For a fashion designer formally showcasing a collection on a runway represents a moment of agony and ecstasy; seeing it being featured in a proper photoshoot is instead an entirely different experience as those same creations naturally take a life of their own, according to the contexts in which they are photographed and the story they are telling. This is exactly what happened with Heather Marie Scholl's graduate collection.
Presented during the Academy of Art University (AAU) showcase at New York Fashion Week, the collection was recently photographed by fellow AAU student Aldo Carrera.
For the shoot Carrera, Scholl and the models decamped to an anonymous motel where the patterns of Scholl's knits took new meanings and revealed controversial hidden details like ejaculating penises on glittery lurex backgrounds.
The main themes of the collection - African American queer artists and queer cultural heritage - became mixed with eroticism, glamour and humour, with occasional nods to a vulgar creative aesthetic, while Carrera found himself facing Scholl's tongue-in-cheek narrative, shaped by cultural discourses on sexuality.
Can you tell us more about your background? Aldo Carrera: I'm from San Diego, California, but lived in Mexico in the early stages of my life. After graduating from high school in 2009, I moved to San Francisco where I am studying Fine Art photography at the Academy of Art.
What kind of photographer you'd like to be one day? Aldo Carrera: That's a hard question! Photography is my form of self-expression. I could see myself working in many different areas of the industry, blending my appreciation of fashion with my love of film. Creating ad campaigns for fashion brands would be a dream of mine, but I also love shooting more conceptual editorials. I do really love the collaboration between photography and fashion, so working with designers, stylists, hair and make up artists.
Is there a magazine that influenced/influences you in your work? Aldo Carrera:Oyster, Dazed & Confused, Acne Paper, i-D to name a few...
Do you have a fave photographer? Aldo Carrera: Too many to name one. I'm influenced by the works of Helmut Newton, Mario Testino, Nick Knight, but also by emerging photographers such as Gavriel Maynard, and Billy Kidd.
How was shooting Heather Marie Scholl's designs and working with her on the set? Aldo Carrera: I was actually lucky enough to be able to see Heather's process, working day till night in the Academy's knitwear lab, then seeing her work coming down the runway at NYFW. Getting the up-close and personal perspective of her garments in a tiny motel room was great - we really had fun in there! It was different working with the designer and we constantly swapped inspiration photos and location options to establish a clear idea of what we wanted. Heather's pieces feature a quite tongue-in-cheek narrative to say the least and have such character it was really an honor to be part of her story.
Which is your favourite picture from this shoot? Aldo Carrera: If I had to pick one is the picture of Fanta up against the white wall, so much attitude, my make up team has been amazing!
Is there a fashion designer you'd like to shoot one day? Aldo Carrera: Givenchy. It would be a dream to shoot or do anything for them.
What plans do you have for the future? Aldo Carrera: After school I plan on moving to New York. Aside from that, keep creating, learning, and challenging myself and my work.
The future may still be rather uncertain, but one thing is for sure, we will be working in a world with fewer barriers and we will be focusing not on one but on several hybridic disciplines at the same time. Some of us, like Florence-based studio AmniosyA have already started doing it.
AmniosyA carries out work and researches on architecture, design and fashion, and experiments with structures inspired by organic shapes characterised by a special intrinsic dynamism.
The studio, including university lecturer Marino Moretti, and young architects Marco Carratelli, Lucia Lunghi, Elvira Perfetto, Lorenzo Pianigiani, and Leonardo Pilati, focused its latest researches on generating alternative forms and design methods.
One example is a recently unveiled project which is not a building, but a 3D printed jewellery combo entitled "EntropyA" featuring a necklace and a bangle with a design based on dynamic fluid simulation.
The surface of the pieces gives indeed the impression they are made not with a solid but with a fluid material that splashes and ripples around the neck and the arm of the wearer, simulating fluid effects caused by variables such as velocity, temperature and density. Who knows, the "EntropyA" necklace and bangle could be the first jewellery pieces that physically represent the Navier-Stokes equations, the foundation of the science of fluid mechanics.
Can you briefly tell us more about your practice? AmniosyA: AmniosyA began as a research group in the field of architecture, design and fashion design. Our research is focused on the world of new technologies, on dynamic simulations used as incipit of morphological shape inspired by unexpected suggestions, by biology as well as scientific studies. Architecture, design and fashion design are fields through which we can create alternative forms and design methods. Our studio's ongoing research focuses on the transference of digital process into contemporary design.
How do you reconcile in your work disciplines such as architecture and fashion? AmniosyA: All of our projects have the intent of developing new expressions towards creative atmospheres trying to generate suggestive three-dimensional experiences at different scales through the same creative process. Architecture and fashion are the most powerful areas of creative expression, they are both intrigued by art as well as by three-dimensional concepts, since both generate space and interact with it. We think that there is not so much difference between fashion and architecture.
In which ways do the new digital tools and softwares used to develop the design process influence your work? AmniosyA: Software plays an important part in terms of form and design process, it gives us the freedom to express our ideas, changing the way we think design, and connecting "unexpected" fields.
The forms and shapes you develop through your projects are very futuristic, what kind of programmes do you use to design them? AmniosyA: Our interest is mainly focused on the world of dynamic simulation and animations used as a generator of morphological shapes, so we use animation software as Maya autodesk or Softimage as well as Grasshopper. Simulation means entering into a software physical data or values and, depending on the area in which you are working and on the natural interaction of these values, a number of projects in various fields takes life.
What inspired your jewellery pieces and do you plan to sell them online? AmniosyA: EntropyA, etymologically comes from the Greek ἐν τροπή (in processing), indicating a spontaneous change of state, a measure of disorder. The collection is the result of a dynamic fluid simulation in which a planar surface is altered from the energy generated by a physical system. That complexity recalls the softness of a piece of fabric and the articulation of natural interactions between different parts of a high density fluid. In this way the classic design of a jewel begins to develop his own unexpected geometry. EntropyA interacts with light and with space and it is made with a opaque material in order to reflect the spatial depth. We are currently in a deal regarding the sale, and we plan to sell it also online.
In which ways do you think we will be using 3D technology in the fields of fashion and architecture in future? AmniosyA:3D tecnologies as well as the use of digital software allow us to be able to imagine and create very complex spaces and forms, increasing thinking skills. We belive that thanks to developing researches the concept of dress fabric and finishing will change. We talk about interaction between clothes enviroment and people, and it is a good starting point. For what regards architecture, Italian Enrico Dini is studying a large size 3D printing system through which you can print houses and complex components that in future will cut key factors such as costs and time. These are the paths fashion and architecture will take in future.
There are quite a few designers who have been developing 3D printed pieces, do you have a favourite one? AmniosyA: We follow different designers who work in this field. We are interested in the work of Niccolò Casas, Daniel Widrig, and Iris Van Herpen. We also find Neri Oxman's research particularly interesting.
You are based in Florence and Italians have always been at the forefront of design and fashion, but in the last few years the attention switched to designers from other countries. Can new technologies help us re-setting ourselves at the forefront of these disciplines? AmniosyA:Yes, definitely. In the last few years the attention switched to designers from other countries probably because Italians are quite attached to a traditional production and to a classical idea of elegance both in fashion and design. We have a sort of poetical link that connects us to the history of a material and to specific manufacturing processes. But this peculiarly Italian attitude and our passion for research can collide with digital processing and inputs like innovative technologies coming from other countries leading to great results and propelling back Italians at the forefront of fashion and design.
Italy is currently lying in a dramatic situation on a political, financial and social level. Attempts at forming a stable government after February's inconclusive elections have failed, while more companies close their doors each day and unemployment rates are constantly on the rise.
Maybe inspired by Tomasi di Lampedusa, the Italian fashion system found its own clever way to save itself through what in Italy is simply defined as "sindrome del Gattopardo" (The Leopard's syndrome), that is changing everything to make sure nothing truly changes.
Italian fashion publications may tell you that there are young designers out there, but no young talents are really nurtured by the system that seems to be too scared to genuinely promote them in case they lead to more established designers being forgotten; showcases about up-and-coming designers often end up promoting foreign graduates or presenting as geniuses young talents who do not really seem gifted with the sort of bright ideas that may revolutionise fashion. Then there are the high profile bloggers invited to collaborate with established fashion houses or young British designers and stylists working with historical brands to make them look more hip.
In the meantime, Milan Fashion Week has turned into a marginal affair simply skipped by many prominent editors. But what do you do if you're stubborn, you still want to be a fashion designer and you also want to change the rules of the game? Simply jump off the fashion system bandwagon and go your own way. At least that's what Milanese designer Federico Sangalli decided to do.
After taking part in a few editions of Milan Fashion Week and discovering a system that doesn't seem to care anymore about quality and the true needs and desires of the final consumers, Sangalli decided to keep on producing his designs in his atelier located near Piazza San Babila, just around Milan’s Duomo, and to present them to his clients with intimate catwalk shows. The latter call to mind the early days of fashion with models slowly walking around the clients, allowing them to see - and more importantly, touch - the beauty of the construction and the quality of the fabrics.
Sangalli, who designs in his own atelier and produces his made-to-measure pieces with a team of skilled dressmakers and embroiderers, claims he's just going back to his roots - his aunt Maria owned indeed the atelier where he works now and created unique designs for Milan’s high society. Yet there is more behind Sangalli's personal reaction to a fashion system relentlessly going towards its own destruction: it actually seems to be working well with clients who, tired of quick and fast trends, are turning to his atelier to order more exclusive yet affordable creations. And what if he were right?
Why did you decide to abandon the Milanese runways? Federico Sangalli: Little by little, I started disliking the fashion system in general and the logics and rhythms that regulate the ready-to-wear collections. I realised I wanted to go back to the more traditional ways of creating fashion. I felt I needed to get out of the established schemes imposed by a system that tends to block your career, especially if you don't belong to certain groups of people. Another reason why I recided to jump off the bandwagon was the fact that the current fashion system does not respect the designer, but doesn't care also about the clients.
How do your private catwalk shows work? Federico Sangalli: I never liked 10-15 minute shows in which people watching don't understand anything. Presenting a collection to me means introducing the garments to my clients in a calm, quiet and elegant atmosphere, but, above all, in a slow way. The catwalk lasts around one hour/one hour and a half, the clients look at the garments, get to know the fabrics, look at the cut, and then order on the spot. All the people who come are our clients and among them there are quite a few journalists, because we don't give our garments as presents and we don't lend anything like other fahion houses do. In a way, I'm just following my family's traditions: these are couture shows, and I focus on my heritage - high fashion. I also started offering accessible prices - imagine a more accessible luxury and haute couture - to open the atelier to a younger generation of people. You may argue this is a very limiting system, but it is a system that works and that I like a lot because I feel the enthusiasm of the clients supporting me, that proves people are sick and tired about the usual things.
How many pieces are included in each show? Federico Sangalli: Forty-five designs. There are quite a lot of garments since, like in the traditional haute couture shows, we offer a wide wardrobe choice for different times of the day - morning, afternoon, cocktail and evening.
What inspired the latest collection presented at the beginning of March? Federico Sangalli: I decided not to set on a specific film, icon or colour to avoid the usual traps designers fall in. I concentrated instead on the quality of textiles, on the lines, the construction, the cut and the volumes and added a lot of bright colours and floral motifs that could act as an optimistic kind of chromotherapy.
Is there a design that has proved particularly successful with your clients? Federico Sangalli: I have a special passion for jumpsuits and I create a few ones every year. At the beginning I had just a few clients with the sort of ideal body for such a garment, but the demand recently increased also because in the last few seasons I tried to offer a jumpsuit that can be worn also for the day. My personal passion remains outerwear though – I simply love the way a piece is structured and constructed.
So far, what kind of feedback did you get from your clients? Federico Sangalli: When they return and they tell me they received a lot of positive comments about my designs I know that this depends in part from me, and in part from my skilled atelier team. A lot of the merit is to be credited to the customers who see something new and well made that is actually based on renewing a technically strong tradition.
Has your team grown since the last time we spoke? Federico Sangalli: I still have a small yet marvellous team comprising 6 members - 3 senior dressmakers and 3 trainees who are learning from them. They work together on a design from the beginning till the end. I still have the sort of structure of traditional tailoring houses, so a dressmaker specialised in Spring/Summer garments, one on Autumn/Winter and another one for suits. As you may guess, my world represents a small niche in the fashion universe, but I like considering it as the last bastion of a world that is disappearing, this is indeed the genuine soul of made in Italy fashion.
What kind of textiles do you prefer? Federico Sangalli: I prefer well-structured textiles to soft and relaxed ones; fabric is a magic material that can be sculpted and moulded and has an impact on the final structure and construction of a garment. The problem is definitely not the type of fabric, though, but the quality. In the last few years I found myself obliged to terminate my business relationship with specific manufacturers who had been working with my family for decades because they tried to sell me things that weren't up to their usual standards. I was born into this business and I can spot the difference between fabrics and I also know what you can or can't achive with different materials.
How difficult is it for a fashion designer to be completely sure about the quality of the fabrics they are buying nowadays? Federico Sangalli: It's very difficult. You must have a great knowledge about your business and also about the products offered by the manufacturer. I perfectly understand that some of the choices of the manufacturers relating to the quality of the fabrics may be due to the crisis. In Italy there are a few textile manufacturers left, most silk is produced in China at the moment and a lot of manufacturers actually have it woven and dyed in China as well. China is also producing silk for itself and this will soon have an impact on the prices of silk in the West. There are a few manufacturers in Italy, among them Taroni who works with traditional manufacturing processes. There are bunch of heroic people who are selling their houses to keep the production in Italy rather than delocalising it and lowering their standards.
What prompts them to remain in Italy? Federico Sangalli: History, traditions and the fact they were accustomed to beautiful things and want to preserve them.
What does fashion represent for you? Federico Sangalli: In my opinion fashion is art and art is τέχνη, in the original Greek meaning of the word - so craftsmanship, craft and technique. A creation becomes art if and when the technique behind it is perfect. All my focus is on the final client and on offering her clothes characterised by a modern design that make her feel better. I also find very stimulating altering a piece on the body of a client to make sure that design empowers her and gives a new grace to her shape and silhouette. It's an extremely creative, but also humbling process that allows you to get in touch with the real people who then wear your designs.
Which are the biggest crimes committed by the fashion system nowadays? Federico Sangalli: It's a crazy self-referential system with no logic, concentrating the market and the distribution in very few hands. The fashion system doesn't really have any respect for the final consumers, but conceives them as fools to con by selling them creatively dubious low-quality garments at high prices. In Italy the system has also been favouring designers from other countries over designers from Italy, and the former in some cases do not have the traditions, culture and experience Italy used to have; in the States instead the media support and push American designers.
What do you think about high street retailers? Federico Sangalli: That they are more honest than the big maisons that sell low quality garments at high prices. Leaving aside the unfair logics of high street retailers that are based on an invasion-like policy, they sell low quality garments for low prices. In the case of Italy, they also represent the failure of the political system that passed rigid laws about textiles and toxic dyes in this country, but then opened the market to such retailers.
Do you feel contemporary designers are engaging in a cut and paste game, often copying each others rather than producing new stuff? Federico Sangalli: It's not just about designers indulging in a cut and paste exercise one with the other, but also about big maisons feeding off young designers. My S/S 2010 collection included a lot of pieces and accessories - such as sunglasses - incorporating Viennese straw and a few months after it was presented, I realised quite a few fashion houses were reusing that specific material, some of them also in their sunglasses. But this is just one of the many examples. As a reaction, after spending a few seasons seeing some of my ideas being replicated on this or that runway, I stopped updating my internet site.
Would you like to see a proper law about designer copyrights being introduced in the industry? Federico Sangalli: Laws are often made to be broken and big maisons have the money and the powerful lawyers to defeat you in court. I'd rather establish a simple rule – all fashion houses and designers should be obliged to reveal the source.
What was the latest edition of Milan Fashion Week like? Federico Sangalli: I lived the fashion week as an insider up until a few years ago and I live it now as an outsider. When you do so, you realise that the people involved and gravitating around it are more or less talking among themselves. The latest edition seemed extremely empty, with the same faces and the same clothes.
Why has Milan lost it? Federico Sangalli: While the paws of the big multinationals are all over the fashion system, Milan lost it because they didn't find people who had the backbone to defend the strategic interests of this city.
What is damaging the fashion system in general and what is having a negative impact on the Italian fashion system in particular? Federico Sangalli: Many current collections are mixes, assemblages and pastiches with no context of mesage. The marked is also drugged: big companies enter into virgin markets that are tendentially ready to absorb anything and are happy of doing so as they see it as a way to access consumerism and capitalism. One of the biggest problems remains the fact that most brands do not understand the needs of the final consumers and I find my approach to slow fashion as the only way to reach out to them and recover this key relationship. For what regards Italy, there is a dual system that on one side has eliminated the commercial barriers allowing goods produced in other countries to freely circulate here, and that on the other has maintained a terribly high tax system for local companies. Year after year this has eroded the economy, the industry and the local manufacturing power, while allowing low quality items to enter the country.
Do you feel that slow fashion can have a positive impact on our lives? Federico Sangalli: You see, quite a few foreign universities came to visit me, for example delegations from Philadelphia and Tokyo, while I also had students writing dissertations about my work. In my specific case I think that my work represents what contributed to make Italy strong and beautiful all over the world. The old chairs I keep in the workshop in my atelier, the sewing machines and, above all, the workers who form my team, all these elements represent the soul and the heart - in a nutshell the DNA - of made in Italy design.
The dichotomic dilemma about wearable/unwearable jewellery is an exciting one.
There are quite a few designers, artists and craftspeople out there creating with the most disparate materials unique pieces that critics struggle to define jewellery as their purpose is not just ornamental or decorative, but they can often be considered as little (and at times rather large...) works of art.
The Musem of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York has collected in the last five years almost 200 exceptional pieces of "art jewellery" and a recently opened exhibition entitled "Wear It or Not" showcases some of the new additions to the permanent collection of the museum.
Organised by Ursula Ilse-Neuman, Curator of Jewelry at MAD, the event features around 130 works from all over the world, made with the most disparate techniques including digital fabrication.
Visitors will be able to discover more traditional pieces in more conventional materials such as silver, but also Luis Acosta's paper pieces, Boris Bally's brooches made with recycled traffic signs, Robert W. Ebendorf's Berlin wall brooch, Joyce Scott's figurative necklaces made with colurful glass beads, Jeremy May's literary jewels and Melanie Bilenker's pieces in which the designer employs hair to form precise and detailed etching-like drawings, while technological advanced materials are explored in pieces such as Rebecca Strzelec's Shorthand brooch made with ABS plastic and medical adhesive.
Among the most uncommon and unexpected materials there are also fruit-wrapping tissue paper and firecrackers (Verena Sieber-Fuchs' pieces), while the most impalpable inspiration remains the one behind Sakurako Shimizu's brooches.
This designer often plays around with technology making pieces that look like Atari computer chips or based on online diagrams of computer network topologies.
Shimizu's silver plated laser-cut pieces included in the "Wear It or Not" event physically represent sound waves.
The most interesting thing about art jewellery remains the fact that – as the museum page states – it goes "beyond the decorative function into new creative realms of conceptual, social and political resonance".
If you know you will miss the exhibition, don't despair: you can still explore the museum website and discover not just the unconventional jewellery exhibited, but also the designers who made them, plus a glossary of materials and techniques employed to make 400 items that are part of the museum collection. Truly MAD, isnt it?
Diamonds may be forever, but costume jewellery belongs to an entirely different category and has a radically different role as well, Pamela Golbin, Chief Curator of Fashion and Textiles at Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris, rightly claims in the foreword to this book.
Decade after decade costume jewellery has indeed allowed designers to push their creativity and freedom further. Collector Barbara Berger managed to capture through her outstanding collection the beauty and the passion behind costume jewellery. The daughter of a diamond dealer, Berger developed an interest in costume jewellery when she was just thirteen years old and continued collecting for fifty years, assembling an exciting, eclectic, elegant and ethnic collection of 4,000 pieces by more than eighty designers that could also be considered as a sort of visual history of the art and craft behind costume jewellery.
Berger always chose her favourite pieces on the feelings that the designer and the craftsmanship behind them gave her and this recently published volume gives the chance to see a fraction of her collection that, a while back, was also part of the "Bedazzled" exhibition.
The book is arranged following a sort of alphabet of costume jewellery designers, artisans and houses, opening with Alan Anderson and closing with a selection of pieces by a series of Unknown Designers.
In the introduction Harrice Simons Miller also traces a brief history of this art, that also looks at the paruriers, the highly skilled craftsmen who made adornments for couture houses in Paris, including costume jewelry, embroidery, and buttons.
The term "costume jewellery" originally referred to non-precious jewellery designed to accompany a costume or outfit.
In the 1700s pieces were made with imitation gemstones because they were to be used as travel jewellery or because the owner wanted copies of her fine jewelry. By the 1880s costume jewellery production had become more sophisticated, and pieces retained the look of fine jewellery, also thanks to the crystal gemstones manufactured in Daniel Swarovski's Austria-based factory.
In the '20s Chanel started mixing precious jewels with faux pieces and also designed necklaces with faux pearls strung with clear crystals, often worn in multiples and draped to the hips.
Costume jewellery slowly yet relentlessly came of age in the following decades: the Art Deco trend prompted designers to introduce new materials in their pieces; the '30s and Hollywood films added glamour and elegance. In the meantime, Elsa Schiaparelli started creating enameled brooches and ornaments with circus and musical motifs that perfectly complemented her surreal designs.
During the Second World War costume jewellery became more popular in America and was often made by European artisans who fled during the war. At the end of the conflict, Schiaparelli turned to Coppola & Toppo to have her pieces made, while Dior's designs were often accompanied by rhinestone necklaces.
The real boom arrived in the '50s when innovative materials such as bamboo, shells, ivory and plastic were mixed with traditional ones.
Many European designers exhibited their wares at the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels and the following decade brought a new revolution entirely focused on the fake look with Coppola & Toppo creating for Valentino glass beads bracelets.
In the '70s huge earrings and large cocktail rings became the symbols of the disco craze, while punk popularised rubber and spiked designs. The '80s were marked by excess: Ugo Correani created modernist and bold geometric pieces or iconic jewellery for many famous designers like Lagerfeld at Chanel.
While minimalism spread in fashion throughout the '90s, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana (Correani designed for both of them) and Moschino remained the last bastions of extravagance, excess and daring drama.
In our days costume jewellery is back into prominence with high street retailers recreating through collaborations with famous houses pieces by iconic designers and the costume jewellery mania has been brought to another level through dedicated books and exhibitions in art museums all over the world.
Iris Apfel describes in the second foreword Barbara Berger as a courageous visionary, a woman "overflowing with fantasy (..) in possession of great personal style, a keen eye and a very deep appreciation for beauty and for those who create it" and this volume perfectly reflects Berger's personality.
All the pieces featured are dazzling and covetable, or extravagant and whimsical, inspired by various themes including floral and figural motifs, and made with a wide range materials, such as metal, brass, pewter, nickel, Lucite, resin, plastic, textiles, and lacquer, crystals, glass and acrylic stones.
The volume is also a good introduction to all the main costume jewellery manufacturers, it would actually be great to have it in a more affordable pocket version for all those readers who are just starting out as collectors or for people simply interested in vintage fashion.
All the major houses such as Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Lanvin, Paco Rabanne, Pierre Cardin, Pucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Versace are included, but there is a wide variety of pieces included, from Marcel Boucher's three-dimensional brooches to the iconic Schiaparelli's ostrichs from her "Circus" collection; from rebellious Billy Boy*'s to Iradj Moini's pieces influenced by exotic cultures.
The book is a good way to rediscover Hattie Carnegie, CIS/Countess Zoltowska, Coro, Eisenberg & Sons, milliner Lilly Daché who designed among the other things also the fruit-laden turbans donned by Carmen Miranda, Trifari, Joseff-Hollywood (that at the peak of his career produced 90% of the jewellery used in motion pictures, creating pieces also for Gone with the Wind), Hobé, Ralph De Rosa, Guy de Vadimon, the Pennino Brothers, Miriam Haskell and Mimi Di Niscemi.
Skilled artists and artisans who worked for famous fashion houses are also featured, among them Robert Goossens, Roger Jean-Pierre, Coppola & Toppa, Maison Gripoix, Schreiner and Leni Kuborn-Grothe.
In her foreword to the book Iris Apfel states that costume jewellery is about style and not status and she is definitely right. "Faux bijoux are the greatest asset to a wardrobe," she enthuses, and after leafind through this book you will it hard disagreeing with her.
Coro (1944), United States. "Willet" tremblant bird brooch. Coloured enamel, rhinestones, gold plated sterling silver. Signed Sterling by Coro. The head is on a spring and shakes when moved.
Trifari, "Royal Swan" brooch, (1941), United States; designer: David Mir. Coloured enamel, simulated baroque pearls, rhinestones, gold and silver plated. Signed Trifari Des. Pat. No. 129535. Possibly referencing the Swan Lake ballet or The Ugly Duckling fairy tale.
Maison Gripoix (circa 2000), France. Feather bib necklace. Feathers, poured glass, simulated pearls, rhinestones, gold plated.
Attributed to Balenciaga (circa 1960s), France; designer: Lina Baretti. Cross pendant. Simulated pearls, glass cabochons, velvet, gilt trim.
Mimi Di N (circa 1960s–1970s), United States. Bib necklace. Simulated coral stones, rhinestones, gold plated.
Elsa Schiaparelli (1938), France; designer: Jean Schlumberger. A pair of ostrich pendants. Velvet ribbon, coloured enamel, glass beads, gilt metal. Originally created as part of the "Circus" Collection.
Yves Saint Laurent (circa 2000), France. Star motif necklace. Mirrors, gold plated.
Attributed to Karl Lagerfeld (1987), France; designer: attributed to Ugo Correani. Makeup brush bracelet and earrings. Multicoloured bristles, plastic, gold plated.
Schreiner (circa 1960s), United States. Bib necklace. Simulated turquoise stones, rhinestones, simulated pearls, gold plated.
If you don't like reading extremely long books on your mobile devices, but you'd still like to have with you a selection of stimulating and inspiring titles, try the publications released by MAPP. Founded in 2011 in London by art publisher Michael Mack, antiquarian bookseller and entrepreneur John Koh, and digital designer Jean-Michel Dentand, MAPP is a digital publisher working with a series of museums, libraries, collections, curators and artists to offer its readers a wide choice of carefully selected volumes.
Illustrators, costume and fashion designers will rejoice at the news that, just a couple of days ago, MAPP released a long-lost book by Alexandre Benois, his Alphabet in Pictures.Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois was born in Saint Petersburg in 1870. An artist, art critic and historian, he became a founding member of Mir iskusstva (World of Art), an art movement and magazine together with Sergei Diaghilev and the artist Léon Bakst.
Appointed scenic director of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, he moved to Paris in 1905, devoting from that moment on most of his time to the stage and costume designs for the Ballets Russes. Together with Léon Bakst, Benois became famous for creating the colourful costumes, sets and props for Diaghilev's famous corps de ballet. But while the former injected in his creations a certain degree of sensual and decadent orientalism, Benois seemed to be more rooted in classicism.
Alphabet in Pictures was a children's book published in Saint Petersburg in 1904 that includes the Russian alhabet in 35 full page chromolithographs. Each scene portrayed - mainly borrowed from Russian folklore, polular fairy tales or the Bible - is illustrated in vivid details and Benois fans will be able to detect between illustrations featuring Hansel and Gretel, Baba Yaga, giants, kids playing, snow princesses and swans swimming on placid lakes, his passion for the theatre and ballet. While the letter "T" is indeed represented by a theatrical stage on which a series of rocambolesque actions takse place with actors running away from a monster peering out of an oubliette and a ballerina dancing in the background, the book includes illustrations that seem to anticipate Benois' costumes and sets for Petrushka (staged in 1911): a caricature of a Moor opens and closes the book; a conjurer (Petrushka's Charlatan?) performs his tricks in front of a group of children, while a pile of inanimate and colourful puppets and dolls fills an entire page to illustrate another letter. Each illustration is an absolute joy and you will have to stop and carefully look at each of them for a while to spot all the details of Benois' little idyllic and fairy tale-like scenes (don't forget to check out the rich costumes donned by some of his characters).
This volume was originally released for an aristocratic audience that eventually came to its end after the 1917 Revolution, and it's great to know that someone thought about making it available again in a digital format to each and everyone of us at just £2.99.
It would be really nice now if MAPP could continue the alphabet series with something along these lines that could have an even stronger connection with fashion, what about an e-Book featuring the AlphaErté bet Suite paintings (Erté's Alphabet)?Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Felt is a flexible insulating material owing its properties to the structure of pressed layers of animal hair. Quite a few artists and craftspeople love it for its characteristics: Joseph Beuys for example turned it in into one of his signature materials for some of his most iconic works such as his felt suit, widely considered as a major contribution to contemporary art.
Beuys may not be the main reference behind a project developed for the Pollini shop in occasion of Milan Design Week by London-based architect Mehrnoosh Khadivi, yet the material of choice and the desire to create a new shape for a simple three-dimensional object is definitely there.
Khadivi designed two lamps in raspberry red and black made with felt and characterised by a soft geometrical quality about them achieved through slitting the material to give it a fluid and flowing edge while retaining a solid and compact structure.
Entitled "Roll Up", this is the second installation Khadivi developed for Pollini this year and follows a larger one that the architect created in February to celebrate the brand's 60th anniversary.
How many installations did you do for the Pollini shop in the last few months and was it tricky to integrate them in the shop space? Mehrnoosh Khadivi: I did the Christmas window which was fun and really worked well; during Milan Fashion Week there was a big event which was both a presentation of the new collection and a project to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the brand. For this I built an enormous mountain of boxes - the top of which was a chaotic and tumbling peak where plenty of shoes from the archive were tumbling out of many boxes precariously. In this way you could get a peak here and a peak there of brand heritage while towards the base a sense of order came into play where we presented the new collection.
What inspired "Roll Up" and can you tell us more about the materials employed for this project? Mehrnoosh Khadivi: "Roll up" was really an accidental project - I was actually testing some cutting patterns on thick felt for a totally different project and, whilst doing the tests, I happened to cut a pattern which i knew could be developed for a shade. The material is so perverse as a basis for a lighting project as it is totally solid that it kind of pleased me. There are a fair few variations which are currently in development which I hope to present later this year. There is a simple geometry at play with the "Roll Up" version which I find both chic and simple to comprehend. The fact that this fabric can be further manipulated both in terms of colour and the addition of other material and in terms of how it is put together either in a really technical way or in a more garment-making approach is also intriguing; these developments will really be explored in future through a more in-depth fashion-related approach to this shape.
Did you have time to go around the Salone or the various collateral events - in your opinion what's the vibe like and have you seen anything really amazing? Mehrnoosh Khadivi: I do have some time to go around the Salone and will also be taking in some of the events. I attended a few openings and the vibe was generally good but perhaps all a bit too over impressed with itself?! As far as content blowing me away by presenting something totally amazing, well, I have yet to come across it. I hope I do, but it seems there is always this approach of presenting old pieces (we all know them very well...) year after year that I also found in Miami in December and this is disappointing when you are here looking for new things. As far as new content - I seem to be more drawn to the genuinely hand-made and obsessional works during a week like this - maybe it is a knee jerk reaction to walking into space after space where "stone as landscapes translated via tables" or "reinvented chandeliers" seem to be the theme. But maybe later on today I shall take all that back as I come across some genuine progressive ideas in design - I certainly hope so!
Yesterday's post was about Belgium and design, so let's continue the thread for another day with a Belgian illustrator, René-Marie Bodson (1878-1955). After studying at the Academy in Liège, René-Marie Bodson worked as a painter and also created costumes and sets in Paris for shows and cabaret performances.
He drew numerous posters, adverts and theatre programs proving he was not just a good illustrator, but also a visual chronicler of contemporary events.
His work was often characterised by irony as the poster that accompanies this post also proves (well, we are in the middle of Milan Design Week and this ad is connected with product design, so it seems very apt...).
The advert shows a vacumm cleaner that is so powerful that it can vacuum nasty germs and microbes, incarnated by alien-like figures, but also the moon. This illustration from 1904 is particularly inspiring since it seems to have some connections with early silent films such as Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès's Le voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon, 1902).
Belgian Henry van de Velde is an extremely modern figure since he represents the transdisciplinary approach that currently informs the world of art and design. An articulate spokesman and supporter of the revitalisation of the arts, the Belgian architect, artist, interior designer and educator contributed with his ideas to the later development of the Bauhaus movement.
Belgium will celebrate later on this year his 100th birth anniversary with a large exhibition at the Cinquantenaire Museum, but, if you're in Milan for the Design Week, you can start the celebrations by visiting the Belgium is Design showcase inspired by Henry van de Velde and entitled "The Toolbox" at La Triennale or the collective stand at the SaloneSatellite.
Curated by the indefatigable Giovanna Massoni, since 2011 Belgium is Design has reunited the best projects by talented designers from the three different Belgian regions - Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia - cohesively and coherently presenting them together during Milan Design Week in showcases that transcend cultural, linguistic and sociological differences.
The great variety of designers included perfectly hints at van de Velde's transdisciplinary approach, conceiving this figure as a symbol of creativity, research and innovation in design.
Massoni opted to tackle through her selection also another key aspect of our times – the concept of "making", but not from the trendy perspective we have grown accustomed to consider it from. The curator analyses indeed this term in conjunction with other concepts like production or manufacturing and therefore with labour.
The Toolbox is structured as a dual installation: a honeycomb-like cabinet including objects made with different materials and techniques (such as woodbending, weaving, glass casting and so on), patterns, samples, prototypes and tools accompanied by the "Opalis" website designed by Rotor (a guide to salvaged building materials dealers in Belgium); and a living room space in which visitors will be able to admire a variety of objects and products designed and made in Belgium.
The first part of the installation is an attempt at representing a physical database of design in Belgium, showcasing not only the final products, but the processes behind them and revealing the skills of local manufacturing companies, while also hinting at the problems behind the production and at the impact of the financial crisis on many companies, especially small ones.
The 55 selected participants represent indeed not only their studios and ateliers but also the workshops, companies, factories and external contractors gravitating around them.
The choice when it comes to design pieces is wide and includes textile (A + Z Design) and loom-woven paper panels (Un-Fore-Seen by MgDesign); tableware designed using computer tools like Freehand and Illustrator (Alfred by Maison Marie Mees and Cathérine Biasino); wallpaper made with advanced technologies (Arte International and Maison Marie Mees and Cathérine Biasino); linear chairs (Michaël Bihain's "Lalinea"); blankets and rugs in contrasting colours ("Fleecy" and "Molleton" by Chevalier-Masson; and "Tokio" by Pauline Gorelov); modular tables ("T3/4" by Nrayr Khachatryan) and kitchen cabinets; lamps inspired by shapes borrowed from nature ("Kino" by Krizalidstudio and "Veiled Lady" by Damien Gernay) and ceramics that become functional objects only when they are broken ("Throwing Sculptures" by Hugo Meert Ceramics).
A series of pieces by Xavier Lust, from mirrors in stainless steel to cabinets in painted and satin-finish anodized aluminium sheet, complete "The Toolbox" showcase. If you get the chance, have a look at the "Belgium is Design" collective stand at the SaloneSatellite as well to spot asymmetrical room divider screens inspired by the Japanese art of origami and looking like a sci-fi installation ("Landscape" by Patrick Beyaert) and ingeniuos objects that, playing with transparency and reflection, have a dual purpose and hide a clock behind a mirror ("Blink" by Twodesigners).
Can you re-introduce to our readers "Belgium is Design" and to your work? Gioanna Massoni: "Belgium is Design" is a label created to showcase abroad a series of events presented by different governmental organisations in Belgium. The main aim is promoting and sustaining design in Belgium, while also developing links with financial and economic organisations on a regional basis. When we started and I first suggested to present a showcase under a national rather than regional umbrella group, I translated in a way a desire that was probably already there. As you may guess, it was harded at the beginning, but, little by little, we managed to structure the organisation in a much more cohesive way. As a curator I always have to maintain a very objective attitude and. while I can stir things towards a theme, I always have to take into account other limits and regulations. When we are in Belgium each region has its own protocol and follows its aims and goals, but "Belgium is Design" has managed to reunite in a coherent way different forces and stir them towards one main aim, promoting design from a cultural, but also financial point of view.
What about the political point of view instead - do political entities still have problems in accepting projects that merge culture and design as valid promoters that can have an impact on the economy as well? Giovanna Massoni: Yes, they still have some problems. In the past there was a lot of excitement about Belgian design, even though at times, because of quality issues, certain pieces couldn't really stand up to comparison with others in the context of international showcases at European level. Yet, while there are at times products that are still at the raw stage, design is generating a clearer identity at the moment and this also has a natural impact on local businesses and manufacturing companies and influences educational institutions as well. All these entities start creating design projects and start taking part in Belgian design, so at the moment rather than being a phenomenon at raw stage that must still be investigated, Belgian design should be considered by people at different levels - also politicians - as a boost to prompt us all to be more responsible and do our best.
The main inspiration behind this year's showcase - Henry van de Velde - is an extremely modern artist and designer reuniting in himself different disciplines. Could we consider him as a sort of figure that anticipates the times we're living in? Giovanna Massoni: As you said van de Velde was a really polyhedric personality and, by choosing him, I wanted to highlight his transdisciplinarity that moving from him pervaded not only Belgium, but also other countries. Belgium is much more flexible and less rational when it comes to categories: a creative person is just a creative person and nobody is shocked if an interior designer starts working also in fashion or if an artist starts designing objects and so on. Henry van de Velde remains the founder of a school characterised by a genuine and original spirit that thinks an artist's creation can evolve towards an architect's project and viceversa, without any problems or prejudices involved.
Which aspects of van de Velde were then applied to this year's showcase? Giovanna Massoni: A very specific aspect that maybe wasn't as clear in his times as it is today, even though we often tend to forget about it: design is the result of a precise alliance. A designer must be a sort of hinge between different realities, such as craftspeople, manufacturing plants and also educational institutions. Design and designers only exist within this collaborative frame. This is exactly the key concept we want to highlight with "The Toolbox".
What kind of criteria did you follow while selecting the pieces that had to be included in the showcase? Giovanna Massoni: All the products had to be made in Belgium representing in this way an alliance and a human exchange between a Belgium-based designer and a Belgian manufacturer. There is actually an exception, Xavier Lust, but he's a unique case. Lust mainly works with companies abroad, but he agreed with them that the first prototype of his designs must always be made in Belgium and in particular that the folding and deforming of metal surfaces must always be carried out by the same company, Ateliers Georis, a metallurgy company going through a crisis caused by the closings at ArcelorMittal in Liège. This is an exclusive between Xavier Lust and Ateliers Georis and we dedicated to Lust a bit more space not just because he represents Belgian design on an international level more than other people, but also as a sort of tribute to this collaboration.
The title of the showcase also mentions the "art of making". Making is a very fashionable concept at the moment, in which way did you interpret it? Giovanna Massoni: I'm actually very critical about the use of this term. A lot of people talk about the act of "making" and have turned this term into a trend, but the concept of making always existed in design. Fom my point of view "making" means "labour": nowadays you get a lot of designers who, for one reason or another, are obliged to reabsorb and substitude a series of manufacturing stages into their own workshops and ateliers. While this can be understood especially in our financially unstable times, there are maybe 2 designers out of 100 who earn a living in this way and this has obviously got an impact on youth unemployment rates. In Belgium there were two strong industrial plants, Ford in Genk and ArcelorMittal in Liège: the former closed down completely, the latter closed the cold phase production units. But the key point is that these big companies are linked to smaller companies that are bound to suffer the most when a multinational closes down. The small companies working for larger industries are also the companies producing for independent designers, so the act of making as you can see is strongly connected with labour issues.
Visitors at La Triennale will get to know some of these smaller businesses since The Toolbox is also a database of companies working in Belgian design. Was it difficult to create this database? Giovanna Massoni: In Belgium but also in Italy and in other countries as well there are no databases of all the manufacturing companies where designers can go to when they want to make their prototypes. We decided to try and come up with a database to give a sort of human and productive value to projects. This was a hard job since quite a few designers were reluctant to reveal who makes their pieces as they thought that if they had done so, other designers would have gone to these companies. This is a bad attitude since designers must understand they are not creating a work of art but a piece of social work. They are instigating indeed a sort of social chain reaction because they give work to somebody, and this also implies that being a designer is not a solitary job. It is exactly like that W. B. Yeats' quote, "In dreams begins responsibility": design is an individual dream, but it is a dream that implies the act of sharing and communicating.
Belgium is Design, until 14th April 2013, La Triennale, Viale Alemagna 6, Milan, Italy
Among the new technologies currently employed in art, fashion and design, 3D printing is definitely the one that has been generating more interest, offering an entirely new tool to make things with complex shapes and structures with innovative materials. A new exhibition at London's Fashion Space Gallery explores 3D printing and its developing role as a tool for design.
Curated by Leanne Wierzba and Gemma Williams, in consultation with the Fashion Digital Studio at London College of Fashion and with saint H, the showcase is the first of a two part series looking at digital print in fashion.
Pioneers such as Janne Kyttänen in design and Iris Van Herpen in fashion paved the way for more experiments in an intriguing 3D printed world: Kimberly Ovitz launching her own range of 3D printed jewellery on Shapeways available to buy immediately after showcasing it on her Fall 2013 runway in New York, and Dita von Teese donning a 3D printed dress by Michael Schmidt generated by architect Francis Bitonti were among the highlights of the 3D printed news in the last few months.
The Layer By Layer showcase will allow visitors to see some of the best designs around and also get some insights about what the future of this technology may offer us.
The event will indeed feature a variety of objects and accessories: from Victoria Spruce's footwear combining traditional techniques with new technologies to Ron Arad's new range of 3D printed eyewear that incorporates laser sintered nylon in the flexible arms to eliminate the need of metal hinge components and Daniel Widrig's laser-sintered polyamide jewellery.
3D printing also allows to merge together disciplines such as science, architecture and product design and projects developed by people with different backgrounds - such as (fashion designer) Marieka Ratsma and (architect) Kostika Spaho's "Biomimicry" shoe ingeniously inspired by natural forms and in particular by a bird's skull, and (fashion designer) Naim Josefi and (industrial designer) Souzan Youssouf's "Melonia" shoes - will also be included.
Since the event is organised with the support of the Fashion Digital Studio at London College of Fashion Fashion, technologically advanced designs by LCF graduates will have their space: visitors with an interest in 3D printing and architecture/interior design will enjoy Marla Marchant's woven high heels inspired by tensile structures like suspension bridges, Liz Ciokajlo's footwear that combines industrial non-woven fibres and binders employed for furniture and product design to push the limits of 3D printing, and the world's first fully wearable 3D printed shoes by designer and product developer Hoon Chung who is currently researching into new techniques for footwear manufacturing.
Prototypes will prompt visitors to imagine the objects that will be created in a not-so-distant future: Silvia Weidenbach employs haptic technology in her jewellery combining 3D modelling with hand-making, while Julia Gaimster and Enrique Ramos are developing a research project to create jewellery with parametric modelling using programmes such as Grasshopper (see first image in this post).
Footage of Iris Van Herpen's 3D printed couture creations, photographic prints of Marloes ten Bhömer's footwear using rapid prototyping and a library of materials provided by Shapeways complete the event that will also allow visitors to see 3D printing in action thanks to a Makerbot Replicator 2 3D printer creating objects that will then be put on display.
Fashion Space Gallery curator Gemma Williams stated in a press release about the event, "It's a snapshot of the 3D printing industry as it stands currently, it will also be fascinating to observe how the technology evolves over the next 10 years."
What's the most important thing you learnt from your years at the London College of Fashion? Hoon Chung: I have completed my BA and MA in footwear at LFC and the most important thing I have learnt there is to always challenge invisible things.
Who has been the greatest influence on your career choices? Hoon Chung: Dai Rees, Philip Delamore and Peter Hill - people who made me look at things from a wider perspective and always prompted me to get on and jump to the next stage.
Who or what inspires you? Hoon Chung: I'm influenced by every moment, good design and nice products. I also like all those designers who inject a sense of beauty into their work.
What inspired your 3D printed shoes? Hoon Chung: Throughout the years I gained a lot of experience for what regards the footwear industry, mastering traditional footwear design. Yet commercial footwear is not really attractive to me and even while I was doing my BA I felt I wanted to focus on innovative designs. So I decided to develop during my MA other aspects that could allow me to achieve what I had dreamt for a long time. I eventually managed to create the world's first fully wearable 3D shoes and that was also possible thanks to the support of LCF's Fashion Digital Studio.
Did you find any stages of making the shoes difficult or challenging? Hoon Chung: Every step was difficult as I created my own methodology and explored new ways of making shoes. It was also hard to find the sponsor to get the flexible rubbery material I wanted to use since it isn't available on the market.
The shoes seem to be characterised by very clean and pure lines - did you take inspiration from architecture to create them? Hoon Chung: Yes I did. I've always been interested in architecture as well, and I'm fascinated by constructive and total art. Yet I do have my own aesthetic that comes from my experience in art and design. I usually prefer simple and fine lines that make a design look stunning.
Do you have a favourite architect? Hoon Chung: Frank Gehry and Tadao Ando.
Do you feel that in future we will be using 3D printing technologies more in fashion? Hoon Chung: I definitely think that in ten years' time we will be using these techniques in fashion and employing these tools at home.
What plans do you have for the future? Hoon Chung: I would like to explore new ways to replace traditional manufacturing systems with 3D technology in an eco friendly way.
Layer By Layer, Fashion Space Gallery, 1st Floor, London College of Fashion, 20 John Prince's Street, London W1G OBJ, 10th April-18th May 2013.