Janie Taylor for Chloe
la beaute d’un geste,
d’une etoffe qui coule
en rythme
avec la vie,
la passion
se repend.
Un reve
click on the photo to see this inspiring film
Janie Taylor for Chloé on nowness.com
Dancers:Janie Taylor (New York City Ballet principal) and Justin Peck
Clothes: Chloé spring/summer 2011 collection
Director: Bon Duke
Music: Philip Glass’s “String Quartet No. 3, ‘Mishima’: IV. 1962: Body Building,”
part of a fashion shoot for Canada’s The Block Magazine
Styled by creative director James Worthington DeMolet
Like this:
I Love Japan
On March 29th, I went with my great friend Rike to a very special concert. Yoko Ono had invited her friends to perform with her for some exceptional Benefit concert at Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan. I was curious and really wanted to see and hear her and I have to say, the line up was quite tempting. There was Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band, Sean Lennon, Patty Smith with Tony Shanahan, Lou Reed, Anthony Hegarty (from Anthony and the Johnsons) and Cibo Matto…
It was really an AMAZING evening. All the performers were incredible and all playing together, it was very spontaneous and had the feeling of a Jam session. In addition Le Poisson Rouge is a small venue so the musicians were very engaged with the crowd.
I was very touched by Yoko Ono. Although she is a conceptual artist, her song performances are really touching. You can feel her pain and frustration although she seems to have a very light-hearted personality.
Here is one song written by Yoko Ono and interpreted by Anthony. It is lovely and very appropriate in these circumstances…
And just because Yoko is such an unusual artist, here is a video of a performance that doesn’t quite translate in video.
Honestly, there were so may great moments that evening. One of them seeing all these fabulous artists coming together to raise money for Japan!
to donate money to Japan you can do so at the Red Cross here
both videos are from spcedog on youtube.com
Reading…
I am reading this autobiography of Patti Smith and loving it!
I love her relation to Robert Mapplethorpe,
I love the time
I love the mythic places and people
I love that both were so stubborn in pursuing their dreams.
In addition to depicting a famous era,
this story of their lives is very inspiring.
Some digressions on Music and Fashion
I guess we could talk and argue a lot about the influence of fashion over music or vice versa…
So here are my thoughts, written on the subway and just spilled out, just like that and in no particular order.
I don’t know if the influence of fashion over music and music over fashion have always been intertwined, but nowadays it is obvious that one cannot exist without the other. Where does it start though?
If we look at a pop artist like Lady Gaga, the seed or the starting point is even more blurry. Off course she has an undeniable music talent, but how would we appreciate her music without her commitment to fashion? Her creativity is as much committed to her appearance than the lyrics and notes she is putting together! In fact, her play with her image with something like zero boundaries even propelled her to a point where her voice in the fashion world is as resonant as hers in music.
Madonna before her and David Bowie and Elton John have also enjoyed the marriage of fashion and music, but maybe it seems that there was more of a dichotomy with their stage and public world and their personal life. For Lady Gaga fully embrace her public life as not even an extension of her private one, but stipulates that they are one, with one personality and we might be trying too hard to understand her as she is who we really see. The difference is just that with the internet, we see her all the time and almost in real-time.
For Janis Joplin or Patty Smith, I don’t think we can talk about fashion. The music is the essence, and they both have a strong personality and style, that maybe their fans want to imitate, but they don’t evolve with fashion. They don’t need it for the evolution of their character.
In that sense fashion is not always connected to music. I think that there is something new happening, something where fashion is becoming important, and being fashionable or even better, being recognized as a trend setter is becoming valuable. To that extent, performers are becoming interested to participate in that.
To that extent. Where did Lady Gaga start ( and I only take her as a case study)? Was she a great composer interpreter who created a personage, or was she always an entertainer with all the qualities such as a strong personal style that was getting her noticed, a character who is herself, and who gets to evolve with her music? I really think that she is one. Her look is really entangled with her personality, there is nothing in her of a by product…She is the modern diva, with an effects on all new medias, Internet and live proliferation of anything private. There might be no more limit between the character and the private person.
Anyway, as for music in general? How does it work? I think it differs depending on the music genre. There is always a dressing code, but for some interpreters, like classical musicians, there might be nowadays a further connection to fashion. It has changed through the times, as performers like Mozart were indeed very trendy.
Can we say that there is a difference between composers and interpreters? There might he. Composers with a strong leading personality would also want to standout and work on showing how unique they are? Interpreters might want to impress with their technique and finesse of their interpretation without any distraction? That might be it…
No, really, not everybody cares about fashion! I think that it just comes down to that! and for a musician who has trained relentlessly for years, fashion, like real estate or quantum physics has just no interest.
The ghost who walks
I always liked Karen Elson as a model and I am very happy to discover her talent as a singer! This video is great! I really like it’s theatrical style, it’s aesthetic and it sounds… Enjoy!
here is a link to a great interview of karen Elson, by Charlotte Gainsbourg for Interview Magazine…
Lady Gaga on Showstudio
Last Sunday, SHOWstudio.com presented a live interview of Lady Gaga. Although it is very common to see live interviews on television, it is great to see all the live presentations that are happening on the internet. SHOWstudio.com, an online fashion platform, founded and directed by fashion photographer Nick Knight has really been an innovator in that realm.
The questions for the interview were submitted by readers of SHOWstudio.com, who happened to be in many case very influential people of the fashion world, and Alexander Fury, the fashion director of the web site and mediator of the interview, did a live transcript of all the answers that you can read here.
This interview is interesting, actually very interesting.
It is interesting to hear from a performer like this how she perceive the connectivity of fashion and music, how both influence each other and how they are interrelated.
We can all debate about this and all have a point of view, but in this case, it is about the very person who influences what all of us will be experiencing. Because of her fame and exposure to the public, whatever she feels and does, will trickle down to shape how we experience things and how we live. This is why it is interesting to have a glimpse to how she is thinking.
Lady Gaga discusses her influences, from Warhold, to Madonna to Iman, talks about femininity and women to being a feminist, fashion, limits, being famous…
here you can see the interview or read the transcript.
SomedaysIfeelIneverdoanythingandsuddentlyIsee2iconsin2days…
… And who are they? Ah, Ah! Just guess, because even I, don’t really believe it!
I didn’t post anything this week. I was too tired and didn’t really have the energy to write… McQueen and other things left my mind in a wandering state…
So by the end of the week, to put an end to the ordinary course of events, and to celebrate NY fashion week, I headed to Milk Studio… I didn’t quite know what to expect, and to my enchantment, the legendary Patti Smith took the stage. It was a short performance, but WOW, what a great one! Something wonderful and unusual. I had never seen her before so I was really excited and ended up first row, right in the middle in front of her! She has an incredible energy and it was memorable, for me anyway!
Patti Smith @ milk studio NY
Than, as if that wasn’t enough, on Friday I attended Jane Birkin’s concert! AMAZING! She is totally nostalgic, and it was the last presentation of her tour. She sang a lot of old songs written for her by Serge Gainsbourg, as well as some from her latest album she wrote herself. she has a really special relationship with her public, really engaging and talking a lot between each songs to give a little history or anecdote to put it into context.
Jane Birkin @ Florence Gould Hall NYIt was also very refreshing to see someone so politically engaged. You should visit her website and pay attention to a cause that is close to Jane’s heart: Birma and Aung San Suu Kyi. there are 2 petitions to sign to free Birma’s political prisoners.
http://www.janebirkin.net/uk/index.html
Photo and video are mine
Strong Shoulders confirmations
The world has not been short of any strong shoulder lately. From Christophe Decarnin’s designs for Balmain to Janet Jackson in her new video, from Balenciaga to Antonio Berardi to the Victoria’s Secret show, this is all very reminiscent of the work of Thierry Mugler in the early 90′s.
The power suit is back, the warriors are out, and you better watch out!
Givenchy
Balmain
Antonio Berardi
Victoria’s Secret
Inspiring Charlotte!
Beck & Charlotte Gainsbourg – Heaven Can Wait (Official High Quality Video)
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