2012年4月30日星期一

A Walk in My Fashion Week Feet

 
©5xpro IMG_8498© >> I've got me a few blogger/brand collaboration-y thingies coming up and this is the first of them.  I say collaborate.  That's too kind a word.  Actually Anthropologie-owned brand Leifsdottir unwisely let me loose with a FlipCam without knowing that I am in fact an over enthusiastic 'dad' when it comes to video cameras - you know - the type of dad that gets a new gadget and thrusts it in everyone's faces determined to capture everything and everyone ending up with a truckload of useless footage.  Hah.  I pity the poor sod at Leifsdottir who had to do the editing.  

The result is a cute ickle vid though featuring not just my own Leifsdottir-clad feet, but also the feet of Lauren Sherman of Fashionista, Natalie Joos of Tales of Endearment,coach messenger bags, Ami Kealoha of Coolhunting and Samia Grand-Pierre of High Snobette.  That's a lot of shoe-gazing.  Good thing Leifsdottir's newly launched shoe collection is actually worth gazing at.  I had the Mia sandals which I wore a great deal in Milan during fashion week whilst walking around the Metro,cheap beats by dre studio headphones, into McDonalds, Prada and my 70s haven of a hotel which features heavily in the video.  

Anyhow to tie in with the vid and all things Leifsdottir, I've also cobbled together an outfit with their clothing line and one lucky winner will get the set as follows - an Olax Tuxedo Jacket,Replica Jawbone Sunglasses, a pair of Cockatoo Feather trousers (annoyingly not actually made out of cockatoo feathers... ) and a pair of Leifsdottir shoes.  All you have to do is bung your email address in this form here.  Dem shoes are actually made for walking so it's worth a try...

 *Deadline for entries ends on 28th April 2011.  The winner will be selected and notified within a few days.  Everyone can participate. 

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2012年4月29日星期日

A Touch of Maske

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I feel like I've gotten 'inspiration fatigue' from number of times these Phyllis Galembo 'Maske' images have popped up on Tumblr and blogs ever since it came out in September.  If you want to have an anthropologic field day with fashion intersecting with ethnography then these portraits of characters and costumes of Afircan masquerade in countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Zambia are here for dissection and eye candy consumption.  

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It seems natural then that Alberto Marani, designer of tap-on-the-nose insider brand Marani, after being influenced by Pieter Hugo's monograph The Hyena and The Other Men for his S/S 10 collection and Zwelethu Mthethwa's photography for S/S 11, should turn to Galembo's work for his latest A/W 11-12 collection.  Except the riot of colour, the myriad of textiles explosion and the sinister flamboyance which clad these characters doesn't filter into Marani's work.  Instead,outlet coach, he does what he knows will work best for his quiet but impactful clothes.  Marani employs a splay of fringed acrylic hair gathered into a dense-like brush, on the edge of a trouser pocket, on the cuffs of a jacket or a pair of trousers, tiered on the sleeve of a wool cashmere coat or at its most playful,Monster Beats iBeats, swinging from the front of a jade green skirt.  It's a hint of pomp and ceremony without being as blatant as one could be when inspired by the images above.  

I suppose the mere suggestion of animal-esque properties in the fringing is enough especially when we're talking about weighty coats, jackets that have staying power and well-tailored trousers.  I like that Marani has been working on tempering the showpiece element of his brands - like the memorable skirts from his S/S 10 collection that never made it to the shop floor - with the knitwear side of his business that showcase his impeccable choice of Italian manufacturers.  This collection seems like the happy medium of those two things where strong wardrobe staples come with a pleasing bit of bristle...

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2012年4月28日星期六

Raf Revs It Up

Why did I take a less-than-24-hour jaunt to Berlin on Friday?  In all honesty, I wasn't exactly 100% sure before I arrived.  I was apparently attending the opening of Transmission1, a 3-day festival curated by Raf Simons in association with The Avantgarde Diaries and Mercedez Benz.  The list of ten artists involved included Peter Saville, Germaine Kruip, These New Puritans, Jo-Ann Furniss and curiously the blogger Hapsical, who is on my RSS reader.  The video above will either throw some light or confuse the hell out of you.  What were The Avantgarde Diaries?  Didn't have a clue.  Are they being ironic with their name?  What had Mercedes-Benz got to do with it all?  No idea.  I wasn't actually invited out to see the festival which just finished up today so I was there merely for the opening party so what exactly was I, the blogger supposed to get out of it?

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I was intrigued enough to do the day trip and find out though.  My quest to seek info didn't start off well.  When comparing itineraries with another journalist on the plane, I didn't have the 'bloggers preview' of the exhibition during the day down on my itinerary so I ended up inviting myself along just because….err… I am a blogger and was curious about what all concerned parties had come up with. 

The venue was the impressive Berlin Congress Centre on Alexanderplatz - a Bauhaus behemoth of a space that seemed so very characteristic of East Berlin.  On the darkened ground floor, the smoke rose to the reveal the main attraction created by Germaine Kruip and Thierry Dreyfuss - a weirdly apt metaphor that sums up Transmission1.  Clouded by an impressive projection of smoke that wafted through air was the Mercedes Benz new A-class car model proudly lit up in the middle of this "installation".    The subtlety level began to make me droop a little.

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It then sadly progressed into my discovering of Peter Saville's contribution - his old 1998 Mercedes SL 500 with Joy Division and New Order blaring out of it.  He, a design and cultural legend.  Not sure whether I would call this an "installation"...

I cringed my way through a presentation given to us where they called us bloggers, 'pioneers' and then proceeded into a slideshow timeline of Mercedes-Benz history to show us how avant-garde they were and are as a company.  I don't doubt Mercedes' achievements but the point became rather laboured when they played us an excerpt of Janis Joplin (I did learn that actually Mercedes is the most oft-used car brand in pop songs).  If anything, I never expected that a brand like Mercedes-Benz NEEDED to impress upon us, how cool they were, with a slideshow.  Meanwhile, I wondered what the other mostly German bloggers were making of all of this as they snapped away throughout the presentation.

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Upstairs in the installation, the artist Peter de Potter, a close collaborator of Simons, redeemed the exhibition somewhat with his contribution of blown up photos from his archive printed across the windows.  This I loved.  It was a marvel of savage and random imagery that smacked very much of Simons' reference points and universe. 

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I of course had vested interest to see how Simons had collaborated with the two bloggers that were named in his artist/creative collaborator list.  The first was one I did know, Hapsical,Nike Air Max 95 Womens, a menswear blog written by Peter Henderson, who also works at Mr Porter.  The second was one I didn't, Dandy Gum written by Begüm Sekendiz Boré who loves all things Raf/Jil Sander and makes parallels between fashion and contemporary art through a beautifully presented blog.  They were given plush live-blogging suites in the hilariously labelled "Bloggerworld" at the venue, interiors that I can only dream of as I sit in my little Holloway hovel, and encouraged to blog throughout the festival (but not necessarily ABOUT the festival - that was an abstract instruction from Simons himself).  The answer to "Do designers read blogs?" is partially answered here.  Raf Simons says "In a way it's (fashion blogging) very far away from my own world but I really appreciate what it's about for this generation."

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I found out that The Avantgarde Diaries is in fact Mercedes-Benz' funded editorial website in line with brands creating their own editorial content.  It consists of fairly absorbing videos asking people what they consider to be "avant-garde".  With minimal brand presence, this is a certainly a convincing editorial that plays a role in shedding light on the participants of Transmission1 and definitely a positive result of the project. 

If you're in the UK, you're probably looking at the right hand side of my blog going "Hold up… this girl is insane… Mercedes-Benz ADVERTISES with her and she's raising her eyebrows at an MB-sponsored event?"  On the contrary, I actually find Mercedes-Benz  and their involvement with fashion a wholly positive thing - their sponsorship of Stockholm, Berlin and in part, New York Fashion Week has uplifted the events on a professional level and I look forward to similar experiences in Tokyo and Sydney as Mercedes has been announced as their new primary sponsors.  I don't deny there's an ambivalence here.  I praise the intention, selection and premise of the festival - the idea of curating a world outside of Raf Simons' own fashion one is a brilliant and apt one and perhaps half achieved on this occasion.   It's just that at times I was somewhat confused by the guise of 'curation' and 'artistic' creation when branding and product was so clearly communicated alongside.  If the ad spot on the right does end up getting cancelled, then I'll be a little saddened to find that these so-called "avant-gardists" of the car world were too short sighted to see the up side to my comments.  We'll wait and see.

Like I said though, I have NOT experienced the festival as a whole and perhaps would have taken away a more fulfilling experience of Transmission1, an event billed with such pomp in Berlin.  Afterall there were performances from Fischerspooner, a talk between Jo-Ann Furniss and Tim Blanks on pop culture (which I would have LOVED to have seen), a dance performance by Michael Clarke and film screenings, all of which makes me well aware that this review is not the full picture.  I'd like to invite those that did experience the full programme to pass comment here. 

Music gets the last word and I did hugely enjoy These New Puritans' set that ended my short jaunt even if I have seen them a number of times.  I even enjoyed the brand-tied engine rev noises at the beginning of the set which which created atmosphere, rather than sending a Mercedes shiver down my spine.

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Le Blogueur and the Plush Carpet

Whilst the Coco Chanel quote that sits in my fat header is more about the exacting and meaning of the words rather than about Mademoiselle Chanel herself, it seems my run ins with the brand as it stands today have always erred towards the fortunate (though I've yet to make it to the holy event that is the Chanel sample sale in London...let's get that one ticked off soon...).  Remember that Coco Mademoiselle bloggers event (part 1, 2) in Paris back in 2007 when the blog was weedy and wee, the one that I STILL get asked about and the one that has since spawned many repeat trips organised by Chanel as well as similar initiatives from other brands.  Then there have been the RTW show going opps which yes, send geeky fashion shivers up my spine (it is normally pretty chilly in that Grand Palais venue...).  Then I get shoot opportunities where oodles of Chanel are at my wearing disposal (this example is coming out soon... quite exciting and it not JUST the Chanel... will explain later). 

Then I get afternoons like this one photographed here, where I get to pad around on plush plush cream carpet and touch/feel the A/W 10-11 and new cruise collection for an elongated hour or so (even though I keep nervously asking the lovely PR whether I'm cutting into her desktop time...).  I missed the Chanel press day becaaaaaause... err... I don't quite remember but there was definitely a good reason.  So this was a make-up carpet-plodding sesh and a perfect flow-on from my 'Faux Fur' post where I said I was slayed by a giant iceberg and plenty of faux. 

I'm also getting this done and dusted before S/S 11 action takes over even though technically I'm still wearing summer clothes right now in New York and haven't even dipped into vaguely autumnal things.  It's all getting a leeeeetle bit confused and messed up in my head.  I'm hoping by the time Paris comes round, things will start making sense to me and a cold wind sets in when I can even begin to consider furriness on any level.  Apologies if it's all looking a bit 'old hat' but seasons are still dictating that there's still months yet before we get slippy on...

...ice ice baby...

Sorry, couldn't resist...

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Waiting for Tommy Ton to capture these ACTUALLY on ice for that money shot....

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These need to be worn over a Fair Isle long john-style onesie... not sure why I have nothing except for that vision for these boots...

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The smile is ramped up in cheesy wattage because of a) plush carpet padding and b) heeeeeeavy coat that feels protective.

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I was most keen to feel up this rucksack which actually houses a 2.55 bag and a travel pouch inside that can be taken apart.  I sort of love how utilitarian and decadent collide into the piece...

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A victory fist pump is always better done with a fingerless leather glove - I think it has more conviction... wonder if Lagerfeld does secret victory fist pumps with his gloved hands...

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This jacket is from pre-fall I think...the origami folded front is a really striking touch on what is anooooooother tweed jacket...

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More tweed collisions in these pre-fall shoes...

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The cruise collection needs to be seen up close because the details I think got a little lost in all the Saint Tropez sashaying...things like the double cc's worked into this broderie anglaise dress...

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Or the gauzey gingham that is frayed and interwoven

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Best to end with some bling that has plenty of soft focus on what was a very softy softy, paddy paddy afternoon.... I sort of love the gaudiness of this...kind of like if I was five and was asked to draw a crown, I'd be working in globules of amber and making it THIS precise shade of gold....

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