellectual bent who understands fashion,

confident enough to stand out from the crowd.

His latest RTW fall-winter 2013-14 collection, aptly called
”Against II”, moves forward his much lauded AW 2010 collection
soldiering on the notion of what is right and wrong by going against
proper tailoring techniques. Previously unseen details are now
intentionally exposed; garments are split up into bi-polar color
block combos; bold slashes and graphic hues blend in harmony
while maintaining their minimalistic disposition.
Max's celebration of mistakes gives birth to gorgeous outfits
in which de-construction meets construction, androgyny
meets soft geometric forms and garish color shades.
Can't wait to see the label's upcoming s/s 2014 collection
that is set to be unveiled in Copenhagen on August
during the official fashion week.

> all images courtesy of Max Tan <

↧

to the stars above

June 29, 2013, 7:18 am

≫ Next: we, lazy Raphaelites

≪ Previous: perfection is boring

image credit: Youtopic.it

Today is a truly sad day for Italy because one of its finest
minds, astrophysicist Margherita Hack, passed away in the
early morning. Born in Florence in 1922, she made lasting
contributions not only in radio astronomy and stellar spectrometry
but mostly as a true icon of free thinking and nonconformism.
Scientist, psychologist, astronomy professor, observatory
admin, author of several books, tv commentator and science
popularizer, Margherita was a keen sportswoman (long and
high jump champion in her youth) a passionate cyclist
forevermore and a thorny woman who always fought for
freedom. Margherita was widely known for her rational atheistic
viewpoint, for being a lifelong vegetarian and an antiring
advocate of animal and civil rights who promoted euthanasia
as the most merciful procedure. After being hospitalized last
week, she declined to undergo heart surgery and serenely
died in Trieste at the age of 91 leaving alone her husband Aldo
to whom she had been married for 70 years, a dog, eight
cats and all of us here, lost in time and meaning.

↧

we, lazy Raphaelites

July 1, 2013, 1:50 pm

≫ Next: hand-drawn beautiful people

≪ Previous: to the stars above

It's quite impressive how an eclectic collection of
contemporary clothing can be inspired by indulging
in idleness. Edward Curtis is a young British student
with a BA (Hons) in womenswear fashion design &
technology from London College of Fashion and
enough leisure to practice his art: he spent last summer
idling away his days in the countryside doing nothing
but watching daytime TV and lying in bed, nonetheless
he created his 'We Raphaelites' range of clothes.

”Being idle (as in lazy) was the catalyst for how I would
approach this collection. Hid away in the British countryside
last summer, I embraced this idyllic way of living. I also
realised I wasn't the only one, too...” Edward wrote in
the collection's press realease. Comparing his indolent
mood to more historical times led him to the painters of
the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, the group of English
artists including Hunt, Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti
who consciously sought to emulate the stark simplicity
of Italian artists before the time of Raphael.

”They often captured this state of wonder and tranquilllity
in their paintings of everyday people in their natural

surrounding”, he adds also mentioning the series of

photographs by New York born Argentinian Magnum
Photos member Alessandra Sanguinetti bearing the
same magic and mystery, 'The Adventures of Guille and
Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of Their Dreams'.

”The way I approach a collection is a combination of
haphazard experiments, putting an emphasis on using
my imagination, but also I can control it. For instance
I enjoy simplicity just as much as I enjoy maximalist,
these elements mainly stay separate, but through colour
and technique, they start to merge, such as the how
every seam is sewn together...” Curtis explains.

”With this mood, I began creating images, by mark
making with chalks, paints and playing around with fabric.
I continued with this approach all the way through,
deciding colours as I went along. This sporadic way of
working is reflected in the garments. Some capture this
more literally than others; by the way the empty shell
of a garment has been decorated with rolls of organza
and prints. In others, this is more subtle, and found
only in the stitching using a Victorian embroidery
stitch” he declares to Showtime, the University of

the Arts London's online gallery featuring

up-and-coming artists and designers.

↧

hand-drawn beautiful people

July 2, 2013, 2:17 pm

≫ Next: Margiela's artisanal flair

≪ Previous: we, lazy Raphaelites

When it comes to fine-tuning the gift for fashion design,
London's Central Saint Martins stands alone: I'm nuts
about ”Beautiful People”, the final collection by BA fashion
print grad Amanda Harrisson showcased in King's Cross
Granary Building last week. To my eyes, it stands as an
overt statement of personality: focused on hand-drawn black
& white portraits of contemporary icons of the world of fashion
such as Kate Moss, Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour, Amanda
skillfully integrates them with textured prints accurate

as etchings, laser cut lace and jewels.

I always had a soft spot for black & white, hence it was love
at first sight with her clean yet sophisticated approach which
has been sharpened in addition by the significant experience
she made interning over the past few years with prime houses
like Balmain, Viktor & Rolf, Gareth Pugh and Mary Katrantzou
just to name a few where she gained ”a wonderful positive
insight into fashion print”. I really dig as well her gorgeous
Swarovski crystal embroideries (her parents helped to stitch
them onto the garments) but essentially the fact that she
seems to have the self-confidence to make it as a designer.

↧

Margiela's artisanal flair

July 3, 2013, 1:14 pm

≫ Next: been there, done that

≪ Previous: hand-drawn beautiful people

Maison Martin Margiela is widely known for its deconstructed
aesthetic; often hailed as iconoclast and experimental, the
brand expresses its creativity through up-cycling, transformation
and reinterpretation of previously worn silk scarves and canvases
turning them into couture pieces. Margiela's 'Artisanal' fall/winter
2013 haute couture collection show in Paris was introduced by
uncannily embellished facemasks providing a mysterious sense
of camouflage that subtly evokes the brand's unidentified design
team who took on after the founder's retirement. The 19-piece
collection is plenty of blooming flowers, beaded and embroidered
motifs with tropical birds and ramages, vivid satin evening gowns,
layerings, crop jackets entirely made of marble cabochon

stones and a fabulous top with tied up geode slices.

Opulent and easy to wear at the same time, Margiela's

artisanal elegance makes a statement without being

theatrical and it perfectly goes with faded jeans.

> all images via Fashionising<

↧

been there, done that

July 7, 2013, 2:45 pm

≫ Next: the body and its dress

≪ Previous: Margiela's artisanal flair

...Where you been for the last few days?
I want you back
Put my feet back on the ground
I don't need the lost and found
I need somebody to tell me when I've
Been there, done that
Been there, don't wanna go back...

Brian Eno & John Cale, 'Been there, done that'

A few days ago I was asked by an old friend living in
Rome to help him find a location for a movie to be

so I ventured out through old gravel roads looking for
neglected plants and factories with a brooding
post-industrial mood. I suppose that my dear friend,
an experienced playwright, is about to spend the
summer toying with the idea of directing a movie
asking his trusted friends to seek ”jewels out of
sight” as he pointed out. I was honestly in need of

a break and a daycation under the bright summer sun

touring the Tuscan countryside on its 'strade bianche',

or 'white roads' as we call the old unpaved roads climbing

up the steep hills full of vineyards and cypress trees,

was quite appealing.

I was out in the noonday sun on Friday when I stumbled
upon an abandoned sugar mill that probably won't fit my
friend's idea yet it looked gorgeous to my eyes: imposing

rusted iron ceilings, tall smokestacks, brick walls and huge

glass windows. Overgrown and deserted, shady and covered

with dust and debris (strangely with not a single tag or

graffiti), it instantly took me back to a bygone era
when everything was quite different.

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the body and its dress

July 9, 2013, 1:54 pm

≫ Next: bleu en français

≪ Previous: been there, done that

I'm impressed by the strongly conceptual approach of
Finnish born, Berlin-based young designer Emilia Tikka
whose work investigates the human body as an entity
and as the media of our time. Tikka's latest collection,
'External Body', has been inspired by French post-structural
philosophy (mainly by Jacques Derrida's texts) and natural
science history showing deconstructed experimental shapes
and cuts. ”The main idea of the collection is fading of borders
between the organic body and its dress. In the past, our choice
of dress was a way to express individuality. Now the body in
itself has become a form of expression, a text that can be
re-written and re-shaped by technologies and performance.
In the 90's the technological cyborg body of machines and
computers inspired fashion. Twenty years later, the cyborg
has changed into a biotechnological complex, where
technologies appear organic and natural” as she puts into
words while the captivating images taken in Berlin's
Zionskirche by young photographer Zuzanna Kaluzna,
a former graduate from Ostkreuz School of Photography,
focus the attention on the designer's unceasing dialogue
between the body and its dress being Emilia fully aware
that, to paraphrase Coco Chanel, if there's

no body, there's no dress.

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bleu en français

July 10, 2013, 2:14 pm

≫ Next: Seraka's Afro pop

≪ Previous: the body and its dress

Catalan born gifted designer Manuel Bolaño took me
aback with the theatrical style of his ”A little about me”
s/s 2011 womenswear collection (previous post here),
yet his 'd'après McQueen' style steadily evolved into

a more cool and sophisticated approach.

Born in Barcelona, Manuel grew up in northern Galicia
coming back to his magnificent hometown to study at the
College of Design & Fashion Felicidad Duce graduating
in 2007. After a brief experience as part of Mango's design
team, Manuel decided to establish his own label unveiling
since 2008 his collections at 080 Barcelona fashion week
where he won hands down the prize for the best

female collection twice in a row.

Bolaño considers himself an artisan, in fact his tailoring skills
are evident as well as his distinctive taste: his latest s/s 2014
collection called ”Bleu en français”, shows snazzy outfits for
both men's and womenswear made with the very same fabrics,
prints and color combinations; nonetheless his style can't
be labeled as androgynous. Interesting sartorial details are
paired with easy on the eye sporty touches such as cords
and carabiners while pleated little dresses, checked fabrics
and oversized backpacks evoke a college feel in a chic color
palette where black & white match pastel tones. A cute stuffed
bear puppet drops a hint to fond childhood memories.

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