mikapoka

'Rise & Strengthen'

2012-02-02T19:05:00.005Z

photo © by Nadine Ijewere

The new year is always expected to bring fresh opportunities
for new beginnings and the intriguing event established

by Swedish colossus retail-clothing company H&M

to encourage young and talented design students after

their graduation came to reality today with the winners

announcement marking the dawn of a new lucky chance

for those who have the knack of fashion.

photo © by James Finnigan

The very first H&M Design Award 2012 global winner has
been declared the Copenhagen-born, London-based and
educated designer Stine Riis ”...whose amazing sense of
color and construction has impressed us since the first
time we saw her...” stated the H&MDA's international
grand jury. The proud winner came to show her gripping
collection yesterday at Mercedes-Benz Stockholm fashion
week and from tomorrow night's show in her hometown
Rosenørns Allé I'd be prepared to bet that her dream
label R II S will soon be skyrocketed.

three images from the AW 2011 Press Show

R II S was founded right after graduating from London
College of Fashion ”with the ambition to create tailored,
futuristic elegance” she declares talking about her
upbeat design approach and the modern fall-winter
collection she called ”Decadence & Decay” showing
fresh ideas in tailoring and pattern design, layerings
and details and last but not least what exactly H&M
looks for: a truly commercial yet elegantly

mundane character.

both photos © by Amanda Bashida

Stine proves her ability in creating uniquely structured
garments displaying the full-grown sense of style conventionally

associated with expert designers yet her looks are extremely
wearable and covetable and besides conceived as a
continuum through which she emphasizes the
complicated work behind the simplest of things.
A work ”I press the like button on” that actually deserves
to be named ”Rise & Strengthen” instead of ”Decadence
& Decay”. Stine has already made waves as a student,
can't wait to see what she'll do as an independent designer!

Copenhagen show card via tumblr.com

curling up

2012-02-01T21:42:00.001Z

image credit: Janek Skarzynski/AFP/Getty Images

I guess you know that a Siberian cold front is sweeping
across Europe bringing record low temperatures and

this morning I felt snowed in with all the windows

besieged with hard-heaped snowdrift.
Time to curl up to protect from freezing like the cute

red squirrel photographed yesterday by Janek Skarzynski
in Warsaw's central Lazienki park.
Chilly days ahead I dread, then I'd try to make the most
of them hard-working and blogging too, stay tuned!

flawless YOUniverse

2012-01-31T17:23:00.003Z

A few years ago I very much enjoyed reading ”How to Create
a Flawless Universe™ in just eight days”, a hilarious manual
by now defunct Godfather publications teaching readers

how to create the universe of their own personal whim

following exhilarating step-by-step instructions and handy

hints thus I recalled it in a flash when I cast my eyes

over YOU™ Footwear's new collection.

Your Own Universe™ men's footwear brand debuted last
year in Florence's Pitti Uomo summer edition as an invitation
to restore a simple and natural style with a contemporary
language. Following up on the fledgling label, the new
AW 2012-13 collection features different materials placed
side by side in riveting combinations reminiscent of ethnicity.

High quality leather strictly made in Italy and tanned using
natural occurring tannins from tree galls and barks is
amazingly combined with recycled fabrics ranging from
coarse weaves and old felt in various colors to the rough
canvas used in rucksacks, former curtains and military
bedspreads as well as sheepskins and woolen Kilim carpets.

The Milan-based label holds such a distinctive dash made
of counterpointed materials for the man looking at the world
around him as an ever-changing reality in which ”the idea
of cross-fertilization is a plus to be looked at with interest
and where style is first of all an attitude towards life”.

> all images courtesy of YOU™ <

Bravoure's glass nouveau

2012-01-30T20:44:00.000Z

”Life is our stage” is the statement of serious resoluteness
of Dutch womenswear label 'Bravoure', a newbie
that came to show a distinctive theatrical approach

to fashion ever since its first appearance last year

at Amsterdam Int'l fashion week.

The steadfast duo-run label bears a confident signature
style ”inspired on aesthetics found in life, theatre and music”
as Bravoure's founders and chief designers Patricia Hofstede
and Kim Jansen pointed out ”to embrace the little moments
you just feel special and elighten a bright spotlight

when you're ready for.”

The Dutch upcoming talents showcased their ”Glass Nouveau”
AW 2012 collection during the last edition of the Amsterdam's
event ended yesterday: a worldly collection with art-deco inspired
colors and geometric patterns in boldly delineated shapes

that suddenly caught my eye for its artistic reminiscences.

Working with rich materials and fabrics understanding

the freedom of the body, Bravoure dares to create

”something special for the moments you will

celebrate life as never before.”
Undaunted, the duo keeps on creating

center stage moments.

> designers' b/w portrait and all images from the label's website <

winter dragonflies

2012-01-27T22:12:00.001Z

Where do dragonflies go in wintertime?
I guess I know it now: darners and skimmers enjoy
a warm winter in the coastal city of Barcelona where
Celia Vela's AW 2012-13 ”Segon Segona” (Catalan for
two, second) collection has been showcased at

080 Barcelona Fashion a few days back.

Dragonfly-shaped brooches adorne the appealing
silhouettes designed by the Spanish designer who began
her fashion career in 1994 signing for the first time a
collection for MerkamodaFAD followed a year later
by the opening of her store in Figueres and the launch
of her eponymous label at the very same time.

Celia first individual show came in 1998 at the Pasarela
Gaudi and that same year her RTW label was introduced
to Japan starting up a boundless entanglement with the
country and its culture: she designed and made the
uniforms for the Japanese pavilion at Zaragoza Expo
and opened a showroom in Tokyo's Ginza.

No wonder the urban and romantic Celia Vela '2.2' collection

shows an intense Oriental allure in the clever mixing of prints
and color combinations as well a fussy use of fine fabrics
layering embroideries and patchworks with gripping floral
prints juxtaposing thick wollen fabrics with sheer silk and
fuild satin. A collection that skillfully puts together

the raw look of workmanship with couture details.

> all images © 080 Barcelona Fashion Week <

knights in leather armors

2012-01-26T08:18:00.001Z

Like medieval gentlemen-soldiers riding gallantly through
the darkest night along perilous pathways to keep their
princess safe, face-covered models of both sexes wear
Peter Morvin's powerful graduate menswear

collection ”FranzMadonna”.

Based in lively Slovenia's capital city, Ljubliana, where he
studied at the local University graduating last year, the gifted
young designer shows a gripping Gothic aesthetic with
uncommon laser cut leather coats paired with silk underskirts
whose eerie look is mitigated by tiny ruffles and lace

decors giving a romantic undertone.

Architectural inspired, carefully constructed shapes that jog
my memory back to the ones by Polish designer Anna Dudzinska,
elegantly accessorized with knitted Balaclavas in a really
interesting take on medieval attire: no wonder ”FranzMadonna”
won Peter the Mercator prize for innovative approach.

The young Balkan talent works with fellow designer Almira Sadar
on a consultancy basis as well as stylist (he came to style

the video ”Krinolinije”) and his works are featured in Squat

gallery shop in Ljubliana, the independent lab whose main

area of work is fashion design providing creative solutions

to artists, designers and independent brands.
”FranzMadonna” is available on NJAL, Not Just A Label,

the creative hub which is always an early bird when it

comes to discover new talents and thriving trends.

> all images © Peter Morvin, via NJAL <

Mabille's femmes en fleurs

2012-01-24T21:23:00.001Z

Don't get fooled by the big floral headpieces in Alexis Mabille's
spring 2012 haute couture collection yesterday on the runway
of Paris Haute Couture nor by the painted faces of the models
matching the overwhelming flowers, it seems to be just a

dazzling coup de théâtre hiding the lack of new ideas.

The Lyons-born designer whose reivention of the bow tie
came to define his work began his career as a costume
designer at Lyon Opéra before completing a three-year
degree course at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute
Couture and started training at Ungaro and Nina Ricci.

He joined Christian Dior working on jewelry and men's
accessory collections under John Galliano and Hedi
Slimane, his professional mentors, and in 2005 launched
his own RTW unisex collection and Treizeor, the line
of butterfly knots that became his distinctive sign and

briskly made his name as the French breakthrough

designer with a fresh take on unisex fashion.

I love his attitude towards fashion and I think he has the
right dynamic for haute couture: Mabille knows how to be
traditional and revolutionary at the same time, his looks
are ”couture unisex” being inspired by Couture itself yet
IMHO the whole collection tells nothing new except for
the candy-colored dresses: maybe Mabille chose not to
risk in these troubled times when the whole concept
of doing couture is rejiggered by the day.

> all images via fashionising.com <

Armoire or the chemistry of style

2012-01-23T17:53:00.000Z

”To engineer the perfect dress” is the proud motto of
Malaysian ready-to-wear brand 'Armoire' founded by
emerging designer Evon Tan, an absolute newcomer
in the competitive world of fashion who graduated

from Melbourne's Monash University with a

degree in chemical engineering.

After returning to Malaysia she joined a garment
manufacturing and exporting company dealing with
European brands where she gained the knowledge
of dressmaking and understood the work behind it.
Guided by her inborn sense of style, Evon began
creating outfits for confident and sophisticated young
ladies based on modern simplicity and fine tailoring
from her engineering grounding's viewpoint strongly
pursuing her dream to establish her own brand.

Armoire's debut collection ”Happiness, Freedom,
Love & Sophistication” was released and launched
in Singapore last year receiving a favorable outcome
and a wide media coverage that came to boost the
opening of the first flagship store in Johor Bahru.
Evon's passion leads her to develop new designs
such as the latest s/s '12 romance bridal and evening
gowns collection made with superb workmanship.

I had the pleasure to set my eyes on Armoire's upcoming
s/s 2012/13 collection which is a clever interpretation of
how ladies of the 1960s would dress like if transported
through time to the modern days; an essential set,
down to the nitty-gritty of tailoring in which cut, quality

fabrics and attention to detail make the difference.
Clean, feminine silhouettes with minimalist designs
and delicate detailing bearing a timeless yet versatile
allure of modern daywear, utterly true to the

”to engineer the perfect dress” brand's philosophy.

> all lookbook images © by Coolcat.artz courtesy of Armoire™ <

Laura the brave

2012-01-22T14:18:00.003Z

collage with images © by Stephan Kogelman/AP

Kudos to Dutch teen sailor Laura Dekker who docked

her boat 'Guppy' in Simpson Bay Marina in St. Maarten

yesterday after the yearlong voyage that made her

the youngest person ever to sail alone around the world.
Born on a boat in Whangarei harbor, New Zealand, Laura
has always dreamed of sailing but she proved to be much
more than a dreamer: she's the lionhearted young woman
who fought rules and regulations as well high seas and
heavy winds. ”I learned so much about myself along the
way...” she writes on her blog modestly neglecting

how much she's able to teach us all. Brava Laura!

Berliner cat-titude

2012-01-21T18:29:00.000Z

image credit: Johannes Eisele/Afp photo

A few days ago at Mercedes-Benz Berlin fashion week
a model walked the runway mimicking a cat introducing

German couture designer Guido Maria Kretschmer's AW
2012 collection. Kretschmer is known for his glamorous
dresses made with swanky materials and has been
celebrated as 'the German Valentino' but to be frank I'm
nuts more about the show's styling than the collection.
Hope you had a nice Caturday.

Japan's beauty pioneer

2012-01-20T18:39:00.006Z

Felice Beato (1833-1908) was one of the first photographers
to take and sell pictures in East Asia as well one of the
first war visual reporters whose work indisputably

represents the prototype of photojournalism.
The British-Italian pioneer photographer was born in
Venice, began to work around the Mediterranean and as war
reporter documenting several wars before landing in Japan
in 1863 to open his own commercial studio in Yokohama.

Established as a treaty port, the town rapidly grew bustling
with activity during a period of increasing modernization

for the whole country, the Meiji period.
Beato brought to Japan a considerable inventory of negatives
and captured memorable portraits, landscapes and genre
scenes (unfortunately his first images in Japan were

lost in the fire that came to destroy much of the

city three years later his arrival).

He frantically worked to rebuild his archives producing
hundreds of images that catered to the taste of foreign
merchants and the growing tourist market, Beato
introduced the hand-colored technique and his work
had great impact on other photographers and artists,
originating the so-called 'school of Yokohama'.
His ”Photographic Views of Japan with Historical

and Descriptive Notes” album is hailed as a

milestone in photography.

He developed an extraordinary visual record of Japan
but I obviously picked out only some women studio portraits:
pictures of sublime beauty, delicately colored with watercolors,
often oval-framed, with amazing and quite up-to-date hues
revisiting the traditional Ukiyo-e woodblock prints
showing beautiful women in wide sleeved kimonos and
traditional costumes. Images whose appeal and elegance
are undoubtedly unique, awe-inspiring and timeless,

just like 'the land where the sun rises'!

Felice Beato's images of bygone Japan are on display together
with the ones by Kusakabe Kimbei in the current exhibition
”Fotografia del Giappone (1860-1910). I capolavori”
at the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti of Venice
with more than 150 breathtaking original albumine prints.

Ophelia in the rough

2012-01-19T22:07:00.001Z

'Ophelia' is the name of Gregory Nicholas' graduate
collection, a convincing capsule showing a romantic
yet rotten and decayed aesthetic inspired by the
ethereal beauty of Shakespeare's heroine.

Gregory is a young independent fashion and print
designer graduated from the unending breeding grounds
of Central Saint Martin's with a BA in fashion print
and a penchant for raw materials and rough textures
whose contemporary, feminine shapes mix together
printed silk and leather in a clever urban-dark

interpretation of Ophelia (definitely not the Millais' one).

But what I like the most are Gregory's prints and his
idea of surface painting, he works with dyes and skillfully
creates patterns by hand before digitally rework and
arrange them for the fabric: I love their 3-D appearance
as well the plain contrast between silk's

brightness and leather's blur.

”I wanted something extremely tough and raw to co-exist
with the romantic element of the collection so using
leather which I distressed in a number of ways
allowed me to achieve the idea” he declared.
Gregory reshapes the familiar image of drowned
Ophelia carrying flowers into a cool goth she-warrior.

all images © by David Abrahams, styled by Gemma Hyslop & Heather Lyttle

snappy red stencil

2012-01-18T18:35:00.003Z

Unluckily too busy to devise an accurate post, let me share
the 'spraywork' I spotted this chilly morning: I dunno if it's
a homage to Angela Davis, the American radical black
activist and philosopher of the 1970s or simply a

gripping stencil. Anyway, warm red regards to y'all!

the Twins good Vibe

2012-01-17T22:19:00.001Z

Recently established RTW label 'Tabernacle Twins' arose
from namesake fictive twin muses to survey the limits of
fashion, textile and illustration cleverly twinning its inbred
yearning for visual stories with a stern Danish approach
to design refined by a hefty practical knowledge.

Conceived and designed by Danish-born designer Vibe
Lundemark who graduated from London's Royal College of Art

in 2009 with a MA degree in fashion womenswear/knitwear,
the London-based label came to show its third collection

called 'Jack in the Box' for s/s 2012 at Copenhagen

fashion week last summer.

Exploring the idea of an unexpected narrative panorama with
lots of different characters poppin' up like a Jack in the box,
the collection is plenty of contemporary pieces in summer sorbet
colors with compelling digital prints made of hand drawn patterns
and high quality fabrics with carefully chosen details.

”I hope to tell a great little visual summer's tale with a happy
and energetic yet quirky and elegant look...” she told the press
after the show at Royal Danish Music Hall and I guess she
succeeded in doing it. Nothing succeeds like success!

> all lookbook images from the label's website <

Biro-drawn elders and betters

2012-01-15T18:22:00.000Z

There's an artist who consistently pushes the envelope
of portrait illustration using the back of sent envelopes
as a canvas to create highly detailed drawings achieving
very tight renderings utilizing only a standard ballpoint pen.

Everything began when Leeds-born, London-based artist
Mark Powell found an envelope in an antique shop that
was sent from the front-line troops in WW1; he soon

started to draw on its back to preserve and tell its story.
The paper of mailed envelopes is particularly suited to the
ballpoint pen technique being thick and rubbed enough to
avoid ripples allowing precise and controllable strokes.

His unique photorealist portraits made on vintage envelopes
(the oldest ones dating back to 1852) are mostly focused
on elderly and silver-haired people skillfully rendering hair
and beards as well lines and wrinkles of their skin.
Mark conserves the original stamps and postage marks
of the envelopes he collects as an essential feature of

each artwork beguilingly adding character and a

whole world of unknown backstories.

As well as exhibiting his noteworthy portraiture and selling
a number of art prints, he has already begun collecting
antique b&w maps to reuse for future drawings in

a cogent evolution of his distinctive work.
Can't wait to see 'em!

> all images from the artist's website <

little people, great inspiration

2012-01-14T16:41:00.002Z

I've been stumbling across 'little people' lately,
to be more specific in Japanese artistic works such as
Murakami Haruki's ”1Q84” novel or in Hiromasa Yonebayashi's
animation movie ”Arrietty” so when I bumped into this
breathtaking still by Spanish biologist, professor and gifted

photographer Ana Retamero my heart skipped a beat.

Called ”Dos Hombrecillos” or ”Two Little Men”, the
anthropomorphic flower heads of Mediterranean Orchys
Italica (also known as the ”naked man orchid”) look like
mythical creatures so it's small wonder she was hailed as
GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011
winner in the 'plants and mushrooms' category.

Little people provide great inspiration!

cabin crew look

2012-01-13T20:18:00.000Z

Looking like members of an airline crew ensuring comfort of
passengers during a flight, models walked the runways of
Fashion Rio pushing service carts to introduce New Order's
winter 2012-13 RTW collection which is strongly inspired by
the future of civil aviation and flight attendants uniforms.

Actually New Order is the first and only brand of accessories
(a Osklen group company) showing in the course of the
Brazilian fashion week compelling clothes that

are solely made for the catwalk show.
This year's display coordinated by Marianna Amizaut together
with style consultant Juliana Suassana and stage designer
Zee Nunes came to exhibit a cheery and futuristic look

with many references to sci-fi movies of the 60's.

New Order means experimentation and each collection
shows something new with shapes, materials and patterns
always with a sunny personality, this time with a strong
graphic appeal made of painted textures, geometric prints
on varnished plastic or metallic fabrics, neoprene and acrylic
in translucent or nude or in bold colors such as bright

orange, blue, gold and off white.

It goes without saying that the stewardess look is amazingly
accessorized with busby-like hats and a gargantuan parade
of bags I suddenly started to drool over with a wide variety
of shoes from sandals, sneakers, loafers and ankle boots
to silver platforms while jewelry include gilded wing pins.
An interesting one-off collection and not a flight of fancy.

all catwalk images © Zé Takahashi/Agência Fotosite
all detail images © Marcelo Soubhia/Agência Fotosite

joyful stylishness

2012-01-12T18:11:00.001Z

image credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

I've been dazed by this fancy image showing American singer,
songwriter and actress Dolly Parton arriving at the Hollywood's
world premiere of ”Joyful Noise”, the impending musical
film which is set to be released tomorrow in U.S. theatres.
”The Queen of Country Music” offers proof that

personal style doesn't draw back with age.

dark dream couture

2012-01-11T22:14:00.002Z

Swiss surrealist painter, sculptor and designer H.R. Giger
is the preeminent author of otherworldly territories populated
by frightening biomechanical creatures who came to inspire
Polish fashion designer Malgorzata Dudek in transferring
his cultural influence onto fabric.

With H.R. Giger's prior approval Malgorzata came to design
a meaty collection with adapted Giger prints: you may know
that I have a penchant for dark, cyborg and steampunk stories
yet Giger's illustrations although sublimely executed always
made me feeling uneasy but the idea of making a

collection out of his works is quite brainy.

“My desire with this collection is to honor to H.R. Giger,
pay him tribute, and show how his influence resonates in
the world of fashion. When I started sketching this collection
and planning the fabrics, I couldn’t see it complete without
elements of H.R. Giger’s artwork. And what better way for me,
as a designer, to honor a man who’s Biomechanical vision
has massively influenced architecture, film, music, tattoo art,
fashion and industrial design...” she wrote on her website.

Malgorzata's ”Giger's Goddess” s/s 2012 collection is a clever
homage to the artist including a series of one-off couture

pieces with skin-tight outfits as well several laser-cut

leather elements inspired by Giger's airbrushing style.
The Warsaw-based designer accessorized the collection with
metal sunglasses by designer Slav Nowosad (also inspired by
Giger's ”BIRTH MACHINE”) but I'm very keen on the lookbook
images realized by Berlin photographer Christoph Musiol
with stylist Jadwiga Pokryszka.

An unparalleled dark dream couture.

> all images © Malgorzata Dudek, photos by Christoph Musiol <

21st century Alaïa

2012-01-10T18:43:00.002Z

Azzedine Alaïa is the free-thinking maverick of fashion industry
as well one of the last major living couturiers (though he came
to design his first-ever haute couture collection only last year)
and I always admired his originality as well his ability

to think and work independently.

The Tunisian-born, Parisian fashion legend personally selected
in his archive the pieces he designed in the last ten years for

a stunning exhibition called ”Azzedine Alaïa in the 21st century”

currently on display at Groninger Museum in The Netherlands,
which is strikingly divided into different sections based on the
materials the 'King of Cling' used in the decade rather than
by season (he never worked according to seasons or trends
blatantly disregarding marketing-driven deadlines).

The 65 carefully chosen outfits (some of them have been
remade from scratch or recutted by the master) are savvy
displayed in nine galleries with separate rooms dedicated
to fur, wool, velvet, leather, cotton, animal prints,

knitwear and chiffon: all of them utterly celebrating
his body-conscious, iconic clothing.

The Dutch museum, reopened in 1994 and designed by a
team of architects and designers chosen by Italian architect
in charge Alessandro Mendini, seems to be particularly suited
to Alaïa's sculptural dresses and the current exhibition is
actually a follow-on to the 1998 retrospective when curator
Mark Wilson wisely decided to integrate fashion

into the museum's focuses.

Alaïa's always able to astonish crowds of onlookers

thanks to his timeless elegance full of inventiveness,

comfort, glamour and sensuality.

> all images © Azzedine Alaïa, photos by Robert Kot <

designer of Honor

2012-01-08T21:08:00.000Z

Giovanna Randall is the Welsh-Italian fashion designer behind

the 'Honor' RTW label, ”an opera singer turned pre-medical

student turned luxury designer” as she wrote introducing

herself, trained at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology

before working for CNC Costume National in Milan.

'Honor' head designer and CEO came to present the

label's first-ever pre-fall collection which is bold,

still feminine and superbly tailored.
”Clothing should make you feel free, free to be anything - you

should wear clothes that make you feel like you, and it's totally

fine to be one thing one moment and then someone else the next”

is the designer's statement fully testified by this ladylike

collection following the ultra-girly spring 2012.

A well-balanced collection with a wide range of garments,

from classy neutrals to vividly colored whose shapes and

lenghts cannily make reference to the 50's with structured

dresses, elongated blazers and knee-length skirts while the

amazing brushstroke prints she personally hand painted are

extremely up-to-date and powerful both in color (on long

sleeves and trousers) as well in gray & white for more

sophisticated evening frocks.

Fashion honors to Giovanna's vision which is, as she remarks,
”infused with a heritage of fearless women, past and present”
that I bet will soon lead her to new heights.

> all lookbook images via The Empress of Dress <

mouthwatering millinery

2012-01-06T17:33:00.000Z

Deirdre Hawken is a peculiar London milliner with a fondness
for theatre and drama as well an acclaimed mixed media artist
designing and making couture headpieces and spectacular
hat-shaped artworks using traditional techniques.

Trained at the Central School for Speech and Drama as well
at Central St. Martins, she designs and makes couture hats
for fashion collections creating at the same time sculptural
food-inspired ”Art Hats” with a distinctive surrealistic streak
that have been widely exhibited within the UK and abroad.

Beautifully crafted artworks, small hats reproducing edibles
such as white chocolate, chili peppers, assorted red fruits
and seafood while the last one, the biting shark headpiece
is a clever divertissement suggesting that eventually

the straw hat is fit to be eaten.

At the end of this month Deirdre will put on display her tasty
hats at the Whitchurch Silk Mill, Hampshire in a solo exhibition
while a brand new collection has been designed for a craft
exhibition at Fortnum & Mason's supported by QEST, Queen
Elizabeth Scholarship Trust, to celebrate the Diamond
Jubilee of HM. Hats off to her... culinary delights!

> all images from the artist's website <

gifted amateur snapper

2012-01-04T21:54:00.000Z

I suddenly fell in love with the amazing close-up image of a
yellow and pink chrysanthemum reflected in water droplets
upon a passion flower's vine taken by Annabell Ison in her
back garden and you can imagine my surprise when

I discovered that she's an amateur photographer

who only got her first camera a few months ago.
The gifted snapper from Groby, Leicestershire, who works in

quality control for a chips brand, lately won with her gorgeous
macro picture the Jessops color photo competition showing
her undeniable artistic streak: much kudos Annabell!

Noah as Frida for FGR

2012-01-03T19:07:00.000Z

As Noah built an ark to save his family and specimens of

every animal from the biblical flood, model Noah Steenbruggen

of Uno Barcelona liberates the Mexican inspiration of
Fashion Gone Rogue's exclusive editorial wearing specimens
from international labels with simple elegance.

The acclaimed website showing all the latest in fashion editorials,
photography, lookbooks and campaigns from around the world
came to publish the wondrous images taken by photographer
Anouk Nitsche styled by Patrycja Juraszczyk that were

strongly inspired by never to be forgotten artist and timeless

style icon Frida Kahlo in unsophisticated indoor settings.

Nothing new you may say, actually last year I made a post
showing Frida's reinterpretations and the goodly Mexican
trend that FGR punctually pointed out, yet Noah's fresh face,
the colorful dresses and the finest gems she wears as well
her red lips and floral hair adornments made by beauty
artist Oliva give a likely-looking romantic feeling: don't
hesitate to check through the whole editorial here,
swear it's well worth a visit!

> all images © of Fashion Gone Rogue, 2011 <

puppetry poetry

2012-01-02T17:31:00.001Z

I happily met Nathalie Fordeyn's sculptured knitted coats
last year when the Belgian-Thai gifted designer was
graduating from Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts
and it was love at first sight with her modern take on
surrealism emphasized by beehive-shaped hats (here).

As a designer Nathalie has always been interested in
the surreal world wanting to give a brand new identity to

whoever is wearing her garments and her latest collection
called ”Puppets”, where she combined art with drama

ideally bringing real-life people into something lifeless

as a puppet to bring them back to life again,

stays true to her views.

Partially inspired by traditional Japanese masked drama Noh,
the collection bears a fanciful character with high-shouldered
wool jackets with decorative seams giving the illusion

of being hung from the strings controlling a puppet

from above paired with pink detailed collars.

The illusion of lines and strings comes also in soft pink
pleated dresses in which the different density of fabrics
(Thai silk organza and two yarned silk) creates a sense of
depth fully demonstrating her fascination with craftsmanship.

Nathalie recently joined MUUSE, the Copenhagen-based
online boutique selling made-to-order quality garments
conceived by graduate designers from top fashion

design schools and sewn by top tailors and pattern

makers, in what is, as they proudly say,

”inspired style, without compromise”.

Nathalie's idea of fashion is quite in the pink and I bet
she'll soon establish her own label; her open-mindedness
and learning experience allow her debut in the fashion
industry which is always in need of brainiacs.

> all images © MUUSE Aps, 2011 <

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T17:14:00.000Z

image credit: Hussein Malla/AP

A massive Xmas tree in Beirut, Lebanon, decorated with
”Happy New Year” greetings in different languages in this
inside shot taken by renowned photojournalist

Hussein Malla of Associated Press.
May you have an overjoyed year ahead!

the timekeeper

2011-12-30T21:36:00.002Z

image credit: Emilio Naranjo/EPA

This gripping image looks like a movie frame yet it's
utterly true to life: master watchmaker Jesús López-Terra
inspects the monumental machinery behind the clock

in Madrid's Puerta del Sol tower that tomorrow

night will mark the beginning of new year

starting up the traditional tolling of the bells.
Taking care of the clock installed back in 1865
means to raise the weights of chiming and movement,
to grease and check all transmissions in order to be
accurately on time for the thousands of people

eating twelve grapes and sharing cheers.

Counting down the time until midnight tomorrow.

goodbye bubbly designer

2011-12-29T22:13:00.001Z

photo © by Fabian Bimmer/AP

New York-born and based pop artist James Rizzi
also known as ”the guy who draws the buildings
with faces” died at his Soho studio/loft a few days ago.
The prolific designer, sculptor and painter who conceived
and developed the idea of 3-D multiples while studying

at Gainsville University of Florida is known for his

childlike drawings and he also designed the

cheerful 'Happy Rizzi House', an office building

in Braunschweig, northern Germany.
We'll surely miss the happiness and

buoyancy of his nature.

dancing geometry

2011-12-28T20:58:00.003Z

”In my life I made a lot of mistakes,
if I could go back in time...
I would have made much more!”
Leopoldo Terreni

Several years ago (ars longa, vita brevis disgracefully) I shared
a studio with a gifted, sagacious painter, a real virtuoso

who can draw everything from sharp-witted comic strips

to large frescos or true-to-the-original reproductions of

oil paintings of the great masters of Italian Renaissance

with scrupulous attention to detail.

The name of this versatile artist is Leopoldo Terreni,
born in Terricciola, a small town on the pleasant hills
of Tuscany home of fine wines and strawberries,
he showed his talent in drawing ever since a young boy
covering the community's piazza with colored chalks
(driving the whole hamlet insane, though).

Leopoldo is a true iconoclast writing corrosive or delicate
lyrics who made a living by painting as well sketching zany
caricatures for daily papers in Italy and abroad, who came
to develop throughout the years his naif, self-ironic

geometric shaped human figure with triangular head

he christened as 'Pirotalco' which briskly became

the symbol of his distinctive style.

Caustic, sharp two-dimensional characters and imaginary
animals with a surprising mimic expressivity often hiding cryptic

messages or play on words and arrière-pensées criticizing
power and the lack of civic pride in contemporary society.
Leopoldo paints carefully, with the true ability of a craftsman,
his strokes are always neat, every single line is drawn by hand,
every texture rendered in detail thanks to his own technique
in oil painting which requires lots of time and devotion being
made of several layers of turpentine-diluted color.

It's small wonder his solo exhibitions always bear sardonic titles

such as ”Consciousness of Ambiguity” or ”The Certainty of Doubt”
like the latest one I came to visit, called ”Thirty Paintings, Thirty”
in which he put on display works from the last couple of years
where his shaky, dancing geometries are fenced by

architectural frameworks and vibrant blue hues.

Leopoldo invented the rocking paintings by placing his suggestive
artworks upon a wired metal structure able to sway to and fro
reviving Duchamp's lesson in his own aesthetic irreverent code,
an improved form of 'emotional engine'.

Erdem's flowers & tobacco

2011-12-27T20:20:00.000Z

Erdem Moralioglu definitely knows how to dress a woman
and the plaudits he receives show beyond doubt his

unique talent in fusing sharp, forward tailoring

with fanciful shapes and bold colors.

Raised in Montreal, Erdem studied fashion in both Canada
and London where he obtained his master's degree from
the Royal College of Art, moved to New York to work

for Diane von Furstenberg before coming back to

London to establish his eponymous RTW label

which is now sold worldwide.

Shooting the lookbook with photographer Boo George
and Scottish supermodel Kyrsty Hume he showed his
representative knee-length tight sheaths in brilliant florals
and delicate lace appliquéd, his spruce trenches and the
expert use of prints and embroideries in an alluring fall 2012
pre-collection bursting with tangerine and ”tobacco”

tones fused with royal blue and chrome yellow.

A really sumptuous collection bearing the brand's signature
know-how in prints and lace and its youthful approach

to embroidery in which structure and drape join forces

to create masterfully matching twinsets.
I know what I like and I like what I know in Erdem's graceful
clothing which is once more wearable and unpretentious

yet extremely elegant, isn't it?

> all images © by Boo George/Erdem, 2011 <

merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T10:50:00.002Z

photo © by Jo Yong-Hak/Reuters

warm knitted greetings

2011-12-23T21:00:00.001Z

Christmas approaches so let's extol its mood by knitting
together my warm greetings to you all with the awe-inspiring
'Christmas Lynx' artwork by Sandra Dieckmann, a gifted
East London-based freelance illustrator originally from
Germany whose skills have been applied to a wide array
of subjects, mostly animals she deeply loves besides
being a part time manager of RSPCA.

out of Africa

2011-12-22T21:19:00.001Z

I always smile with pleasure at appraising the work of young
British designer Felicity Brown (check her full name tag

to see her previous collections) who doesn't lose focus

on her artisanal approach to tailored fashion with her

latest collection for next year's spring-summer.

Inspired by Victorian lady adventures in Africa and moreover
by legendary writer and explorer Mary Henrietta Kingsley
who played a part in shaping the European idea of Africa
traveling back and forth the so deemed 'Dark Continent'

in quite an unsuitable role for a Victorian woman, the

collection remains true to the designer's layered aesthetic.

Felicity's deep fascination with Africa and broadly for tribal
costumes is once again reinterpreted through deconstructed
patterns in hand dyed silk jersey tubes while the whole
collection shows a sublime Victorian tailoring with nude
silk tulle dresses, puff-sleeved cotton tops and frayed
edge skirts in cunning, more wearable outfits.

A sense of timeless elegance with graceful pre-Raphaelite
echoes is powerfully conveyed by the collection's exquisite
lookbook in which her gorgeous pieces are skillfully exalted
by the pristine images taken by fashion photographer
Oskar Cecere with Elite's model Georgie Wass.
A real marvel collection, done up brown according to
Felicity's perception of upscale modern dressing.

> all images © by Oskar Cecere <

talking textiles ahead

2011-12-20T18:28:00.004Z

'Little red riding hood' by Laurence Couraud, 2010

The announcement has been made a few days ago
by trend forecasting pioneer Li Edelkoort: a new edition
of ”Talking Textiles” will take place in Stockholm's
new venue of Designhall from February the 3rd till
April 15, 2012 showing once again creative and innovative
textile techniques ”highlighting the importance of
creativity and education at a time when the global
market has put many textile mills in danger

of disappearing” she rightly stated.

'Fold-unfold' by Margrethe Odgaard, 2009

'Blood' by Studio Job, 2011

'Why not bergere' by Bokja, 2011

Li (Lidewij) Edelkoort is the Dutch-born trendsetter
graduated in fashion and design from Arnhem's
School of Fine Arts whose work has evolved throughout
the years into publishing (View on Colour, InView, Bloom),
teaching, humanitarianism and curatorship

skillfully delving into art and design.
Named by Time magazine as one of the world's 25

most influential people she supports craft and

design curating exhibitions around the world.

'Ready-made' by Borre Akkersdijk, 2010

'Once we were warriors' by Anthony Kleinepier, 2011

'Tutu' by Lenneke Langenhuijsen, 2010

”Talking Textiles” will show a large selection of
designs inspired by the craving for tactility as a
reaction to the increasingly digital landscapes of
our lives, a wistful longing that led international
designers to reconsider once more the role of fabrics.
Heralding the revival of textiles and the brainy
way to reinterpret them anew, the showcase
looks quite amazing with exclusive artworks

and fabrics of any kind.

'Kawakubo' by Rodrigo Almeida, 2009

'Hunt for high tech' by Bart Hess, 2011

”...The near future will see the overwhelming return
of textiles in our interiors, covering floors, walls and
furniture in an expansive and personal manner.
These textiles will speak out loud and clear and
become the fabrics of life, narrating stories,
designing patterns, promoting well-being and
reviving the act of weaving.” she proudly wrote
and knowing her unique talent in sensing upcoming
lifestyle trends I'm doubtless glad!

'Circus rug' (part.) by Fernando & Humberto Campana, 2010
all images courtesy of Edelkoort Exhibitions

goodbye barefoot lady

2011-12-18T09:47:00.001Z

photo © by William Klein, Paris, 1999

Cesária Évora, ”la Diva aux Pieds Nus” passed
away yesterday in her native Mindelo, on the

island of São Vicente, Cape Verde.
She sarted singing as a teenager in bayside bars
achieveng international fame only late in life when I
had the chance to see her show: despite the small
audience not understanding Portuguese she swiftly
gained love and admiration thanks to her unique

voice and her unpretentious manners.
I'd like to pay tribute to her with the amazing portrait
made by William Klein, one of the most influencial
photographers who, though American by birth, has
been living and working in Paris since his teens.
Adeus Miss Perfumado.

golden Caturday

2011-12-17T18:18:00.000Z

© Maiko Takeda's 'Cinematography' collection 2009

Winter shyly stepped in this Caturday morning with the
first snow of the season elegantly shadowing the mountain
tops with golden reflections in the shafts of sunlight and
thinking about wearing shadows as jewelry I suddenly
evoked Maiko Takeda's finest works.
From the amazing 'Cinematography' collection of

the London-based Japanese high-end jewelry designer
I took the excerpt of this gripping cat face jewel whose
shadow unless ephemeral is entirely part of the piece
to wish you all a golden wintry weekend.

lace in place

2011-12-16T19:58:00.001Z

Annie Bascoul's 'Moucharabieh' and 'Jardin de lit'

Let's get lost in Birmingham today, lost in... lace.
”Lost in Lace” is the amazing name of a gripping exhibition
currently on display at Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery,
BMAG, exploring the relationship between lace and space
through dramatic sensitive installations made by

twenty UK and international artists.

Chiharu Shiota's 9x9 meter black thread web

A place where you can walk into a world of lace gazing at
its unique language, patterns and techniques through large
scale installations theatrically arranged to involve visitors
into open-ended spaces divided by exciting threadworks
pushing them to deal with blurred and shifted boundaries.

Atelier Manferdini's 'Inverted Crystal Cathedral'

”Lost in Lace” is a parntnership event with UK's Crafts Council,
actually the first programmed through the Council's biennal
'Fifty' and artists include designers and makers from many
different countries and a wide range of issues, from personal
narratives to geo-political works: check out the

comprehensive list of artists and artworks here.

Piper Shepard's with BMAG's historic point de gaze

upper: Diana Harrison from UK exposing the underlying structure
lower: UK Michael Brennand-Wood works on a wall constellation-like pattern

BMAG displays its own historic lace collection for the very
first time letting visitors able to find out its history as well

to see different types of laceworks while increasing public

awareness of contemporary craft.

Get laced with lace!

> all images © Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery, 2011 <

sampling the history of image making

2011-12-15T21:40:00.002Z

”...my practice is a constant search for beauty...” says
Australian artist Miranda Skoczek who came to create
an ideal opus where different cultural backgrounds
found common ground: inspired by nearly everything
from the history of visual art she celebrates what's
beautiful and good providing a new key to look at
the way humankind decorated and embellished their
surroundings from the beginning of time wisely suggesting
that there's always something new to discover.

She creates artworks with flora and fauna motifs in
which different cultural references are clearly detectable
yet looking self-expressive by sampling and remixing
traditional decorative iconographies skillfully reinterpreting
embroideries, folk patterns, Chinese and Japanese prints,
Mughal miniatures, Islamic facets, street art,

textiles and architecture.

Miranda gave form to her own symbolic 'art-time-machine'
nullifying any distance between past and present, high
and low art, east and west, concept and depiction,
design and painterly with her physical artworks to which
calligraphic markings and layering of paint add a cloth
like surface as well an haptic sense of history.

”My work speaks of a desire to create sanctuaries for the self.
It gestures towards fantasy and a space where new
meanings are actualized, and the everyday exoticised.”
she wrote on her website's 'bio' page and that's what
I like about her, not making grand statements about art
or society but simply offering... food for thought.

> all artworks from the artist's website <

everlasting fun project

2011-12-14T20:50:00.000Z

> image from the label's homepage <

In these days of pre-Christmas splurge I'd really like to come
across merry and natty garments to pep up the festive mood
but Everlasting Sprout's latest collection as far as I know
won't unlickily be at hand.

'Everlasting Sprout' s/s 2012 collection was themed as
"Mizutama-Kokoro" where "Mizutama” stands for polka dot
and ”Kokoro” for heart to express the warmheartedness of girls
in love. A fun project for free-spirited urban girls that reminds
me of Tavi Gevison's style for its ironic and personal approach
to everyday fashion and that's exactly the way a young

girl should look at it without shamming.

The original Japanese label was founded by designer Keiichi
Muramatsu who graduated from Tokyo's Bunka fashion
college specializing in knit design back in 2004 when he
came home after interning in Italy as an assistant designer
at Prato-based yarn company Lineapiù group.

A collection shouting out ”Express yourself!” by joyfully
mixing patterns, tones and textures for a sophisticated yet
street-friendly look with smart retro hints and a lot of wits
enhanced by messy hairstyles, oversized old-fashioned
looking glasses and patterned ankle socks.
Simply bewitching!

> all other photos © by Fashionsnap.com <

the waterproof eye

2011-12-13T21:51:00.002Z

I've always been frightened by water and fascinated

with it at the same time probably because I use to

live by a river, that's why I always stop by when I stumble

across images of water or, better, taken underwater

like the awe-inspiring by Mark Mawson.

Mark Mawson is a talented photographer who fell in love
with the medium as an 8 years old boy when he was given
his first camera in Newark, Nottinghamshire, a real passion
that later brought him to London where he worked his way
up as a photojounalist for first-rate English periodicals.

Mark moved to Sydney ten years ago and while keeping
on his commercial practice as a portrait and advertising
lensman, he managed to work on personal, free-floating
projects. At ease with a wide range of subjects he
started exploring the water element (such essential

in coastal Australia) taking sophisticated images.

I'm not impressed by his fashion shots while I'm very keen
on his thematic works, the 'Underwater' series of fancy

portraits most of all, but even the breathtaking ”Aqueous”

series he's constantly working on since 2005 and

which is what he's probably known for.

He developed a secret studio technique involving paint and
water to create amazing, smoke-like circumvolutions of
colors which were inspired by watching the milk blending
into the cups of coffee he drinks each day by the dozen.
Obviously he's never completely sure about the result
of the color twists he makes with no control over the
final image: quite the opposite of commercial briefs.

Mawson is currently based between London, France and
Sydney, is represented by several galleries and his works
are homed in many private collections around the world
but you can easily check his waterproof eye by diving
into the clear waters of his website!

> all images © Mark Mawson photography <

India, you're my love song

2011-12-12T21:37:00.001Z

© Karen Knorr's The Peacemaker

”India, you're my love song” incessantly shouted The Psychedelic

Furs' frontman Richard Butler years ago in a memorable

gig in Florence at Tenax club keeping alive the country's

wealth of inspiration provided to artists of all times.

India's multitude of vibrant traditions, religious beliefs, myths,
lifestyles and colors inspired Chanel's pre-fall 2012 collection
and its 'Paris-Bombay' themed presentation show at Paris
Grand Palais last week with models gliding down a ring-shaped
runway between two munificent, princely banquets that made
me think of Maharajahs' palaces and therefore to Karen Knorr's

latest work, ”India Song”, a wondrous series of magical, carefully
crafted images of wild animals in the lavish interiors of northern

India's heritage sites. That's why I put them together.

Uniquely mixing analogue and digital photography, the
German-born photographer who was raised in San Juan
de Puerto Rico and educated in Paris and London explores
Rajput and Mughal rich cultural legacy and its relationship
with the caste system and its rigid hierarchies,
feminine submissiveness and the animal world.

Karen Knorr's ”India Song” is currently showing at
Danziger Gallery in New York in the visual artist's
first solo exibition in the US.

Counter to Karen, Karl Lagerfeld has never been to India
yet he dazzlingly evokes it trough classic silhouettes,
smoky kohl makeups and pearl-laden suits (in tweed),
Nehru-collared ivory silk tunics (worn over soft leather
bootlike leggings), clotted silver embroideries and
sari-style sweaters reinterpreted through the
Parisian brand's quintessential chic.

Even Karen's pictures are meticulously styled considering
both men's and women's spaces in Rajasthan's palace
architecture: interiors are carefully reproduced with
an optical bench camera and scanned to high resolution
while live animals are digitally inserted in turning
cranes, tigers, leaf monkeys and elephants into
avatars of historic characters.

> all Chanel images via fashiongonerogue.com <

India's cultural diversity is steeped in history yet still able
to mesmerize outsiders as well to offer an inexhaustible
source of inspiration for artists and designers of
every kind. Thank you, Ind!a.

holding up half the sky

2011-12-10T18:44:00.001Z

left to right Karman, Gbowee and Johnson Sirleaf, image credit: John McConnico/AP

”We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the
world unless women acquire the same opportunities as men
to influence developments at all levels of society” stated the
Nobel Peace Prize Committee awarding this year's winners:
three women who fought injustice, dictatorship

and sexual violence in Liberia and Yemen.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, her compatriot
peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni human rights
activist Tawakul Karman received the award this morning
in Oslo giving concrete meaning to the epigram

”women hold up half the sky”.
May you have a week of womanly virtues!

there's a monkey in my wig!

2011-12-09T22:01:00.001Z

Strange to tell, this post is about a contemporary artist

yet it's closely linked to top-notch fashion design and

dressmaking being Nikoline Liv Andersen a conceptual

artist with a weighty work experience as a freelance illustrator,

interning as a designer at John Galliano and Christian Dior

in Paris before pitching in with Danish, Italy-adopted

designer Elise Gug and later on working for

Finnish company Saga furs.

A graduated fashion designer from Denmark's Designskole,
living and working in buzzy Copenhagen, she actually made
a name for herself through striking artworks, clothing
sculptures and installations eliciting life's caducity made
by putting together different materials such as plastic,
fur, candles, straws, painted store dummies, fruit and
flowers as well clothing and textile works.

...”I'm searching for beauty and the magic moment where

clothes confirm the miracle of life and not make us down

in the soup of boredom. It's my will in everything I do

not to enter into any compromises with aesthetics and

time but through my work to pay tribute to love and life

and to call inflexible views and norms in question.”

we can read in her website's artistic statement.

Her latest exhibition called ”Slowly seeping through my hands”
shows new installations and a selection of past works like
”The dance of the deaf and dumb eye” an earlier project in
which the 'see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak -no-evil' Japanese
monkeys (or Mizaru, Mikazaru and Mazaru if you prefer)
are hidden in baroque woollen wigs symbolizing today's
blind consumers as well the abiding unfair distribution of
power, is currently on display at Horsens Kunstmuseum
in east Jutland. Quite a visual storyteller with

a foot in both fashion and art camps.

painting with Mary

2011-12-08T18:04:00.000Z

Once again Mary Katrantzou's demi-couture print galore
came to inspire New York-based ”sleepless talent” visual
artist and photographer Erik Madigan Heck in blurring

anew the subtle boundary between fine arts and fashion

photography with style and charm by the truckload.

Mary Katrantzou's staggering outfits from the s/s 2012
lookbook make me whoop for joy yet the way Heck

paints with light in his art-historical influenced style

is spectacular, the way he transforms the environment

in a stage for the model's performance as well the

painterly use of light that every time makes me think

of Vermeer's 'Girl with a pearl earring'.

Yet Erik's intention is never to document the appearance
of the subject as a realistic representation, rather to evoke
its theatricality creating a more aesthetically dramatic
illustration in which already disguised subjects such as
models become characters arranged on a stage acting
narratives informed by references from the history of art.

knitwear with a Dutch touch

2011-12-07T18:31:00.001Z

CG as you know stands for Computer Graphic and in some
ways it could be convenient for us because CG are the initials
of one of the most outstanding talents in the Dutch fashion
milieu, Conny Groenewegen who combined study in 3-D design
and fashion at Rotterdam's Willem de Koonig Academy

before establishing her own 'CG' label in 2006.

Through the years she developed a distinctive approach to
fashion skillfully mixing traditional craftsmanship with new
digital techniques such as the knitting range she created
working with different threads and fibers, setting up her

'soft-tech' knitwear which strongly impressed the jury
of Mercedes-Benz Dutch Fashion Awards 2011 CG won
together with Korean menswear designer Hyun Yeu.

CG's AW 2012 'Alchemy' preview fully shows the designer's
distinctive attitude toward fashion design with androgynous
silhouettes and a painstaking attention to material research
(with amazing mix and match of season's colors through
contrasting yarns and techniques) so it's small wonder
that the DFA's jury spoke of her talent as being ”the blood
and oxygen to the fashion industry (...) the only designer
who made today's members of the jury eager to buy
the product for themselves to wear, right there
on the spot and off the racks.” What a verdict!

Xtc or Xmas tree cutting

2011-12-06T20:20:00.001Z

It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on...

Joni Mitchell, River, 1970

feline Goddess girdles

2011-12-05T18:14:00.000Z

Irish-born, London-based designer Úna Burke whose tightly
fitting leather bodices I came to admire last year is back with
her s/s 2012 'Bastet' collection obviously inspired by ancient
Egypt's burial rituals and the namesake feline Goddess often
depicted as a woman with the head of a cat that was

publicly worshipped for centuries.

Once again her armor-like overgarments made of vegetable
tanned leathers catch my breath through their sculptural
shapes, this time showing lowered necklines, belted

skirt frames and winged shoulders amazingly

paired in the collection's photoshoot with draped

chiffons and sheer fabrics, not to mention a

breathtaking scarab-shaped clutch.

Taken by Vienna-based photographer and filmmaker
Andreas Waldschuetz with his trained team facing the
dramatic backdrop of an Austrian quarried area, the
sunlit images make explicit the spiritual, symbolic and
superstitious practices of the ancients striving

for everlasting life.

flaming Caturday

2011-12-03T17:54:00.001Z

Wishing you a vivid winter weekend through the stunning
cat-shaped flame made by Stanislav Aristov, aka

”Poltergejst”, a gifted Russian photographer

from Ekaterinburg: hope it will give a boost

to your week ahead!

ceaselessly in the making

2011-12-02T17:23:00.006Z

Monica Canilao is a Californian all-around artist, a keen

doer of countless deeds, a free-spirited, action-oriented

artist skillfully moving across media, techniques and

materials borrowing from American native traditions and

contemporary subcultures to fervently build her own

'library of memories' while expressing at large

her ceasless desire to create.

...”First and foremost, I have to create and there is no

limit to the things I will use or where I will find materials

to create with...” she stated in an exhaustive interview

for 'In the Make', the riveting online journal run in

collaboration by photographer Klea McKenna and writer

Nikki Grattan exploring the world of contemporary

artists and designers through studio visits.
The experienced duo reviews once a week each artist's
space, process, influences and what's hidden behind their
finished woks ”highlighting the ways in which each

artist's personal aesthetic pervades their

environment and reveals their perspective.”

Monica shares with other artists and performers a huge sunny
studio in the heart of Oakland (check the pictures, you'll be
nutty about it!), a sort of ”insane musuem cave of wonders”
as she depicted it, where she spends most of her time
collecting remnants and scraps, making collages, designing
jewelry, painting, sewing, drawing and building in zealous
work storms that she lovingly refers to as 'art jail'.
”From boats to portraits, everything I make I use to reimagine
the meaning of home, the power of collectivity and the imprint
history has left on me. (...) My practice is a way to generate
a personal and living history (...) for me, making art is about
making living sacred.” she wrote on her website's bio.

Monica's ecletic style which is at ease with every kind of

techniques and media, recently evolved into building out cockeyed

installations made with abandoned fragments of everyday life
(she has a massive collection of fabrics, laces and doilies,
old paper and wooden bits,though). ”I often think that things
aren't ready to be thrown out, that there's still so much life left
in discarded objects (...) I definitely want to pass on how
important it is to recycle materials, to use what already
exists, to not be wasteful and to be as 'green' as possible.”

Monica's often joins forces with other artists (she never
misses the opportunity to work with her loved ones), lately
she teamed up with soulmate Bunnie Reiss, the gifted
Colorado-born, San Francisco-based artist whose aesthetic
has common ground for ”Little Old One”, the installation
project currently on display in Lopo Gallery while last
summer she traveled to Sweden to create with Kyle
Ranson a show based on the meeting between different
forms of magic, called ”The more we wander”

at Malmö's Krets gallery.

Can't wait to see what she will do next year in Milan

with Swoon, Dennis McNett and Harrison Bartlett!

farewell to an uneasy woman

2011-12-01T20:10:00.001Z

Christa Wolf, one of the most notable writers of our time
passed away in Berlin, she was probably the most

influential figure in Germany's recent history,

its division and the following reunification.
Her life has been a mosaic of juxtapositions: past and
present, private and politics, dream and consciousness,
trust and disillusionment but most of all she was a

writing hotshot and a remarkable woman.
Here's the poignant portrait by sculptor and

painter Christel Burmeister-Gronau.

'hellofashion' nonstop collection

2011-11-29T22:47:00.000Z

model Ellen Rooijakkers, fashion designer, 2008

Each one of us has long-cherished clothes, garments
we aren't able to ged rid of or simply put out of our
mind wearing them over and over until the inescapable
change of season and that's why Monique van Heist's
trans-seasonal idea of fashion is driving me bonkers.

model Yke Schotten, illustrator, 2009

Monique is a Dutch fashion designer who established
her eponymous label, 'moniquevanheist', in 2004
after studying at Enschede's AKI academy of fine arts
and receiving her master degree from Fashion Institute
Arnhem ever since exploring ”the grey areas of our
dress culture while applying a god dose of humor.”

model Milou van Rossum, fashion journalist, 2008

alphabet necklace with Martine Viergever, 2009

Two years ago she launched ”hellofashion”, her own
constantly growing collection of garments, accessories
and lifestyle products smartly challenging fashion's ritual
cycle by adding new items at any given time.
Monique proudly declares that fashion ain't a throwaway:
”...I thought it was strange that all my designs disappeared
after a single season simply because you had to make

a new collection so it came down to me wanting

to work on one large collection which continually

grows and will always exist...”.

model Charlotte Kan, fashion designer, 2009

model Siriane, photographer & stylist, 2007-10

Monique wants her customers to be able to buy new stuff
when they truly need them, presenting 'for all seasons'
designs where basically the shapes are the same while

materials vary per season: would it be hard for you

to wear out your dearest wollen coat? Don't worry,

you'll find the same 'moniquevanheist'
design as a cotton cardi!

model Noortje Zijlstra, designer, 2010

safety-pin with Martine Viergever, 2010

I really love the whole idea of it, the fact that it never

runs out of season with old items always available

as well having shot the lookbook with models from

the real world, women from all walks of life

photographed with the dress from ”hellofashion”
collection paired with some from their own wardrobe,

as to say à la mode and against it in her

own peculiar way to sustainability.
Sheer genius!

model Corry Okkinga, retired gymnastics teacher, 2010

> all portrait images styled by Caroline Fuchs, photo by Daan Brand <
> still life photos by Ingmar Swalue <

biofashion rendezvous

2011-11-27T22:10:00.001Z

Back in Cali's traditional eco-friendly event, the

'Biofashion Habitat Show' where Colombian designers

showcase as usual their creations made with natural

elements such as seeds, leaves, living plants and

flowers to promote environmental awareness

while letting loose their imagination.

Needless to say most of the garments had to be completed
at the last minute due to the organic composition

yet once again the Valley of Cauca river proved to

be the ideal habitat of environment-friendly

fashion suggestions.

an eye for an eye style

2011-11-26T18:10:00.001Z

Dancers of Szeged Contemporary Dance Company
in their plain black suit for latest Budapest production,
the dance drama 'Avengers - Electra, Medea, the
Women of Trachis' by Hungarian Tamás Juronics and
Portuguese Pedro Goucha Gomes choreographers.
The basic look of vengeance.

one more chance

2011-11-24T21:29:00.001Z

There's a place in Brooklyn Navy Yard, the famous NYC's
landmark, where old worn leather jackets come back to life
exactly like the area did: once known as America's first
shipbuilding facility it's now home of innovative business
companies among which reMade USA, the design firm
founded by Shannon South converting with sheer

artistry used materials into one-of-a-kind bags.

Born and raised in south Florida where she got a BFA
in Electronic Media she started designing clothes and
accessories in college after an inspiring summer

studying at London's Royal College of Art.
She moved to New York in 1999 and since then worked
in northern Europe and San Francisco though the Big Apple
remained her home base where she obtained her Master's
Degree in Industrial Design at Pratt Institute.

Two years ago Shannon launched reMade USA focusing
on repurposing shabby leather jackets into showy handbags
while creating awareness of products overproduction and
appreciation of what can be done with discarded

materials (and a large dose of talent in her case).
Beautiful, well-crafted handbags re-made with the tiniest
footprint possible so it's small wonder that Shannon's work
is supported by the Pratt Design Incubator for Sustainable
Innovation, launched back in 2002 to sustain and

expand social/environmental enterprise.

The smooth feel of old worn leather, often sentimentally
valuable objects like the decrepit jacket you've never been
able to get rid of slowly comes to a new life in honor of

its previous one: unique bags and home accessories

telling memories even though brand new.
Check out the 'before' and 'after' images in the 'send

your jacket' website's section, it's truly tantalizing!