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

In Inhuman Impulses, Human Metaphors & A Sanctuary: Rick Owens A/W 24 Menswear

Inhuman behavior is trending: the conflict in Gaza continues and, on Saturday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the notion of establishing a Palestinian state. Today, Netanyahu also rejected Hamas' conditions for ending the war (complete Israeli withdrawal and maintaining Hamas in power in Gaza). Meanwhile, the Russia-Ukraine war approaches its two-year mark, and migration remains a challenge for European governments that seem more focused on repressions and deportations than on finding solutions.

Individual acts of inhumanity also persist: a man charged with murdering his pregnant partner last year in Italy claimed at the opening of his trial in Milan this week that he was driven by something "inexplicable and inhuman". 

Fashion designer Rick Owens responded to the inhuman impulses governing our lives and world by showcasing on Thursday in Paris a dehumanizing silhouette for his A/W 24 menswear collection. Models donned elongated designs (including jackets and pants made by latex designer Matisse Di Maggio) and walked in inflatable pull-on boots that in some cases impaired their steps as they rubbed against each other.

The boots were by London-based South African Australian, Finnish-born designer Straytukay (in recent years, Harikrishnan Keezhathil Surendran Pillai - in short Harri - sparked a sort of trend for inflatable designs after his inflatable pants that were part of his graduate collection at London College of Fashion's 2020 MA degree show went viral; his designs were slightly reminiscent of the costumes in New Order's "True Faith" video that in turn was inspired by Oskar Schlemmer...).

The collection reflects a stark portrayal of a world veering towards mutants - half humans, half insects - a departure from the empowering comic book-inspired alien/insect heroines of Mugler to a malevolent, frightening, and dangerous realm. 

At times these elongated monsters donned wool, furry or leather jumpsuits; quite often they favoured ample jackets or cropped puffers that seemed based on precise geometrical forms (was Malevich a reference, maybe?) with constructions that jutted out from the shoulders and elongated vertically, creating a new silhouette of power, but also destabilizing the tailored precision that has been relaunched during the latest menswear shows, especially in Milan. The insect metaphor was reinforced by oversized jumpers, their long sleeves covering the hands of the models that walked like a praying mantis.

There were more examples along the scary/monster line with ample jackets that wouldn't have looked out of place in the wardrobe of Dr Frankenstein's monster, massive cardigans and shearing and long-haired goat fur loops that engulfed the models.

In his press release, the designer highlighted how proportions of his fall menswear "grotesque and inhuman in a howling reaction to some of the most disappointing human behavior we will witness in our lifetime."

The title of the show - "Porterville" (replicated also on some of the designs) - referenced the intolerances Owens faced as a child in his hometown in California.

To restore a bit of humanity he scaled-back the show: as a grand event didn't look respectful in lieu of what's going on in the world, the show took place in the designer's home on the Place du Palais Bourbon (in the former office of Francois Mitterand's Socialist Party), conceived as a sanctuary and a haven for anti-intolerance.

To emphasize anti-intolerance, Russian radical trans artist, Gena Marvin, protagonist of the documentary "Queendom" (directed by Agniia Galdanova) modelled some of the designs (third set of images in this post).

In November last year Russia's supreme court deemed the "international LGBT public movement" as extremist, and, since then, quite a few LGBTQ+ friendly clubs and venues were raided by the police in Moscow.

Gena has learnt to subvert the establishment by walking around the streets of Moscow in drag, often wearing just body paint, platform boots and barbed wire (her encounter with a soldier is hilarious with Gena towering upon him like an alien that has just landed while he tells her, "Your overtly provocative and destructive appearance can lead to incidents.").

The final abstract constructions trapping the models' bodies in Rick Owens' collection actually evoked some of Gena's costumes that she makes from junk and tape.

Not everything on the runway was dehumanizing, though: the last puffers in the collection were massive leather constructions that called to mind armchairs. Was this an anticipation of Milan Design Week with its multiple collaborations between fashion designers and interior design companies? Time will tell.

As for you, readers, opt for a dehumanizing effect if you must, but hold onto your humanity - it's a precious, invaluable and irreplaceable essence.

When the Geopolitical Situation Impacts Fairs & Events: VicenzaOro and the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Yesterday's post closed wondering if boycotting certain fashion brands and conglomerates may be used as a strategy to persuade their affluent owners to contribute more in taxes. Today we saw instead boycotting in action through two protests in Vicenza.

The Italian city located in the Veneto region, is currently hosting its annual gold and diamond fair - VicenzaOro (running through 23rd January), the largest show in Europe for the gold and diamond industry.

The tradeshow is dedicated to design, but also to new technologies and innovative developments in the jewelry industry. More than 1,300 exhibitors from almost 40 countries are showing at the fair, according to organizers.

In the last few days, the Veneto-based Palestinian community announced a demo in the city centre against the presence of Israeli exhibitors at the fair, while activists from local social centres announced an alternative event in the area of the fair to try and stop the exhibitors.

The demos were announced in response to the current conflict in Gaza. Last October, Hamas militants initiated an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. Since then the Israeli military conducted air strikes on Gaza and launched a ground offensive. The United Nations recently announced that so far the total population of Gaza (1.9 million civilians) were forcibly displaced amid Israel's military operations. Besides, since October, 23,000 people were killed in Gaza and more than 58,000 injured.

Violence is spreading to multiple regions, while the US and UK are conducting airstrikes on Houthi sites in Yemen in response to ongoing Houthi drone and missile attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea believed to be linked to Israel or its allies.

While the demo in Vicenza's city centre this afternoon was peaceful, police and activists from social centres clashed this morning in the trade fair area. During the demonstration, protesters chanted slogans such as "Stop Bombing Gaza", "Stop Global War," and "Free Palestine". The march, consisting of approximately 500 participants, began in the late morning and deviated from the predetermined route, attempting to approach the fair grounds. This led to a confrontation with riot police in full gear, who pushed back the crowd with a charge. Smoke bombs and fireworks were reportedly thrown by the protesters, prompting the police to respond with water cannons and baton charges. The police made several arrests among the protesters from social centers, and there were reported injuries among both activists and law enforcement officers. The clashes took place several kilometers away and had no impact on the event.

Commenting upon the events many right-wing politicians such as the president of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, accused the protesters from social centres of anti-Semitism and violence and showed solidarity to the police (surprising how the same politicians didn’t condemn the hundreds of men who made the fascist salute two weeks ago during an event in Rome outside the former headquarters of the Italian Social Movement, a neofascist party founded after the second world war, during an annual gathering on Via Acca Larentia, commemorating the 46th anniversary of the killing of three militants from the now defunct party's youth wing). At the time of writing this post, the morning demo dynamics remain unclear as the possibility of external influences seeking to disrupt or manipulate the protest with infiltrators and agitators should also be considered.

VicenzaOro is already considered as controversial for the presence of diamond sellers; Israel holds a significant position in the global diamond trade, being recognized as one of the foremost countries in importing rough diamonds and a prominent exporter of polished diamonds. Activists highlighted how there is a direct link between the trade fair event and the interests of the Israeli government, since, in a war economy, the proceeds from diamonds sale fuel military expenses.

The pro-Palestine demos in Vicenza are the latest ones organized on a global level that are calling for boycotts: since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza conflict in October, the boycott movement against a number of multinational companies for their support of and ties to Israel has expanded significantly.

As the world appears to be on an unsettling trajectory toward a potential global conflict and as geopolitical tensions intensify, the risk of succumbing to the dehumanizing effects of conflicts and prioritizing economic interests over human values becomes more pronounced. Italy had a champion for Palestine in the former Italian president and partisan Sandro Pertini and maybe current politicians should go back and listen to some of his speeches. On December 31, 1983, during his New Year's Eve televised address, Pertini indeed stated: "Once it was the Jews who experienced the 'diaspora,' dispersed and expelled from the Middle East to various parts of the world. Now, it is the Palestinians who are undergoing a similar fate. I affirm once again that the Palestinians have a sacred right to a homeland and a land, just as the Israelis did."

Where are the Fashion Billionaires in the Proud to Pay More Movement?

More than 250 billionaires and millionaires recently urged global leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland (15th-19th January 2024) to implement wealth taxes for improved public services worldwide. In their letter, titled "Proud to Pay More", they argue that fairer taxes are a sensible response to current economic conditions, acknowledging the rising threat of inequality and pressing for immediate action.

In the letter they write: "We ask you to tax us, the very richest in society. This will not fundamentally alter our standard of living, nor deprive our children, nor harm our nations’ economic growth. But it will turn extreme and unproductive private wealth into an investment for our common democratic future." The signatories also emphasize the inadequacy of one-off donations and philanthropy, urging government action at both national and international levels.

The benefits of higher taxes highlighted in the letter include addressing extreme wealth inequality, fostering a sustainable future, reducing the cost of living for working people, enhancing education, fortifying healthcare systems, improving infrastructure, and facilitating a green transition. Notable signatories include Disney heir Abigail Disney, actor Brian Cox, and Valerie Rockefeller.

The "Proud to Pay More" site also released a report noting 2,640 billionaires globally, contrasting their wealth with the struggles of ordinary people facing rising living costs and taxes. The report underscores the disproportionate tax contribution from wealth, with only four cents for every $1 raised globally (as outlined in the Oxfam report Survival of the Richest).

The report also mentions how extreme wealth concentration is identified as a threat to democracy, since wealth can buy political influence. Besides, the report links economic exclusion to waning faith in democracy, contributing to the rise of populist leaders claiming to fight for the economically excluded.

At the end of the report there are also profiles of wealthy people who support the Proud To Pay More Initiative. Fund Manager Guillaume Rambourg states: "The richest 1%, those of us who have captured 50% of the world's wealth creation over the past decade, must embrace the concept of investing back into society, because the constant race to having more billions in the bank is a dead end."

Economists advocate greater taxation of the super-rich as the next step in tackling inequality, a suggestion supported by a growing public (a polling found that 58% supported the introduction of a 2% wealth tax on people with more than $10m) and, notably, by wealthy individuals as well.

However, some of the world's richest men - entrepreneur and founder of SpaceX and Tesla Elon Musk, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Bernard Arnault, founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos, American businessman and entrepreneur who co-founded software company Oracle Corporation Larry Ellison, veteran investor Warren Buffett (these are actually the world's top five richest men) and co-founder, executive chairman and CEO of Meta Platforms Mark Zuckerberg - are not among the signatories.

Yet their fortunes haven't certainly gone down: Oxfam recently published the report Inequality Inc. that highlights how the gap between the rich and the poor is becoming wider (shockingly there are even individuals richer than countries…). 

In the last few years, while the total wealth of the poorest people (around 60% of the world population) declined, the combined fortune of the world's wealthiest people (Musk, Arnault, Bezos, Ellison, and Buffett - yes, all of them men...not a woman in sight) went from $405 billion in March 2020 to $869 billion in November 2023. Quite often these billionaires seem engaged in personal battles that can be summarised with Rambourg's words, with that "race to having more billions in the bank," which doesn't lead to anything else but "a dead end."

Oxfam points out that, if current trends persist, the world could see its first trillionaire within a decade, yet poverty won't be eliminated for another 229 years. This raises concerns for consumers and fashion enthusiasts, given the absence of fashion industry leaders, such as Bernard Arnault, in the Proud to Pay More initiative.

It seems that for some of these billionaires, paying more may not be en vogue. However, their reluctance to embrace higher taxes could potentially become untrendy, leading consumers to boycott brands owned by fashion tycoons. In a nutshell, while a fairer economy is achievable through equitable taxation, it might also be facilitated by boycotting certain brands and conglomerates, a strategy that may persuade their affluent owners to contribute more in taxes.

Could Merging Disciplines Solve the Education Crisis?

In his recent project "Ai Vs AI," Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei posed 81 questions to Artificial Intelligence on various topics, including "Can education be harmful?". Both Ai Weiwei and AI share a common perspective: "Mainstream education, frequently guided by specific purposes and pragmatic goals, has metamorphosed into a detriment to humanity. It subverts the innate yearning for freedom and hampers the development of human essence," states Ai Weiwei. Artificial Intelligence highlights that education is generally beneficial, but "it can be harmful if it perpetuates biases, promotes misinformation or is used to indoctrinate rather than foster critical thinking and open-mindedness."

The question prompts us to ponder on the current state of education, particularly in creative subjects like art and fashion design. Despite global offerings, there's discontent and crisis in some institutions: enrollment appears to be dwindling, maybe because increasing course expenses discourage prospective students, creating disparities between those with limited financial means and their wealthier colleagues.

The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (PAFA), the oldest art school in the United States (it was founded in 1805), recently announced the closure of its degree programs due to financial challenges and declining enrollment. Eric Pryor, the president of PAFA, announced in an open letter dated 11th January 2024, that it will be closing its undergraduate and graduate degrees after the 2024-2025 school year.

The board of the university came to the decision after considering rising operational costs (the school is currently running on a $3 million budget deficit) and falling student enrollment (a situation worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic). The change affects only the degree-granting programs; the certificate programs, commitment to K-12 arts programs and continuing education will remain in place. Besides, the decision will also not affect the PAFA art museum.

As a result of this decision, the final graduating class will be in 2025, leaving 37 students currently enrolled at the school forced to transfer to other universities (agreements are in place with University of the Arts, Temple University's Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Moore College of Art & Design, Arcadia University and Pennsylvania College of Art and Design). Besides, some members of the staff will also lose their roles after June 2024.

Two points of this decision remain unclear: the certificate programs will not be cancelled, but these programs do not qualify for federal loans, so students who don't have adequate financial resources will be automatically cut out from this option and this seems to be unfair. Besides, it is legitimate to wonder if the students who enrolled and who will now have to transfer to other institutions may be able to carry out a class action against PAFA since, when they were offered a course, they were promised four years of education, yet a few months later their course was canceled (surely the institution knew that they had financial problems already…). 

The changing landscape in education, reflects a broader crisis exacerbated by a lack of adaptability to emerging trends, something that has been going on for quite a few years now.

When universities or schools fail in their roles, the blame is often placed on students for being superficial, lazy or unprepared, but throughout the years a lot of mistakes were committed by educational institutions with universities offering creative courses that killed rather than fostered creativity. The crises that followed (exacerbated by COVID-19, yes, we must admit that) were at times solved by partnerships as it happened in the US last year when Arizona State University merged with Los Angeles' Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, creating ASU FIDM.  

Yet maybe the solution stands in changing the teaching methods and creating hybrid subjects. The focus should maybe be on recognizing and nurturing students' talents and in instilling discipline and developing research skills through passion rather than terrorising people with exams and deadlines. A student-centered approach may be key to better teaching, but also more adaptable lecturers capable of challenging the status quo and of offering blended disciplines, merging for example art or fashion design with science or technology.

The future lies indeed not in a singular knowledge domain but in a blended and hybrid curriculum that sparks inspiration in diverse ways, offering better knowledge and preparation (if fashion design courses would offer introductions to fashion law we would probably have fewer lawsuits as future designers would grasp some knowledge of copyright issues that they may find useful in future, but there are other disciplines that may create better fashion designers, politics and economics included). Who knows, this hybrid approach may prepare individuals for a dynamic world and may be perceived by young people interested in pursuing further studies as more exciting and relevant.

Who's Afraid of Big Bad AI? Certainly Not Ai Weiwei

Artificial Intelligence (AI) took over the world last year, providing us with new tools to play with, unleashing thousands of possibilities, but also opening up a Pandora's Box of fear, loathing and anxiety, and pushing governments to consider sets of laws and regulations.

This relatively new technology also poses questions for what regards copyright matters as scraping works off the Internet to train systems has led to class-action lawsuits by authors claiming their works were used without permission.

But there is one artist who doesn't seem to be too bothered about AI - Ai Weiwei. In a recent project for CIRCA.ART (until 31 March), the Chinese dissident artist has posed questions to AI, juxtaposing his own answers to the ones proposed by ChatGPT. The result of the project - "Ai vs AI" - can be browsed online or watched every night at 8.24pm (20:24) on public screens in several cities, including London, Seoul, and Berlin among the others. 

There are two main inspirations behind the project - the Tiānwèn (or "Heavenly Questions", 172 questions for the gods written on the walls of a temple by poet Qu Yuan over 2,300 years ago) and Ai's 81-day imprisonment by the Chinese state in 2011 (the project actually started on 11th January and, concluding in March, will last for 81 days).

But one key point to understand the project is the power behind questioning, something that Ai Weiwei knows well from his own personal experiences at being interrogated by authorities.

Questions implicitly indicate freedom (you are allowed to ask whatever you want, just like children often posing questions that end up embarrassing grown-ups...), but also point at imagination and at a search for knowledge and truth, while reminding us of the format of Socratic dialogues.

The concept behind the project is very simple: as human beings we ask questions not just out of curiosity, but hoping to learn and understand, trying to find solutions and explanations to a problem. The very act of posing questions distinguishes us from AI - it is indeed through our questions that we reveal our humanity, our preoccupations and worries. Ai Weiwei argues that, being a mechanical system, AI doesn't have any life history, it is not able to live human experiences and strong feelings such as love, hate, envy, despair, frustration or depression, and, unlike human beings, AI is not prone to make mistakes and learn from them. For all these reasons, AI can't therefore provide sincere questions. In a nutshell, from the artist's point of view, questions are the key to our humanity because they are related to our personal stories.

Quite often in this project the questions posed to AI also seem directly linked with Ai Weiwei's life, as they look at the role of the artist as activist, tackling censorship, freedom, whistleblowing, discrimination and AI and the situation of migrants (no, AI can't suggest us any safe migration routes...), even though there are also more humorous dilemmas, such as "What are the benefits of farting?"

In some cases Ai and AI's answers are similar: to the question "Am I in quantum superposition?" Ai replies that he is not in the position to answer; AI explains that the question is not applicable to humans.

In some situations AI can't perform as it could: asked to provide a comprehensive list of all prisoners of conscience in the world, AI admits it is not able to complete the task as the situation is dynamic and constantly changing, so it doesn't even try coming up with some names. Users can actually interact with this project and also add their views by posting their own answers.  

Yet it is worth remembering that, in this project, it is not the answer that counts, after all, as Ai Weiwei highlights, answers can be manufactured by "knowledge factories" such as schools, religious institutions and national myths.

We may actually push forward the concept of "question" proposed by Ai Weiwei and ponder about the contemporary version of the question - the prompt. In the age of Artificial Intelligence, we ask a system via a prompt to do something for us, from writing a boring and formal email to our boss, to come up with the most bizarre hyperreal and photographic image, maybe extraordinary, maybe silly, yet absolutely incredible. So, our questions - or prompts - unlock the potential of a system (which takes us back to the idea that maybe the prompt is what counts in AI and what should be protected and copyrighted in Artificial Intelligence matters...).

So, is Ai Weiwei really not scared about AI? Well, the only thing that seems to scare him is the potential of this technology to become extremely powerful (but we can still pull the plug on it, can't we?), ending up offering only one "right" answer to different questions and therefore recreating one supposedly "correct" ideology, a sort of dictatorial regime.

Therefore questioning emerges as a core responsibility of both artists and individuals, it is an exercise that allows us to continually probe and reconsider our world and put to the test the advancing technologies surrounding us. Final tip for those ones who work in the fashion industry or are studying fashion: see if you can employ Ai Weiwei's method as an inspiration to come up with clever questions tailored for the industry and answered by a human and by Artificial Intelligence that may inspire a collection, a press release or even an art and fashion project.  

After Marina Abramović, Will Other Artists Launch Their Own Wellness Product Line?

Cleopatra, who reigned as Queen of the Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, held a beauty secret: she indulged in baths of donkey milk and fresh honey.

Fast forward to today, where TikTokers are not advocating for baths in donkey milk, but touting the benefits of drinking unpasteurized raw milk. However, this practice has sparked debates due to the potential risks associated with unpasteurized milk, including harmful bacteria like E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella, so experts advise against it, especially for individuals with certain disorders or weakened immune systems.

Despite the controversy, the #RawMilk hashtag on TikTok has gained considerable traction, nearing 200 million views. Nevertheless, the raw milk trend appears to be another fleeting episode in our collective fascination with beauty and wellness.

On a different note in the wellness realm, performance artist Marina Abramović has ventured into the market with her own line of products.

Some are wondering if she is emulating the Goop model with her recently launched products: a face lotion and anti-allergy, immune and energy drops. These products, part of "The Marina Abramović Longevity Method," are derived from recipes passed down by a Tibetan monk to doctor and holistic practitioner Nonna Brenner, who is credited to having cured Abramović's Lyme disease in 2017 with unconventional methods (including leeches).

Brenner, a medical doctor and psychiatrist by training, already uses some of the products at her Centre of Health & Prophylaxis overlooking Lake Fuschl in Switzerland where she employs a blend of science, physiotherapy, alternative and traditional therapies.

The peculiar mix of ingredients for the face lotion includes vitamin C and enzymes created by fermenting white bread and white wine; the immune drops feature fresh garlic bulb, chilli-pepper powder, lemons and shilajit, a substance found in the Himalayas and used in Ayurvedic medicine to soothe allergic reactions; while the allergy drops contain liquorice root and the energy drops combine cranberry juice, succinic acid, and grape-seed flour. The products complete Abramović's Method, a series of mindfulness techniques applicable to daily life, emphasizing conscious actions like counting grains of rice or slowly drinking a glass of water over 20 minutes.

In a lighthearted comment to Vogue, Abramović hinted at the longevity project's purpose, suggesting that Brenner is determined to extend her life to 110 years, jokingly suggesting that female artists are only taken seriously after reaching such a milestone.

In a way, the entire venture raises eyebrows: Abramović has always pushed physical boundaries in her performances that often ended up involving extreme practices (in her 1974 provocative performance piece "Rhythm 0", Abramović turned herself into an object, urging the audience to interact with her using any of the 72 props made available, ranging from knives, ropes, and a scalpel to a gun, feathers, and a bullet), so you wonder if these products geared towards wellbeing and staying healthier - current collective obsessions - are part of a bizarre art project or a genuine attempt at entering the market.

The products are actually conceived a bit as art pieces: produced in Switzerland in limited runs of 8,000 units each (very arty...), the lotion and drops are characterized by a minimalist and artistic packaging, designed by Abramović herself, and bear her fingerprints.

Priced at £99 (the drops) and £199 (the moisturizer), with a complete package available for £459, these products may be perceived by fans as works of art or as a way to experience Brenner's therapies from her Swiss retreat (for a fraction of the price...).

As the worlds of art, wellness and consumer goods collide in this project, one can only wonder if Abramović's venture will outshine Goop's infamous vagina-scented candles.

While there are already quite a few fragrances, beauty products and makeup lines by all sorts of celebrities out there, you wonder if in future we will see other artists launching their lines (for what regards beauty products, there have already been collaborations or licensed products inspired by artists, if you think about Lancôme & Yayoi Kusama and MAC X Keith Haring…). .

A few years ago Francesco Vezzoli could only imagine a spoof fragrance (Greed), but, who knows, maybe in future we will see a Jeff Koons anti-age serum in a bulbous pot inspired by his balloon dogs or even mud masks made with pigeon poop by Maurizio Cattelan (well, harvesting their poop sounds like a logical and more ethical progression, after his squadrons of stuffed pigeons...).

Artificial Intelligence may help us imagining the packaging of the wellbeing products of the future created by artists, yet the lingering question is: which artist will be the next to venture into this universe?

Norwegian Textile Pioneer Frida Hansen Gets Rediscovered Through a Dedicated Scholarship

In discussions about tapestries, a common theme emerges - the separation between the artist conceiving the design and the skilled craftsperson executing it. However, Norwegian textile pioneer Frida Hansen (1855-1931) defied this dichotomy, embodying both the artist behind the design and the hands-on weaver.

A major force behind the Norwegian textile renaissance, as a child Hansen actually wanted to become a painter and also took lessons from Norwegian landscape painter Kitty Kielland. Originally from a wealthy family from Stavanger, she gave up her own artistic aspirations when she married.

A twist of fate - her husband's trading company going bankrupt in 1888 - reignited her creative pursuits and soon she started an embroidery business from her home, developing an interest in tapestries.

After learning how to weave in Sogn, Hansen acquired a warp-weighted loom and founded Atelier for haandvævede norske Tæpper (Studio for Handwoven Norwegian Tapestries) and a dyeing workshop. She also ran a workshop that made textiles from her patterns, where she used to teach other women as well, so that they could become financially independent.

Hansen's interest in the condition of women pervades a large-scale piece entitled "Løvetand" (Dandelion, 1893), commissioned by the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights for the Chicago World's Fair (May-October 1893). The tapestry featured a woman in the centre surrounded by other women bearing dandelions in bud, bloom and seed.

In 1897 Hansen established the limited company Norsk Aaklæde – og Billedtæppe-Væveri (Norwegian Coverlet and Tapestry Weaving Mill) together with Randi Blehr and patented the "transparency technique" consisting in an alternation between dense and translucent areas in a tapestry. This decorative technique was best applied to tapestries representing flowers and plants and it is best exemplified in her piece "Sommernattsdrøm", representing a forest of trees, with birds hiding among their branches. 

Hansen's designs, characterized by bright colours often verging towards the pink or salmon and Art Nouveau-inspired symbols (she had studied abroad in the mid-1890s and brought back to Norway a passion for this art movement that was at the time prevailing in Europe), became very popular.

Hansen made her major breakthrough during the Paris Exposition of 1900, where she received a gold medal for the tapestry "Melkeveien" (Milky Way, 1898), a fantasy rendition of the Milky Way with young women dressed in white gowns carrying a starry veil.

Yet, despite being acclaimed abroad, in her own country Hansen wasn't extremely famous as her tapestries didn't reflect the taste for national themes that was favoured at the time, but appealed more to international tastes and styles (that's why her works were mainly purchased by most of the major museums in Europe but were not recognised by Norwegian museums until much later).

Yet Norway is now making amends: the National Museum in Oslo has indeed just announced four university scholarships to fund further researches on Frida Hansen.

Funded by the Fredriksen Family Art Company (FFAC), they will be assigned from January 2024 to allow new studies on Hansen that may tackle not just art and textiles, but also other disciplines including philosophy and gender studies. The first scholarship has been assigned to art historian Adine Ødegård Lexow who completed her master' degree on the transparent tapestries of Frida Hansen at the University of Oslo in 2022.

Lexow has already studied Hansen's works in the light of contemporary art and gender theory, but she would like to explore the artist's intense fascination with flowers and gardens through the ecocritical theory and ecofeminism perspectives.

Influenced by William Morris, Hansen shared indeed with the English artist and textile designer a feeling of respect towards nature. This theme actually holds the potential to prompt new research about Hansen not only in Norway but beyond, extending its inspiration to artists, but also fashion designers and creative minds in our times.

How to Be Unconventional in a Conventional World: Aimée Isabella Crocker, Daring Nonconformist Muse

The menswear shows have kicked off in Milan and until the beginning of March fashion weeks will unravel - a movable feast of collections, celebrities and Internet breaking designs. Obviously we will also start seeing more Instagram posts or features about inspirations for collections and designers acknowledging their muses for the next season.

Who knows, maybe one day somebody will also mention Aimée Crocker (1864-1941) as their inspiration for a fashion collection. This year marks the 160th anniversary of her birth, making her ripe for rediscovery.

The heiress of a railroad fortune, Aimée was an unstoppable eccentric known for her escapades in the Far East, extravagant soirées, multiple marriages, and a penchant for tattoos and, well, snakes.

Born Amy Isabella Crocker in Sacramento, California, to the immensely wealthy Edwin and Margaret Crocker (founders of the Crocker Art Museum, which is still going), Aimée travelled a great deal in her life, marrying five times (or, as she quipped, twelve times if we consider her seven Oriental unions, unrecognized under Occidental laws). Her life was punctuated by peculiar adventures and the story goes that even King Kalākaua, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, fell in love with her, inviting her to tour Hawaii and bestowing upon her an island and the title Princess Palaikalani - Bliss of Heaven.

After six years in the Far East (Crocker wrote about her Far East adventures in a book of short stories published in 1910, "Moon Madness and Other Fantasies"), Aimée reappeared in San Francisco and New York, adorning herself with tattoos and serpents, shocking the conservative upper crust. Her opulent parties, such as a Robinson Crusoe-themed soirée in Parisian treetops in 1905 or a country circus party at the Hippodrome, then the largest theater in New York (here she appeared as a dairy maid and arrived on the back of an elephant...) left indelible marks on societal norms.

Aimée also threw a party for the "Maharaja of Amber," concealing that the maharaja was her pet boa constrictor Kaa, which she found exotic and erotic (as you may guess, the animal ended up terrifying her guests...). Aimée also had a passion for tattoos and throughout the years she acquired a tattoo of a snake and of a butterfly among the others.

Invited to portray herself on Broadway in Rennold Wolf's vaudeville piece "Hell", and inspiring characters in various plays (modern society comedy "The Lassoo," by Victor Mapes, and George M. Cohan's comedy "Broadway Jones," and musical "Billie"), Aimée's romantic relationships (with actors, painters, literary figures, princes and opera singers among the others) included a decade-long affair with occultist Aleister Crowley, vividly documented in his journals.

Named "The Queen of Bohemia" (1921) and "The Most Fascinating Woman of Her Age" (1937) by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Aimée published in 1936 her autobiography, "And I'd Do It Again". The book narrates extraordinary adventures, from evading headhunters in Borneo to surviving poisoning in Hong Kong, but there is also a knife-throwing attack in Shanghai, and sensual encounters with a boa constrictor and an orgasm induced by the rapturous music produced by a peculiar violin, an adventure that she lived in a mysterious establishment that she calls "the House of the Ivory Panels." ("I was amazed to see the luxury inside, for the outside of this house, though clean and decent, would never lead one to suspect the richness that it concealed. The walls were paneled. The paneling was composed of strips of carved ivory, worked into lace-like ornamentation, and bound, every panel, in polished teakwood, likewise carved to frame the beauties of the ivory.")

Intriguing and colorful, the book was meant for publication by Jack Kahane's Obelisk Press but slipped through his fingers. Yet maybe, the tales of bizarre escapades, flirtations, and dangerous encounters in the volume make Aimée's life suited not just for a mere fashion collection, but for a film. For today, just grab a copy of the biography and enjoy immersing yourself in the life of this daring nonconformist muse.

Exploring the Geopolitics of Global Trends

Fashion trends evolve rapidly; what used to change every six months has now accelerated to weekly shifts, creating a sense of pressure to constantly stay up-to-date.

However, beyond the world of fashion, there are "global trends" that demand our attention as they may impact our lives. Climate change is a persistent issue, and tensions between countries or wars, such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict entering its second year at the end of February and the current situation in Gaza, affect us on a broader scale.

Last October, Hamas militants initiated an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. Since then the Israeli military conducted air strikes on Gaza and launched a ground offensive. According to a press release (dated January 12th, 2024) from the United Nations, 85% of the total population of Gaza (1.9 million civilians) were forcibly displaced amid Israel's military operations. Besides, since October, 23,000 people were killed and more than 58,000 injured.

Supporting Hamas, the Iranian-backed militia group Houthis, in Yemen, started attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea. The majority of these attacks were intercepted by countermeasures implemented by the US and Israel. Yet recently the US and UK conducted airstrikes on over a dozen sites utilized by the Houthis in Yemen. This action was in response to the Houthis' continuous drone and missile attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea that they perceived as connected to Israel or its allies, particularly following the outbreak of Israel's war in Gaza.

The Red Sea, located south of the Suez Canal, serves as a crucial waterway connecting Europe to Asia and East Africa, making it one of the world's busiest shipping channels. While the Red Sea route can be bypassed, with ships diverting around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, such an alternative significantly increases journey times and costs. Ignoring these developments could lead to potential shortages, emphasizing the interconnectedness of global trade.

Another critical situation may unfold elsewhere: Taiwan recently held its elections, featuring a three-party race involving the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), advocating for Taiwan's democracy, supporting progressive values including the LGBTQ+ community and opposing Chinese rule, the Kuomintang (KMT), also against Chinese rule but aiming to restore dialogue and ease tensions with China, and Taiwan People's Party (TPP). The election resulted in the victory of current vice-president Lai Ching-te, who succeeds Tsai Ing-wen from the DPP. Despite the DPP losing its majority in the 113-seat legislative yuan, the party prepares for their historic third term.

The outcome raises concerns about heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait, as the island strives for independence while Beijing claims it as part of its territory. Chinese President Xi Jinping considers indeed Taiwan's "unification" with China as "inevitable" and has not ruled out using force to achieve it. China's Taiwan Affairs Office reaffirmed its claim on Taiwan after the election results, emphasizing their commitment to the "inevitable trend" of annexation.

Taiwan is a relatively young democracy: it held its entirely free elections in the mid-1990s after emerging from authoritarian rule in the late 1980s.

Beijing, labeled the DPP as separatists and Lai Ching-te's victory may prompt China to respond with increased pressure, especially in the lead-up to his May inauguration.

Already, China expressed displeasure when global leaders from the US, the UK, the European Union, Canada, and Japan, congratulated Lai Ching-te, deeming such gestures as interference in its internal affairs, reinforcing its call for allies to support its territorial claim (Russia considers Taiwan an integral part of China).

Taiwan, known for its influential semiconductor industry, plays a crucial role in the global economy. China, separated from the island by a 180-Km strait, has been escalating military pressure on Taiwan in recent years, with frequent probes, naval ships and military drills testing Taiwan's defences. Conflict doesn't seem imminent, but many buildings in Taipei have their own air raid shelters.

The possibility of a conflict over semiconductor resources underscores the need to monitor this situation closely, as it could impact global stability and supply chains.

So, sure, follow fashion trends if you must, but keep an eye on global trends and geopolitics as well. After all, we are all interconnected and the development in one area of the world can have far-reaching consequences.

The Harmony of Regal Shapes: Pearls, Circlets and Symbolism in Two Designs from Taipei's National Palace Museum

The dragon earrings we analysed in the previous post are showcased in a cabinet in the Garland of Treasures section at Taipei's National Palace Museum next to two relatively simple designs. 

In that post we looked at the mathematical perfection behind the act of wearing three sets of earrings, but in the same cabinet there are two pieces characterised instead by a perfect shape - a circle.

Specifically, the cabinet includes a circular gold threadwork collar band adorned with Dong pearls, coral and yellow silk bands decorated with coral pendants from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and a gold headband with lapis lazuli (located at the back of the cabinet, also from the Qing Dynasty). Usually the empresses and noble consorts were mandated to wear headdresses adorned with pearls.

These pieces carry symbolic significance: worn during ceremonial rituals, they reflected social status; the latter was indeed determined by the quantity of pearls included in the collar and by the design of the hanging ribbons.