The ring leader or how to be Rick Owen
The fashion trends, the ones for the general public, have finally picked up Rick Owen’s vocabulary and system of dressing as the new uniform everyone wants to wear and all the big retailers, from Zara to H&M to Top Shop, have align to produce pieces inspired from the master (and I will show some in a later post).
Everyone has his moment, and Rick Owen, who has build along the years, a strong army of followers, probably all fashion connaisseurs or independent minds with strong personalities, can probably now count as its fans numbers of teenage girls who had never heard of him before.
Anyway, here is a beautiful film of Rick Owen by Nick Knight and Ruth Hogben
On Madeleine Vionnet, le couturier des couturiers…
Madeleine Vionnet
Look at those eyes!
I love Madeleine Vionnet! It is so inspiring to me, to feel the passion of the craftsmanship, and the experimental spirit in which Madeleine Vionnet worked on her designs. It reminds me that this is why I have gotten interested in the fashion world in the first place. This will probably not be the only post she will inspire me to write, because there are a lot of things to say about her and her work!
So it is kind of outdated, but during the summer, I saw, at the musee des arts decoratifs of Paris, an exhibition of Madeleine Vionnet’s creations. The presentation was amazing!! Actually Andre Putman, another Grande Dame, designed it. I mean the set design was impeccable and allowed to see the clothes, their construction, and understand a little bit of Vionnet’s principles. She was such an innovative and modern women, it was extremely inspiring.
I had heard of her and her work before, but the exhibit made it all so much clearer.
Madeleine Vionnet was a genius because she didn’t just make clothes or apply theory of making them. The beauty of her work resides in her mastering of the draping technique and her innovation with biais cut for which she is known for being its creator. She even had the fabric mills weave wider fabrics just for her to be able to cut her pieces on biais. Madeleine Vionnet wanted to use all the fabric and have no waste so she based her design principles on geometric shapes that fit all together like a puzzle. She innovated with a copyright system where she was taking pictures of every style that came out of her design studio with a special set-up that allowed her to have a front, side and back view of her designs. Everything was numbered and archived.
It is following all these principles that she developed, as a sculptor, her flattering pieces.
Than, beyond the fabulousness of Ms.Vionnet, beyond her greatness and her talent, she was a successful woman at a time when not many were. She also wanted to be great to her employees and gave them vacations, maternity leave… She was very fair and visionary in all the senses.
She had a non-equalled rigor, but how can you obtain perfection otherwise?
Her aesthetic, colours, taste are undeniably sophisticated and timeless
Although it is ending soon, I hope that every fashion designer and fashion victims will have the chance to see this exhibition that was presented in Paris, or at least some of Vionnet’s work.
To put it into context, the woman is a genius. She has innovated way beyond one could think.
Beautiful dress using all the fabric and without seams
copyright photography system
Vionnet at work draping
small size mannequin she used to drape
photos: all from the web. I believe they are from a book, and I will try to get the credits right.
Sonia Rykiel for H&M or how to live a dream
I know it has already been all over the web but my overtime appreciation of Sonia Rykiel’s design and aesthetic and her over the top show for H&M has kept me completely dreaming!
H&M is definitely not one short of budget, and has even shown signs of opulence a few weeks ago when it produced the completely over the top fashion show to launch it’s line created by Sonia Rykiel. And what designer wouldn’t fantasize of having someone else’s money to spend on what seems to be an unedited dream fashion show?
As much as it must have been satisfying for Sonia to be the center of attention of such a beautiful production, there were definitely some other mastermind at work on the set design of this ode to Paris. Etienne Russo the event producer made it really delightful for us.
I really wish I had been there! Now the only thing left to do is to go grab some of the pieces at H&M…
Sonia can do no wrong!
White is the new Black and it is the way to go!
It takes quite some time to get used to having white hair, especially when you don’t dye it white but if you are the lucky one who gets there naturally! I am telling you, there are a lot of years of negation and questioning why… Because it is not all of a sudden, white ! It takes years of transitioning, years of salt and pepper endurance when the pepper is more than the salt… But like a good wine, I guess, patience pays off. Not that there is any option to bail out of the process anyway!
I have had tons of comments over the years of people liking it, thinking it is cool and so on. Definitely if they were themselves at the beginning of the morphing, they wished they were already where I am!
So it feels great when a complete editorial is dedicated to cool white hair as the way to go!
here is the link to the entire article
www.refinery29.com/under_the_influence/grey_hair_editorial_dazed_and.php#
And a special thanks to my friend Alice who e-mailed it to me to begin with!
pictures: Benjamin Alexander Huseby for Dazed & Confused
Martin Margiela, what are you doing!!!
Although it is said to have been a rumor for quite some time, it is now that we get into post traumatic shock…
Martin Margiela, whom we have never seen and never heard in interview, is leaving the company he founded 20 years ago!!!
His absence from the media, nonetheless didn’t interfere with his rebellious genius being recognized and celebrated all over the world. The creativity he is known for, unrelated to the trends, but more conceptual, unexpected and provocative, has gained an unparalleled stream of followers, all of whom, like me, must be disheartened.
The only comfort resides in the fact that some of the products that have long been staples, should remain on the shelves as long as what is left of the label will survive… and since Mr. Margiela believed in a team work, his successors who hopefully were his collaborators, should carry on the quintessential of his work. There might be some light at the end of the tunnel… Although it will never be the same…
photos are mine from the book “maison martin margiela, 20 the exhibition, by Momu”
and more information at fashionwiredaily.com/first_word/news/article.weml?id=2961
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