16/09/2014

Mod Are Back on Track for Fall

The influence music takes on fashion is an old story. And the specific case of Mod is nothing but an ordinary relation between the two fields. The term Mod refers to a British youth subculture born in mid-1960s and the name comes from Modernists, a small group of stylish men from England, who used to listen to modern jazz. And if you mix a little bit of that trend – often characterized by tailor-made suits, loafers and tight ties – with the colorful vibe of swinging London, you will obtain the 60s style we saw pretty much on FW 2014 catwalks.

At Saint Laurent show, for instance, the mood is a dark one, the never-ending story of Mr. Slimane and rock music does not seem ready to end quite soon. The result? Patent leather shoes, mini pleated skirts, capes, and dark nuances. A different approach was the one of Carven, where the color palette is diversified, touching pink, cream and burgundy. Eventually, the mood reached even Nicholas Ghesquière, who changed all the Louis Vuitton bourgeois women we where used to knowing and even started to expect. The final result here is a late 60s confident girl who loves to show her skinny legs and to cover her even skinniest breast, as a physical reminder of the silhouette typical of the time.

Francesca Crippa 
Share: Facebook,  Twitter  
15/09/2014

Style Suggestions: Autumn Leather

Leather is quickly becoming a fashion staple and for this Autumn, designers have had some fun with the silhouettes. From polished A line skirts to biker jackets and boots, invest in pieces that will last you a lifetime.

Top: Fendi, Skirt: Drome, Shoes: Agnona, Earrings: Osanna e Madina Cisconti di Modrone, Bag: Marni

Styling by Vanessa Cocchiaro 

Share: Facebook,  Twitter  
15/09/2014

Olafur Eliasson: Riverbed

Louisiana Museum in Denmark hosts the first solo exhibition of Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967, Copenhagen) with the evocative title Riverbed. The striking art venue placed on the cost in the north of Copenhagen offers its unique spaces – a perfect synthesis among works, architecture and landscapes – to the Danish/Icelandic artist who created a site-specific project that looks into the relation between art and nature. According to Eliasson’s inclination to conceive complex, large-scale immersive works, the three-section exhibition presents Riverbed (2014), a central installation made of wet stones, which cover the floors of the entire South Wing turning it into a rocky slippery scenery with a stream of water that totally changes the perception of the galleries, inviting visitors to walk and enjoy the museum in a different way.

Another reflection on the body’s movement in space is present in the three videos of the second section: Movement microscope (2011), where we see dancers in Eliasson’s studio blurring with the everyday working activities; Your embodied garden (2013), the artist’s exploration of a Chinese garden though the minimal movements of choreographer Steen Koerner; Innen Stadt Aussen (2010), a double portrait of Berlin in motion; while the third section presents Model Room (2003) – an essential work of the artist – repeatedly adapted to match the situation, consisting of around 400 prismatic models employed by the artist to develop his projects.

Olafur Eliasson’s poetics is strictly influenced by the peculiarities of the surroundings and plays with natural elements and lights with unpredictable effects, creating myriads of refractions that transform the perception of art spaces and the viewers’ fruition of artworks. Stripped from superstructures, Eliasson’s works aim at generating an intimate relation with people, who are allowed to discover all the devices behind them, making the experience more authentic and open. Riverbed will run until 4th January 2015.

Monica Lombardi 
Share: Facebook,  Twitter  
12/09/2014

The Silent Art of Tomaso Buzzi

Between 1932 and 1933 the Milanese architect Tomaso Buzzi began a fruitful collaboration with the Venini glassware company, which would continue, albeit episodically, in later years. The architect’s creative contribution was evident both in the glass forms and in their innovative manufacturing technique. When Buzzi arrived at the Venini company in Murano, in 1932, he brought with him a remarkable cultural baggage and a thorough knowledge of ancient art, in particular of the Etruscan period, where he looked for inspiration with the aim of creating new and original artefacts. This was achieved through the experimentation with a new glass material, the “vetro incamiciato”, with several layers of colour and gold leaf.

This technique radically changed the appearance of the glass produced at Venini, contributing to the drive for innovation of the Murano-based glassware company, and re-asserting its vocation for producing elegant and refined glass. The exhibition Tomaso Buzzi at Venini, curated by Marino Barovier for Le Stanze del Vetro at San Giorgio Island in Venice, retraces this brief but fruitful collaboration, documented through the selected works (approximately 200), the original drawings preserved in the Venini’s archive, and a previously undisplayed collection of drawings preserved at the Scarzuola in Montegabbione (near Terni).

Furthermore, for this third exhibition dedicated to the Venini glassware company at Le Stanze del Vetro, film director Gian Luigi Calderone has made a documentary film entitled “Tomaso Buzzi. Memories of my Guardian Angel”, which tells the story of the Milanese architect through the unpublished notes for his autobiography, narrated from the point of view of his “Guardian Angel”. The exhibition Tomaso Buzzi at Venini at Le Stanze del Vetro in Venice will open on the 14th of September 2014 and will run until 11th of November 2014.

Rujana Rebernjak 
Share: Facebook,  Twitter  
12/09/2014

Carin Rodebjer: from Sweden to New York

With one foot in Sweden and the other in the US, Carin Rodebjer continues to be one of Sweden’s most celebrated designers; a supposition reinforced by her Spring 2015 collection, Raw Power, shown last week in New York. The collection was made of pink, yellow, dark blue, orange, black and the essential colour of spring – white. Add patterns, interesting details and a nice craft and you get a sense of Rodebjer Spring 2015. The collection is diversified to such a level that, as some critics noted, it nearly misses a clear message. We are, however, more positive, loving many pieces of her collection, among which the silky, pink, pajama-look which opened the Rodebjer show.

While it can be said that that Carin Rodebjer has not shown the conceptually clearest collection, the overall impression is of a show perfectly in tune with her design mission – to create effortless elegance for all occasions. The award winning brand has stayed true to these values since its very inception and the story behind its success lays in knowing intimately the type of woman they are designing for. This is the fourth season Rodebjer is showing in New York, confirming the brand’s value and success even outside of Scandinavia. Seeing how far she has come, one must wonder whether Carin Rodebjer, who founded the brand in 2001 after dropping out of her studies at Fashion Institute of Technology, would have ever imagined it would turn out like this. And we are really glad it did.

Hanna Cronsjö 
Share: Facebook,  Twitter  
11/09/2014

100% Lost Cotton: an Opening Ceremony play

In the hustle and bustle of fashion weeks, especially in New York, with more than 200 shows and presentations taking place over the course of 10 days, it is fairly difficult for fashion brands to stand out. That is, it has become increasingly difficult to stand out only for the quality of a collection. Rather, fashion brands are ever more often using spectacle and innovative ways of presenting their products in order to catch a moment under the spotlight. This is one of the main reasons why fashion shows have become such a complex and elaborate productions, where emotions, performance and scenographic extravaganza take over, leaving fashion and style in the backdrop.

To charm and amaze the fashion crowd is not an easy job. Yet, through the years, Opening Ceremony, and its founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, have shown to be one step ahead. For this season’s runway, the two creative minds have decided to work with Spike Jonze and Jonah Hill on creating a memorable show. Their fusion of fashion and storytelling has brought about “100% Lost Cotton”, a one-act play written by Jonze and Hill, starring actors Catherine Keener, Bobby Cannavale, John Cameron Mitchell, Elle Fanning, Rashida Jones and Karlie Kloss, that served as the brand’s runway show. In typical Jonze and Hill style, the play was a satire of the fashion system itself: a backstage dramedy that takes place during New York Fashion Week – featuring characters named Carol and Humberto, it was a lighthearted, meta take on the fashion circuit with its tangential relationships, insecurities and struggles.

But 100% Lost Cotton was also a fashion show, where Opening Ceremony’s Spring/Summer 2015 collection took center stage. Karlie Kloss, who made her theatrical debut as herself, wore a neoprene pullover and twill mini skirt with small circular laser cut-outs. Elle, an earnest newbie model from Oklahoma, sported a swimming-pool-inspired cut-out grommet dress. Dree, who played an insecure model who dabbles in “musing” wore a powder-pink romper and an Athena bag in a mini lunch bag shape. The clothes were vibrant, in punched-up colours like tangier pink, coral, palladium green, and cerulean. Like the production, the collection was inspired by simpler times and the pure fun of collaborating with friends. “It was supposed to be about the summer of ’91 when Carol and I used to go pool hopping together in high school,” Humberto explained in a scene. “All we wanted to do was find another new pool to sneak into—that’s all that mattered.”

Rujana Rebernjak 
Share: Facebook,  Twitter  
10/09/2014

Pour Femme Pour Homme

For seasons, if not decades, there has been the ruling trend of androgyny in womenswear. What started as a rebellious take on “la Garçonne” in the 1920s, soon became a vast and socially accepted phenomenon both on and off the runway. Pieces such as a blazer, loose fit jeans or a tuxedo shirt are all items that today can be found in any woman’s wardrobe. However, if we turn the looking glass to menswear have their wardrobes been influenced by womenswear?

A rash answer would probably be no, and, to some extent, that is a correct assumption. Garments from female closets – such as skirts, dresses or blouses – are not generally seen on men in their everyday life. The spectrum in which a womenswear designer practices is, however, becoming narrower due to the sheer fact of how vast it was to begin with. Since the key to relevance in the fashion industry is novelty, experimenting with new structures, patterns and materials is always pushed forward and expected. The same can be said about menswear designers, but they have a larger space for creativity by today’s standards since their territory is relatively unexplored. That is perhaps why womenswear hasn’t already been exploited in menswear design. For now, there are simply smaller things translated from female wardrobe into the male one, such as accessories and make up. However, color schemes such as pinks and floral prints – previously viewed as only feminine – are not only acceptable but highly fashionable. Men in skirts are on the rise and ever so often seen on the runway, but mainly interpreted within the street style scheme. Still kept in muted colors and in some ways referencing the Scottish kilt, as seen at Marc Jacobs, the male skirts make a silent yet powerful statement.

The contextual currency of fashion causes some womenswear-inspired piece in male wardrobe to decrease in value, often due to sheer distrust of their social acceptance, not necessarily among men but the general public. Nevertheless, the power of individual style has, in the past years, created a gateway for risk taking, making the entity a question about investment and personality.

Victoria Edman 
Share: Facebook,  Twitter  
10/09/2014

Horst P. Horst: Photographer of Style

Horst: Photographer of Style, currently on show at the V&A museum in London, presents the definitive retrospective exhibition of the work of master photographer Horst P. Horst (1906-1999) – one of the leading photographers of the 20th century. In his illustrious 60-year career, German-born Horst worked predominantly in Paris and New York and creatively traversed the worlds of photography, art, fashion, design, theatre and high society. Horst’s career straddled the opulence of pre-war Parisian haute couture and the rise of ready-to- wear in post-war New York and his style developed from lavish studio set-ups to a more austere approach in the latter half of the 20th century. Horst: Photographer of Style displays 250 photographs, alongside haute couture garments, magazines, film footage and ephemera, revealing lesser-known aspects of Horst’s work: nude studies, travel photographs from the Middle East and patterns created from natural forms. Horst: Photographer of Style runs until January 4th 2015 at V&A museum in London.

Horst P. Horst – Images courtesy of Condé Nast/Horst Estate 
Share: Facebook,  Twitter  
09/09/2014

Robert Stadler: Back in 5 min

With Back in 5 min, Robert Stadler has produced a suspenseful juxtaposition of historical and contemporary spatial impact and design for the MAK DESIGN SALON #03. Similar to a director, the Viennese-born and Paris-based designer studied intensely the “script” of the Empire and Biedermeier-era décor of the MAK Branch Geymüllerschlössel in order to produce his own reinterpretation of the location. Memorable room installations combine tradition-steeped furniture with newly created objects and toy on many levels with the unique character of this former summer residence.

Stadler contrasts the summer residence’s bourgeois furnishings with simple pieces of furniture from rustic cottages like stools and benches, “whose multifunctional, reductive, and mobile design can be interpreted as a precursor to Biedermeier furniture,” says the designer. Provocatively blending into the setting, the stools Aymeric (2014) and the benches Cora and Dora (2014) can be interpreted as “work furniture,” for example. In keeping with the period’s contemporarily crafted materials, they were produced using an aluminium honeycomb sandwich panel, and seem to suit country life just as well as the Biedermeier period or the present day.

Stadler’s complex scenography for Back in 5 min displaces its visitors into a “moment between,” as if the location were on the point of reconfiguring itself. Illuminated with strobe lighting, the viewer can only briefly catch a glimpse of two rooms’ interiors before they disappear into the darkness. Comparable to peepshows, this flashing intensifies the designer’s intended effect. “Robert Stadler is part of a new generation of designers whose intense authorship in terms of content and form—ignoring the boundaries between disciplines—means they don’t run the risk of lingering self-referentially in the art or industry system,” says Thomas Geisler, curator of the MAK Design Collection, of this year’s choice of artist for the MAK DESIGN SALON #03. Stadler follows on from design interventions by Studio Formafantasma and Michael Anastassiades, and his installation will open on the 13th of September and will be on show until 30th of November 2014.

Rujana Rebernjak 
Share: Facebook,  Twitter  
09/09/2014

Romantic Gothic: Dark Forces Are On Their Way

For most of us, summer is by now only a good memory as well as that wonderful season of light and bright clothes to wear daily. The fall season is definitely back and we are thrilled to discover new trends and new ways to live in tune with the fashion world. Romantic gothic seems to be one of the most influential moods for the season. Linked to a dreamy and dark way to approach, not only garments, but a wider idea of lifestyle, romantic gothic represents the most tender aspect of raw gothic culture. When talking about fabrics, the main characteristics are lace and velvet, while other iconic elements include corsets and ornaments. A big passion for mystery, poetry and Victorian age must be added to complete the vision.

On the FW 2014-15 catwalks we saw reminders of this influence in various fashion designers, starting by Erdem, which followed a dreamy path by including floral prints, mini dresses, metallic coats, with a strong focus on what is, in a way, mystic and intriguing. Vera Wang has chosen the gloomy mood, too. Here the approach was more about bon ton, with sheer as a great protagonist, and the long sensual gowns on top of the wish list. We must forget the pale and delicate nuances of the SS 2014 collection by Elie Saab, since what we saw for autumn was all about dark tones: transparency, flowers designed black on black, white skin contrasted by long black dresses.

Francesca Crippa 
Share: Facebook,  Twitter  
Next Page » « Previous Page