Most of the Christmas cards I send and receive nowadays are electronic. Apart from the generic and rather impersonal emails and electronic cards I got from various offices and staff of people I worked with throughout the last year, a few days ago I received a few unexpected but nice Christmas cards with a fashion connection. The first arrived in the post and it’s from Zaha Hadid Architects.
A while back I wrote a piece on Zaha Hadid for an Edinburgh-based free monthly publication I used to do stuff years ago and I was pleased to see they still had me on their contact list and they were so kind to send me a card. The card portrays a day (front) and night (back) photograph of the Chanel travelling exhibition pavilion and it features inside a translucent sheet of paper with a detail of the roof of the building and a minimalist message “Seasons Greetings – Zaha Hadid Architects”.
The blue-violet envelope that contains the card goes well with the colour of the skyscrapers in the background of the day view and with the bluey lights of the Chanel building at night. I quite like the Chanel Pavilion as it’s a celebration of the work of this fashion house, but it’s also a celebration of modern, elegant and functional architecture. I love the night view of the pavilion as the building looks like an alien ship with the lights that surround it or that come from inside it reflecting on its continuous dynamic and fluid curvilinear elements.
The second unexpected card I received - this time via email - was from Fred Butler and it’s to be filed in the “New Year” cards folder. 
It portrays model Sara el Dabi wearing fantastic eyelashes by Fred and make-up by Megumi Matsuno. The picture was taken by Mishkin’s Amy Gwatkin and Anna Leader (who deserve a special post all for themselves, and they will get one soon, that’s one of my new year’s resolutions…). I love the colourful 2009 eyelashes (I guess they’re made of paper, aren’t they?) as they have the power of putting me in an instant good mood. I wish Fred would do a whole calendar together with Mishkin. It would have been amazingly uplifting to have a picture featuring Fred’s props and accessories shot by Mishkin for each month of the year. Let’s hope it happens in the future.
Just a few hours ago I found in my email box the third unexpected card, it’s from Mārīte Mastiņa and Rolands Pēterkops AKA Mareunrol’s. It features a male model wearing a checked shirt, a pair of denim trousers and a huge headpiece (all creations designed by the Latvian duo) representing a laid table complete of celebratory cake. Snow has been digitally added and, though the image is rather simple, I love its festive atmosphere.
Despite my aversion to capitalistic Christmas shenanigans I can't deny I do like receiving Christmas cards, especially unexpected ones.
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