Irenebrination: Notes on Architecture, Art, Fashion, Fashion Law, Science & Technology: March 2014

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Now Trending: The (Curse of the) Fairy Tale Heroine

As you may have already noticed, fairy tales are currently in. Fables and tales pervade for example Issue 4 of C(arine)R(oitfeld) Fashion Book. According to Roitfeld this theme should let us all reminisce about the beautiful times we had in our childhood (assuming you were happy as a child...).

The magazine includes a series of features inspired by childhood myths including E.T. and also a fairy tale-themed editorial by Oscar-nominated producer, director and writer Lee Daniels.

The editorial features Joan Smalls as Snow White, Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty and American actor Michael B. Jordan as the leading man.

It's a shame though that, while the opening Cinderella-inspired images look quite interesting since the photographer brought the story into a urban realm of daily decadence, soon after, Daniels came up with shots that look simply cold rather than Gothic and dark.

There's no drama in the image of Cinderella running away from her Prince Charming, as she seems swallowed by a pink tulle gown fluttering around her and you get absolutely mesmerised not by her beauty but by her awkwardly unelegant pose (yes, you're running, darling, but, bloody hell, it just looks bad...); the Sleeping Beauty in her coffin looks like the usual beautiful corpse that appears in features glamourising fashion and death with a supposed Prince Charming/Angel looking rather uninterested ("Hmmm, should I kiss her, or maybe just leave her in the coffin?"), and Snow White looks a bit like a burlesque star surrounded by seven maniacs dressed like sailors.

If you check out the CR Fashion Book site you will also be able to watch the behind the scenes video of "The Seven" shoot, photographed by Pamela Hanson, and starring Ashleigh Good as a edgy hobo working mum in designer clothes carelessly followed around by her seven painfully hip kids (I think I will die without being able to see in this life a young mother with 7 kids who works part-time and can afford Prada dresses; try also carelessly walking around real streets with 7 kids of different ages in tow and you easily get 8 road victims...).

There have been a few fashion houses who recently turned for inspiration to the fable theme in their designs: Dolce & Gabbana's explored a fairy tale world for their Autumn/Winter 2014 collection, while Red Valentino's latest lookbooks always featured a cute fairy tale heroine surrounded by a set that evoked an enchanted forest or candy covered cottages out of Hänsel and Gretel's story.

Red Valentino's A/W 2014 collection is inspired by Snow White: you have totes, tops and knits with prints and images of a Disney-meets-Andy Warhol Snow White or clutches shaped like poisonous apples matched with mini-crini skirts and polka dot dresses, red apple and heart motifs on sweaters and jackets characterised by a cartoonish flair.

The extremely disappointing thing about this collection is that it is extremely easy to find at High Street retailers garments and accessories with Disney characters, Snow White included. Having a Disney copyrighted lookbook doesn't also look extremely good for a brand such as Red Valentino, where is indeed the difference between these clothes and Disney lines for High Street chains - the supposed quality?

There are also further frustrating points about the fairy tale trend in general, though: first it is rarely approached from a feminist point of view and there is never any kind of attempt at rewriting the fable to show the heroine in a more powerful position (Angela Carter's told traditional stories in an innovative way in The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, creating empowering tales).

Fairy tales usually offer the chance to the fashion industry to create wonderful dreamy sets with amazing props and more than one opportunity to get the corpse of a beautiful woman in the picture (something that, as we learnt in previous posts, always sells...).

Yet designers are consistently blurring the boundaries between collections for kids and proper pieces for grown up women, as if we were all princesses: Red Valentino has just done a a collection with Snow White, but a while back Superga came up with a pair of shoes for kids decorated with the same Disney heroine; Stella McCartney Kids has just unveiled a capsule collection of (horrid looking) clothes for children inspired by Maleficent, Disney's new and twisted version of The Sleeping Beauty starring Angelina Jolie in the title role, and you can bet designers will soon come up with Maleficent-inspired looks for grown ups.

Looks like rather than reaching equality in all areas, women have reached equality with childrenswear for the time being. Maybe there is a way to change things, though: Angela Carter wrote in 1974 that "The tale does not log everyday experience, as the short story does. It interprets everyday experience through a system of imagery derived from subterranean areas behind everyday experience."

The writer came up with a perfect hybrid in her novels that combined her passion for Gothic tales with a modern narrative style. If only we could create in fashion a perfect hybrid like Carter did in literature and use fables to recount new tales about real women, then maybe fashion wouldn't be such a bad story.

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Posted at 07:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And Suddenly Pier Paolo Pasolini Is Fashionable Again

You're warned: Pier Paolo Pasolini may be fashionable again by 2015. In many ways, we should have seen it coming: images of Maria Callas in Pier Paolo Pasolini's Medea reappeared on the mood board of Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli's Spring/Summer 2014 collection for Valentino and the filming in Rome of Pasolini by award-winning director Abel Ferrera - that started in January - wrapped up a few days ago.

Starring Willem Dafoe, Pasolini is based on a screenplay by Ferrara and attempts to recount the last day in the life of the controversial journalist, writer and director.

Pasolini was found dead near a seaplane base in Ostia, Rome, in November 1975, but the case, archived as a homosexual assassination, remains a mystery.

Rather than jumping on the Pasolini bandwagon as many pseudo trendy publications together with Miuccia Prada will undoubtedly do in the next few months, let's try and get more educated about the subject.

To this aim I'm republishing here the text of an interview (translated by myself) to Pier Paolo Pasolini by Furio Colombo that appeared on the "Tuttolibri" supplement of the daily La Stampa on 8th November 1975. The interview (Download PierPaoloPasolini_FurioColomboInterview_1975_byABattista) took place on 1st November 1975, between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., a few hours before Pasolini was killed.

I'm embedding here also A Film Maker's Life by Carlo Hayman-Chaffey, a short documentary about Pasolini, in case you don't have time to read through the interview.

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Posted at 07:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tirelli and the Dream of Cinematic Luxury on WTF (What's The Fashion?) - March Issue

Picture this: you're sitting in a cinema theatre watching Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel and, rather than being intrigued by its plot revolving around the bizarre vicissitudes of a hotel concierge, or being mesmerised by the star studded cast, you suddenly realise you're mysteriously drawn in the sets and costumes. Those unusual combinations of shades such as tomato red, ochre and violet are indeed catching your attention, while you're wondering if you saw those same nuances of pink in a Jean Claude-Duplessis porcelain vase at The Hermitage.

Your reaction is perfectly understandable: fabulous Milena Canonero, nominated to five Oscars and winner of three Academy Awards, is the costume designer behind this film. Yet there is also someone else's magic in Anderson's new movie, the Rome-based Sartoria Tirelli (Tirelli Tailoring House)

Tirelli is not only linked with contemporary films, though, it is indeed a place with a legendary fame and its history spans from mythical dramas such as Pier Paolo Pasolini's Medea (1969) to the candy coloured world of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006).

Russian speakers can read the story of the Tirelli fashion house in my interview with Dino Trappetti, current Head of the tailoring house and Chairman of the Tirelli-Trappetti Foundation in the March issue of Ural-based magazine WTF (What's The Fashion?), a publication for design, architecture and fashion fans. The magazine also feature my reviews of the Spring/Summer 2014 Haute Couture collection. Enjoy!

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Piero Tosi, Maria Callas and Umberto Tirelli. Fittings for Pier Paolo Pasolini's Medea (1969). Courtesy Sartoria Tirelli.

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Posted at 07:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Glamorous Decadence, Bare Architectures: Boom! (1968) by Joseph Losey

The Victoria & Albert Museum is getting ready to launch a new exhibition in April. Entitled "The Glamour of Italian Fashion 1945 - 2014", the event focuses on the birth of "Made in Italy" fashion starting from Giovan Battista "Bista" Giorgini.

The period covered is extremely long and this makes you naturally wonder how carefully it will be explored, also considering that one first slight imperfection is linked to one of the images that has circulated to promote the event since last year.

The image in question shows Elizabeth Taylor in a rather fancy headdress and it's described as "Elizabeth Taylor wears Bulgari jewellery at a masked ball, Hotel Ca'Rezzonico, Venice, 1967" and was obviously picked to pay homage to Bulgari, one of the main sponsors of the V&A exhibition.

Yet it's a shame the description doesn't say more about the rather bizarre ensemble Taylor is wearing in the image: the dress she is portrayed in it is not a carnival costume or a catwalk show outfit, but one of the main costumes that appears in the film Boom! (1968) directed by Joseph Losey.

In the film the actress wears a lot of Bulgari jewels (she was a well-known client of the jewellery maker), but the costumes are, well, not strictly Italian.

But let's start from the beginning: Boom! is actually considered by many critics as a terrible flop or a moment to forget in the career of Taylor, the cinematic icon.

Directed by Losey, and starring Taylor's then-husband Richard Burton, the film was adapted from a Tennessee Williams play, The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore (1963; Williams also did the script for this film).

In the film Taylor plays the role of Flora 'Sissy' Goforth, a wealthy and terminally ill widow living with her servants in a villa on a secluded island (the film was shot in Sardinia and at the Dino De Laurentiis studios in Rome) and spending her days taking medication, drinking alcohol and dictating her memoirs to her secretary.

Sissy's life takes an unexpected turn when the mysterious poet and metal mobile sculptures maker Christopher Flanders (Burton) arrives at her villa. Sissy is indeed sexually attraced to him, but things change when, during a dinner, her friend known by the nickname "The Witch of Capri" (an irresistibly and annoyingly sarcastic and witty Noël Coward) reveals her Flanders is also known in some circles as “l'angelo della morte” ("The Angel of Death").

Chris usually appears at the door of a wealthy woman who is about to die, and basically waits till death gets her before relieving the rich victim of her valuables. Though ill, Sissy is definitely not accepting the idea of death, may it be delivered by sudden destiny or announced by attractive Chris.

Taylor and Burton had appeared in successful film versions of other Tennessee Williams’ plays including, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1956), Suddenly Last Summer (1959) and The Night of the Iguana (1964), and producers thought they may have repeated the success with Boom!

The film marked instead their decline: both actors were indeed addicted to alcohol at the time of filming, while Taylor relied on prescription drugs making her naturally look and feel exactly like the main character in the film (Sissy also speaks about her previous husbands, and a true love, a mountain climber who fell to his death; Taylor at the time was troubled by the unexpected death of her previous husband, Mike Todd).

The movie was criticised for its slow rhythms, for Taylor's over-the-top acting and for its 10 million budget spent to hire Taylor and Burton and dress the actress in a lavish style.

While Douglas Hayward provided the suit for Noël Coward, the house of Tiziani came up with the costumes for Taylor, all accessorised with Bulgari jewels (Taylor's hairstyles were designed and created by Alexandre of Paris and executed by Claude Ettori).

Rome-based Tiziani was founded by American designer Evan Richards, and its collections were designed at the time of shooting this film by Karl Lagerfeld.

Drawings and sketches by Lagerfeld for Tiziani plus photographs and coorrespondence from favoured client Elizabeth Taylor (Tiziani was popular with celebrities and actresses who loved excessively glamorous outfits, such as Gina Lollobrigida) were actually auctioned in January 2014 during the "Tiziani: Lagerfeld + Liz" event at the Modern Auction house in West Palm Beach.

The costumes provide visually interesting moments in the film: Taylor wears white (apparently the actress insisted on this colour) gowns and long flowing dresses (and once she wears a sort of black abaya-like gown) that symbolise the fact she may be alive but she is already wrapped in a shroud.

The most sumptous dress matched with a spiky headdress decorated with metallic daisy flowers is the one that also appears in the Venetian party picture from the V&A exhibition: Sissy/Taylor opts for it when dining with the Witch of Capri/Coward and explains him this is a kabuki costume. Chris/Burton also wears a black kimono throughout the movie and carries a sword rather than a deadly scythe.

Boom! borrows a lot from kabuki, including costumes and make-up: the structure of the script and the original play represent a modern take on traditional Japanese kabuki plays as re-invented by Williams.

Yet the best thing about the film is actually the architecture: Losey is a real master when it comes to framing his characters.

For Boom! he enlisted set designer and artist Richard MacDonald (who also worked on Eva, The Servant and Modesty Blaise) to create the lavish sets: the villa with its curving stark white walls and round windows carved in the walls or with curtains and drapes fluttering in the breeze, points towards Le Corbusier, even though the interiors evoke the house of a modern art collector.

Paintings and abstract sculptures clutter the place, symbolising Sissy's isolation and projecting a dark and deadly aura around the spacious yet claustrophobic villa, filled at times by Taylor's booming voice dictating through the intercom system her memoirs to her secretary or shouting at her servants.

The title of the film makes finally sense when Chris the poet explains quite beautifully to Sissy that "Boom!" is the sound of "the shock of each moment of still being alive". This word becomes the very final connection between the dying Sissy and life, leading to the dramatic and easily foreseeable ending.

In a way it's a shame that the caption for the image used for press purposes for the V&A event doesn't tell you more behind the unusual attire Taylor is wearing. Knowing what hides behind it suddenly brings the dark shadow of "l'angelo della morte" into the picture, making us realise that - quite often - the most extraordinary glamour only hides the most incredible decadence.

With many thanks to Kutmusic for providing me with a copy of the film from its archives for the screenshots in this post.

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Posted at 07:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Lesson from Versailles '73

Fashion shows get more complicated season after season: so far, we have seen arty props, visual installations, ballet dancers, singers, musicians and orchestras.

To be honest, even the best choreographed moments have started to become a bit too distracting to the point that, after sitting through a show, you can rarely remember the garments, but you definitely remember the music, visual installations or dance routine, as if you went to see a vaudeville act rather than a catwalk show.

The time has definitely come to strip things down a bit and reshift the attention on the actual clothes and the attitude.

A good inspiration to do this is maybe taking a trip back to 1973 when, to raise funds for the restoration of the Palace of Versailles, fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert, organised a special show in which French and American designers presented their collections.

It took quite a few months and the support of influential socialites and celebrities to organise this "Grand Divertissement" in Versailles that featured on one side Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Cardin and Emanuel Ungaro, and on the other Halston, Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Anne Klein and Stephen Burrows.

Versailles 73 - a documentary released last year and directed by Deborah Riley Draper - tells the story of this event through archive material and interviews with the models, publicists and fashion assistants involved.

The documentary highlights the differences between the two presentations: when the curtain rose on the grand event, the French couturiers presented to the audience of royals and celebrities (including Princess Grace of Monaco and Andy Warhol among the others...) a proper show with elaborate props (Dior had a Cinderella-like pumpkin carriage; Cardin a space rocket...) and even famous performers such as Rudolf Nureyev, Zizi Jeanmaire, Capucine, Josephine Baker and the girls from the Crazy Horse.

The Americans opened their segment instead with Liza Minnelli singing "Bonjour, Paris!", but then the attention quickly re-focused on a dynamic presentation featuring Anne Klein's sportswear and Stephen Burrows's bright coloured jersey dresses followed by Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta and Halston.

Models Pat Cleveland, Marisa Berenson, Alva Chinn, Bethann Hardison, China Machado, Barbara Jackson, Barbara Summers, Billie Blair, Charlene Dash and Norma Jean Darden moved quickly and swiftly on the stage with no tacky cardboard props distracting the audience.

Stephen Burrows' colourful designs donned by beautiful African-American models were particularly appreciated and the rhythms of the show, being shorter ad more frenetic (the French section lasted 2 hours and a half, the American section only 35 minutes...) were more appreciated by the members of the audience who threw in the air their catalogues in celebration.

It all ended with a delirious applause that closed the "battle of Versailles" - as many dubbed the event - with one winner, the American contingent (even Yves Saint Laurent admitted it...).

With their presentation the American designers marked a turning point in the history of fashion: they indeed showcased a different way of wearing and displaying clothes, proving that ready-to-wear could be as important as couture and they also proved that the fashion industry had been up until then quite racist. After that event, African-American models arrived on the runways and appeared on the covers of fashion magazines.

Maybe we have forgotten those same key points proved by "the battle of Versailles" - functional clothes, less pretentious presentations and energetic shows. Hopefully, we will rediscover these concepts soon, also thanks to Robin Givhan: the fashion critic and journalist has been researching the event for a while now for a book that should be published soon by Penguin Press.

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Posted at 07:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday Inspiration: Sol LeWitt: Wall Drawing #1136

There are times when you desperately need something that puts you in a good mood or that inspires you in a positively optimistic way. If you're in such a frame of mind, don't look further than Sol LeWitt's "Wall Drawing #1136". The artwork was recently recreated for the Artist Rooms project at the Turner Contemporary gallery.

LeWitt moved to New York in the '50s, where he also worked as graphic designer before taking an entry-level job at the Museum of Modern Art. He created his first wall drawing in 1968, producing over 1,200 during his career.

For these works of art he painted directly on the surface of a wall, following one main principle, simplicity. Vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines often met and systematically overlapped in serially determined forms in LeWitt's wall drawings.

LeWitt's wall paintings were designed to be physically executed by others: the artist would give instructions for the piece, specifying the scale of form, number and orientation of lines, and the sequencing of colours, allowing for it to be adapted according to the space in which it was going to be shown, so that the same artwork could have been reinvented in each new place and space.

For example "Wall Drawing #1136" - revolving around ideas of geometry, repetition and mathematical precision and featuring a series of curved and vertical bands of brightly coloured acrylic paint applied by hand - was installed at Turner Contemporary over two walls.

This work features visually enticing chromatic and tonal ranges, even though LeWitt himself once stated, "I never tried to arrange the colour or other forms to please the eye. In fact I tried to use the system or randomness to avoid preconceived notions of aesthetic 'beauty' or other colour statement (…) If it turns out to be beautiful, I don't mind."

"Sol LeWitt: Wall Drawing #1136", Turner Contemporary, Rendezvous, Margate, Kent CT9 1HG, until 8th June 2014.

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Sol LeWitt's Wall Drawing #1136. Photo: Stephen White

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Why Calling a Blogger When You Can Have a Monster?

You quite often laugh at the way the fashion industry endorses the same high profile bloggers using them as brand ambassadors, supporters or mere advertising boards to promote their products. But a shopping centre in Japan opted instead for a different way to relaunch itself, enlisting well-known Kaiju monsters.

In need for some major - or rather, excuse the pun, "ultra" - revamping, the Amu Plaza Hakata Shopping Centre in JR Hakata City, Kyushu, didn't choose fashion models, celebrities or bloggers, but characters borrowed from the Ultraman series.

Launched in February and developed in collaboration with the special effects studio Tsuburaya Productions (original makers of Ultraman), the monster campaign features indeed the Mother of Ultra in a canary yellow coat, alien Baltan in pink trousers and high heels (a rather risqué choice for a bad arthropod-like alien...), a Dada alien and Pigmon, and is also accompanied by a few hilarious adverts.

In one of them the Mother of Ultra, originally one of the members of the Space Garrison (and the mother of Taro in the Ultraman series) appears as the tallest model ever towering over the city and sashying down the streets (in one image advertising children's products she is instead portrayed while pushing a pram View this photo).

Fashion has often played around with the monster theme with designers sending out on their runways disturbing alien-like creatures, but so far we had never seen famous monsters being employed for a shopping centre advertising campaign.

Though, to be really frank, Pigmon looks a bit too passive in her pink manicure, designer handbag and oversized decorative ribbon on her head, the Dada alien in its graphic suit wouldn't really look out of place on a Walter Van Beirendonck runway or at a convention of Bowie-Givenchy-Ultraman fans.

In a nutshell, this is so bad that it ends up looking good. Apart from unleashing positively enthusiastic comments from the Ultraman fans and geeks around (who are currently enjoying a Star Wars fashion frenzy) the campaign makes you think: what if the 50 ft woman was indeed a 50 ft model or if monsters suddenly developed a taste for fashion?

With many thanks to Italian comics expert Nicola D'Agostino (who also appeared in a previous post) for bringing to my attention this campaign.

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Posted at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a Graphic Mood: Couture Graphique @ MUDAC, Lausanne

In our society based on images and continuous visual stimuli, fashion is analysed from different perspectives, yet its power to communicate strong ideas and deeper messages is often underestimated or simply forgotten in favour of brands and logos.

A recently opened exhibition at the Musée de design et d'arts appliqués contemporains (MUDAC) in Lausanne, tries instead to explore fashion and accessories as means of communication and the relationship between fashion and graphic design.

Originally designed by José van Teunissen, professor of fashion theory at Arnhem and the University of the Arts in London for the Museum of the Image (MOTI) in Breda, this new version of the event features an additional section with works by students and graduates of the art and design institutes of Basel and Geneva.

"Couture Graphique" is divided in three sections all exploring new visual languages of communication and the power certain garments may have to act as informative vehicles. The event opens with the total look theme and the power of the all-embracing visual style.

The latter is tackled via garments by brands and fashion houses with such a strong identity that they do not even need to use logos to be recognised. This section features not just designs by Chanel and Burberry, but also hand-painted pieces by Dries Van Noten, Raf Simons's arty designs, Victor and Rolf's wedding dress, and an installation inspired by an hospital by A.F. Vandervorst.

Younger visitors with an interest in graphic art will enjoy the bold and pop aesthetic of the designers - among them Walter Van Beirendonck, Bernhard Willhelm, Bas Kosters and Henrik Vibskov - in the second section.

This part looks indeed at clothes, but also at the instruments of communication including flyers and brochures linked with specific brands, highlighting how all these tools help designers coming up with their own visual languages and codes that prove (at least in some cases) stimulating also on the artistic level. This second section also looks at the T-shirt, conceived as a blank canvas, a protest garment that can be used to shout out slogans and messages.

The third section is instead dedicated to people with an interest in the future and in pieces incorporating technology - including 3D printing, digital weaving and smart fabrics (hologram dresses and armchairs that turn into evening gowns are among the highlights).

The exhibition is immersed in an arty atmosphere: the spaces are decorated by Gijs Frieling and Job Wouters who worked on Dies Van Noten's Autumn/Winter 2012-13 menswear show, and feature murals by Flemish graphic artist Paul Boudens.

The installations dedicated to the work of students from the HEAD-Geneva and the Academy of Art and Design Basel are particularly interesting since they feature garments inspired by art and science characterised by a futuristic edge.

"Couture Graphique" is accompanied by a series of workshops about printing and textile design open not just to grown up, but to kids as well.

"Couture Graphique", MUDAC - Musée de design et d'arts appliqués contemporains, Pl. de la Cathédrale 6, Lausanne, until 9th June 2014.

Image credits for this post

1 - 8 Views of the exhibition "Couture Graphique" at MOTI - Museum of the Image, Breda, The Netherlands, 2013.

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Posted at 07:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An Italian in LVMH Final

Italian designer Gabriele Colangelo is among the 12 finalists of the LVMH Prize for Fashion Designers. He joins Simone Rocha, Thomas Tait, CG by Chris Gelinas, Shayne Oliver's Hood by Air, Simon Porte Jacquemus, Miuniku by sisters Nikita and Tina Sutradhar, Tillmann Lauterbach, Tim Coppens, Suno by Erin Beatty and Max Osterweis, Vika Gazinskaya, and Atto by Julien Dossena. The winner - who will be announced on May 28 - will receive €300,000 as well as a year of coaching from LVMH.

I spoke to Colangelo while he was in Paris in February to interview him for a fashion and design publication. At the time we talked, the semifinalists had just been selected and he sounded pretty happy because he had met quite a few people who had never been to his shows, so the event had definitely allowed him to get more visibility. Yet he confessed me he really hoped people working in the fashion industry would try and understand a bit better the research that goes through his collections at different levels, especially for what regards textiles and fabrics.

Colangelo is 39 years old but he has been working for 17 years in the fashion business, so he has a long experience behind him. As stated in a previous post, for his A/W 2014 collection the designer moved from Kazimir Malevich’s "Black Square" and Joachim Bandau’s watercolours. Colangelo revisited his main references in interesting ways, creating stratifications of sheer chiffon in gradations that went from black to white passing through grey and adding a sort of Japanese allure to his pieces, also coming up with modern and urban accessories. "My collection is a sort of post-minimalist vision of the Malevich's square, re-elaborated through Bandau's watercolours employing materials with different weights - from heavier neoprene to ethereal silk gazar - to create contrasts and dichotomies, but also structural stratifications of laser-cut wool and organza squares," Colangelo explained me.

The Italian designer has so far been inspired by a wide range of artists, from Japanese painter and Ukiyo-e maker Ando Hiroshige to German artist Gerhard Richter and French photographer Laurent Segretier. "I always reference artists I like and with whom I share an affinity, but I also try and think in which ways their work can offer me innovative inspirations on a material level, because the textile and fabric experimentation remains one of my main interests," Colangelo told me, adding, "creativity is not just about coming up with visually extraordinary garments, it's also about carefully selecting materials, defining the finishings and finding new innovative solutions for details such as seams."

Hopefully from now on the LVMH jury panel, but also the fashion media in general, will start looking at materials and details rather than just at spectacular creations that only last for six months.

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Posted at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One Necklace, Two Stories: Gæa Prospering (Gæa Dying)

My new piece of wearable jewellery continues my research that started with the "Post City" and "Let The Children Play" necklaces. Yet rather than telling just one story, "Gæa Prospering (Gæa Dying)" recounts two tales. I mainly used the French knitting technique employing 100% wool yarn in apple green, turquoise and sand.

The piece represents on one side a happy planet Earth. People are walking, working, jogging, eating under a tree, resting, playing in the sea, relaxing, or animatedly talking, while trees are blooming.

The necklace has a double side, though: if we turn it around the green and turquoise wool turns into a deep sand colour, evoking the dooming persistent degradation of our ecosystem, and the desertification of our planet with only a woman and a child sitting in the horizon, representing the last human beings left on the planet.

This piece turns therefore into a moniker for the wearer: it is a way to remind us all that we should all do as much as possible to avoid or reverse the desertification process and its negative impacts, protecting our planet and preserving nature.

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