Tagged "designers"

[2012] Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conservations. May 10th - August 19th at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028.

The Met’s Costume Institute exhibition explores the striking affinities between Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada, two Italian designers from different eras. The exhibition features orchestrated conversations (directed by Baz Luhrmann) between these iconic women, focusing on how both designers explore similar themes in their work through very different approaches.
The works are arranged into seven themes: ‘Waist Up/Waist Down’, ‘Ugly Chic’, ‘Hard Chic’, ‘Naïf Chic’, ‘The Classical Body’, ‘The Exotic Body’, and ‘The Surreal Body’.

[2011] Visionaries: Tom Ford. Very inspiring. If you have 40 minutes to spare today, this is the material to spend them on.

[2012] Issey Miyake. Fall. Look #35.

I like to think of fashion as a quiet opportunity to participate and communicate. First impressions can be significant and I like the idea of putting your best foot forward. The effort to charm is generous and never hurts.

Rick Owens

[2012] Hussein Chalayan. S/S Collection ‘Sip’. Once again Cyprus-born Central Saint Martins graduate Chalayan did what he does best - successfully combined the fields of art and fashion by giving a runway show that could have easily been mistaken for performance art presentation. As video is worth a million words, this time I’ll give you two million (plus 79 in this small paragraph) word post: watch the behind-the-scenes preparation (Part 1) and see the show itself (Part 2) in the above videos.

[2012] Balenciaga. Visor Hat. This hat with exaggerated, downward-sloping brim that Cristóbal Balenciaga introduced in 1967 as a part of his silk single seam wedding gown (left) made it’s comeback at the latest Balenciaga’s Spring/Summer collection (right). And I have to admit that ever since my inner Darth Vader first saw it on the catwalk, he’s been secretly saving money to possess the black version of the hat once it’s out.

I don’t feel too excited about fashion today, more fearful that people don’t necessarily want or need strong new clothes, that there are not enough of us believing in the same thing, that there is a kind of burnout, that people just want cheap fast clothes and are happy to look like everyone else, that the flame of creation has gone a bit cold, that enthusiasm and passionate anger for change and rattling the status quo is weakening. But what I still love about it is that playing the fool, acting silly, showing off, being a celebrity designer are all integral and necessary parts of the fashion business. And creation excites me, because without creation there can be no progress.

Rei Kawakubo

[2011] Kostas Murkudis. AW. Look #04. Greek origin, Dresden born and Berlin based designer Kostas Murkudis in his collections uses minimalist approach and sharply-tailored forms. He pays close attention to details, often keeps to a colour palette of black and neutrals, and admits that he loves conceptual work the same as he does wearable design. Before launching his own line in 1994, Murkudis for 7 years worked as Helmut Lang’s first design assistant.

[2007] Sandra Backlund. Collection ‘Ink Blot’. Look #06. Swedish fashion designer, who sees herself more of a sculptor than a tailor, based this collection on the patterns used in the Rorschach inkblot test. In May 2007 the jury at the International Festival of Fashion and Photography at Hyères, chaired by Christian Lacroix, gave Backlund’s collection the Grand Prix du Jury.

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