Thanks to Alessia of Capitocome, I got to know the amazing video works of SHOWstudio.

SHOWstudio.com is an award-winning fashion website, founded and directed by Nick Knight, that has consistently pushed the boundaries of communicating fashion online. The founder Nick Knight based his website on the belief that “showing the entire creative process—from conception to completion—is beneficial for the artist, the audience and the art itself.” And it is indeed! The last video posted are refreshingly beautiful, truly innovative, fascinating, magical.

Two videos you shouldn’t miss are Perfect and Joie de Vivre, both by Ruth Hogben. She is a young filmmaker based in London and is also Director of Fashion Film at SHOWstudio.com, after assisting Nick Knight between 2005 and February 2009 both as his first photographic assistant and editor of his fashion film projects.

Perfect is a clip which interprets Phoebe Philo’s A/W 2010 Céline collection enhancing the search for perfection with the snakey, liquid moves of the model, in a very clean and minimalistic atmosphere.

Joie de Vivre is all about the dark glamour of Gareth Pugh’s A/W 2010 collection, inspired by the trasgressions and cruel joy of the roaring Twenties. The music and the model are just fab. Not to talk about the aesthetic of the video itself of course.

Another thing you notice by looking at these short movies is the amazing ability of the models. You realize how much talent and work and art you need to master to be a truly good model.

You can judge by yourself:

Watch Perfect

Watch Joie de Vivre

Ariko

interesting set for the vintage photography exhibition.

A.n.g.e.l.o selling vintage 15€ a kilogram, as they used to do at Prato’s original “cenciaioli” (stockrooms where used clothes were collected and selected for recycling or reuse).

Vintage Art

Maison 39’s shorts.

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Takashi Nishiyama

Takashi Nishiyama

Yong Kyun Shin

Yong Kyun Shin

Sidéral(es)

Sidéral(es)

Michael Kampe

Michael Kampe

Viktor & Rolf were the presidents of the jury of ITS#9, the fashion competition held last weekend in Trieste, Italy.

The famous creative couple and their fellow jurors gave the Fashion Collection of the Year prize and its €15,000 award to Takashi Nishiyama, 23, of Japan’s Coconogacco design school. Nishiyama’s collection, with its voluminous layers, was inspired by Monster Hunter, a hugely popular video game in Japan.

The Fashion Special Collection Creativity award (and €5,000) went to South Korea’s Yong Kyun Shin, 28, a student at Central Saint Martins: she created a women’s collection made from thousands of hair pins, some covered with leather.

Michael Kampe, 23, a student at Belgium’s Hogeschool in Antwerp, won the ITS9 Diesel award, which comes with a six-month internship in design at the company and €25,000.

A special mention of Design Catwalk goes to the fashion collective Sidéral(es), that after ITS will keep the name ES, the only Italians participating to the context. They are an extensive yet very united group of creative people, coming from different paths and backgrounds: Fabrizio Talia is the creative director and coordinator of the project, assisted in style and researchby Linda Calugi, Roberta Weiand for the research activity and loads of other passionate creative people like the guys of Milano Collective, who studied the logo, brand image and guerrilla advertising. And again, their promotional video is by Edoardo Notizia, the ravishing hats are by the Londinese hatter Justin Smith of JSmith Esquire Millinery and the jewels by DNA-79.

About their collection they say: “The excess of what exists is saturating the perception of what was once a passion for few. Re-assembling now means recovering a language that risks to get lost in massification.”

Ariko

Generational rebellion and revenge.
Recreation, parody, transformation of the iconic work of the past

As I love saying: ‘look back before re-inventing. Get inspired and find a different way to express the existing’

Elodie

Lately the world seems to have gained an interest on what’s behind the scenes in the fashion system. Docu-movies like The September Issue or Valentino The Last Emperor gained prizes and popularity, showing the mass public that fashion can truly be a complex, weird and fascinating world to work in.

But also in the past we have movies that a fashion lover shouldn’t miss.

Here’s my top-ten (not in order of importance)

1- The Devil Wears Prada – yes, I know, it’s the first you thought about either. It’s a funny, silly comedy, but it’s all about looks (Patricia Fields’ of course)!

2 – Who Are You Polly Maggoo (Qui Etes Vous Polly Maggoo – 1966, by William Klein) – veeeery hard to find, optical and sixties looks à-go-go, the story is about the life of a supermodel of the times.

3 – Valentino: The Last Emperor – pluri prized docu-film about the last year of Valentino in the Maison before retirement. Humourous, intense, touching, beautiful.

4 – The September Issue – follow Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington and all the Vogue America staff in the preparation of the September issue, the most important of the year.

5 – Blow Up (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966) – inspired by the photographer David Bailey and a mysterious case of murder. Features the super model Verushka and other famous models of the Sixties. And it’s remembered also for the first female frontal nude in the history of cinema (Jane Birkin).

6 – Zoolander – that’s a cult! Who has never stroke a Magnum in a picture after seeing this movie? Hilarious parody of the world of fashion starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in the role of the two most famous really-really-ridicously good looking male models of the planet, united to save the world by the evil plans of the super designer Mugatu.

7 – Picture Me – shot over a time of five years, that’s a documentary about modeling by Ole Schell and Sara Ziff. Very interesting: it shows the ugly side of modeling. Scary.

8 – Lagerfeld Confidential – For the first time Karl Lagerfeld has agreed to let someone create an artwork on his every day life and to trust in the director. Until this movie there was no authorised biography existing: after three years of work, and over three hundred hours of footage, Rodolphe Marconi got it done.

9 – Signé Chanel – it’s dated 2004 but still worth seeing: a peek into Maison Chanel’s Haute Couture, in which you get the chance to see how a collection moves along from conception of ideas, drawings and pattern making, until the catwalk and purchase by the few lucky ladies who can afford it. Envy.

10 – Unzipped (1995) – another hard to find. It’s about the building of a collection of the designer Isaac Mizrahi. For you lovers and nostalgics of the 90s, and of the real super models of the time. Featuring Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and a very young and lovely Kate Moss.

If you know any other movies about fashion system I would love to know!

Ariko

WHAT’S MORE ALIVE THAN YOU® presents in these days other artworks of the first PERMANENT collection.

Tomás Trenchard and Liza Fredrika Åslund are other two pioneers of the revolutionary perspective of fashion.

THIS IS ME
TOMÁS TRENCHARD
Dublino – Irlanda, 6 febbraio1979

Once upon a time, millions of years ago, man lived in caves. I think I was born in a cave. I think so because I cannot stay indoors for more than two or three hours. For me it was very difficult to attend university and I tried all ways to escape outside at every moment. Staying in touch with nature has influenced my design. My items are reminiscent of tree trunks, leaves, clouds, streams, so my bag is more like a rock than like a traditional bag. Maybe next time I’ll make something that looks like a proper landscape. Millions of years ago, people lived in caves and this is not very different from what happens today.

THIS IS MY ARTWORK – PEBBLE BAG
Nature inspires the work of Tomás, particularly river stones. In the preparatory drawings of his PEBBLE-BAG offers a multitude of shapes and colors, taking inspiration from natural textures and then summarize his creative proposal in a shape and three colors: warm grey, burgundy and cobalt blue.
The clutch bag consists of two shells made of paper and sand pulp with a waterproof final paint. A lightweight but very strong body, coupled to a frame that doubles as a handle, made of solid and charred wood and then covered with water varnish. Inside a bag there is a bellows cotton in classic orange color that characterizes all the artworks WHAT’S MORE ALIVE THAN YOU®.

THIS IS ME
LIZA FREDRICA ÅSLUND
Nyköping, Sweden March 20, 1980.

I studied fashion at the Danish Designschool in Copenhagen, where I’m also living right now. I love to go running in the Swedish forest with my dad and to solve crossword puzzles. In my designs, I like to build things, combine them together, and I also like boring things, boring colours, and boring materials.

THIS IS MY ARTWORK – RECYCLE SHOES
A simple project, but complex construction, requiring the intervention of expert hands to build the entire structure of the shoe and in particular of the heel.
The upper is made of goatskin natural tanned and elastic that has led to make the point plateau with a single piece. The heel is composed of pieces of wood used for the construction of chairs and tables. The wooden parts are properly cut and mounted by hand one by one on an iron pin, painted, dyed and securely fastened to the heel of the shoe as to compose a single body. These wooden heels are so different from one another by being built entirely by hand.
The height of the shoe is 120mm, made with an ergonomic shape, patented by WHAT’S MORE ALIVE THAN YOU® that provides incomparable comfort, thanks to a better weight distribution on the ground while walking.
The Liza Fredrika Åslund’s RECYCLE SHOES will be available in three models with a single color for each model, all characterized by the special orange lining.

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For more informations the WMATY press office is at your disposal.

Contact: Giovanna Pineschi – pressoffice@wmaty.com

We will keep you constantly up-to-date on the progress of the WHAT’S MORE ALIVE THAN YOU® project.

Best regards

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WHAT’S MORE ALIVE THAN YOU®
shoes, bags and accessories from across the globe

This post was submitted by WHAT'S MORE ALIVE THAN YOU.

Interesting shapes and knits for the trend area for Winter 2012 ”MOVE!” at Pitti Filati 67°

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Comfortable leather + checked fabric for Trt

Distressed canvas but same shape, seen at Closed

These ones scream “wear me”. Love them. By Daniele Alessandrini.

Pin holes and bright colors, Elia Maurizi

Freego made the best packaging: the shoes wrapped in cellophane like supermarket goods. I loved the contrast between rubber sole and super soft suede, and the inner lining in shirt cotton.

Ariko

POST FIRE DEW

The style of this Swedish brand is relaxed, good looking, easy. Rough fabrics, inside out, weather beaten and still great looking. The collection features plenty of washing and treating: loose silhouettes yet not oversize, like in the knitted suits that I liked a lot. Inspired by adventurous, lone sailors, pilots, old movie posters, it’s really got a personal touch.

IL SISTEMA DEGLI OGGETTI

Caterina Coccioli, Anna Lottersberger and Alessandro Manzi are the founding designers of IL SISTEMA DEGLI OGGETTI. They knew each other in 2002, sharing the passion for iconic-dresses, symbols of fashion, the ‘uniforms’, the quest for particular fabrics and yarns, for texture and deep colors. After 6 years Caterina Anna e Alessandro realize their vision into the fashion brand IL SISTEMA DEGLI OGGETTI.

In 2009 Caterina Anna e Alessandro present the first Collection both for Men and Women, in partnership with a network of Italian craftsmen.

The mission of IL SISTEMA DEGLI OGGETTI is to build a ‘system’ of fashion icons, re-inventing and re-proportioning the historical ones: parka, biker jacket, kimono, blazer, with the typical designers’ methodology. The man of S/S 2011 is strong, adult, adventurous, dauntless, sporty and self-confident. He searches and researches, until he blends Parka and superlight shirts, Blazer and Sac; natural and technical fabrics like Abaca and Waxed cotton.

Ariko

Polimoda ’s pattern making class creates looks inspired on designers and shows them at the Green house in Boboli Garden, Florence, that hosted in 2005 Raf Simon’s exhibition Redux.

Guess what is what…

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