the sweetest weekend

image credit: Khan/Reuters

We all have had the bitter during the week but now comes
the sweet with the inspirational image of Bánh Chung rice
cakes ready to be boiled at Tranh Khuc village outside Hanoi. 
The traditional cake is a true delicacy of the highly
rated Vietnamese cuisine yet what I like the most is 
the way it's carefully wrapped between lá dong leaves
as tight as possibile into perfect square shapes.
Wishing to all of you the sweetest weekend
you had always craved.

mythical creature style

'Chimaera' is the dicey name of a riveting collection
signed by up-and-coming designer and visual artist
Leyre Valiente who chose the fire-breathing female
monster of Greek mythology with a lion's head upon a
snake-tailed goat's body to give the gist of ”our nature, 
hidden, terrible, magical” as she wrote introducing it.

As you know the mythological beast came to symbolize
an illusory hope or a wish impossible to achieve yet
Leyre's work is all but chimeric: an audiovisual
communication graduate from Universidad Rey 

Juan Carlos, she's in her last year of fashion design 

at the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Madrid, 

had a significant experience as costume designer 

and interning for brief periods at Yono Taola, 

Alexander McQueen and Loewe and plans 

to set up her own label.

images 1 > 3 © by Michael Ostermann

The Chimaera collection shows simmetrically stitched
armor-like garments made of pleated black leather
shaped as a carapace to hint at the mutant creature
beneath the human being while knit fabrics and
skin-toned silk imitate dragon wings, constructed as
shields with cords sewn beneath the fabric and stitchings
made as scars suggesting the series of emotional
experiences, lasting traumas, fears and 

desires marking the cruel creature.

”...the monster is different and superior. That is why
it produces fear and the need of having it under control.
Made equally of dream and nightmare. It seduces and
attracts because it is strange and mysterious, ethereally
intangible. It is splendid, hypnotic, although being fearful.
It is part of this world as good and evil, but it is quite
above it and can fly overhead with its dragon wings.
(...) Its soul is dark because it has seen the light.”

The cunning images digitally mixed with graphics
made by Vienna-based photographer and visual
artist Michael Ostermann as well the ones taken by
Davinci White fasten a baleful sense to the outfits
strongly enhancing their dramatic look.
According to legend sighting the Chimaera was an
omen of storms and shipwrecks yet this collection
looks more like the harbinger of a bold prodigy.

images 4 > 7 © by Davinci White, editing & direction by Leyre Valiente

knitwear's endless versatility

I happily met another talented designer who can wholly be
regarded as an evangelist of sculptural knitwear, a young
creative craftswoman adroit at wrapping, twisting and
fringing as well as experimenting with a wide range
of materials who eventually focused her skills on 

the handmade techniques of macramé. 

London-based knitter-designer Eleanor Amoroso
creates unique garments with a peculiar dark aesthetic,
a graduate from University of Westminster, she actually
made waves with her handcrafted graduate collection
launching her label last year after an apprentice period
at renowned Charlie le Mindu and Gemma Slack's
studios (where I bet she gained both technical
knowledge and inspiration).

Her latest AW 2012-13 collection shows dramatic
handknitted sculptural pieces and accessories made
through fine macramé techniques aptly juxtaposed
with flowing fringes in the experimental manner of
designers I much cherish such as Iris van Herpen
and Sandra Backlund (check their own tags to 

see their works if you haven't yet).

Handcrafting's alive and kicking thanks to designers
like Eleanor who cunningly turn fine wavy materials
into bold silhouettes pushing the boundaries of technical
expertise and always reinventing and celebrating 

the endless versatility of knitted garments.

> all images from the knitter-designer's website <

Greta's effortles grace

A common wealth of experience leads to a growth of
skills and sensibility developing by the day a distinctive,
highly feminine style able to briskly take over 

the fashion scene.

This is, in brief, the true story of the Toronto-based
”accessible luxury line of ready-to-wear womenswear”
Greta Constantine designed by Stephen Wong and
Kirk Pickersgill, the so-called ”jersey boys of Toronto”
who established the label in 2005 deriving its name
from the combination of Stephen's mother name,
Greta, with that of Kirk's grandfather, Constantine.

Stephen began as a costume designer making clothing
for several motion pictures while Kirk spent years working
as a stylist and guest teacher at the Istituto Marangoni
in Milan before fullfilling together the lifelong dream 

of starting their own label.

The gifted duo who gained major accolades for their
fledgling intricate jersey dresses came to showcase
a bold, jewel-toned feminine fall collection at the
Arcadian Loft during latest Toronto fashion week
in a riveting show with gripping black on black
combos, leather boleros, carefully draped 
frocks and chunky knits covering the chest 
conveying the label's signature aesthetic.

Toronto could be considered as the booming Canadian
fashion capital city and Torontonians have a front-row
chance to see the latest creations by the country's top
designers as well to raise awareness and funds for the
Stephen Lewis Foundation which provides care and
support to women, orphans and people living with
HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan African countries and
the GC guys have definitely what it takes 
to boost the city's fashion eagerness.

GC's masterminds, left to right Kirk and Stephen
all images © by Jenna Marie Wakani

Hello Kitty!

Hope you'll forgive my clichéd play on words (no bowed cute
kittens here!) yet I'm glad to welcome newcomer Kitty Joseph,
the gifted young textile designer who came to make a splash
with her uncommon perspex accessories (she created bespoke
pieces for celebrities as well as print collections for 

highly-regarded international brands) that became 

something of a signature for her in spite of her young age.

The British born and based talent showcased her first full seasonal
clothes collection since her Royal College of Arts MA graduation last 

year inspired by ”the chaos and repetition of nature's miniatures 

close up and under the looking glass the cells and particles in
marble, stone, fossils and wood grain; and gargantuan nature
stars, clouds, galaxies and the earth from afar” as she 

declares in her website's artistic statement.

Kitty brought into being an interesting collection with
accents of sportswear and a 90s minimalist silhouette in
which bold and sophisticated prints play the leading role.
Neoprene bomber jackets, velvet shorts, sports dresses
and reversible printed pieces call attention to ”the growing
importance in the role of luxury technical garments...”.
Cool in a natural manner, Kitty's woman looks like the
missing link between a not fully predictable future 

and nature's concreteness.

> all images from the designer's website <

cast your eyes and vote

looking on with amused curiosity, Kolkata, India
photo © by Somnath Mukherjee

Inspirational Sunday post: indulge yourself in the
absolute beauty of the images selected as finalists
of The Smithsonian magazine's 9th annual photo
contest which came to beckon over 14,000 pro
and amateur photographers from all 50 

States and over 100 countries.

”you starin' at me?”, Boston, Massachusetts
photo © by Joseph Richard

Samantha on the farm, Connorsville, Wisconsin
photo © by Bernadette Pollard

childhood farewell, Campinas, Brazil, photo © by Paulo da Motta

Browsing through the 50 finalists selected by the
magazine's editors from 67,059 images is quite
an experience guaranteed to delight your eyes.
'The Smithsonian' will award the Grand Prize Winner
as well the winners in each of the five categories
of the contest: altered images, Americana, 

people, the natural world and travel.

the retaliative shadow, Highlands, North Carolina
photo © by Tihomir Trichkov

colored window of opportunity, NYC, photo © by Janwalai Kusuwan

on the train to Jodphur, Jaipur, India, photo © by Ho Lee

Actually everyone's invited to designate an additional
”Reader's Choice” winner, so don't forget to cast your
vote here before the end of March (you can choose only
one picture though you're allowed to vote daily) while
all winners will be announced in early summer.

traditional drawing art, Rajasthan, India, photo © by Chetan Soni

behind blue, Lilongwe, Malawi, photo © by Paolo Patruno

Have a colorful, inspiring week ahead!

> all images by The Smithsonian Mag <

scornful clam on Garibaldi shores, Oregon, photo © by Lucy Chien

le dernier vol

© Mœbius, Aedena, 1985

Today we mourn the loss of one of the greatest comics
and conceptual artists ever, French 'bandes dessineés' 
master Jean Giraud who was worldwide known also 
under the pen names Gir and, mainly, Mœbius.
The doyen of surreal fantasy comics and imaginative
illustrator who cofounded Humanoïdes Associés, the
publishing house specialized in finest comics and
graphic novels, passed away this morning in Paris
leaving his abiding mark in our own imagery.