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

The Gilets Jaunes Movement & The Social Unrest That May Disrupt Paris Fashion Week

Fashion calendars are usually established schedules with carefully planned appointments (especially when it comes to the French calendar). Though made flexible to accomodate the requests of a celebrity turned fashion designer or of a powerful editor re-shifting it in accordance with specific needs and appointments (Anna Wintour did it quite often, especially in Milan), dates and hours are usually decided and do not go through any frequent changes.

Things may be different, though, this year in Paris: while the menswear circus moves from Florence to Milan today, some companies and brands in France are deciding to reschedule their shows during Paris Fashion Week to avoid clashes with the "gilets jaunes" (yellow vests) movement. 

A protest movement originally started to demonstrate against the fuel prices, the gilets jaunes rapidly mutated and developed, with the movement expanding protests to other issues including unfair tax reforms, costs of living, and with people asking for President Emmanuel Macron to resign.

Around December fears mounted that the movement was infiltrated by ultra-violent protesters, including anarchists, elements of the anti-immigration populists and hard-core fascists, often organised on Facebook. Russia-linked social media accounts and tweets have also been posting messages that amplify the chaos and rivolt (there must be some truth in all these claims as this article, once posted on Twitter, was retweeted by anonymous accounts or accounts supporting far-right movements, that's why we immediately removed it from that platform). 

Protests also turned violent around Christmas, and ended up targeting luxury stores and other assorted retailers and turned the Avenue des Champs-Élysées into a road of riots that impacted on the Christmas shopping as many shops decided to close down.

Taking into considerations all these issues, Dior Men decided to anticipate its catshow to Friday (it was already scheduled for 19th January), followed by other brands that kept the date, but changed the time slot.

Companies also requested not to disclose the info to attract the attention of the protesters: the show calendar om the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode site is not showing indeed any changes, while it was confirmed that Thom Browne followed in Dior's steps.

Others (like Wooyoungmi) who originally picked a venue not far from the Champs-Élysées are considering a final reschedule.

This wouldn't be the first time the fashion schedule changed during specific events, including the aftermath of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris.

Yet this situation involving the gilets jaunes genuinely makes you think: it is unlikely that fashion aesthetes and gilets jaunes will come to rioting in the streets together, but the situation only proves that fashion is extremely irrelevant during this menswear season as the world is more focused on other and more important political and social issues (Brexit included). The current menswear season has so far seen just a few designers emerging from London Fashion Week Men's and too many products but definitely no will from the buyers' point of view to buy into them at Florence's Pittim that seemed a jumble of disconnected and fractured events.  

Last but not least, behind these schedule changes there could be a revelation for all of us: fashion is maybe in a prolonged navel-gazing phase and is living in an ivory tower like the grand palazzo recently opened to host Saint Laurent's new headquarters on Rue de Bellechasse (buyers will be able to see here the collection between 20th and 26th January). For an industry that looks so much at society, loves to boast about its street credentials, democratic approach and inclusion, the time may have come not to try and reschedule events and catwalk show to avoid having to deal with protests, but maybe rethinking the format or just eliminate the shows once and for all not from the fashion calendars but from the fashion industry. 

Heart of Darkness: Y/Project @ Pitti Uomo 95

In fashion history there are usually exact explanations to why a show is badly lit or held in darkness: the designs on the runway may feature special effects only seen in the dark; the sombre atmosphere may be a style choice to put people in a pensive mood or could be a functional trick to fool people and hide bad clothes.

Upon entering the venue for the Y/Project show, presented at the Cloister of Santa Maria Novella in Florence yesterday evening during the Pitti Uomo 95 event, people were handed small torches.

Some of the members of the audience took the chance to explore the place in the darkness, taking in the details, admiring the stained glass windows, statues, frescoes, Giotto's 13th century wooden crucifix and garden.

Their reaction - slowly looking at things, trying to discover new and maybe unseen details in a well-known location - was what Glenn Martens, Creative Director at Parisian label Y/Project, hoped to get when he opted for a show immersed in the dark.

When the show started the lights weren't turned on, the main point was indeed for the audience to provide the light for the collection, shining the torches on the clothes.

The latter didn't actually feature any special glow-in the dark effects (if you take away the shiny gold waders...): when it came to menswear, Martens played with crystallised tailored codes and subverted them, adding volumes (think double-breasted boxy styles altered via draped lapels and juxtaposed towards the end to slimmer suits; or oversized black faux shearling jackets matched with an ample mint green suit), wavy lines around lapels, pleats, or slashes that were maybe hints at the styles favoured during the Renaissance. 

Black washed velvet denim designs introduced a urban theme, but the knitwear offer was more intriguing as it feature transparent overlayers, a motif replicated on the coats covered in a thin layer of tulle (a well-known fashion trick, often used to restore garments and exhibit them in museums).

For women Martens included ample camel coats, spooky and eerie shirtdresses worth of ghosts, tartan and leather skirts, faux fur pants and jackets (reinterpretations of fur costumes seen in Renaissance paintings?). 

Accessories included black-and-white sock boots matched with tuxedos, and superwide, supersized thigh-high suede and gold metallic waders.

The latter actually looked borrowed from Margiela's A/W 2001 collection (and filtered through Vêtements' multiple collections that included thigh-high boots...) and went well with the other Margiela-isms such as carpet-pattern scarves with white fringes (Margiela-isms that have been plagueing contemporary runways and the collections of too many young designers).

Some of the details from the collection became more distinguishable at the end of the show when the models gathered on a lit platform in the centre of the garden for the conclusion. 

When you saw the models all together you understood that the final message was easy to grasp even in the darkness: it's not a brand that makes an individual, but the other way round.

That's why quite a few of the pieces in this eclectic collection - that had a touch of vintage about it and more than just a few second-hand shop-like vibes (yes, apart from those Margiela-isms that at some point will hopefully be purged; knitwear may rescue Martens from copying Margiela too much, but he's got to work on it and maybe rework in his designs the principles of his original studies in interior architecture that may offer him fresh inspirations...) - can be altered, adapted and scaled, according to the taste of the wearer, to create wrapped or draped effects.  

Giving the audience the role of lighting directors didn't work too well, though, since not everybody seemed to respond in an active way to this suggestion.

Yet, while the lack of proper lights didn't play in favour of the clothes (darkness can be a beautifully intriguing and relaxing realm as long as you don't have to write a review of what you saw...), at least this exercise prompted people to ponder a bit more and learn again to keep their hands off their mobile phones.

There was another positive note in this show: Martens gave a new meaning to the "democratic fashion" definition and via social media opened the show to ordinary people and students as well.

That was a refreshing attitude for a Pitti event (the organisers and brands showcasing often acted in the past in a very elitist manner that resulted even in bans from press conferences...). A fairer, more equal and more open trade show? Sign us up for it, but next time add more lights.

Exploited Antiquity, Decadent Modern Times: Moschino Men's A/W 19 and Pre-Fall 19 Vs Fellini Satyricon

The shadow of Brexit loomed over London Fashion Week Men's, but there are other ghosts haunting other fashion capitals at the moment, including Rome, where Jeremy Scott showcased last night Moschino's A/W 19 menswear and Pre-Fall 19 women collections.

There's uncollected trash in the streets of the Eternal City; public transports run on random schedules that drive mad the locals and Fascism seems to be making a comeback not only on calendars for Mussolini's fans, but also in the hearts of too many residents with a rather casual knowledge of history. In the meantime, the Italian government seems to be hostage of the far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini who launched a clampdown on immigration as soon as he came in power and currently refuses to open ports to the ships carrying migrants left stranded for the last two weeks in the Mediterranean.

In a nutshell, holding a runway show in Rome wasn't maybe the best and most practical (especially considering that many people working in the industry headed to Florence for the Pitti events) options.

Moschino's show took place at Rome's Cinecittà Studios: while the models walking among dining tables in a reproduction of the Baths of Caracalla pointed at Fellini's "La dolce vita" and some of the influences scattered in the collection referenced the director's "Casanova" (already used by Scott in a previous Moschino collection), "Fellini's Satyricon" was the main inspiration (certainly not a new one, considering that it has already been used in the history of fashion) for the show. 

Scott's designs were nothing new or original, but displayed his usual excesses and derivations: draped gowns and men's suits were often donned with cheap plastic Roman soldier armours turned into gladiator corsets; herringbone tweed jackets, trousers and coats, at times decorated with large satin bows in bright colours, were emblazoned with Latin words, while black suits were decorated with embellished silhouettes of skeletal bones, that evoked pictures of "catacomb saints" (a constant yet unacknowledged reference for a few fashion designers in the last few years...).

There were anachronisms and inconsistencies in the chandelier earrings accessorising feather dresses (a reference to the extragavances of "8 ½"?) at times matched with urban parkas, and in a white tutu complete with cummerbund (View this photo) styled with a biker jacket (View this photo; was that a new version of the evening gown-cum-tutu entitled "Ballerina?" from Franco Moschino's "Couture!" A/W 1992 collection inspired by Fellini? View this photo); and there were Versacesque echoes in the Baroque prints, while a red evening dress was supposed to be a reinvented version of the glamorous gowns donned by Anita Ekberg in "La dolce vita".

The super wigs were direct references to the women of Satyricon and evoked visions of Magali Noël as Fortunata in Fellini's film, while the mask of one model wasn't borrowed from the fetish world, but replicated the mask of actor Vernacchio in the film and the makeup of the Homeric singes at Trimalchio's dinner. 

Some of the colours from the main palette, especially oranges, were taken from Fellini's movie: while working on it, the director decided to reference the textures and colours of fresco paintings, with striking yellows, oranges and aqua greens.

The collection wasn't the work of a genius (and Scott may have found more beautiful and original inspirations in Danilo Donati's pieces and accessories for this film, in which the costume designer reused very poor materials - his mosaic made with Charms candies entered the history of Italian costume and set design...), but the "Satyricon" reference was very apt for our times: Fellini's film was indeed a tale of exaggerations, it was a representation of his personal abstractions and a triumph of decorative excesses.

This series of episodes in the adventurous life of the protagonist Encolpio included sex orgies, a confrontation with the Minotaur, a sexual revitalisation ritual and Trimalchio's infamous banquet, a surreal tableau vivant. Sex, bloodshed and immorality went hand in hand in the film, enriched by the costumes created by Danilo Donati, those tunics in pastel or bright colours evoking frescoes, accessorised with flower crowns or elaborate hairstyles enriched with beautiful and elaborate golden jewellery.

Fellini's makeup consultant Piero Tosi stated about this film that its characters were supposed to be "walking mummies", they wore indeed masks that neutralised their human expressions and that alienated them.

Trimalchio remains a key character: gluttonous and cruel, this slave turned nouveau riche is so symbolical for our times, and almost ends up evoking the fast fame of today's vapid celebrities, famous for being famous, but lacking any real skills and talents.

For some critics "Satyricon" was a psychedelic interpretation of the classics, a sort of representation of the '60s made using antiquity. Yet there was more behind it: Fascism was mesmerised by imperial Rome, by the Romanità and the myth of Roman glories. Through his grotesque subjects who laugh when they see blood being spilled and enjoy atrocious spectacles, Fellini turned those Romans idolised by Fascism into butchers, eroding the fascist myth of Romans as warriors and exposing through their idiocy, the stupidity of Fascism.

Rich, baroque, decadent and artificial in its fantastic sets, the gory exoticism of "Satyricon" brings therefore a critical message with it that we could easily apply to our times (and that Scott sadly didn't grasp) or that we could re-read in a different way. We could indeed interpret Petronius' novel as a representation of the modern fashion scene, a useless tale of excesses and decadence (with Trimalchio as social media icon - famous and revered, but essentially vapid and illiterate...).

When the film was released Italian writer Alberto Moravia stated that Fellini was "a decadent who is magnetised by the most celebrated and most historic of all decadences." You bet Fellini would have made a fine film about the demise of the fashion industry (or about fashion as a new form of Fascism...) if he had been alive.  

Endangered Species: "Animalia Fashion", @ The Costume Gallery, Palazzo Pitti, Florence

Mention animals and fashion and our minds will immediately conjure up visions of luxurious furs, skins and leathers, but there's definitely more behind the animal and fashion connection than just the proverbial leopard spot.

The Animalia biological kingdom is indeed vast and has provided designers from different times with a wide range of inspirations for both garments and accessories.

A few examples of such inspirations are currently on display at Palazzo Pitti's Galleria del Costume e della Moda (The Costume and Fashion Gallery) in Florence, as part of the "Animalia Fashion" exhibition (through 5th May 2019). The event officially kicked off today to coincide with the opening of the Pitti Uomo trade show.

"Animalia" is conceived as a cabinet of curiosities-like journey through nature and biology, reinterpreted via ready-to-wear and Haute Couture designs. 

Extending through 18 rooms and starting with spiders, the event includes comparisons with swans, shells, hedgehogs, parrots, corals, lobsters, puffer fish, babirusa, snakes, scarabs, flies, bees, crocodiles and, last but not least, butterflies.

Zebra and tiger stripes may be not be included, but here there is a lot to take in and discover, especially because the various displays were conceived as natural and science museum installations.

Most of the gowns – covering 18 years of fashion, from 2000 to 2018 – are indeed accompanied by materials borrowed or on loan from other institutions. There are snakes from Florence's Museo di Storia Naturale (Museum of Zoology and Natural History, best known as La Specola); spiders from the Associazione Italiana di Aracnologia (Italian Association of Arachnology), plus drawings and pages from bestiaries and Medieval tacuina sanitatis (health manuals) from the local Museo di Antropologia ed Etnografia (Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography).

There is a lot to take in between comparisons and juxtapositions: a grand and voluminous black dress by Galliano for Maison Margiela Artisanal Collection (Spring/Summer 2017) hints at poisonous spiders, while fluffy and romantic gowns by Dolce & Gabbana (Autumn/Winter 2005-06) and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel (S/S 2018) covered in white feather, point at the ethereal beauty of swans.

Colourful parrots inpired instead Agatha Ruiz de la Prada's multicoloured dress (A/W 2009-10), Jean Paul Gaultier's "Oiseau de jeu" gown (A/W 2011-12 Haute Couture) and Dolce & Gabbana's extravagant creation from their latest A/W 2018-19 Alta Moda collection.

These colourful display is accompanied by colourful shoes, including Ferragamo's rainbow sandals and Charlotte Olympia Resort 2013's sandals, characterised by a colourful pompom and a caged heel containing a little bird.

Buprestidae beetle shells cover a gown by On Aura Tout Vu, but on display there are also ready-to-wear pieces such as the ones from Lanvin's A/W 13 collection decorated with prints of large green scarabs. If you like insects, you will also like the colourful brooches on display and Prada/Damien Hirst's "Entomology" bag from 2013.

One display looks at lobsters not through the iconic 1937 lobster dress by Elsa Schiaparelli, but through the S/S 17 version of this creation by Maison Schiaparelli, while also analysing the shape of the lobster exoskeleton via Marios Schwab's "Isabel" (A/W 2015-16) evening gown and Yiqin Yin's dress from her S/S 2014 Haute Couture collection.

While in this section orange prevails, in the one dedicated to corals bright red triumphs: here a long tube-like armour by Gareth Pugh (S/S 18), contrasts with a softer vision by Valentino (S/S 18) and with an intricate number by Yiqin Yin (Autumn/Winter 2013-14 Haute Couture), displayed with a reproduction of a print showing the costume for a sea nimph by Bernardo Buontalenti for Girolamo Bargagli's 1589 play "La Pellegrina".

Danger is evoked by a wide range of garments, including Maiko Takeda's hedgehog's like spiky creations, and Azzedine Alaïa's iconic A/W 2003 wool jacket with crocodile skin applique, a piece fit for an Amazon. 

There is a sense of beauty and fear in Alessandro Michele's snakes often included in the pieces he has designed for Gucci, that seem to go pretty well with the snakes under formaldehyde in the displays and with Iris Van Herpen's A/W 2011-12 dress made with snake-like tubes that coil around the body of the wearer. 

Among the accessories on display that hint at aggression and fear there are also the fang-shaped fiberglass and carbon fiber wedges made using a blow molding process designed by Van Herpen in collaboration with United Nude in 2012.

Schiaparelli, Valentino, Nino Lettieri and Mary Katrantzou close the final room dedicated to butterflies.

Sadly there is a key designer who combined the animal kingdom and the human form in mesmerising ways, the late Alexander McQueen, who turned women into preys and predators, gazelles and ravenous beasts. Maybe it will be for another time, in the meantime, despite a curatorial selection that at times commits some faux pas, there's plenty to look at here, especially for artists interested in bestiaries.

There is also a final message to take away from "Animalia Fashion": while curators hoped to create a connection between art, fashion, nature and science through this narrative, visitors are indirectly invited to consider how climate change is relentlessly destroying our ecosystems and killing many different species.

Last but not least, this modern and beautiful beastiary reminds us that, there are also techniques and materials that may become extinct if we don't protect them and the artisans who make them or who know how to work with them. Food for thought for those fashionistas and influencers who may pass through the gallery during the Pitti Uomo shows and visit these spaces just to take some selfies with these grand, colourful or technologically advanced gowns in the background.

The Long Winter of Fashion, Between Brexit and European Instability

Fashion may be frivolous, but decade after decade it has been used by politicians to hint at their power or at their agenda, while designers often employed the runway to raise awareness about specific issues, including gender and environmental problems.

Yet, surprisingly, London Fashion Week Men's, the fashion event dedicated to menswear fashion that kicked off last Saturday, started and ended with more or less no explicit references to Brexit, and with the enthusiasm of a child reluctantly going back to school after the Christmas holidays.  

Maybe the reason behind the atmosphere of uncertainty at the fashion week was the fact that the official date for the UK to leave the European Union – 29th March – is relentlessly approaching, and there are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered.

Parliament hasn't approved yet an exit deal (the Commons vote on May's deal was postponed from December 2018 to January 2019) and there is no legislation to ensure a smooth departure. As people became more informed about Europe and the benefits they may lose by leaving it (especially when it comes to measures for Northern Ireland; Europeans who have settled in the UK and British people living as expats in the EU; or travelling and international trading), the outcome of the 2016 referendum seems to have shifted towards a different position.

Pressure is mounting on Theresa May to deliver Brexit, but the choice between her Brexit, no deal or no Brexit seems impossible to make at the moment and ministers are still divided. A political crisis looms for what regards the next few days - will there be a mass cabinet walkout, a referendum, or a general election? We'll see. 

At London Men's in the meantime quite a few designers seemed more or less in denial: things went on as usual, but on a schedule that is offering less originality to buyers and just a few designers worth following.

Critics are continuing to see in Charles Jeffrey Loverboy a saviour: a likely heir to Vivienne Westwood, but lacking the dark and tortured soul and the vision of Alexander McQueen, the designer hid under his tartan suits, faux fur jackets and signature knits, modelled in a sort of queer cabaret, a political message of some sort. Nazism came after the Weimar Republic, so his lost punk boys in tattered and embroidered frocks and paw boots could have been interpreted as a warning for all of us. 

At Art School, genderless was the keyword, but, while diversity prevailed on the runway, the clothes showed styling rather than designing prowess (most of us have already seen in our lives plenty of bias-cut dresses, skirts made with giant sequins or brocaded pencil skirts in bold shades such as fuchsia) and you suspected the brand is more about a sense of community than about garments, and maybe it could be developed into something more arty than fashionable (there were some original ideas in the hats made with repurposed materials including old boots by Shiori Takahashi, but they needed some direction as well).

Then in between such collections that maybe showed London has still some will to rebel and riot after all, there were moments of normalcore represented by Band of Outsiders's collection designed by Creative Director Angelo Van Mol, and featuring clothes that recombined '60s and '70s silhouettes and ideas (read corduroy suits and Kickers shoes), and by David Beckham, who won some undeserved enthusiastic reviews for the collection by brand Kent & Curwen that he co-owns.

Founded in 1926 by Eric Kent and Dorothy Curwen, and known for its regimental, club and collegiate ties, the brand is currently designed by Creative Director Daniel Kearns. 

Rugby and cricket sweaters, and military and country inspired pieces prevailed all over the collection that touched on a lot of British tropes and also included womenswear looks.

There were also a few '20s references borrowed from "Peaky Blinders" as the label teamed up with the BBC series for a capsule collection (flat caps were included, minus razor blades into their peaks...), but the final impression was a remix of '90s trends combined with World War I uniforms, Mod suits and some random "Peaky Blinders" inspirations. 

Samuel Ross's A-Cold-Wall* was instead in an Off-White/Virgil Abloh realm: having worked for him you don't actually know if Abloh has actually stolen Ross' ideas or if Ross is inspired by Abloh.

The young designer will have to leave behind casual words such as "Modern" boldly emblazoned on coats and scarves (mind you, in his case, minus the inverted commas...) and urban vests covered with large pockets if he wants to prove he is on a different and better level. 

Despite interesting surface elaborations including some crocheted deconstructed elements, terracotta and teal tailored monochromatic suits and coats and the shirring technique employed to make plastic tops and pants in bold pastel colours, Craig Green didn't update his silhouettes and should have also stirred away from the multiple plaid tunics that didn't add anything to his fashion discourse and runway show.

Hussein Chalayan combined instead skiing and equestrian sports in his collection: the neon spashes were borrowed from the former, the horseback wellingtons from the latter, but at times there were uncertain results (see the overcomplicated trousers with cutouts donned with rubber boots). Tailored coats and functional knits were instead the stronger options, in an otherwise not so remarkable collection.

Yet if London is in a crisis (and was probably in a sombre mood after the premature death last week of one of its best designers, Joe Casely-Hayford), things aren't better in other countries and fashion capitals where the fashion circus is expected to stop.  

Paris is still facing the protests of the yellow vests; Italy is in the hands of a populist government infatuated with the far-right, an Interior Minister and Deputy prime Minister who spends more time on Twitter or taking selfies in the streets with his fans, blaming migrants for everything that goes wrong in the country and shutting ports to rescue boats carrying refugees. In the meantime, America is still affected by the government shutdown. In a nutshell, at the moment fashion seems to be more irrelevant and frivolous than usual and there seems to be more important issues to deal with in our lives than thinking about what to wear next Winter if this Winter seems already too bleak to face.

Menswear-wise, international trade shows like the Pitti in Florence remain the best option for buyers, considering that they offer the chance to see more products and meet more brands and companies under the same roof.

Yet you wonder how long the shows can really go on. Maybe the end is near and we are just dancing on the proverbial sinking Titanic. But what's for sure is that this may be the very last edition of London Fashion Week Men's as we know it. Come Brexit or not, a new formula will probably be in place soon and, while the future is uncertain now, there is something very clear - Brexiters hope that once Great Britain gets out of the EU, the country will take back control of money and borders, and protect jobs in the UK, but you can bet that such jobs will not be in the fashion industry.

Have an Art and Craft Epiphany!

The feast of the Epiphany officially closes the Christmas season in the Christian tradition. This celebration of the manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles and the visit of the Magi to the Baby Jesus has often been represented by painters. In previous posts we looked at works by famous artists showing the Adoration of the Magi, three scholars who followed the eastern star to carry their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Baby Jesus.

This year's post looks at the "Adoration of the Magi" triptych by Hieronymus Bosch. Preserved at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, this triptych on a wood panel was executed around 1485-1500.

The left panel depicts St. Peter and one donor (probably Peter Bronckhorst), while in the background, a man - probably St. Joseph heating Jesus' clothes - sits on a basket under a makeshift roof. In the right panel there is instead St. Agnes with another donor (Agnes Bosshuysse). 

There are classic Bosch-like sinister scenes scattered around the triptych, including a bear and wolf attacking some people, boisterous peasants crawling the hut, armies running in the background and the quasi-anthropomorphic constructions.

The central panel shows the Adoration of the Magi with Mary occupying most of the space with a monumental pose and the Child held at her womb. Melchior, the eldest of the Magi, is kneeling at her feet, offering a golden sculpture with the Sacrifice of Isaac hinting at Jesus' Passion.

Caspar stands to the rear, bringing incense on a vessel, and wearing a cape with Old Testament episodes representing the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. Balthazar wears extraordinary white garments decorated by an embroidery resembling thorny leaves and monsters (probably elements referring to the pagan past of the Magi) and brings a sphere with reliefs depicting the Offer of Water to King David, and containing myrrh.

The partially naked figure at the hut's entrance, surrounded by other grotesque ones and characterised by a red robe, a tiara with metallic twigs in the hand, and a transparent glass cylinder covering a sore on his ankle as if it were a relic, remains a mysterious and inscrutable presence. These grotesque figures have been identified as Herod and his spies, the Antichrist and his counsellors and therefore symbols of heresy, or as the Judaic messiah that, struck by a leper, turned, into the Antichrist.

There are some great fashion and architecture inspirations in the triptych, from the shape of the panels forming the artwork and the representation of  Bethlehem in the background as an entirely imaginary place, to the Magi wearing opulent gowns with fine and intricate details. The colours of the triptych are also intriguing, in particular the ochre, vermilion, carmine and azurite employed by Bosch and the natural ultramarine used in small quantities in the Virgin's robe.

One interesting thing is the fact that, when the triptych shuts, it shows a grisaille painting, depicting the Mass of Saint Gregory with Gregory the Great kneeling at an altar in front of Christ surrounded by an arch with flying angels (the two characters in colour are a later addition, and they represent the painting's donors). The frame contains scenes of the Life of Jesus: from the lower left, the Prayer in the Garden, The Arrest, Christ in Front of Pilatus, the Flagellation, the Coronation of Thorns, the Via Crucis and, finally, the Crucifixion. This is very symbolical also because, during the Epiphany mass, the date for Easter is usually announced. 

 

In Italian folklore the Befana, an old woman, brings on the night of 5th January a sock full of sweets, candies, fruit or toys to good kids and a sock filled with coal (but coal is usually made with sugar...) for those who have been bad (in Rome the Befana is a famous tradition). Up until a few decades ago quite a few magazines suggested how to make your Epiphany sock at home.

While now you can find better suggestions all over the Internet, for all vintage lovers we are posting here a spread from the January 1960 issue of Annabella, explaining how to use felt or gauze-like tulle to make your stocking. Have an art and craft Epiphany!

New Year, New Fashion (& Textile) Challenges: Noyon Dentelle Files for Bankruptcy

Lace may have been a rather desirable trend in the last few seasons, as proved by last year's exhibition "Haute Dentelle" (on until 1st June 2019) at the Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode (The Museum of Lace and Fashion) in Calais, France. Yet it looks like this precious and time-consuming textile is facing some challenges right at the beginning of the new year.

Calais-based historical lacemaker Noyon filed indeed for bankruptcy at the end of December with the Commercial Court of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

In 2008, the company had already been placed in receivership after several social plans and the Commercial Court of Boulogne-sur-Mer accepted two years later a continuation plan. Then, two years ago the manufacturer, currently employing 170 people (who did not receive the wages for December 2018), was placed at its request in liquidation, leading to the removal of 55 jobs out of 237.

The company then resumed production helped by a consortium with some of its major lingerie clients, industrial and commercial partners (including Van de Velde, La Perla, Etam and MAS Holdings). At the moment a director has been appointed and an intermediate hearing is scheduled for March.

A decline in the lingerie market and a rise in the competition from global markets are among the causes for Noyon's financial problems.  

Noyon is considered as one of the oldest lace-makers in the area: founded in 1919 by Lucien Noyon, successor of Gustave Noyon and heir to a long line of lace-makers, manufacturers and mechanics, it has been the number one producer of Calais lace, well-known for its products in the lingerie, haute couture and ready-to-wear markets.

The textile industry flourished in the 1800s and 1900s in Calais (some of its streets were named after the leaders of the textile industry or after the looms – see Rue Leavers). Yet things changed with fashion trends: as clothes became more practical, garments and undergarments trimmed with lace were eliminated in favour of more minimal, casual and sporty styles (the same happened to tablecloths and handkerchiefs).

In more recent years, Asia-based factories started producing lace and many European clients turned to them to buy cheaper products (many lingerie companies, including Victoria's Secret now incorporate in their garments lace trims made in Asia).

Noyon specialises in knitted and Leavers lace (Leavers mechanical looms were introduced in the 19th century, when British weavers smuggled them across the English Channel to evade English restrictions on selling lace to the French), but in more recent years it diversified the production establishing factories in Sri Lanka as well, focusing on Jacquardtronic, Textronic and Supertronic.

The company also developed new threads, effects and applications, experimenting with microfibres and micro-encapsulation. Yet it wasn't able to reverse the decline: turnover started decreasing three years ago, going from €18.3 million in 2014 to €13.5 million in 2016, while the workforce comprising 440 employees at the end of 2008 dropped to 170 (this is very symbolical if we think that when the industry was blooming in Calais it employed up to 30,000 people; there are fewer than 300 employees in three famous factories there - Desseilles, Noyon Dentelle and Codentel).

Noyon's financial distress is the embodiment of the industrial erosion process the prestigious Made in France label went through in the last few years, that is similar to the one that erased many Italian industries. You could argue that Noyon actually invested in innovation in its factory in Calais and explored the possibilities of operating plants in other countries as well to keep production going and widen its offer to clients looking for other price points. Yet you wonder if, despite the trend for artisanal and handmade products, a symbol of refinement such as French lace, will manage to survive. Who knows, maybe some luxury companies will be interested in stepping in and look at the possibility of acquiring some of the last lace manufacturers in Calais. In the last few years Chanel acquired through its Paraffection subsidiary several historical companies (among them Causse, Maison Michel, Goossens, Barrie, Lognon, Lemarie, Lesage, Desrues and Massaro), and while this may not be the ultimate solution to save French lace, maybe it would save some of the last skilled jobs around Calais. 

Fashion Obituary: Joe Casely-Hayford (1956-2019), Pioneer of Anarchic Sartorialism

Writing an obituary about a person you haven't met in your life, but you respected as a fan (think about a fashion designer, or maybe an actor or musician...) can be sad, but it is obviously even more moving when you knew that person or you had some kind of connection with them. Irenebrination had a special link with designer Joe Casely-Hayford who died yesterday. Mr Casely-Hayford was indeed a reader and polite fan and in 2011 he mentioned the site in "The Aesthete" column of the "How To Spend It" luxury style magazine of the Financial Times.

Joe Casely-Hayford trained at the Tailor and Cutter Academy and then graduated from Central Saint Martin's School of Art in 1979. He also studied European art and history at the ICA.

In 1984 he launched his label that he called Kit and that revolved around garments made from repurposed military surplus such as recycled World War II army tents that gave the clothes a worn out look. The designs were mainly sold in specialist fashion stores in London. A shirt that opened at the front and back became an instant success and, little by little, he became more popular, especially among musicians and bands.

Between 1984 and 1986 Casely-Hayford was styling consultant at Island Records, but among his clients there were The Clash (they commissioned him the clothing for the album "Combat Rock"), Lou Reed, Neneh Cherry, Betty Boo, Bros, Liam Gallagher, Jarvis Cocker, Take That and Suede. He also designed the stage wardrobe for U2 from 1991 to 1993 (Bono was photographed wearing Joe Casely-Hayford on the cover of Vogue in December 1992 View this photo).

Casely-Hayford injected a new life into the London scene with his tailored punk approach that reunited his passion for refined tailoring and art and his personal heritage (he was the grandson of the Ghanian lawyer and journalist J. E. Casely Hayford, MBE, who published in 1911 the book Ethiopia Unbound, one of the first novels to be published in English by a black African), with penchant for rebellion and innovation. The designer often tried to introduce a bit of anarchy and chaos in classic English styles using for example lighter and more functional fabrics compared to the ones favoured by Savile Row (working in Brick Lane he was fascinated by the Asian men combining English pieces with their religious clothes).  

In the '90s he contributed clothes to the Derek Jarman film "Edward II", created ranges exclusively for Topshop and organised a critically acclaimed exhibition entitled "The Art of African Textiles - Technology, Tradition, and Lurex" at London's Barbican Centre Museum (the exhibition was a major feature of the "Africa '95" programme in the UK). 

After serving as creative director at Gieves & Hawkes, the 200-year-old Savile Row house, he relaunched his label with his son Charlie Casely-Hayford in 2009.

The label became a regular at London Fashion Week, but in more recent seasons the duo opted for a different approach, opening a retail space in London's Marylebone with interiors designed by Sophie Ashby, Charlie's wife, offering bespoke services for men and women and selling online and through the store. 

Casely-Hayford passed away yesterday, after a three-year battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, Maria Stevens, who became his life and business partner soon after they met in 1976 at Saint Martin's School of Art, and children Charlie, designer and stylist, and Alice, Digital Editor of British Vogue.

Fashion loses a true gentleman, a designer with a lot of integrity and a pioneer of anarchic sartorialism.  

Irenebrination loses a reader with a refined taste. In a private email he called this site a "remarkable blog", "a breath of fresh air" and "an inspiration" (his favourite post on Irenebrination was the one about Petrushka).

When he was featured on this site in an interview about photographer Hassan Hajjaj, he used the occasion to talk about the artist's work rather than about his collections, and thanked me for having thought of him for the project.

Though he will be greatly missed, Joe Casely-Hayford leaves us with a lesson - preserve your integrity, go your own way even in adverse times (Margaret Thatcher was in power when he started his label, but we are going through controversial times politically speaking if you think about Brexit in the UK and the rise of far-right groups all over the world...) and don't forget to add to your life a healthy dose of chaos and anarchy. 

Cinematic Dreams: "Piero Tosi. Exercises on Beauty" @ Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome

According to Dino Trappetti, current Head of the Tirelli tailoring house and Chairman of the Tirelli-Trappetti Foundation, Italian costume designer Piero Tosi created some of the most iconic images of Italian cinema. Disagreeing with Trappetti is practically impossible as Tosi is a legend in the history of Italian cinema.

A friend and collaborator of Umberto Tirelli (founder of the eponymous tailoring house in Rome), Tosi is known all over the world as the designer behind the fabulous gown donned by Claudia Cardinale in the ball scene of Luchino Visconti's "The Leopard" (1963). Yet there is more behind his art, work and career, as proved by an exhibition currently on at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome.

"Piero Tosi. Esercizi sulla bellezza. Gli anni del Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (CSC), 1988-2016" ("Piero Tosi. Exercises in Beauty. The Experimental Centre for Cinematography Years", until 20th January 2019) is a way to re-explore his career and look at the work he did with his students at Rome's CSC.

Born in 1927 near Florence, Tosi had a revelation about his career in 1944: the war was ending and to celebrate it the allies did a sort of show at the Santa Maria Novella railway station that he attended with two friends - Danilo Donati and Franco Zeffirelli. Mesmerised by the show the allies had put together, as soon as the war was over Tosi enrolled in the Accademia di Belle Arti.

In 1947 he started creating his first costumes, working with Franco Zeffirelli and Luchino Visconti. He dressed Anna Magnani in "Bellissima" (1951), studying the style of his character by visiting the local markets and observing real people. For Magnani's character - Maddalena Cecconi - Tosi borrowed a skirt suit from a woman and aged it by dyeing it in tea.

Visconti turned to Tosi also for the staging of Goldoni's "La Locandiera" and Bellini's "La Sonnambula". Then the costume designer went back to working with Visconti for the big screen, creating iconic gowns for Alida Valli, Silvana Mangano and Claudia Cardinale (Cardinale worked with Tosi on 8 films), showing an incredible attention for details in the costumes of the secondary characters in "Senso" (1954) and using a combination of ready-to-wear affordable clothes from '50s high street retailers such as Onestà, Standa and Upim, urban looks and sport designs in "Rocco e i suoi fratelli" (1960) (Alain Delon in his Lombarda gym top entered the history of cinema, but also the local history of the Milanese gym).

Tosi also worked with Federico Fellini and dressed Maria Callas in Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Medea", opting in this case for a mix of inspirations from ancient Mediterranean civilisations, including Sardinian folk costumes and Moroccan, Tunisian and African traditional dresses. 

In November 2014 Tosi was awarded the Honorary Governors Award in Los Angeles (on his request Claudia Cardinale and Dino Trappetti travelled to the States to get the award).

The prize was well-deserved as Tosi undoubtedly created some of the most memorable costumes in the history of Italian cinema: for Cardinale's ballgown in "The Leopard" for example he opted for a refined organza by Dior supported by twelve layers of tulle and squeezed the actress in a whalebone corset that reduced her waistline to just 51 cm. 

While at times Tosi turned to designer clothes for his characters (in "Boccaccio '70" Romy Schneider as Pupe wears a Chanel suit), he often ended up creating connections with fashion or inspiring collections.

Visconti's "La caduta degli dei" (The Damned, 1969) prompted indeed fashion designers to rediscover and relaunch the '30s; Silvana Mangano's soft pink dresses matched with hats wrapped in yards of tulle maline in "Morte a Venezia" (Death in Venice, 1971) inspired Karl Lagerfeld's designs in Chanel Cruise Collection 2009/10. Tosi's look for Charlotte Rampling as Lucia in Liliana Cavani's "Il portiere di notte" (The Night Porter, 1974) was replicated on Marc Jacobs' A/W 2011-12 runway for Louis Vuitton and his costumes for "Medea" inspired instead Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli's Valentino's Spring/Summer 2014 collection.

The secret of Tosi' success is revealed in interviews with actors and actresses who worked with him, who often mention his passion for the smallest details. Cardinale often stated that in the bag that accessorised her grand gown for "The Leopard" there were all the objects her character may have needed in real life, including a carnet de bal or dance card, even though we never actually see them in the film.

Tosi championed indeed a philological approach to costume design (an approach that followed the steps of another Italian costume designer, Gino Carlo Sensani) and his background research for a costume always started from history and art. Another key point was his collaboration with the hairstylists and the make up artists working on a character as well. 

This obsession with historical precision derived from a very basic reason - clothes make the character and help an actor getting into the part. In a nutshell in Tosi's practice a costume is related to the Latin term "habitus", meaning the physical or constitutional characteristic of a person.

Tosi passed this lesson onto his students at the CSC in Rome where he worked between 1988 and 2016. 

The event at Rome's Palazzo delle Esposizioni features not just Tosi's own costumes, drawings, photographs and materials relating to the films he contributed to (these materials were donated by Tosi to the archives of the CSC library), but also images showing his students working during his workshops and the selected creations of a new generation of costume designers, including Massimo Cantini Parrini (on display here there's the red and black gown donned by Salma Hayek as the Queen of Longtrellis in Matteo Garrone's "Tale of Tales"), Daniela Ciancio, Andrea Cavalletto and Andrea Sorrentino (a hair and makeup designer).

The costume designers he taught to often talk about Tosi's strictness and his rigorous research for perfection - according to Tosi paying attention to details helps a film feeding the viewers' dreams and introduces them to beauty.

The exhibition, that is also accompanied by a series of dedicated screenings of famous Italian films, is also a way to ponder a bit about artisanal techniques, style and made in Italy fashion. 

After touring the exhibition you'll realise that Tosi made outstanding contributions to the history of cinema because together with Tirelli he created powerful visual images that are embedded in the history of film, and that can be easily identified not just by cinema experts and critics, but also by passionate film fans. In rare interviews (Tosi is a humble and reserved man who dislikes fame), he loves to highlight that choosing a set and costume designer represents for a director the first step towards a great film. Judging from the gowns, dresses, suits and robes on display at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Tosi is definitely right.  

Clothing Makes the Character: Opera Costumes @ The Fondazione Zeffirelli, Florence

Irenebrination is an art, architecture and fashion publication, but among the most read posts last year there were quite a few features dedicated to opera costumes.

So costume fans reading this post may be happy to hear that, from today, there are eight new creations to admire at the Fondazione Zeffirelli (piazza San Firenze 5, Florence). 

The Fondazione is a great way to get introduced to the work of Franco Zeffirelli, known not just for directing films, but also several operas. 

In Room 6 it will be possible to admire three costumes designed by Raimonda Gaetani for the characters of Tonio/Taddeo, Nedda/Colombina and Beppe/Arlecchino for the opera "Pagliacci" by Ruggero Leoncavallo.

Despite their colourful patterns and decorations (and the fact that Colombina's costume is a pink ruffled dress matched with a sequinned jacket that wouldn't look out of place on a Gucci by Alessandro Michele runway...), the opera, staged in 1992 at Rome's Opera Theatre, is a tragic one.

A pale blue kimono matched with an ample blood red robe, designed by Emi Wada for Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" (staged in 2004 at the Arena in Verona), is on view in Room 7; while in Room 11 there is the grand silver, gold and red Pharaoh costume by Anna Anni for Giuseppe Verdi's "Aida" (2002, Verona).

There are three more designs by Emi Wada in Room 15, these time for the characters Ping, Pang and Pong in Puccini's "Turandot" (2010, Verona): the costumes for the three imperial ministers are rich and they are accessorised with elaborate masks featuring feathers, pom poms and ribbons.

The museum also includes the costume designed by Franco Zeffirelli for Maria Callas for the 1955 staging at Milan's La Scala of Rossini's "The Turk in Italy"; two original costumes from the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul that were as inspiration for the "Don Giovanni" costumes for the 1972 staging in Vienna; a costume by Ermanno Scervino for Cher in the film "Tea with Mussolini"(1999), and two costumes by Maurizio Millenotti for Puccini's "Turandot", staged at the Royal Opera House of Muscat, in Oman, in 2011.

As the costumes are displayed without any glass protection, this is a unique chance to discover them close up, admiring the details and the solutions the designers opted for. It is always surprising indeed that what may be perceived by the audience (from a distance) as grand accessories or luxurious fabrics (see the golden collar covered in ruby-like gems donned by the Pharaoh) are actually humble materials going from plastic or thin metal sheets to shiny lame fabrics (note for the visitors: the richest and most beautiful costumes on display remain Emi Wada's). So this is an opportunity for visitors to study how an opera character develops through clothes and accessories, but also employing all sorts of materials available to a designer.  

Throughout 2019, every last Saturday of the month the ticket will include a bonus guided visit during which it will be possible to ask further explanations about costumes and operas directed by Zeffirelli to the museum staff.