Irenebrination: Notes on Architecture, Art, Fashion, Fashion Law, Science & Technology

“Global Style” Successfully Installed

Installing an exhibition can be a traumatic experience with too many people running around and panicking.

Though I was (as usual) the one panicking this time, things went pretty smoothly also thanks to a well-organised team put together by Dr Jo Turney at Bath Spa University.

We all hope "Global Style: Celebrities as Trans/National Icons of Style" - opening tomorrow at the Bath School of Art & Design Gallery, the first day of the "Trans/National Clothing Conference", and featuring 16 rare images selected from the Rome-based Archivio Collezione Marco Garzia - will be successful.

Irenebrination would like to thank Jo Turney, David Dollery, the entire Willis family (Adrian, Gill, Peter and Holly Willis - well done all of you, I couldn't have asked for better exhibition installers...), Richard (who made sure nobody - that is me - destroyed the walls with some enthusiastic drilling action...) and students Rebecca Butterworth (3rd Year - Fashion) and Christina Quick (MA Fashion) who will also be acting as reporters and bloggers (you can follow their tweets here) during the four intense days of the Trans/National Clothing Conference (check out the complete schedule here - hopefully, they will survive my dictatorial orders...).

The exhibition private view is tomorrow at 6pm, but the exhibition will remain open until 15th September. Come and visit us!

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Mildred Pierce Arrives in Venice

Looks like the Miu Miu mania for Mildred Pierce has invaded also the 68th Venice Film Festival. Opening on Wednesday, the festival will also feature Todd Haynes's TV adaptation for HBO of James M Cain's eponymoous novel. The series will be divided in different shows on 2nd September (you can check out the entire programme here) and bring a bit of Mildred Pierce glamour to the Lido.

 

While the Michael Curtiz 1945 version of this film starring Joan Crawford was mainly characterised by noir atmospheres, this one is more faithful to the James M Cain's novel and also features plenty of inspiring fashion moments thanks to Ann Roth's costumes.

You can discover further about the making of the series in this video: please pay particular attention to what Ann Roth says about costumes (around 14:00) and how wearing a specific hat implies that the wearer should behave in a certain way (absolutely true - guess Miuccia Prada may be taking notes...).

 

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Sailing in Style

I've been on the lookout for a sailor's hat for a while and a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to find a second hand one at a vintage fair in Italy. This particular hat was produced by the Brugnato-based Consorzio Liguria clothing manufacturer for the Italian Navy between the mid-'80s and the beginning of the '90s.

Worn universally, the versatile white canvas sailor hat is known in English as the “dixie cup hat” for its resemblance to the waxed-paper drinking cups made by the Dixie company, and has a long history, going as far back as 1886 when it replaced the straw hat.

What truly fascinates me about this hat is that it's a rare example of an accessory part of an established uniform that can be actually customised: indeed sailor usually reshape it to suit their personal styles and retain in this way their individuality.

Besides, though very simple and cheap to make (this hat is usually made in three phases: the first part made is the brim with its rows of stitching that keep it stiff; then the crown is put together on a sewing machine and, when the two parts are completed, they are stitched together using again a sewing machine), it looks sharp and distinguished and it's easy to maintain (my brother's bleach bath seemed to work on this one that had some yellow spots in some places).

The hat has got such a characteristic shape because it can be used also as a flotation device (I admit I still haven't used it for such a purpose...) or as a sun shield. Always synonimous with sailors, though it was shortly replaced in America with a hat known as “combination cover”, the dixie cup never went out of fashion, proving it's still very durable in popularity.

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Big Is Better: A4 Fashionary

I have been following fashion and graphic designer Penter Yip, the author of the acclaimed Fashionary, for Zoot Magazine since his notebook created with designers in mind first came out.

After launching a second edition of his Fashionary and creating a notebook also for menswear designers, Yip has now pushed things further with another product, the A4 Fashionary, a larger version of his practical sketchbook filled with pages featuring join the dot-like templates.

“Many fashion designers go for big drawings in their work and we received many requests from our users who wanted a bigger version of the Fashionary,” Yip explained Zoot. “We believe the original A5 size is for fast sketching of rough outlined ideas and the new A4 version is for drawing into details.”

So far the Fashionary has become popular not only with fashion designers, but also with other key figures working in the fashion industry. “We have received feedback from stylists telling us that they find it pretty useful in matching the fashion items,” Yip states.

“They can quickly jot down the specific style or items in the template and see whether it is the outlook they are looking for. Others, like fashion buyers, merchandisers and pattern makers, find the information part in the Fashionary very useful as it helps them communicating with their colleagues in a better way.”

The A4 Fashionary follows the colourful limited edition of the sketchbook released in June in collaboration with I.T, though further projects are currently in store. “What I can say now is that they are very different from the Fashionary sketchbooks but the products will based on our main aim: providing speed to fashion designers and make them work faster,” Yip anticipates.
 
The A4 Fashionary is available from www.fashionary.org/store

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Rip It Up and Start Again, Edwyn Collins Style

I've been writing for over ten years now, but when I first started I had different plans in mind and was more focused on music journalism. I've always had a passion - or rather a mild obsession - with bands on the seminal Postcard Records label such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and with other Scottish bands such as The Fire Engines.

I loved their music but also their attitude towards life, as some of the members of these bands - think about Edywn Collins and Roddy Frame - collaborated together in a natural way, a thing that doesn't exist in fashion (and that may be the main reason for my migration back to another type of journalism and job as I'm deeply disgusted by what "fashion" and "art" currently mean and by the backstabbing people populating these "industries"). A founder member of Nu-Sonics, relaunched as Orange Juice at the end of the '70s in Glasgow, Collins was also inspired by Vic Godard's Subway Sect, one of my favourite bands.

 

I remember walking along Argyle Street in Glasgow when I heard about Edwyn Collins suffering two brain haemorrhages. In my mind I instantly blamed that bizarre gig with the Alexander Brothers and their kitsch kilts.

As the years passed and Collins started his recovery process helped also by his walks in Caithness, I admired his bravery and strength. It wasn't only Scotland that helped his recovery, but also art: while learning again to write with his left hand since his right was paralysed, he started drawing everyday, mainly animals and birds.

Ornithology-inspired art was also used on the cover of his album "Losing Sleep". The birds recently reappeared on one of the fabrics part of Liberty Rocks, a collection that combines the skills of a musician or artist with the talent of a Liberty designer. 

 

Rather than a mere fashion and music collaboration, I see this as the tangible proof that we have amazing skills hiding in ourselves, though this is also a great encouragement to people who may be going through some bad times healthwise or may have lost their heart in rehabilitation processes. Ultimately, it is also the proof that - yes, thank God - you can rip it up and start again or as Edwyn Collins sings in 'One Is A Lonely Number', "If life breaks your heart you needn't fall apart".

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Cruel Fashion Moments in "Mondo Cane"

Italian journalist and director Gualtiero Jacopetti died a week ago in Rome. Now while some of you may not be familiar with his name and surname - though he inspired the character of Marcello in Federico Fellini's La dolce vita - some of you may remember the documentary Mondo Cane that he put together with Paolo Cavara and Franco Prosperi between 1960 and 1962.

 

Considered as shocking and disturbing - though accompanied by a soundtrack, 'Ti guarderò nel cuore', entitled 'More' in English (with thanks to the Kutmusic archives for recently lending me a rare 7") penned by Riz Ortolani and Nino Oliviero that was nominated to an Oscar - Mondo Cane was a pastiche of images, from animals being killed to turtles on a radioactive beaches, tribal rituals and sailors running after bikini beauties. Considered as cynical and cruel for its rather cold commentary, the film inspired follow ups Mondo Cane 2 and spawned the "Mondo Movie" genre.

I have selected two fashion-related bits from Mondo Cane 2, an Emilio Schuberth catwalk show complete with painted dogs to match Schuberth's designs being reluctantly dragged along the runway by cruel models and a clip about the women from Sant'Antimo cutting and selling their hair later used to make wigs in the States. Truth or fiction? Who knows, yet you can be sure that contemporary fashion has committed even worst crimes in the last few years...

 

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Shopping for Props

In a way this post is directly related to yesterday's.

After I mentioned to the director of the Rome-based Archivio Collezione Marco Garzia my passion for Luchino Visconti's The Leopard and for the costumes in this film, Mr Garzia produced one of the many mirrors used in the ball scene.

The mirror is not for sale actually, though it gets hired for other film productions, events and fashion shoots. 

I may have done multiple posts on Visconti and his films in connection with fashion, but I never thought I would have ended up doing a post also on a Visconti prop one day. Well, guess there's always a first time...

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Global Style: Celebrities as Trans/National Icons

Photography represents reality through camera lenses, or rather, through the objects of reality that a camera reproduces. A photographic exhibition is usually a collection of such moments, chronicling historical events or defining moments in a person's life.

Yet it's somehow difficult to think about static images and compositions of figures for an exhibition accompanying a conference organised by the indefatigable lecturer and author Joanne Turney at Bath Spa University entitled “Trans/National Clothing: Production and Consumption” (1st-4th September 2011 - more about it in future posts), focused on the all encompassing theme of transnationality in fashion.

This theme hints indeed at something in constant movement, something going through continuous changes and mutations, and without boundaries.

In keeping with the dynamic aspect of this word,  the 16 images collected in the exhibition “Global Style: Celebrities as Trans/National Icons” (from 2nd to 15th September at Sion Hill Gallery, Bath) look at different themes in motion - travelling, shopping, filming or scouting for locations.

There is something that unifies these images: the international actors, actresses, writers, singers and directors portrayed in these photographs - all taken between the '50s and the '60s - are all characterised by their own specific style.

Familiar icons are shown in various situations: Marcello Mastroianni seems so far removed from the famous Trevi Fountain setting of La dolce vita, yet he still looks impeccably stylish in his Persol sunglasses and tailored suit; Brigitte Bardot is carefully listening to fashion tips while shopping for a new pair of pumps at Dal Co's in Rome; Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville manage instead to build some incredible suspense even while scouting for a film location, while Peter Ustinov amicably smiles from his beloved car.

Objects, clothes and accessories often become as important as the celebrity portrayed: Maria Callas is a reborn elegant lady in her Biki suit; Ava Gardner may be hiding more than one secret about her Italian love stories behind her cat eye glasses while Elizabeth Taylor shopping for clothes and accessories in Portofino with her husband Eddie Fisher doesn't suspect that, a few years later, global fame and a new love would completely transform her. 

“Global Style: Celebrities as Trans/National Icons” is also the story of transhistorical identities: the icons portrayed in this exhibition still inspire new generations of film, literature and fashion fans all over the world, proving that being stylish doesn't have anything to do with your passport or with  current trends, it's about your attitude to life, as Anna Magnani, exuberantly and ebulliently laughing even in front of the journalists gathered at the premiere of Pier Paolo Pasolini's Mamma Roma, proves.

All the images collected in this exhibition - showcased in the UK for the first time - were selected from the Rome-based Archivio Collezione Marco Garzia and I'm particularly happy about this choice, not only because I have contributed to it, but   because this private archive stores some truly amazing materials (you will hopefully discover them in a follow up post). 

Born in Rome and working in the Italian capital as a photographer and film-maker, Garzia always had a passion for collecting images. For decades he has been preserving historical archives and saving them from destruction while providing images for national and international exhibitions, agencies, publishing groups, newspapers and magazines.

“I'm proud that 16 images selected from my archive were chosen for this exhibition at the Bath Spa University Art Gallery,” states Marco Garzia. “There is a timeless uniqueness about each of them, but there is also a great authenticity in these photographs. Curators often come to the archive asking us to provide images focusing on Italian style and La dolce vita moods. But this selection is truly special because it has an international flavour about it that, I hope, will inspire visitors their own 'transnational' style in fashion and, above all, in life.”

“Global Style: Celebrities as Trans/National Icons” is at SionHill, Bath School of Art & Design Gallery, Sion Hill, Lansdown, Bath, from 2nd to 15th September 2011. Private view: 1st September, 6-8pm.

Images Courtesy of Archivio Collezione Marco Garzia, Rome

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Invitation: oNONO's "Megamix" @ Tropicanalha Party

This is where I would be tonight if I were in São Paulo and I weren't literally snowed under a series of projects with impending deadlines (and a nasty tendinitis...).

Tonight there is indeed the presentation of oNONO's Spring/Summer 2012 collection.

Entitled “Megamix” and featuring multicoloured garments characterised by graphic motifs and a line of accessories made from discarded computer bits and pieces and electronic components (created in partnership with the brand Ananaíra of Gustavo Silvestre and Luiz Parisi), the new collection by DJ and designer Ademar “Ad” Ferrera will be showcased at the Bar Secreto in São Paulo tonight, during the “Tropicanalha” party (wonderful pun, Ad!) that will also feature Brazilian fashion journalist Jackson Araujo. 

The party promises to be a mix of tropical music and during it Ademar &Co will also premiere the new oNONO video, entitled after the S/S 12 collection and starring Barbara Thomaz and Diogo Veiga.

The new collection will be available from Monday 22nd August on the ONONO site and at Surface to Air Brazil from September. Parabéns Ad! 

TROPICANALHAONONO from Corujas on Vimeo.

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A New Manual for "Fashion Illnesses"?

Published in the early '40s, Malattie della Moda (literally "Fashion Illnesses") was one of the first manuals written in Italy by a doctor, Arturo Fontana, analysing the most common diseases, conditions and allergies caused by a variety of reasons, from detergents to dust, plants and foods.

Two chapters in the book were dedicated to clothes and accessories and beauty: in their pages the author looked at skin rashes (I'm not enclosing the pictures appearing in the volume as some of them are pretty gruesome...) caused by dyes (he warned consumers for example about black furs dyed with substances derived from tar), corsets, bras, wool or shoes.

Highlights included lenghty paragraphs about serious intoxication caused by a colouring agent used for shoes and the lethal effects on skin of a leather varnish called “Black Hell" (with a name like that, what could you expect?).

There are sections also on jewellery that look at nickel-based watches and at the varnish used on wooden bangles. The beauty section includes instead tips about sunbathing, soaps, lipsticks and hair removal methods.

The author also collects at the end of each chapter a rich bibliography of American, British and French books and magazines about these issues.

You may think such a manual is maybe dated as by now we use different substances to dye fabrics, yet I do think there is a need for a revised version of such a manual that could also analyse anorexia and bulimia (the most common fashion-related illnesses...) and the most common effects on our skin of cheap made in China fabrics containing high levels of toxic substances such as carcinogenic formaldehyde (hands up who doesn't own basic garments bought in High Street stores – from T-shirts to underwear, but sometimes even jackets and trousers – that release their dyes, staining our skin or clothes every time we wear them...).

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