Overexposed. Overobserved. Oversee to be overseen. That’s all about visual voyeurism, fashion, showbiz… life. Isn’t it? That’s why Nadir Tejani decided to carry on a project called “The Visibility Series”: developing from a quest against the invasion of physical and intellectual privacy observed in contemporary societies, Nadir Tejani’s Visibility Series disregards conventions and focuses on the design of anonymous garments.
Georgia Hardinge is our new find! Hardinge’s Spring Summer 2012 collection have had a great impact on me not only due to the quality of the fabrics and the liquidity of the looks but also due to the great shapes she creates silhouettes showing the female form. She studied in Parsons Paris School or Art and Design in 2008 and was awarded the ‘Golden Thimble’ award for best design on her graduation collection.
Institute of Chicago the exhibition titled “Fashioning the Object” explores these fiercely independent and far-reaching young designers from Berlin, London, Paris, and Stockholm that are producing fashion objects that straddle the line between traditional craft and cutting-edge technique, both in their use of materials and in the promotion of their brands. Contemporary fashion over the last 50 years has become increasingly tied to issues surrounding everyday life, fuelled by agendas as diverse as politics, the environment, pop culture, and social reform. Fashion designers, moving beyond traditional presentation methods such as the catwalk show or window displays, have embraced a diversity of methods to push their practice into new arenas. As these themes and experimentation are the ones the mostly affect my research I highly reccomend to visit this exhibition.
When you happen to read about stories like the one of the 29 year old jewelry designer Heaven Tanudiredja, you start believing to fairy tales. His fashion life started when he was 15 years old, working as an assistant designer in Indonesia. He then studied and graduated at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp in Belgium and soon had some working experiences at Galliano, first, and Dries Van Noten later. But the fact is he never intended to become a jewelry designer: he just made a first jewel for a teacher of his at school, she liked it, everybody noticed it and people started placing orders.
‘Born Sleepy’ The strong graphic signature that has always informed JW Anderson women’s aesthetic finds its way in the designer’s Fall 12 men’s offering. Bold, ironic and all the more stylish for that, JW Anderson is keen to set itself apart from the generic muddle of latter day menswear. This exclusive MDX preview of the line, photographed by Alex Sainsbury certainly testifies to the truth of that intent.
During MilanoModaUomo I went to the Vivienne Westwood show in corso Venezia. The show featured a contemporary Ötzi, a kind of defrosted Neanderthal man (like the one featured in a movie from the ‘90 that is found in a garden of a neighbourhood house in an america state), a traveller in elegant checked suits or fun sporty printed leggins, with backpack and coloured male melissa plastic shoes or embroidered house slippers.
The beginnings of seasons are like the silence before the storm. The shoots are done the issue is out and we are ready for the new season. When I first saw Oscar de la Renta – in the first image- I was thinking ‘Oh what an interesting choice of color order!’ it instantly reminded me of my time in university and our Traffic Light themed parties where everybody would dress according to their relationship status. Red would be unavailable and green would be ‘Go for it’.
A dark and feminine circus populated by puppets, horses and mysterious ghosts: this is what I thought when I saw Stine Goya’s FW collection. The Danish designer, who started up her own label in 2006 after graduating at CSM the year before, combines special features and details to create beautiful fashion that adhere to people who seek authenticity and individuality in the everyday. Some elements of the collection made me also think to the tale of Pinocchio, the puppet who wanted to become a real boy (…)
Prints over prints over prints. We will never get tired of prints and they will never leave us too. The season we’ve seen the floral, art deco, paisley, jungle and even vegetables! Altuzarra. Louis Vuitton, Dolce Gabbana, Vivienne Westwood, Comme Des Garcons and many had the classic floral prints besides many others on their collections. Now, using these prints on a daily basis is tricky. It might seem over done or as barely making a fashion statement. I’ve put this ‘how to wear floral prints’ on a daily basis schema.There is really not a single way to use the florals on your cupboard as this season many stylists have interpreted this trend with a different approach.
Carnovsky is a Milan based artist/designer duo comprised of Francesco Rugi and Silvia Quintanilla. I got to know their work by accident, and I was totally impressed by their RGB series, a project started with wallpaper design for the famous Italian wallpaper house Jannelli & Volpi, and then translated also into prints and smaller surfaces. the Jungla series have won a Wallpaper* Design Award 2012 in the Best Wallpaper category.
Personae is not a blog, it’s the 2009/2010 series of pictures taken by artist Albrecht Tübke in Florence. So what better day than the first day of Pitti Immagine Uomo to investigate how one presents his or her individual identity in the mass confusion of urban stereotypes. The individuals show their choice of stance and gaze embody their own multifaceted public persona, which exists to mask or accentuate individual identity.
C.A.2 is a creative project coming from the collaboration of two young designers who in life are separated by seven hours of time lag: Catia di Carlo, momentarily living in China and Andrea Bonfini, living in Italy. A long distance project which made them win the international fashion design competition Who’s Next 2011 in Paris, where they showcased their first collection of leather accessories during the ‘Premiere Classe’ tradeshow.
It’s easy to compare Wallenberg with the cultural movement that has animated the Bauhaus, I think that the singer could be easily considered as a student of the German school, a devoted adept to colours and geometric shapes.
Watching her clothes and the picturesque world she creates during her performance, we can consider Wallenberg the queen and master of camouflage, Oskar Schlemmer should be so proud of her. The cover title of her last new single summarises the entire concept of her music: ” Where is the Ocean” is indeed filled with nostalgia and reflection, sirens enchant sailors into death among the coral reefs and rocks.
But the thing that impressed me most was without any doubt her fantastic and sometimes frightening dolls illustrations. It’s clear that her passion for camouflage comes from here, or maybe the opposite, but her drawings give birth to very interesting and brand new experimental figures, a New Population.
She makes of contrasts and sounds a new way of expression, she stages a play made of gestures and creativity mixing all together with a personal fashion taste.
When you think about “ethnic style” in fashion, you suddendly think about something inspired by the crafts of a specific country, often India or Africa, like embroidered caftans, traditional garments, traditional embellishments… nothing new, to say it all. Nevertheless, ethnic is a recurring trend, and often the designers try to make it new in some way.
The last month I worked for Vogue Turkey’s January issue, it was an amazing experience. One of the things I love about this issue is the location for the shoot in the central Anatolia Cappadocia. We went there as an international team, literally flew in from all over the globe. KT Auleta, our amazing photographer and her two assistants, Nes, our fashion assistant, Mel and Syd from London, Daniela Paudice, our fashion director, flew in from New York to Istanbul and then we all went to Nevsehir Cappadocia.
First day:
After traveling for 3 hours we finally arrived at the beautiful Hotel Argos and settled in. We unpacked at the double floor suite of the hotel, Daniela started doing the styling in a very dim light and we were done in more or less an hour. The brands chosen were: Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent, Vionnet, Celine, Preen, Emilio Pucci, Adamo,Gucci,Dior, Alaia, Derishow, Fendi and Loewe.
The second day was about scouting. I must admit 6.30 in the morning is a little hard to wake up at. However around that hour the balloon ride started, it was so far one of the best views I’ve ever seen. After a light breakfast we went around to find locations to shoot in the next two days. Our amazing model Elsa Sylvan arrived at the hotel and was a relaxing day before the shoot.
Third day:
Woken up at 4.30 in the morning to pack the four out of 6 trunks we’ve brought. To do list: Steamer, check. Kit bag, check. Rails, check. Trunks loaded in the van, check. Our coats, check. The hair and make up started at 5.30 to finish off by the time we get going at 7.30 as it was extremely important to start with the first dash of light. Three caravans were waiting for us set up to make it more comfortable to work in the unfamiliar circumstances, but in a couple of hours we were feeling the studio with a dash of music on an iPod. By 3.30 pm thanks to KT Auleta and her amazingly fast and beautiful work we were done with the first day. We’ve shot the Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Pucci, Celine over Preen and Alaia. Beautifully done. All frames done up until then was printed out and photoshopped for possible cover tries and Daniela and KT trying to decide on a possible layout for the magazine.
Fourth day:
The second day of shoot everybody’s a little more relaxed from getting to knowing each other better and working together. Elsa as well as Mel and Syd woke up early to start the preps again and they were ready to be on set by 7.30. This day was a bit harder than the first as Elsa had to climb through the hills, with Le Silla high heel over the knee boots sinking in and out and trying to pose at the same time. At some point men of the team had to use a wooden box to hold her up there, as long as she can handle. And even after this supermodel was running up and down in the most precious of all furs with her tights and sneakers on with full energy! The second day even more amazingly finished at 2.30 pm and we had one of the most peculiar experiences one can have in a desert as Cappadocia. We had a picnic lunch, or even a barbecue I must say, in the middle of nowhere celebrating the work that has been done with the warm summer sun in the end of December. Full layout and cover tries are done and sent to our editor in chief for approval right from the set.
It only makes one mistake to get the whole team down but every single move can bring the end result a whole lot better! To make it in a Vogue shoot I definitely recommend two vitamin C’s in the morning, lot of fresh fruits, a lot of courage and a fun personality. Because when the team hits off, the story hits the charts.
More back stage on Vogue.com.tr
It’s called “greenwash” and it’s what companies do to stress out how green, sustainable, and eco friendly they are. But often it’s just pure marketing. Say, a car brand starts to communicate effectively how low are the Co2 emissions of a certain car. But they don’t say they must keep them under a certain level in compliance to international laws, and there’s nothing spontaneous in this. It’s the kind of “sustainability” I can’t stand, because it’s fake.
Antonio and Francesco, the to “comers”, started printing Antonio’s illustrations on tshirts and focusing a lot on the concept and the image they wanted to recreate. They state themselves that their collection has balance between modern fits with a nearly industrial look and comfortable fabrics and cuts and details. Space for hidden thoughts is left only on prints that feature from phobic fears to flowers, from the world of the woods to the close-up on the details of the bark of trees, decomposed and recomposed in graphic organic and mechanical.
This past season was a joy to work with. The combination of precious skins for a more powerful and all-together women’s silhouette made it worthwhile. The boyish charm of Dolce & Gabbana, the severe elegance of Marni, Hitchcockian women of Bottega Veneta, Louis Vuitton’s The Night Porter references and many others as Haider Ackermann and Moschino . These happen to be in a selection of my favorite shows. The question that ponders the mind is how do we steal than spree?
By Malene Birger solves this matter for us extraordinarily. Danish designer also named the Danish Brand of the year founded By Malene Birger name in 2003. Before this she had a collection of Day Birger et Mikkelsen. The beautiful collection offers a high quality, top tailored style steals of the catwalks. Malene Birger followed the trends of the season well and elaborated on these micro and macro trends well.
So, first up is Dolce Gabbana and the boy-chic. Style a nice suit with a waist coat, ankle length booties -flats are a preference- use a fedora to style it up to boy zone. No need for a tie; but may be a bow tie even!
Marni’s lady like collection is all about layering and proportions which we are familiar by now that is a big trend in the fall season. Mono tones and sub-tones are the key for this look. Combine similar colours with each other. Prefer knee length skirts and oversized coats with shorter sleeves and use them with long leather or even knit gloves to reach the proportional beauty. Use jewelry and accessories to finish the look to a perfection.
Haider Ackermann has been a personal favorite of mine. This look is perfect for a little mix and match of fabrics and textures. Leather with suede, silk and sequins have a fur coat on and ready to go. Malene Birger put together a collection specially for the Christmas time coming around. Use a chiffon or a silky even sequin skirt, full length, bring it together with a leather jacket and make it a full look with a sleeveless fur coat on top and go rock chic.
Moschino also used Charlotte Rampling in The Night Porter as Louis Vuitton and used the notorious hats that have been Vogue since the start of the season. A white sleek tuxedo saves the whole day if you want to go for suits but not look boyish at all. I personally like to combine blazers with tshirts to take the edge off the seriousness of the look however shirts are accepted too. Since having a porter hat is not the most fancied thing, use any other style -besides berets- but keep it simple with black or white. Use a necklace however I would put the bow side on the front and keep the pearls on the side. Use accessories and high heels to complete the look.
Marlene Birger and both of her brands, By Marlene Birger and Day Birger et Mikkelsen are good for a styling because of their high tailoring and sense of trend. Definitely to shop for!
It’s not easy to label a creative person as an artist, to get this official title is hard work, there are subtle distinctions between people who really deserve it and who not. Nowadays is the creation of a distinctive and strong artistic language mixed with research on experimental technical skills that transform common people in genius to adore. Certainly not everything that is new is really interesting or valuable with worthwhile or desirable results, it is with no doubts difficult to determine or estimate the quality of a piece of art; and of course an artist never knows when and where the good inspiration comes from, but when it materializes, it could twist its artistic path to an unpredictable and exhilarating way.
Watching the early works of Matthew Cox one might wonders how at some point the artist technique turn to be so different from his first paintings; a closer look on his pieces will make everything clear, the colors and the richness of the first characters are quite similar in the chromatic choice and lines to the embroidered one. I don’t know what usually needs an artist as Matthew to create, as it for me I need a lot of silence when I’m in a creative session, it is very easy to lose the inspiration momentum, if you don’t catch it quickly you lost them for ever. Any noise or voice or even music can distract me and if at first I have a clear vision of every image, it takes so little to blow my mind and forgetting everything. It’s a delicate and fragile process. I really love his artistic technique, maybe because my mother is an embroiderer and than it reminds me of my childhood. I love his choice to combine together two materials so different one from the other; the embroidery is very warm and takes a slow process on the making, the x-ray is colder but makes a transparent vision of what lies inside.
These pieces in my vision embody the creation of human beings and as the artist argues: “Redefinition motivates me to create my embroidered x-rays. The stark clash of two such divergent materials, cloth and plastic, is the simple catalyst. One tactile and labor intensive, the other technical, and quickly a finished product. There’s a wide historical context, one ancient, decorative, and artisanal, the other contemporary and devoid of aesthetic intention. By simply placing one of these materials on top of the other the understood purpose of each is redefined. For me, stitching has a nurturing aspect and acts as care giving or healing to the injured, a socially feminine sort of action, while the x-ray itself can be considered masculine and unemotional”.
I found the embroidery technique very rich with hints of expressionism in the result, the x-rays reveal what the surface tends to hide. The inside and the outside worlds are connected together trough stitching, Matthew proposes the skeleton as a framework for conceptual yet strongly decorative shapes, he leaves bare figures as a memory of what they used to be.
Julian Zigerli’s men’s collection stands for useful, smart and technical high-class pieces with a sporty touch. There is always a lot of love, color, humour and positivity involved in his designs. Julian Zigerli was born in Murten (Switzerland) in 1984, studied fashion design at the University of the Art in Berlin and graduated with diploma in 2010. After graduating from the Fashion Department at the University of Art in Berlin, he decided to return back to his roots in Switzerland and start his own men’s fashion label.
Honestly I don’t remember where I found Elisa Valenzuela’s website link but I liked the fresh attitude in the fashion illustration: an evolution mixture between the ‘90 trend in fashion and photography, combined with comics, to create japanese volumes in imaginary “fashion mangas”.
I have a special passion for fashion illustration and for the collage media, so I contacted Elisa for a few questions and waiting for her answers I was luckily pushed to start a new research in that field that soon I’ll post on DC!
Elisa Valenzuela, who collaborates with agencies as House of Gonzague, describes herself as an “image maker”; I find this description very poetic and different from other cold professional definitions.
She says: “I had very early interest in fashion photography. I began making collages when I got a commission for a dutch trend magazine called provider. I worked on it, destroying and making pictures. Now I am using this knowledge and this interest everyday; an agency specialised in fashion and luxury proposed me to practice art direction. I love to have this both hats!”
I previously wrote about another “fashion collagist” who launched her own fashion brand: you never know from where you start and where you can arrive, especially in fashion, but If I would have to give suggestions to someone who wants to do some illustration, or to organise a workshop with students or even a creative afternoon with friends, I would do suggest to do something with the collage technique. Ironic an immediate.
What I mean by the New Black is not the color trends of the Spring Summer 2012 but a new way of wearing black. For sure Audrey Hepburn is a classic and a Hervé Léger goes a long way in our wardrobes! However the new black for the past two seasons have been in a paradox between structured and neo-gothic or romantic, Interview with the Vampire like. Comme Des Garcons and Chanel are really good two examples for these trends. Comme Des Garcons for structured leather and bonnets was a hit. And Chanel, I was absolutely stunned by the lace one pieces combined with grey tweed capes.
Totally a reference to the well known movie. How does this trend follow up in the Spring Summer 2012? Prints, lace, knits, birds, cats (not pretty kittens but Givenchy-like pumas jaguars) and chiffon combined and mixed in one pot. By now everyone around the world knows my obsession of Alexander McQueen and Sarah Burton has outdone herself again for the brand of the beloved designer. Leather, lace, chiffon combinations and corsets. While these make the feeling of the collection a little dark, a little bit of fetish the lace face covers I think are controversial to its purpose. Consider them as a veil and the feel of the whole collections rather turns around to become more Valentino-esque.
For those who like having the labels on models and going for a designer based shopping spree Angelos Frentzos might be the answer. Even the AW11 collection carries a Comme Des Garcons inspiration with the name resembling the looks; “Cracked Blackbirds”. After studying at the Athens School of Fine Arts and Printing he specialized as a print designer for textile companies. He teamed up with Sophia Kokosalaki and created a conceptual experimental collection based on the moods of the new age music. He was named the Creative Director of Alma, the Italian fashion house after his second degree in CSM. His Spring Summer 2012 collection ‘Strangeway Sunpetals’ have an obvious concept on the prints. First resembling the AW11 Givenchy, looking closer at the shapes over white and over black tells us exactly how to have the new black in the SS wardrobe.
Definitely have prints, definitely have chiffon, have them oversize, have them in silk, knit even go for leather like McQ or florals of Dries Van Noten. Go romantic and go gothic; flowers, animals and nature for all.
Cecilie Bahnsen is a Danish fashion designer who has recently completed her MA at Royal College of Art in London.
She is one of the designers selected to show her first collection at the exhibition space at on/off in London. The collection was inspired by the super modern look of the 1920’s World Exhibitions in Paris and their illusionary conception of the future, combined with references to the 1990’s and how Cecilie used to dress as a teenager.
While creating the look and selecting materials for her collection, Cecilie focused on achieving an effortless feel and a style that would radiate wearability.
She worked with soft layering of materials and a strong focus on techniques and fabric combination. The main lines of the collection were graphic print, shiny bomber jackets and complex folded structures and pleats.
Her second collection by the way was the one that I loved the most: a color palette ranging from delicate pastels like mint green and whitish rose to black, an overall retro and comfortable look, a great attention to details and accessories. The plastic eyeglasses are gorgeous, and the hats, like in her previous collection, are just to die for. The floral embellishments fit well on the sleek jersey silhouettes, topped by oversize knitted cardigans or cube-shaped bomber jackets.
Hope to see much more in the future!
Ariko
Korea meets London. Juhee Han, a newly graduate from the legendary fashion house; Central Saint Martins, Han is a knitwear designer. She graduated from BA Fashion Design and Knitwear in 2011 and her graduation show, I must say, is quite interesting. Her collection is knitwear combined with fur and metal accessories in bright colours; oranges, purple and tones of beige.
This is one of the reason why I’m fond of German fashion designers, both because one of my best friend is a very talented fashion designer based in Berlin, but also I really love the minimalism with which these creatives just find fashionable and comfortable solutions. This introduction is in fact aimed to present you Miroike, a duo based in Berlin who learned fashion with the redhead wizard of London’s rebels Vivienne Westwood. Ramiro Calderon Alvarado and Ulrike Siedel have given an answer to those who like me, are always uncomfortable of going out with high heels (even if believe me, I’d really love to).
They proposed this new line called Zip Shoo, where some revolutionary models can be unzipped and transformed into flat based shoes. Of course the line is not perfect for all the outfits and events, but it is a first step on solving some vertigo problems; in this way you don’t need to bring ballerinas with you anymore (as parachutes for unlikely heights), just bring a bag for your interchangeable heels.
By the way, after writing this post, I forced myself to wear my favorite Nicole Brundage shoes to go to Gareth Pugh opening at Corso Como 10 (my next post), but no one could suspect I had a pair of flat boots hidden in my backpack, (just in case). Following some pics of the amazing clothes and shoes collection, the only weak point of their last work are the bags that are completely iconsistent in my opinion if compered to the style of the other items.
A rising star on the UK menswear scene, Christopher Shannon made his London Fashion Week debut in September 2008 as part of Fashion East and Topman’s MAN showcase, after having graduated from Central Saint Martin’s with an MA. He describes his own style as Re-worked luxe sportswear, tight colour palettes, overbearing prints. And actually it’s what I thought about especially when looking at his FW11 collection, where fabrics range from clean nylons and cottons to heavily embellished woven blanket fabric (…)
Speaking about the world of fashion there are sometimes things I do not entirely understand. I wonder how some fashion magazines still propose poses so artificial in their editorial work, models often do faces and stay in still poses that a normal person would never dream of doing, ever. It is likely that in order to be a model you need to be trained in aerobics or in an advanced hatha yoga session. When I was younger I used to live with some friends of mine who are now well known fashion designers and sometimes we used to animate boring evenings by mimic poses from “notorious” magazines (one among my favorite magazines).
Some of these poses were so weird that if people, in their everyday life, would have ever tried to stay in those positions for more than five minutes, they would have certainly risked a paralysis (but it was sooo funny for us). Of course not all the photographers are the same (alleluia), I’m lucky, I used to work with very talented professionals, (one of them is directing a famous fashion magazine) they used to fix in their work the soul and not just outfits and awkward stunts. In this post I want to highlight some gorgeous pics of the fashion photographer Angelo Pennetta, a very talented guy who’s able to portray the inner side of the models through smiles and stolen moments.
This is what a photographer is called to do, the pics needs to communicate something more than a body and a brand. We need to see moments of life and dream trough fashion fairy tales, magazines are in my opinion the books we left in our childhood that we now want bring back.
When I was in Kiev I didn’t see Dina Linnik’s work but I discovered her in the vital network of creative friends on the web. We bacame friends on facebook and I the collages she posted ever since and than started making me courious…Lately she posted a an entire fashion collection shooting with beautiful balance in colors cuts and patterns….was it her fabric design? her styling? her artistic direction? No. she said: It’s me!
Remember being a kid and making paintings where clouds were purple and the sun was blue? Some people don’t grow old, hence never stop being creative and chasing after what they have come to this world to do. And it is in fact Friedrich Nietzsche who said: “The overman…Who has organized the chaos of his passions, given style to his character, and become creative. Aware of life’s terrors, he affirms life without resentment.” Bernhard Willhelm, born in the heat of 70s in Ulm.
Nina Donis is a brand that hides two creative minds, Nina Neretina and Donis Poupis, from Russia, collaborating since 1992.
This means that their collaboration passed right through the toughest moments of Russian politics, and as many ex-USSR designers their reaction was: pop, colour, happiness. Whitout losing a certain Russian heritage, that is recalled by the uniform-like clothings and links to constructivism.
There’s a store in Milan that sells Korean clothes (along Paolo Sarpi street . Chinatown area). Even if it sells incredible cool things it’s not so famous, maybe bacause from the outside it could appear to be like another Chinese supply store. Every time I go there, I need a checkbook, I want almost everything, the last time I bought sweaters, dresses, coats and some scarf… too many. Among the other things I have a lot of coats that lie in my closet and that have never been used; sometimes I buy many more things that I really need (a bad habit that I’m going to get rid of). But if once I was overcome by feelings of guilt from this attitude, now I have a sort of inner peace about it. I thought that if you consider all your clothes as pieces of art, you can collect your favorite ones as they sculptures (highly imaginative but unlikely).
I recently discovered that one of the brands I fell in love months ago was also designed in Korea, Paul & Alice is indeed a curious name for a Korean collection, but their work is stunning. I don’t know if it’s becoming an obsession, but there is something in the way Korean do fashion that inspires me a lot, there is something French in their way of creating, an elegant taste. Paul & Alice have presented for this winter a collection very wearable and sophisticated. Unlike many collections that you would not know how to match, the design here defines what could be a perfect daily look; appearing at first as very simple, it’s full of gorgeous details. I love the construction of the shirts, they are rich in personality. They designed minimal and Avant-garde pieces desecrating classic ones like trench coats and suits. The result creates a calm and decisive character with a strong personality.
Jewelry designer Bjørg Nordli-Mathisenstated stated: “For me jewelry is a very intimate thing which reflects our passions and emotions. I believe we all need joy and some glitz in our lives, and l feel very privileged to have the opportunity to make a difference to other people by adding some sparkle to special occasions as well as those random days in between.”
Erik and I met on LinkedIn although we studied in the same city, Florence; I don’t really have worked out with that social media yet, but the lesson is always the same: surprise hide everywhere, even behind cold business messaging.
And from northern Europe, Sweden, is where this shoe designer comes from to make his collection with the great artisanal help of tuscan refined high quality leather and entirely handcratfted production in the same region very well known for beeing the cradle and birthplace of all the high quality leather products of the biggest heavy weights in the International Fashion industry.
Langoliers is a brand hiding two creative minds, Pamela Liou and Zon Chu, which I happened to know about while randomly looking for knitted pieces. The fact is that, yes, we are talking about knits, but actually knitted jewelry, which is actually a pretty cool concept if you think that metal chain doesn’t have the same elasticity of yarn of course, so each piece is handworked in an extremely accurate and delicate way, ending in an unexplicably beautiful complicated net that adapts perfectly on the shapes of the wearer.
The fashion business has become more and more unpredictable, reality is overcome by virtual worlds, people spend all their time at the computer rather than to take a walk and go out. While the old stores are struggling trying to sell, the online shops business is growing faster and faster. The reason of this new social phenomenon lies in the combination of two words: “World Wide Web” and “digital entrepreneurs”.
The question is: Is the web actually replacing reality? Lyst and Polyvore for example, are two of the many different web platforms where people interact with fashion in a totally new way; these companies are able to affect the market through an incredible army force of independent youngsters and digital experts. If you once needed a magazine to see the trend of the season, nowadays it’s not anymore necessary; a fashion force is taking shape online who shares opinions with million and million of followers. The difference between the past and the present is that they don’t only cover the role of readers, but they interact actively on the creations of digital contents, they become personal shoppers, cool hunters, stylists with a good level of passion and expertise.
Sexy Sweaters for example, is a duo from Washington (Alec and Greta) who created a website with hundreds of sweaters showcased trough the tumblr network; their creations are crossing this digital platform up to the bloggers community. Some of their proposals are really astonishing in the choice of photographic topics. They are becoming more and more known in fashion, I bet a real collaboration may arise in the near future. The web is a stage of freedom and talents, perhaps the most democratic place on earth where reality is melted to virtuality, where a natural selection of talents take place, a kind of Darwinian selection. Below there are my favorites ones, although the photographic technique needs a lot of time to get to this level of definition… wool is not cotton.
I’m wondering if these guys will be able to make the leap from virtual to real… I really hope so! I love seeing people realize their dreams.
Kostas Murkudis is of greek decent, was born in Dresden and now lives and works in Berlin. He worked as first design assistant to Helmut Lang for seven years before launching his own line in 1994, and was creative director of New York Industrie from 2000-2003, as well as Burlington menswear from 2005-2006. Next to producing KOSTAS MURKUDIS womenswear, he constantly works on a number of consultations to prestigious brands. Since lately I am making a lot of research about swimwear and technical fabrics, I was particularly struck by his SS12 collection which is actually pretty full of this kind of fabrics, a kind of fusion between swimsuits and lingerie.
Woolfiller was born out of a need to repair a hole in a woollen cardigan. The edges of such holes are rarely clean-cut and they are often surrounded by ladders, fraying or worn patches. The differences in thickness and the openness of the structure make felt the ideal solution for mending. Felt, being non-woven, attaches easily to any open structure. Fillers made for materials like wood consist of fibres and a chemical binder. Felt is different: it attaches mechanically by means of minuscule scales. Where once there was a hole, there’s now a new piece of fabric.
One of the things that I like the most about my work here at DesignCatwalk is having the possibility to have a close look to the freshly graduates of the best fashion schools worldwide. Every week we receive tons of portfolios, press releases, pictures, emails, by students or young graduates willing to show off their – hardly ever – amazing works, and sometimes it’s hard to choose. During these years I noticed one thing. It is especially hard to choose when it comes to shoes. But unfortunately I don’t mean in the sense that everything is so WOW that it’s difficult to take a decision…
Nicolas Ghesquière has gone back to the Mid-Century designs of Cristobal to find the way in between traditional haute couture and ways to make it daily. So here we are with another talent from the Netherlands with edge for a fashion understanding. Anna Smit has strong silhouettes yet simply enough a Jil Sander touch. For her simplicity is a fundamental element in fashion design and in patterning, cutting and detailing.
Stine Riis is an upcoming graduate of London College of Fashion, selected in September 2011 as “Best Student Worldwide” by Italian Vogue. Her F/W 2011 ready-to-wear collection ‘Decadence & Decay’ is an investigation into the inter-relation between form and decay: her collection incorporates a range of luxurious fabrics (wool, silk, patent leather, fur) to examine time’s invisible hand in transfiguring sculptures.
Yincheng Lu is a recent graduate from London College of Fashion doing BA Fashion Design Technology Womensewar (HONS). Her collection, “The Third Sex”, refers to “The Androgyne” as explained by Plato in Symposium, telling about the lifelong love and attachment of one human being to another by an elaborate fantasy about how present day humans are each half of an original whole; once separated, the halves desire nothing other than to be reunited. This collection is her personal search for “the completion of our destiny”.
Their latest collection, “The Kings” is influenced initially by Shamen’s and Eskimo tribal culture, this collection explores a fresh approach towards colour, print and design that has transcended Fanny and Jessy into a new, more mature level. Early 20th Century native Inuit tribal wear and traditional Balkan dress inspired details such as the outside pockets, aprons and the shaping in the curved layers. “Tribal references constantly appear within our work, this time we have delved deep into those cultures that have always excited us.
When visiting Première Vision in Paris, I met Céline Méteil, 32 year old designer and this year winner of the Première Vision Prize at the Hyeres Festival. Selected among ten finalists, Céline Méteil created a collection of airy and structured origami dresses made from jaconas. This stiff and transparent cotton plain weave is ordinarily used to create a three dimensional muslin prototype of a garment; her highly architectural clothing entertains a dialogue with the body, building on layers of transparency and lace, paired with fluid jerseys.
Ying Gao is a Montreal based fashion designer and a professor at UQAM. She received the Phylllis-Lambert Design Montreal Grant, which allowed her to question our assumptions about fashion and apparel through urban design, architecture and multimedia. She is interested in the forming of the garment that is still in the process of becoming a design. She play in the phase of construction and inspired by the transformations of the garment.
The antique technique of frottage has been applied to the fabrics: toiles a patronage used to cut the first canvasses are printed with enamels and lamé or thickened to make them more full-bodied. Collage and ripping in surrealist paintings are translated into a research for three-dimension as well as also in the pure lines and measured volumes and in the matching of coarse cotton crepe to silk, of lamé to the acetate mikado double, all this in a contrast between organic and techno.
MUUSE is an online sale project that has the “mission to bring the work of the most talented fashion designers to people who love design – without filtering by retailers or policing by trend forecasters.” Selecting pieces from gradates collections and also experimental fashion brands MUUSE wants to inspire a new type of ‘fashion buyer’ by bringing with the pictures of the clothes also the drawings, the inspiration, the the story of the collection.
Eleanor Amoroso has a trademark design that is decorated and with a dark style, that is Fringing. She is deservedly making great strides forward with her first groundbreaking collection based on handcrafted garments and accessories made from long lengths of fringing. London based designer Eleanor Amoroso launched her label with her spring summer graduation project from University of Westminster.
I was inspired by the personality of the editorials Babes of Benin (by Saga Sig_styling John William) and Canguro Barbie (by Alena Jascanka_styling John William). None of the models and neither the photographer and styilist are from Benin; they actually are from Icland and Britain. So they ask themselves if they have the cultural right or knowledge to create this story? Is it exploitation of stereotypes? iconographic work? “It is a cycle of pop regurgitating itself, reappropriating symbols and codes and inappropriately fetishing and remixing different cultures.”
Some days i wear nothing on the outside because there is too much on the inside. Here is the SEE THROUGH – TRANSPARENCIES trend mercilessly hunted in the spring/summer 2012 catwalks jungle.
A playful trend continuously found on the latest catwalks worldwide that brings to the surface the inner contents over the bodies, some with several layers, or as second skins, used shamelessly. PVC, metallic yarns, organic fabrics all linked by this highly shiny, light, cellophane like, obviously sexy characteristic; printed, colored, but always transparent and always revealing.
Zeynep Tosun finished her masters in Istituto Marangoni while experting in illustration, digital fashion and patterning. She developed her Haute-Couture skills while working for Alberta Ferretti and Philosophy Di Alberta Ferretti before she moved back to her home town, Istanbul. She was named the 3rd in ITKIB’s (The General Secretariat of Istanbul Textile and Apparel) young and promising designers. She attended the Istanbul Fashion Week in the past few years. However she wanted to move on a different path with the SS12 collection and took it to where it possibly belongs; London.
She sees her brand as her third child and as a mother she has to protect and also to criticise it to be able to give it the strenght of being independent. Manuela Arcari found it very hard to balance between career and family and I think her collections are for women who, as herself, want to succeed in both. A ‘transparency of feelings and actions’ that became straight lines and shapes, strong and defined colours that offers a different type of luxury that is cultivated in the garments and the personality of her woman. She doesn’t have that designer problem of reducing a woman’s life to one or two moments: work, a fancy party (as also said for Stella in the NYTimes).
Old brands with new designers face the future and we will surely see other solutions that will amaze us for unexpected mingling. Paco Rabanne was one of these, Manish Arora has definitely raised the brand, creating figures coming from parallel universe, I thought I saw modern cool aliens. I really loved his personal interpretation of the metal forms that he transformed giving them a fit that probably they never had before.
A designer from Poland who graduated from Cracow School of Art and Fashion Design plays with the definitions of geometry, architecture and combines them with fashion design. Anna’s avant-garde designs are constructions and de-constructions of raw materials and they are mostly inspired by modern architecture and interior design.
Bonded. That seems to be the keyword for fabric trends, at least at Première Vision fair in Paris. A huge amount of bonded fabrics, in a subtle play of double colours, double textures, different and unexpected aspects of fabrics bonded together in unique combinations. I loved especially a cupro/mélange jersey by “K” Ricciarini and a soft, bicolor, boiled wool by C.O.T.O. by Takisada Osaka. About the colours, we are facing a very bright and brilliant winter next season: the color is propelled into an absolute majority, and minimizes neutrals with a precious sparseness.
Flatter, to be meant as “more flat”, seems to be a new trend in fashion photography. Lately I happened to see more than one exemple of this trend: A thoughtful fashion shoot entitled Seasonals in the autumn/winter 2010/11 issue of The Gentlewoman magazine, showed a pyramid of clothing excluding the model. The photos were taken by Maurice Scheltens & Liesbeth Abbenes and styled by Jonathan Kaye, and this team, as I discovered after a quick search, repeated this kind of experiment on the third issue of the same magazine, in another fashion shoot called Pristine.
What is the reason for calling this group exhibition La Chanson? The show, which brings different visual and sound installations together, takes its name from the French musical movement of the 1950s and 60s led by Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Boris Vian, Serge Gainsbourg, Juliette Gréco, Georges Brassens and Léo Ferré, among others. The underlying reason is not the search for parallels between past and present, but rather something essential to most of the main figures of the Chanson movement: the natural combination of contrasts they created in their songs.
This exhibition reflects the encounter between art, performance, fashion, architecture, and music, conceiving a world of boundless freedom where art and design are pushed beyond any barriers, leaving space for a more organic, visionary mode of expression. Getting in the haze brings a confusion of impressions, making us live a misty and holistic experience of this delightful collision.
Design Catwalk will give a chance to get invitations for the next Pierre Ancy fashion catwalk in Milan. Below you’ll find complete details. The runaway will take place in Milan on the 26 of September. There will be 20 tickets and a front row seat with backstage pass.
Follow the simple rules below
1 Add as friend Pierre [...]
For the summer trends we know we have sheer fabrics, crazy, dizzying prints and bright yellow colour from many fashion shows we’ve seen in London Milan, New York and Paris fashion weeks. Istanbul Fashion week was no less. Each designer have treated the trends with a different approach and with their signature designs. While Tuvana Buyukcinar was using the printed long skirts in ikat, Gamze Saracoglu did what she knows best; mini skirts, a very provocative front slit in navy, bright yellow satin and black & white as a classic.
Istanbul Fashion Week is becoming better each year and expectations are going even further. Bloggers, fashion designers, fashion personas all over the world will raid through Istanbul for the fashion in the following year. That is of course our yearning.
My suspicion is: yes they are. I mean. Look at their creations. It is hard to find the same level of happiness and colorful craziness in their cousins apparel designers, don’t you think? Apart from Jeremy Scott! It looks like if playing with yarns favors a general positive and playful attitude towards creation and fashion itself. We already told about Tom Scott and his beautiful past lookbooks, but see also other young designers like the Icelandic Sigríður Ásta Árnadóttir, the Americans of All Knitwear, the Japanese designer Hanako Narahira, and the London based Yang Du, to name a few.
Firangi Rang Barangi is the name of a series of paintings that celebrate the bold, unapologetic and creative personal style of people who cross vast cultural borders. “Firangi Rang Barangi” is Hindi for “colourful foreigner” and speaks to the perpetual sense of “otherness” or “outsiderness” that marks immigrant and diasporic communities.
If it’s true that, as Renzo Rosso says, “in a crisis period creativity emerges”, ITS#TEN is a demonstration of that. The International Talents Support, held since ten years in Trieste, Italy, is one of the most important creative competitions worldwide, and this year in particular I had the feeling that it was full of bright new ideas and the general level was very high.The winner for the main prize, Fashion Collection of the Year, was Shaun Samson, with a collection called Latino Street Culture and American Workwear Have a Minimal Baby.
I saw the Brazilian brand New Order at last edition of Pitti W, the part of Pitti Uomo dedicated to showcasing women’s fashions. Although they got a stand full of very nice pieces of clothing, they explained me that actually New Order is an accessories brand, and that those dresses were made only for the fashion show, held in Rio, where New Order was the first Brazilian accessories brand ever to have its own dedicated fashion show in the official calendar of the catwalks.
The designer-Duo presented its first womenswear collection within the official calendar of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin. Augustin Teboul lifted the curtain to display their personal, edgy and curious version of the classic Little Red Riding Hood tale. The press release explained the installation in Berlin as; “a cool atmosphere prevailed in the Boudoir-like setting enchanted only through the playfulness and complexity of the designs. Red Hair was lavishly piled up to eccentric art-pieces that beautifully framed pale faces with crimson lips.
Kerhao Yin is a recently MA graduate at Central Saint Martins who, after training at Vanessa Bruno and Chloé, decided to start a namesake label. If this doesn’t sound enough for you, Kerhao is also a skillful fashion illustrator, who published on Elle, Harper Bazaar and the Danish Tea Paper, to name a few. playful, bold and colorful looks reflect his illustration style: a clean yet strong aesthetic, that for this first collection (AW12) is inspired by re-inventing a sportswear style by using different materials and playing with shapes and volumes.
Coinonia’s latest collection for Autumn Winter 2012 captures the essence of this relaxed state. They explain this state as; ” A moment when something gets suddenly released from a certain tension or balance. Everything normally maintains its equilibrium with its certain tension – sometimes being tensioned too much. Even so a moment could arrive when it loses its tension or its own physical balance. No matter what kind of stimulant it is, this causes a movement, a shift from static into dynamic even for a very short period of time or in a smaller scale.”
Aoi Kotsuhiroi is a talent, an artist, a photographer and a story teller. What she does is hard to define without using the word “exquisite” every second on the way.
She doesn’t call her creations, designs because Aoi believes that the use of the word design has become a marketing label to replace the word ‘product’. Now based in France, she keeps on creating exquisite works through chapters. I had the chance to ask her a couple of questions about her Body objects.
BOND – IN is a synergic project between companies who use the technology of thermowelding, to realize innovative concepts in the field of fashion and textile design. Promoted by Dyloan Studio on a concept by Pierluigi Fucci, at Pitti Filati BOND-IN presented “from Technology to Knitwear”, a cutting-edge research, applying the thermowelding techniques to the world of knitting. Construction, Bonding and Decorate are the leading concepts.
STUDIO presenting “La Fabbrica di Matthew Barney”, a photo portfolio by Ari Marcopoulos: this project is the result of the meeting between two artists of the caliber of Ari Marcopoulos and Matthew Barney: “a series of portraits and an exclusive feature for the cover story of Studio’s second issue. A trip into the present, the past and the future of this great American contemporary artist who, through the lens of Marcopoulos, opens the doors to his workshop in New York, the place where – amidst black metal, football and esotericism – Barney’s visions are turned into the mammoth narrations that have made him universally famous.”
As you know, after Pitti Uomo and White fairs, the streets of Florence and Milan are full of fashionable people. DesignCatwalk as usual went to all the main events, and shot some of the best looks seen around. Stripes & Flowers & Flowers again & a butterfly. The coolest girl in town. Francesca’s shoes. Bow tie by Christian Correnti. Alberto & Christian, lovely couple. She doesn’t fear colour blocking, and she’s right! I would love to work in a company with a CEO like this… people at Il Bisonte do.The cutest stripes. The brightest shoes.
Alba Prat comes out of the darkness with pure perfection and a witty architectural style. After finishing her studies at Environmental Science she started working as a technician in Barcelona where she met the true passion of her life; fashion design. The white cubic pattern of her work comes from a cult film from 1982, Tron. She explains the film as taking place in multiple universes: the real and the virtual. Through a laser people are converted in to pixels and that is where Alba Pratt gets the three dimensional inspiration for her collection.
.00 a.m. and I’m blogging for you. This said, that’s not the only good reason to read about Vivienne Westwood’s new project: indeed, her new collection of bags and accessories for the Ethical Fashion Africa Project, have a good good soul itself. This line of accessories was created in collaboration with the International Trade Centre (United Nations + World Trade Organization) and was produced entirely in Nairobi, with the goal of generating production and employment for the local community, especially among single mothers or women suffering of diseases like AIDS.
Polimoda’s in Florence: I saw really interesting collections: beautiful use of colours and also of patterns and shapes: I studied myself at Polimoda and I can say that the Pattern and Sawing classes give you instruments and knowledge to do really a lot. I picked many names on my note book, specially found surprising concrete yet very creative kid’s collections. While I look for other pictures I publish here a part of the contest’s winners: Fashion Bloggers Award_Giulia Bastioni; The Most Creative_Alycia Marie Dean-Johns; Media Award_Fabio Chimenti.
Exploring new ways of constructing and cutting garments, I came across “Alterpretations”, by the designer Nicola Morgan, geniously based on the principles of flat packed furniture: the garments are laser cut and link together without the need for machine sewing. “The idea for the collection is to evolve ideas for products which are often discarded frequently into lasting pieces of high quality clothing. Developing a method of joining fabric together which is strong enough to be worn but without creating a permanent seam.
I fell in love with the story first. The photos captured me in to the story that passes through the woods. Its romantic, ironic, mysterious and sometimes even eerie. It is the lost princess playing with the road kill. I fell for this contrast as Amanda Adomaitis fell for fashion. In order to capture the essence of her collection she chose to do a shoot in the woods which was a brilliant idea considering the hesitant nature of her collection. There is a certain stillness about the clothes. Nothing shouts out, nevertheless they are no where near understated. In this story, everything compliments each other in such an antithesis that it works!
I made my first dress when I was a teenager, because I couldn’t find what I want in Kyiv’s shops. I remember that in Ukraine that time all shoes were black or brown and all clothes were equally boring. But when you are fifteen and dreaming to become a filmdirector you need more colours, shapes and concepts. So I started make clothes for me and my friends without thinking to become a fashion designer. I wasn`t interested in fashion, i love art, cinema, music and parties. But at the age of 19 I took part in fashion contest and won a contract with one of Kyiv`s fashion house.
Lucas Nascimento showed his glorious collection revisiting new themes and lines on what seemed to be a sculptural catwalk. His designs alternate wool strips and volumetric constructions which revalue women’s shape. What appear to be a sculptural style turned out to be an intrigant new way to see feminine silhouettes on promising creations and sophisticated work.
Yesterday, while having a walk in Florence, I saw an old lady buying an ice cream to her little niece. This super cool granny was wearing a long, draped, yellow-brown dress, a necklace with big semi-precious stones, and Ed Hardy shoes (!!). She must have been 75 at least, no make up, simple and not dyed short grey hair, happy face. I love when old people dress trendy in an effortless way, they look so much cool.
Leather and chiffon meets the summer wardrobes by Gemma Slack’s newest collection. Chiffon, perhaps yes but leather in summer sounds a little out of the box for me. Nevertheless we often saw leather in the runway this season. The transparency of the textile combined with diverse cut leather shows the distinction of the no-season trend that is in favor for the past couple of years. I love Gemma Slack, though. Her designs are a good combination of good and bad. Good represented by the soft pink tones, oranges and beige at sub-tones and bad with cutting edge leather jackets skirts.
Months ago I wrote on facebook the thread “I lost my mind”, most of my friends thought I fell in love, instead I was actually looking at the AW 11/12 Tsumori Chisato’s collection. It’s becoming harder to find consistency and innovation perfectly mixed together in clothes, even if it’s not so rare to find it when you’ve worked for years with a big name such us Issey Miyake. Tsumori has evoked a parade of colors on knits and tights in which creativity becomes a big factor; by evolving her knits, the designer keeps up with a renewed vision of woman, defining a new shape of femininity through fabrics which usually are not addressed to sensuality.
Reality Studio is back with a brand new collection for the Spring Summer 2011. The project, I would rather say, is called “Open To The Public” showcasing the collection in an unconventional way. On bicycles!
Eight women are selected to stroll through the streets of Berlin during the Berlin Fashion week in July, modeling the pieces for the current season. The idea behind this collection is rather than limiting the viewing to a selected audience, the Reality Studio have let lose and presents the collection to the public. The starting point of the project was an inspiration from the Californian music performer ‘Flying Lotus’.
and do they make any sense….nowadays? The introduction says that “a suggestive perspective has been adopted, to show how the history of contemporary art and of rock music have followed parallel paths to contribute to the construction of the cultural universe of the last forty years.
Music and the visual arts have crossed and overlapped, over time, engendering a unified and consistent landscape; what draws them together is the performative dimension, articulated according to the specific occasion within an exhibition or a concert…
The first thing I noticed about Nozomi Ishiguro is his curriculum vitae of course! He worked for several years for the most talentend Japanese fashion designer: Comme des Garcons, JUNYA WATANABE comme des Garcons and tricot comme des Garcons. Nozomi is a visionary, he has created a very eclectic collection, clothes which do not go unnoticed. What I see in his creations are really charming solutions, details that show how much research has gone into it and its experimental nature. Nozomi chose the song of Marianne Faithfull “As tears go by” as theme for his collection.
Lately, I’ve been looking for designers somehow involved in creating with an eye on sustainability. (That’s why in the last posts I talked about Christopher Raeburn and Lu Flux, and since I believe in this strong “trend” I think I’ll go on looking for eco-friendly designers).
Elsien Gringhuis is a Dutch designer who successfully graduated in 2008 [...]
Ready for a different festival for fashion and photography? 11 festival includes collection presentations; a trend seminar with Lidewij Edelkoort; a fashion-experts speed dating where young entrepreneurs in the fashion business get the opportunity to benefit from the expertise and knowledge of the departure experts and sort out questions concerning the economic part of fashion fast and straightforwardly; fashion shows en ‘plain air’; discussions in museums; guest showcases; and of course partiespartiesparties.
A dreamy, imaginary world. Something unusual, something playful, garments made to express humour and joy, not only to warm you up: all this is Lu Flux. Lu Flux debuted at London Fashion Week as part of Vauxhall Fashion Scout’s anticipated ‘Ones to Watch’ show in February 2009. After exhibiting under the Estethica initiative at Somerset House for two seasons Lu was awarded the Innovation Award in conjunction with the Ethical Fashion Forum celebrating her inventive and exciting designs in the world of sustainable fashion.
Christopher Raeburn is a young British fashion designer known for creating ethically-aware menswear and womenswear collections that are original in design. Utilising re-appropriated military fabrics, Christopher Raeburn creates garments that are functional, intelligent and meticulously crafted. Christopher Raeburn’s garments are “proudly remade in Britain”, precisely in East London. After the Royal College of Art he won the Ethical Fashion Forum prize in December 2008.
(and it’s not because of any princess)….I was born in Vienna and I know I miss a lot not living there…I didn’t study there either…and looking at the guest professors on modeklasse sometimes I feel that I should have done it! The introduction of the Fashion Design course of the Art University of Vienna says: “In the age of media-oriented design and visual transportation of information the significance and influence of fashion and clothing have been increasing more and more. The cultural position of fashion lies in its inherent enormous potential of social presence and significance and the expression of publicness
Morphe, part of the Creative Group, is an indian design label created by talented young designer, Amit Aggarwal. Morphe, the name of the brand is derived from the word metamorphosis as this ready-to-wear womenswear label is about transformation of raw influences into a modern and eclectic design. VOGUE India states: Amit Aggarwal has firmly established himself as a fashion guru in a short span of time (…)
My strong belief is that we can’t compare the fashion industries in, say, New York and Kiev. We have very different historical backgrounds and so we can’t rely on the same principles of building fashion environment. I don’t think I have enough rights and experience to criticize international fashion, so I would rather prefer to stay neutral. One thing I can admit is that everyone now is talking about the high pressure in the fashion industry. I quite agree that the pace of the industry is becoming uncontrolled, but I also think that fashion is not the most difficult area to work in.
LIKA hats by Lisa Cestaro was found in 2005 and has always been experimenting new ideas pushing beyond the limits of fashion with the strong sense of innovative Italian design. The hats are contemporary and feminine with a well defined conceptuality. For the Fall Winter 2011 collection, the hit hat was ‘Cristal’, with its transparent plastic detailing on wool and lapin fabric. The plastic used on top of these hats are both a practical and modernized version of concept hats such as fisherman’s and 20s elegant style.
Imagine, owning a design that is done purely in the sake of the design itself.
No boundaries, no restrictions.
But an added quality in material, production and of course the designing process.
Kron by KronKron is a brand for incredible shoe designs from Iceland. Hugrún Árnadóttir and Magni Þorsteinsson, the designers of this innovative brand come from different backgrounds yet work together as a whole with a limitless and feminine style. Hugrún studied fashion design in Studio Bercot in Paris and graduated in 2000.
As I was looking for something inspirational I found a knitwear designer from Central Saint Martins College who has a tad bit different approach than others. Gaia Brandt Rasmussen, the Copenhagen based designer opened her brand in 2009.
All the pieces in her collection are hand made and the silhouettes are retro-ish. They do not carry the modern approach of knitwear in combining ultra-modern structures with the soft, grandmother reminiscent material. On the contrary, her designs are well established, lady like yet, androgynous in the same body.
Avelon is a strong&straight brand. The designer Erik Frenken is telling us something about his work up to date, and some “insider tips” of Amsterdam, his city: Before joining Avelon I was lucky enough to work for two well-known labels that have a very different approach to the fashion industry. Alberta Ferretti’s atelier represented my very first ‘hands-on’ experience in an established design studio. From there I learnt all the different stages when building a collection and that attention to detail has to be a key focus at all times……
Adam Andrascik is an American, London based Womenswear Designer, whose collection I saw at Rendez Vous in Paris. I was impressed by the sculptural yet very wearable appearence of his garments, and by the fluro-bright colours he mixes very well. His favourite designer is Martin Margiela, you can tell, but I think after a few collections he already found a signature style and his own trademarks.
Last season I wrote a lot about Kiev Fashion Days, where DC was invited to hold a conference about bloggin. This years’ edition was bigger and better, and I have prepared an interview with founder Daria Shapovalova, who also runs a tv program about fashion in Ukraine. To get “INSIDERS” points of view on the event, DESIGNCATWALK.COM decided to participate in KIEV fashion blogger contest (…)
It’s not that usual to find a young fashion designer that shows a first collection during the official calendar of the Paris Fashion Week; but the Dutch designer Steffie Christiaens did, on a beautiful sunny almost-spring Sunday in Paris. Steffie Christiaens established her Paris studio in 2010 to pursue a conceptual design process through womens & mens ready-to-wear collections.
Converse has collaborated with many we know, namely Marimekko that I mentioned earlier this season. However this one is a little more interesting, I think, because it involves a true fashion inspiration by Riccardo Tisci, the artistic director of the French couture house Givenchy. He used the iconic leopard print that appeared first in the [...]
British milliner Stephen Jones celebrates 30 years in fashion with Vakko Fashion Center. After working with many well known fashion muses such as Boy George and Duran Duran following his graduation from Central Saint Martins, he is definitely one of the most extraordinary milliner of the century. Playing close to the borderline of imagination his designs have certainly become more than just fashion and transformed into art pieces of their own.
Young bloggers in the sun/ From order to chaos/ Try walking in my shoes/ Lovely smile/ Glittery Giovanna/ Bright stripes in a grey room/ Creative braids/ Terèse of 5preview; we spent the whole day together and had a great time, after Steffie Christiaens show. I’ll publish photos of it in the next post!
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