Chic esotique – esotique, excentrique, ironique. Gossip girl and romy schenider. The Images from ” la piscina ” are a pool party in Los Angeles. Populated with actress from the new Hollywood. Tropical glamour meets bon ton. Linear silhouettes and luxuriant prints. Palms, intertwined banana leaves, exotic fruits. jewel effects in briolette – gemstone needle – work.
From a 1960′ s cocktail hour. On Dual – colored, caribbean flavored dresses and on the collars of striped ivy league skirt. Or a pleated mini. On a tiny blouse draped over the shoulders. All over bamboo prints. On metropolitan safaris. Slipping into a resort palette. Sand, ivory, hibiscus flame, chocolate, black. Ice – cream hues that remind us of pool water. Improvised cuts, intriguing frills, minx- like and airy lengths in mantle dresses, caftan tops and butterfly – sleeved tube dresses. Impalpable like a perfume trailing off. Worn with flat black or nude sandals. And with a mini, shell bag with mother of pearl plating in rodoid. For the true socialite.
The collection’s silhouettes take shape from the 1958 painting of surrealist Max Ernst: “33 fillettes partant a la chasse d’un papillon blanc”. They are similar, yet at the same time different patterns, which underline the different personality of each one. Fil rouge of this collection is surrealism and its expressive techniques, the research, the play on architectural volumes and an innocent feminine figure, a constant of Albino’s style.
The antique technique of frottage, re-discovered in modern times by Ernst himself, has been applied to the fabrics: toiles a patronage used to cut the first canvasses are printed with enamels and lamé or, more simply, thickened to make them more full-bodied. Collage and ripping in surrealist paintings are translated into a research for three-dimension as well as also in the pure lines and measured volumes and in the matching of coarse cotton crepe to silk, of lamé to the acetate mikado double, all this in a contrast between organic and techno.
…the lightness of butterflies and their presence-absence…
So, as in Ernst’s painting, the butterfly is not represented but perceived by the irregular brush stokes, it’s the techniques used in the collection that convey the presence of the butterfly: petal embroideries (either degrade or brush painted), appliqués in airbrushed organza and georgette and prints with the wings’ graphics in animalier.
The research and neatness of the lines translates into essential constructions, where stitching and cuts are reduced to the minimum: Kimono sleeves, skirts and dresses made with a single fabric panel and cocoon capes and dust coats, or the contrast between rounded and squared lines, wheels and rectangles. Everything is finalised to making even the garments made with the heavier and technical fabrics look light and aerial.
The colour palette is natural and soft: ecru, coarse, tobacco, pine green with strokes of black and white, distanced by touches of shiny colour, yellow, cold, peach, cognac, brass and bluette.
We are often cautioned to do everything in moderation. Yes, it is an undeniable fact that sometimes, one must throw caution to the wind and do everything in excess.
Exactly, what is this excess? It is indeed an unapologetic excess of glamour, hair, makeup, sex, outfits, shoes, decadence, eccentricity.
Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin bourgeoise women exemplify heady excesses and devil-may-care attitude. Robert Palmer iconic music video “Addicted to love” featuring identically dressed models whit pale faces, dark eye makeup and bright red lipstick. Patrick Nagel illustrations of contemporary woman: She is elegant and sophisticated, exuding an air of mysterious enticement. She is capable, alluring and graceful, but also aloof and distant.
Max Kibardin’s Spring Summer 2012 collection interprets this kind of women’s shoes in quotations of metallic python, Swarovski Crystals, patent leather, fishnets and the new super sexy winding heel.
Glamour, decadent, sexy, smart, this is particular collection, wrought by the designer – step by step – allows a woman, as it were, to have a Helmut Newton moment, a decadent, a sexy moment, a disco moment, a Bourdin moment, in short, a total Dionysian experience without its after-taste.
Kibardin interprets the early eighties bourgeoise elegance and its excentricity in a palette of black, metallic red ink, nude and neon. The restrain of palette becomes a metaphor for alienation, moral decay and sweet melancholy of the excess era.
Alberto Guardiani and i-D in hot pursuit of the new It-Shoe
Alberto Guardiani – a leading name in Italian footwear – and i-D – the influential British fashion and culture magazine, are proud to announce the launch of the exciting and unique ‘Cinderthriller’ competition.
The collaboration is all about joyous femininity and allure and follows in the path of the launch of the “Lipstick Heel” – Alberto Guardiani’s iconic shoe, which has won an international array of fans including Katy Perry and Sarah from Paris’ most reputable boutique, Colette.This incredible success has led to Alberto Guardiani joining forces with i-D to launch a worldwide competition to find the next It Shoe, one capable of repeating the Lipstick Heel’s remarkable performance.
The competition has been named ‘Cinderthriller’, a title which epitomises the feminine concept and the thrill of the search.
The competition is open to aspiring shoe lovers and designers internationally, launching during Milan Fashion week on Thursday, September 22nd, and continuing up until midnight November 11th. The ten most innovative shoe designs will be presented to a prestigious panel of industry superstars including Terry Jones, i-D’s Editor in Chief, Rubina – one of the Guardiani daughters, Anna dello Russo – the international creative consultant and fashionista, Georgina Goodman – the prolific shoe designer, Sarah – the owner of Paris’ most famous concept store and Andrew Keith, president of Hong Kong’s premium department store, Lane Crawford. (more…)
With the next Spring/Summer 2012 collection, Ermanno Scervino takes us on a voyage across the India of Rajasthan and of the Maharajas. On distinctions between sporty and couture melt away in this new collection, one that offers daring combinations of different materials and different worlds. Graphic fishnet or cotton lace, a weave which evokes Vienna straw yields a style with essential volumes of sartorial structure. Glamorous sporty style blends with sophisticated couture, playing with unexpected combinations. Large zippers, eyelets, drawstrings and big volumes interpret the technical fabrics such as the duchesse, at times double. The leather is embellished by technological and handcrafted workmanship that creates original inlay and fringe patterns.
In a play of contrasts, the geometric jackets are placed over light dresses and hyper-feminine godè-lounguette skirts.
The waistline becomes the meeting point between shirt and skirt which now brush against each other without ever revealing…
Colors: the world of blues, whites, sophisticated greens, and khaki.
The straw braid weave appears as if it were precious embroidery. Melts with lace in an experimental work with a used, three-dimensional effect for the couture garments – with a rock n’ roll look – and for the colored accessories.The handmade shirts to be donned over long chiffon skirts break the rules for evening, sometimes evoking the Indian sari with their slits.The piece are made with infinite layers of organza voile or in chiffon, which, doubled, cage fabrics with graphic designs.
Over the top colour, lipstick reds, ripe orange. Black against white, black against yellow. The silhouette: voluminous sleeves, sculptured shoulders and cuts outs. Pencil skirts, belted jackets … it’s all about the waist. The fabrics: trasparency is the key, layers of colour, leather cut and bonded. A luxurios look in daywear and sensuality for the evening.
Milan, 25th September 2011
In the world preview at the Teatro Litta, Corso Magenta 24, in Milan, Moncler presents the film “Don’t Steal the Jacket” by acclaimed director Bruce Weber.
This 24-minute film blurs boundaries between musicals, dreams, thrillers and adventures. From here the American artist and photographer draws inspiration to realize Moncler’s multi-subject Fall-Winter 2011-2012 campaign, which is composed, with a dose of irony, of 19 posters. Each one different from the next, together they sketch out a pre-story to the film, anticipating its characters and atmosphere.
The project as a whole underlines Moncler’s attention to contemporary art in its most original forms and translates it into a unique operation: it’s the first time that Bruce Weber has realized an advertising campaign starting from a film.
Flowers that shoot out of water pistols. A little girl with a sweet tooth who adores her puppy. Her very tall brother with a heart of gold. And a tiny Pomeranian dog. These are the protagonists of a plot in perfect Bruce Weber style. Eclectic, entertaining, surprising. A mysterious tale where what counts is tenderness and the impulse behind the action of taking care of others, whether they be people, animals or nature itself. Always with a biting, playful touch. An engaging plot accompanied by an original soundtrack created by the American band Radical Something.
And among the actors is Moncler. Transversal down jacket, completely immersed in the atmosphere and the story, both in the film and in the posters. To underscore the creativity of a brand that once again encounters art and fuses with it. Together with Bruce Weber, in a relationship that has continued for five seasons.
For Moncler and the great photographer, already the director of cult movies like “Let’s Get Lost” on the life of Chet Baker, cinema is an authentic school of life besides being an extraordinary medium of expressiveness. “When I was a kid I grew up watching Italian films, and I’m truly grateful for those stories because they catapulted me from the small town where I lived to New York. ‘Don’t Steal the Jacket’ is meant as an ode to that first, fundamental journey,” said Bruce Weber.
After the premier in Milan, “Don’t Steal the Jacket” will be published in episodes on a mini web site, linked from Moncler.com, especially devoted to the new movie.
The Triennial of Milano September 22-October 9, 2011
Louis Vuitton pays tribute to the expertise of its collections of ready-to-wear and to the creativity of the artistic director, Marc Jacobs, with the exhibition “Louis Vuitton : The Art of Fashion” exhibition, curated by Katie Grand, from 22 September to 9 October 2011 at the Milan Triennial.
“Louis Vuitton : The Art of Fashion” will present visitors with a unique perspective on the interconnected worlds of fashion and art, which are founded on the creations of Marc Jacobs, allowing you to re-discover, thanks to the selection of looks from more than 70 seasons produced by Katie Grand, the constant search for excellence, craftsmanship and a very modern approach to the fashion of Louis Vuitton.
For Katie Grand, who has worked on the styling of the shows in close contact with Marc Jacobs since 2003, Louis Vuitton has opened its archive, providing clothing, bags and accessories belonging to all the collections from the first Autumn / Winter 1998-1999 until Autumn / Winter 2011-2012.
The result is 30 iconic looks, created by the most significant pieces of various collections, from clothes “coiffeuse” to voluminous skirts and incredible coats, that Katie Grand has skillfully blended into a modern and timeless result.
In the exhibition, visitors can admire the cashmere sweater from FW2000 combined with an embroidered tulle skirt FW2004, to the gloves SS2001 produced in collaboration with Stephen Sprouse and the oversized boots and hood FW 2006 ; the dress “coiffeuse” in silk and satin and the Speedy Multicolor created in collaboration with Takashi Murakami’s SS 2003 and the cotton hat created in collaboration with Phillip Treacy SS2001, and also other creations exposed on mannaquins purposely created for the exhibit.
