Site Title

Garments are often described as architectural or sculptural, their forms echoing the structures and shapes of buildings and monuments. Yet, accessories, too, can embody architectural principles, serving as wearable structures that reflect design philosophies and historical narratives.

During Haute Couture Week in Paris, Gherardo Felloni, Creative Director of Roger Vivier, unveiled the latest Pièce Unique collection, an exploration of architectural details translated into fashion. This exclusive series of seven handbags and three vests draws inspiration from the rich architectural heritage of Paris, reimagining iconic landmarks through the lens of couture craftsmanship.

At the heart of the collection lies Vivier's Efflorescence Jewel Handle bag, which serves as a structural foundation, reshaped and adorned with architectural motifs.

The Théâtral Bag, pays homage to the Opéra Garnier, the 1,979-seat opera house designed by Charles Garnier and completed in 1875.

A masterpiece of the Napoleon III style, the building is an opulent symphony of Baroque grandeur, Palladian classicism, and Renaissance elegance, woven together with the era's signature axial symmetry and modern engineering techniques, in particular an iron framework (keep it in mind as we will see it returning also in other bags), that also features in other landmark structures of the time, such as the Bibliothèque Nationale and the markets of Les Halles.

Reflecting this architectural eclecticism, the Théâtral bag captures the grandeur of the interior of the opera and in particular of its auditorium, where rich textures and gilded ornamentation create a sense of splendor.

The gold satin base of the bag is hand-embroidered using zardozi, a meticulous technique that layers gold thread to sculpt depth and dimension.

The embroidery, incorporating rhinestones and beads, and featuring scroll and foliage motifs, mirrors the opulent stuccoes and carvings of the opera's interior. Coral embellishments evoke the velvet upholstery of the theater, while the handle, crafted from a braided tubular chain, references the intertwining elegance of wrought-iron balustrades. The pièce de résistance, a buckle inlaid with hand-carved Rainbow Jasper semi-spheres, serves as the jewel of this wearable edifice.

A corresponding gilet echoes the sumptuous grandeur of the Opéra Garnier, transforming its opulent essence into a wearable form. Entirely hand-embroidered, this vest is built upon a gold satin base, its surface encrusted with rhinestones, microbeads, and intricate foliage rendered in 24-karat gold thread.

Like the opera house itself, where layers of gilding, stucco, and sculptural detail create a sense of theatrical depth, the embroidery on the vest forms a tactile landscape.

Moving from a Baroque spectacle to monumental classicism, the Palais Royal Pièce Unique bag draws inspiration from the Louvre. Originally a medieval fortress, the Louvre evolved over centuries, serving as a royal residence between the 14th and 18th centuries, before becoming the Musée du Louvre in 1793.

Today, the palace presents itself as a harmonious architectural whole, yet this unity is an illusion achieved through successive renovations and deliberate stylistic continuity maintained by generations of architects.

Given this rich architectural history, Felloni chose not to distill the Louvre's vast artistic and historical legacy into a single motif. Instead, he approached the design sculpturally, mirroring the marble masterpieces housed within its halls.

The bag is indeed crafted from hand-embroidered white satin, its fabric first gathered and sculpted by hand, creating voluminous folds reminiscent of draped marble sculptures. To heighten this effect, pearls of varying sizes and lusters were meticulously selected and applied, their placement enhancing the three-dimensional interplay of light and shadow (the accompanying vest is made with the same technique). Smoky crystals into the composition replicate the veining of marble, lending a sense of organic movement to the piece.

The buckle gracing the bag is a miniature work of high jewelry, adorned with pearls and rhinestones, while the handle comprises a metal framework that provides structure and strength and a hand-carved and polished natural horn.

The story of the Louvre is closely intertwined with that of the Tuileries Palace, created to the west of the Louvre by Queen Catherine de' Medici in 1564.

In 1559, following the accidental death of her husband, Henry II, Queen Catherine de' Medici relocated to the Louvre Palace. Five years later, in 1564, she commissioned the construction of a new residence, the Tuileries Palace, designed to offer more space for a garden. Opened to the public in 1667, the garden would later become a public park after the French Revolution.

Since its initial design in the 16th century, the Tuileries Garden has undergone numerous transformations, each layer revealing a new interpretation of landscape design. For fashion designers, the garden plans offer a unique aerial perspective that may serve as a rich source of inspiration for a variety of designs and techniques, from embroidery to knitwear.

Yet, in the case of Gherardo Felloni, the Tuileries Garden itself was only a partial influence. The primary inspiration for his Tuileries Gate Pièce Unique bag came indeed from the ornate grillework of the main gates, located at the entrance to the gardens in Place de la Concorde, designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, the royal architect to Louis XV.

The design process for the Portail Doré Pièce Unique bag began with a flat metallic base, which was then sculpted using two custom-made wooden molds, one to shape the body of the bag and another to form the flap.

The bag is further embellished with individual stones and with a buckle adorned with onyx stones and golden crystal rhinestones, while the handle, crafted from handwoven tubular chain and black leather, provides both strength and elegance. Every element of the bag, leaves, twisted wires, or perforated circular motifs, is handcrafted.

For those with a passion for green hues, the Vert de Gris Pièce Unique bag offers a beaded motif that evokes the intricate patterns of topiary, yet it is actually inspired by the Place Vendôme Column in Paris. Known for its elaborate bas-reliefs and commanding presence, the column was commissioned by Napoleon after his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz.

Construction began in 1806 and was completed in 1810. Modeled after Trajan's Column in Rome, the column features bronze plates that spiral up its shaft. Designed by sculptor Pierre-Nolasque Bergeret, these bas-reliefs were executed by a team of 30 sculptors.

Atop the column stood a statue of Napoleon, dressed in Roman attire, sculpted by Antoine-Denis Chaudet. Though the original column was demolished in 1871, it was later re-erected in 1874, with a replica of the original statue placed atop it.

Felloni's Vert de Gris bag and vest capture the intricate spirals and reliefs of the column through a beaded design, adding depth and texture that recall the column's grand historical presence.

The bag buckle that adorns the bag is crafted entirely by hand, employing high-jewelry techniques to set crystals in shades that complement the embroidery. The handle, designed to reflect the graphic elegance of the column's design, features 500 hand-set rhinestones.

No Paris landmark collection would be complete without a tribute to the Eiffel Tower, and indeed, one such bag stands as a celebration of this architectural marvel. The Emblème Pièce Unique bag draws its inspiration from this iconic Parisian landmark.

The plan to build a tower 300 metres high was conceived as part of the preparations for the World's Fair of 1889. Selected from among 107 projects, it was that of Gustave Eiffel, an entrepreneur, Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, both engineers, and Stephen Sauvestre, an architect.

Initially, Emile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin, the two chief engineers in Eiffel's company, had conceived it as a towering lattice-work pylon with four wide columns that came together at the top, but the design evolved, yet the monumental arches at the base proposed by architect Stephen Sauvestre remained an integral feature.

The Emblème Pièce Unique bag does not include an image of the Eiffel Tower, the bag's design takes indeed its graphic inspiration from the view beneath the tower, looking up through its vast latticework that defines its structure (the blueprints for the Eiffel Tower seem more relevant to the design of the bag than the actual tower). The latticework is indeed the true star of the design. The bag's satin base is hand-embroidered with tiny black beads that create a textured surface, while a layer of padding beneath the embroidery adds a subtle three-dimensionality that evokes the tower's structure.

The central buckle is adorned with red tiger's eye stones and rhinestones in smoked amber, evoking the rusted hue of iron over time. In total, around 20,000 beads and crystals were used to create this wearable architectural piece.

Fans of iron architectures should check out the Grande Verrière Pièce Unique bag that draws inspiration from the Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, an architectural masterpiece completed in 1900 for the Exposition Universelle.

Designed to serve as a grand venue for official artistic events, the construction of the Grand Palais began in 1897. The building showcases ornate stone facades, glass vaults, and innovative architectural elements, including iron and steel framing and reinforced concrete, which were cutting-edge for the period.

The project was entrusted to a team of four French architects: Henri Deglane, who oversaw the nave and facade; Albert Louvet, responsible for various sections; Albert-Félix-Théophile Thomas, who focused on the west wing (which became the Palais de la Découverte in 1937); and Charles Girault, the lead architect, who supervised the central section, including the Hall of Honor, and collaborated with Deglane on the grand staircase of honor.

The Grande Verrière Pièce Unique bag captures the essence of this architectural marvel, employing a fine-wire netting technique that echoes the glass vaults and latticework of the Grand Palais. This wire frame is shaped using two custom-made hand-carved wooden molds, one for the body of the bag and another for the flap, reflecting the architectural style of the Grand Palais. At each central junction of the metal structure, there is a single crystal, inspired by the elegance of the palace's ornamental details.

The sides of the bag are adorned with patterns that pay homage to the ornate doors of the Grand Palais, reflecting its Beaux-Arts influences. Inside the metal shell, there is a small clutch fully embroidered by hand with crystal baguette beads to evoke the way light filters through the glass roof of the palace, casting a shimmering glow on its interior. 

The buckle on the bag features natural green fluorite stones, adding a subtle touch of organic refinement, while the handle mirrors the same fine-wire technique used for the body of the bag, with a grosgrain ribbon wrapped around it for added texture.

Felloni's designs focus on specific architectural elements, and the Triomphe Pièce Unique bag is no exception.

Drawing inspiration from the Arc de Triomphe, commissioned in 1806 by Emperor Napoleon after the victory at Austerlitz, this design embodies the triumph of the Neoclassical style. The Arc de Triomphe, designed by Jean Chalgrin, also draws from ancient Roman architecture. However, rather than reflecting the monument’s grand exterior or its location at the heart of a star-shaped intersection with twelve radiating avenues, Felloni was captivated by the intricate ceiling design of the grand and small archways.

The Triomphe bag is crafted from light gold satin and entirely hand-embroidered; the embroidery elements plays a central role in recreating the monument's color and texture. Using transparent beading, the threads create subtle variations in tone and volume, mimicking the architectural depth of the Arc's design. The metal flowers evoke the luxurious detailing of the Arc and the geometries of the monument.  

While these pieces are inspired by architecture, it's important to note that the actual structures themselves are not directly visible in the designs. Instead, Felloni distilled their essence, focusing on their textures, geometries, and ornate details, and translating them into fashion.

These designs are undeniably opulent, extravagant, and tailored for wealthy clients. However, beyond their evident luxury, they invite designers to engage more deeply with architectural forms, exploring how their structural intricacies and textural nuances can be reinterpreted in fashion through techniques such as embroidery, fabric manipulation, and metalwork. In doing so, they offer new avenues for expressing architectural grandeur through the language of fashion.

So, no matter where you are, just go out and explore the architecture around you and discover how its motifs, structural elements, and design concepts can be transformed into fashionable and wearable inspirations.

Sometimes, simple ideas turn into trends. Take Matt and Luke Goss from Bros, for example: back in the late '80s, they attached Grolsch beer swingtop caps to their shoelaces, creating a distinctive, rebellious look that caught on among their fans.

If you find yourself with a collection of swingtop caps from different bottles, there are plenty of ways to repurpose them. For example, by disassembling the caps, you can use the plastic part as a bead for a paracord knotted necklace (or a bracelet).

In yesterday's post we looked at contemporary designers experimenting with recycling and upcycling, transforming discarded materials into high fashion. So try it yourself with swingtop caps: remove the metal parts (which can be set aside for another project…) and experiment with different sizes or colors of paracords, depending on your preference. The result is a bold yet simple accessory.

You can wear the necklace with the rubber gasket side facing in or out or swap gasket colors to change the look. Playing with different knots can also add variety. And once you're tired, well, you can always disassemble your necklace and reuse the materials to do something else.

It's an easy project for summer (yes, it's winter, but we can dream about summer…) or a way to add an unexpected touch to a designer outfit, just like Iris Apfel used to do when she mixed high fashion with flea market finds or bold, unconventional yet cheap plastic jewelry. Enjoy this weekend project!

A graduate of Central Saint Martins in London, Swiss designer Kevin Germanier was among the standout independent fashion names during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

He first gained attention at the opening ceremony by dressing Italian Paralympic fencer Beatrice "Bebe" Vio Grandis, but it was at the closing ceremony that his vision truly shone.

For that ceremony Germanier created the costumes for the Golden Voyager, a futuristic space traveler, and for pianist-composer Alain Roche. For the former, he employed 20,000 upcycled gold beads and sequins sourced from a Hong Kong supplier, while for the latter, he reimagined his own VHS tapes from his mother's basement into a striking design.

Renowned for his innovative and sustainable approach, Germanier has built his signature aesthetic around upcycled materials – beads, feathers, and sequins in particular – a practice he began as a student, when financial limitations led him to repurpose discarded textiles such as bed sheets and embellishments.

This ethos remains central to his work, even in couture. For his first couture show, which closed Paris Fashion Week and was titled "Les Globuleuses", he expanded on his signature beaded creations, bringing even more vibrancy and complexity to his work.

In some pieces, upcycled beads were arranged into pixelated motifs, creating expanding patterns across the models' bodies. Close-up details revealed surprising elements: colored pencils and long, reed-like structures sculpted like pencils, all integrated into the garments. Accessories played a key role, with intricately beaded headbands and boots fully encrusted in beads completing the looks.

The designer pushed his experimentation further, thrifting jackets and shoes from iconic houses like Dior and Yves Saint Laurent, then transforming them with hand-applied beading and crystal embellishments for an extravagant yet surprisingly wearable vintage wardrobe for both men and women.

While some critics argue that Germanier's signature color-drenched beading risks of making him a one-trick pony, a closer look at the craftsmanship – all beading is done by hand – offers a fresh perspective on his practice. Beyond beadwork, the collection also featured feathers, raffia, and knitwear and crochet pieces.

The crocheted lamé designs included crenellated, wave-like structures, reminiscent of the intricate formations found in coral reefs, biological manifestations of what we call hyperbolic geometry. These undulating surfaces hinted at an underlying mathematical influence, perhaps even a nod to Daina Taimina's studies on hyperbolic crochet and tactile mathematics.

Positioning himself at the intersection of theatricality, sustainability and couture, Germanier hopes to highlight the finest craftsmanship from artisans worldwide through his designs. In this collection he continued for example his collaboration with Brazilian crochet artisan Gustavo Silvestre and promises he will remain committed to upcycling materials (it will be worth watching how he applies this approach to the costumes he is designing for the Eurovision Song Contest in May).

When Germanier designed the costumes for the performers at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony he turned to textiles from LVMH's Nona Source, a platform dedicated to repurposing luxury deadstock fabrics.

A similar approach was taken by Spanish designer María Bernad, who incorporated Nona Source materials into the A/W 25 collection for her label, Les Fleurs Studio, her first commercially produced.

Titled "Lost Objects," Bernad structured her show in two distinct parts: the first embraced a soft, romantic aesthetic, with crocheted doilies embellishing structured suit jackets, lace overlays, and wool-and-lace trousers.

Bernad further expanded her womenswear vocabulary, integrating found lace, embroidery, and crochet work, with small doilies repurposed into delicate ruffles cascading down a long skirt. A tiered skirt, crafted entirely from her own offcuts, reinforced her commitment to zero-waste design.

Vintage tablecloths were transformed into skirts and veils, while sheer silks were either sculpted into a voluminous balloon-pouf gown or ripped into strips to create fluid movement on a top. The jewelry, made in collaboration with Mineral Weather, was crafted from rescued lamps and fixtures, adding another layer of reclaimed beauty to the collection.

The second half of the show took a bolder, more experimental turn. Leather scraps were reworked into corsets and skirts, while layered cords adorned hand-stitched black suits, evoking a style somewhere between The Girl on the Motorcycle and Edward Scissorhands.

The standout pieces, however, were bomber jackets, tailored blazers and a top with a floral motif, assembled from 18th-century tapestries salvaged from estate sales and flea markets across Europe, each garment a fragment of history, reimagined as contemporary fashion.

Reusing crocheted doilies or sections of tapestry works in fashion is nothing new; it has even appeared in costume design, as seen in Fellini's The Clowns (with costumes by Danilo Donati, View this photo). Nowadays, designers like Marine Serre have elevated the art of recycling and upcycling, turning discarded textiles, including bed sheets and crocheted tablecloths, into high-concept fashion. While Bernad is still finding her creative footing and some pieces are not totally convincing yet, her fascination with forgotten artifacts, textiles imbued with history and memory, suggests that her approach to giving the past new life may take her work to the next level.

In different ways Germanier and Bernad's commitment to reinvention prove us that discarding is not necessary and that there is power and beauty in everything.

Speaking of preserving and repurposing textiles, some Haute Couture collections may provide us with some ideas and inspirations for further experiments. Tapestries for example also found their place in Alessandro Michele's Haute Couture S/S 25 collection for Valentino, where a grand gown was made with a cross-stitched tapestry fabric and a long black velvet skirt was adorned with a beaded embroidered panel that looked like a tapestry.

Actually inserting tapestry panels in velvet designs is far from new. My mother, for example, owned a velvet and tapestry ensemble that was handmade in the 1970s. Though the skirt was lost long ago, I still have the top, which features a large tapestry panel across the front and back, with sleeves crafted from alternating strips of tapestry and crepe.

As fashion remains cyclical, rather than upcycling, recycling, or reinventing – as seen with Germanier, Bernad, or Michele – for me, it will simply be a matter of re-wearing.

Have you ever seen a stitch sampler? In the 17th century, these intricate swatches of embroidery served as both a training ground and a showcase, a tangible résumé of a young woman's mastery of stitches, motifs, letters, and symbols. In a nutshell, they were both a reference and a declaration of skill, each thread woven with purpose.

For Alessandro Michele, stepping into Valentino after Gucci was like threading an entirely new needle to embroider into the language of Haute Couture. He had to attune himself to the legacy of a house split between Rome and Paris, a house that for decades dressed stars, socialites, and the world's elite in its sumptuous designs.

Like a novice embroiderer, he had to learn every step and learn how to direct an atelier steeped in a different rhythm of craftsmanship. The experience was dizzying, an overwhelming plunge into the vertiginous depths of couture. That very sensation inspired the title of his debut collection for Valentino: "Vertigineux".

The presentation itself mirrored this heady disorientation, with stadium-style bleachers looming in the dimly lit venue, heightening the sense of imbalance. And dizzy it was.

Like eager amateur stitchers filling every inch of space with a motif, Michele tried to cram all sorts of references, obsessions, fixations and materials not just in all the collection but in each and every gown donned by models, spanning generations and including women in their 50s and 60s as well. Aside from that, he also interwove philosophical musings throughout, layering meaning atop fabric.

Hence, while the opening look conjured up in the mind of Italians the anticipation of Carnival (arriving later this year, in early March), the colossal crinolined skirt covered in tufted Harlequin motifs (with a finely pleated bodice that called to mind Madame Grès' designs), pointed at tropes from the commedia dell'arte.

Perhaps in evoking it, Michele was doing more than mining its aesthetics, perhaps, like Elsa Schiaparelli in 1938, he was turning to its theatrics in the face of crisis. After all, when the world darkens, fashion designers often turn to the commedia dell'arte, a theater of exaggeration that offers both escape and satire.

The collection then oscillated between grand, operatic gowns and more tempered – though still theatrical – looks.

A frothy tulle confection, seemingly conjured from the memory of Piero Tosi's legendary ball gown for Claudia Cardinale in Luchino Visconti's The Leopard, stood in stark contrast to armor-like silhouettes encrusted with a constellation of sequins and crystals, modern-day battle attire, perhaps, for contemporary Joans of Arc.

Michele's maximalist instinct was omnipresent, saturating the runway in an opulent deluge of embellishment and excess. It poured itself into the sweeping ballgowns, among them, a Valentino-red evening gown, a tribute to the house's founder, and in tiered ivory lace and chiffon column dresses.

A robe manteau from Valentino's archives was reborn as a vivid grass-green coat dress, now ballooned by a hidden pannier, a nod to the decadent silhouette of Versailles.

Panniers reappeared, cinching a sculptural black evening gown that otherwise evoked an uncanny resemblance to Anita Ekberg's iconic La dolce vita look, while ecclesiastical reds and stark black-and-white ballgowns pointed at cardinals, nuns and priests (and Michele already reinvented ecclesiastical robes in a Gucci collection) the surreal clerical fashion show in Fellini's Roma (while at times the hats seemed borrowed from Fellini's The Clowns).

Cinematic references were also a personal homage as his mother was a costume designer in Rome (one look was indeed entitled "My Mother" – fourteen picture in this post, look on the right).

Masked figures and historical flourishes recalled Fellini's Casanova, but they were also a nod to Venice and to Michele's long-standing fascination with disguise and masks, a motif that frequently appeared in his collections for Gucci. There were also references to Adrian’s costumes and early couture gowns by Charles Frederick Worth.

The ghosts of the Ballets Russes and of La Casati shimmered in rich brocades and Oriental moods, while hints of Caramba's costumes for Turandot and Umberto Brunelleschi's rich illustrations, lingered in some of the extravagant designs matched with grand headdresses. 

Overload? Absolutely. But couture has always been a space for spectacle, and Michele delivered it with ferocity through sequins upon embellishments, couture techniques upon historical echoes delivered through pannier skirts, ruff collars, towering sleeves, and floral tapestries, a rhapsody of excess, that proved that in Michele’s world, too much is never enough.

Fast fashion has dulled our appreciation for clothing, reducing garments to mere commodities rather than the deeply personal vessels of memory they truly are. Yet, clothes hold our histories. Even people suffering from Alzheimer's tend to remember certain garments and to recall through them significant events.

With this collection, Michele sought to imbue his designs with a sense of remembrance, intertwining Valentino's rich history with echoes of his own tenure at Gucci. It was an act of sartorial archaeology, more than designing, that consisted in excavating visual and technical memories from the past and threading them into the present.

Michele included all these memories, references, and inspirations into a weighty document left on each guest's chair. It was no philosophical treatise, but rather a collection of lists, of words, drawn from the lexicon of fashion, art, cinema, and philosophy, that served as anchors, mapping the conceptual framework behind each look.

This was an attempt to impose structure on the dizzying avalanche of ideas he got while visiting the house's archive. These same words, glowing in digital red type, pulsed across the back of the set, reinforcing the dense narrative embedded in every design.

The result? A heady, opulent spectacle, overcharged, maximalist, and layered. It was a collection best appreciated by those well-versed in art, cinema, and fashion history, where even a silhouette, a fabric choice, or a precise shade of red could spark recognition.

Not everyone will embrace this overcharged vision of couture. After all, Michele is not a couturier in the traditional sense, he is part of the generation of designers who can be defined "remixers" and he excels at this skill. There is indeed a world of difference between inventing an entirely new construction, pattern, or silhouette, as Cristóbal Balenciaga, Charles James, or Worth once did, and weaving together disparate details from different eras into a single garment. But at this moment, this debate is beside the point.

What truly lingers is something else: the profound sense of vertigo Michele experienced upon stepping into Valentino's couture atelier, where artisans, many of whom have dedicated decades to the house, bring garments to life with skill and devotion. Though Michele has spent years in the industry and helmed a powerhouse like Gucci, he openly admitted he had never witnessed the inner workings of a couture atelier before. What he saw left him awestruck, as if experiencing a kind of creative epiphany.

After all, a monumental, hand-stitched gown cannot be treated like a ready-to-wear skirt, it demands reverence, time, and a deep understanding of craftsmanship. And this raises an even bigger question: how many young designers, caught in the relentless cycle of fashion's ever-accelerating seasons, would pause, perhaps even reconsider their path if they, too, were given the chance to step inside such an atelier, if they were confronted with history, heritage, and the magic of the human hand? Who knows. For the time being we just know that a maximalist has found in a couture atelier an inspiring place to dream, unravel the past and stitch it into the present, weaving endless fashion remixes.

In Coralie Fargeat's body horror film "The Substance", currently nominated for five Academy Awards, the protagonist, Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), after turning 50 and on her way to being replaced in her job by a younger and more attractive woman, turns to a black-market glowing neon yellow concoction. This mysterious substance promises to deliver a better version of herself, and, indeed, it does.

Soon after injecting the liquid, a younger version of Elisabeth, whom she names Sue (Margaret Qualley), emerges from her back. A new life begins, but it comes at the cost of a grotesque physical and moral degradation. The film, which won Best Screenplay at last year's Cannes Film Festival, is a satirical sci-fi horror centered on society's obsession with female beauty and youth, the invisibility of aging women, and the exploitation of women's bodies in Hollywood's star system.

Elisabeth and Sue consume each other, transforming into deformed monsters. Their double monstrosity visually represents the cruel judgments women often face as they age and the societal derision at their changing bodies.

The substance itself symbolizes the extreme measures individuals take to meet certain beauty standards, driven by pressures from magazines, social media, or online commentary. From makeup and fillers to plastic surgery and weight loss treatments and drugs like Ozempic, these standards are pervasive.

Fashion contributes to the ongoing pursuit of a younger, more idealized self, becoming part of the horror that traps women.

However, there is nothing inherently horrific in Haute Couture, a world defined by its sublime, elegant, and refined style, materials and techniques. Still, the obsession with women's bodies surfaces within the industry and in Haute Couture as well.

Daniel Roseberry's Schiaparelli S/S 25 show at Paris Fashion Week exemplified this duality. His runway featured gowns crafted with the most refined techniques of Parisian ateliers, yet the designs also seemed to regress in terms of body ideals.

Corsets reigned supreme, cinching waists into an exaggerated S-shape. In some designs, the corsets were visible, while in others, they were discreet, offering structural support underneath the gowns. In most cases, Roseberry evoked an hourglass shape inspired by Schiaparelli's Shocking fragrance bottle, which was itself inspired by Mae West's curvy silhouette (View this photo).

Yet, where Mae West's curves were celebrated, Roseberry's corsets sculpted waistlines that mirrored the restrictive ideal of an Ozempic waist. Kendall Jenner wore for example a nude mesh dress with an embroidered satin bra and train that evoked the opulence of the late 1800s.

However, the dress was so tight that a roll of skin was visible spilling above the back of her corset, highlighting the extreme and unnecessary compression of her body, a detail that raises concerns about the pressure on "normal-sized" women to fit such standards.

The geometry of the corset was particularly striking when paired with a draped tulle skirt: in one design a corset formed a rigid, tutu-like peplum that juttingly arced from the models' body, creating wavy shapes.

Padded structures around the hips of some of the evening gowns didn't enhance a plump silhouette, but rather emphasized the sharpness of the hip bones, resembling structural concrete beams, a detail that pointed at architecture. Architectural and sculptural volumes were also present in jackets featuring low, rigid necklines and there was just one black design in which the waist wasn't emphasized (and, frankly, it just looked like a shapeless tent…).

The collection's color palette was dominated by dusty nudes, with pale grays and browns interspersed and splashes of black. Roseberry explained that the hues were inspired by a visit to an antique shop, where he found early-20th-century Lyons couture ribbons.

Some of the designs included in the show were created using silk ribbons sourced from that collection that formed vertical tiers or were twisted around the body to form layers. These multi-layered effects and some of the techniques employed in the collection evoked '50s styles by Jean Dessès and Roberto Capucci and the cream skirt of a gown with a black bodice called to mind some of the iconic silhouettes designed by Charles James.

Overall, the collection was more sculptural and rigid than conceptual, with some designs looking like more extravagant and elaborate derivations of the nude ensembles in Schiaparelli's A/W 23 collection. Though titled Icarus, a reference to the Greek myth about ambition and the risks of striving too high, the collection did not appear as a cautionary tale. Rather, it was conceived by the designer as a tribute to the power of Haute Couture, suggesting that the pursuit of beauty and innovation in fashion mirrors the ambition to transcend limits.

That said, the return of corsets and tiny waists makes you think: corsets aren't certainly a new addition in the history of contemporary fashion and re-emerged periodically over the last decades, often in punk-inspired contexts or to play with anachronisms and juxtapositions between different fashion eras, while medical corsets also inspired some trends.

Yet, the return of rigid, waist-cinching designs in this collection feels particularly ill-timed, coinciding with the resurgence of social and personal constraints imposed on women. At a time when women's rights are under threat in many parts of the world, these designs seem less like a celebration of couture and more like a reflection of restrictive beauty standards.

Fashion has never been about comfort, but in some Haute Couture collections, it now seems entirely absent, with gowns that prevent bending or sitting becoming the norm on the runway or on the red-carpet (behind-the-scenes footage of events often shows guests arriving standing in mini-vans to gala and awarding ceremonies, as if sitting is no longer an option).

The best approach, then, is to admire the craftsmanship behind these designs while remembering that we can feel like goddesses without constricting corsets and we can actually laugh at the absurdity of restrictive fashion perhaps through caricatures from the 1700s or 1800s in the Wellcome Collection.

Fashion students interested in the medical effects of corsetry can also explore from its archives historical documents on the deformation of ribcage and spine due to tight lacing or early innovations from the late 1800s aimed at improving corset design. In a nutshell, don't let yourself be constricted by fashion, but use its trendy constrictions as tools to educate yourself, expand your creativity and challenge the expectations and pressures it places on us.

The war in Ukraine is still in the headlines, sharing the spotlight with the situation in the Middle East, where the Israel-Hamas ceasefire has broken 15 months of war.

Yet, a simple search for armed conflicts across the globe reveals a stark reality: ongoing turmoil stretches from Sudan to Somalia, Yemen, and Myanmar, just to mention a few countries.

Beyond these active battlegrounds, there are whispers of potential conflicts brewing, with US President Donald Trump harboring imperialist ambitions on Greenland, Canada, and Panama, while engaging in economic warfare through tariffs aimed at nations he disapproves of.

Besides, the language of war and conflict, remains a favorite for him and for other leaders intent on fortifying their borders, framing migrants not as individuals fleeing poverty and despair but as invading forces.

Fashion, a world ostensibly distant from the harsh realities of war, paradoxically draws inspiration from it time and again. Military motifs regularly march down the runways, with camouflage prints resurfacing in collections like echoes of distant battles.

Yet at the moment few designers dare to confront this moment of global disarray, wary of stumbling onto a metaphorical minefield that could alienate consumers and jeopardize their brand's allure.

But fearlessness is Rei Kawakubo's hallmark. Last week in Paris, her Comme des Garçons Homme Plus show boldly tackled war as a theme.

"To hell with war," she proclaimed backstage to fashion critics looking for a comment to dissect the label's Autumn/Winter 2025 collection.

That defiance echoed through her designs, starting from the army boots rendered useless with their upturned toe boxes, as if frozen mid-kick, a symbol of rejection, or maybe hinting at functional boots made useless and looking therefore surreal, a commentary on the absurdity of conflict through the language of fashion.

Military tailoring took center stage, but in true Rei Kawakubo fashion, it was deconstructed and reimagined into something wholly subversive. Olive-green jackets, hallmarks of the military attire, were spliced and reassembled, while brass buttons multiplied into impractical double rows, subverting their original utilitarian purpose.

In some cases there were juxtapositions between one design and the next: one jacket had extra long sleeves, another looked shrunk. Pockets, once regimented and orderly, were rearranged at unexpected angles or transformed into exaggerated cargo pockets that, large enough to rival the ones in Elsa Schiaparelli's "Cash and Carry" collection in the early '40s, spilled onto genderless skirts.

Slashes on a jacket, rather than conjuring images of wounded soldiers, evoked Renaissance tailoring tricks designed to reveal sumptuous fabrics beneath. Tailcoats sprouted from jackets, cheekily signaling that these were not uniforms for war but garments for happier times. Military fabrics collided with pinstripes, floral prints, and jacquard waistcoats, adding a formal or poetic and romantic layer to the narrative. Tartans, reminiscent of traditional kilts and of uniforms again, added a historical nod to rebellious self-expression.

Military tropes were turned inside out, transformed into a joyful moment of defiance: multi-zippered shorts hinted at punk irreverence, for example, rejecting conformity, while collaged fabrics and unexpected tailoring created a playful anarchy that dismantled the rigidity of militaria.

As the collection progressed, the disciplined greens gave way to vivid colored panels, destabilizing the formality of double-breasted silhouettes and introducing an element of play.

Even the classic army helmet was stripped of its utility, transformed into an exotic decorative object and covered with fabric as if it were a turban. Synthetic hair, and flowers also adorned them.

This interplay of flowers and war carried an undeniable resonance for those attuned to the Ukrainian conflict: in 2022, a brave Ukrainian woman confronted a Russian soldier, inviting him to put the sunflower seeds she offered him into his pockets, so that they would have bloomed when he died (the sunflower is Ukraine's national symbol).

But this collection wasn't a vision of dead soldiers sprouting flowers from their bodies, but a bold and unruly subversion of military codes, a sartorial rebellion, a two-finger salute to war. Kawakubo's collection didn't evoke a regiment marching to battle or a military parade; instead, it celebrated the irreverence of steadfast, unrelenting, and creative peace, resilience, and resistance.

Were these models joyful rebels and free-spirited hippies? Conscious objectors who had read Wilfred Owen and rejected "the old Lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"? Who knows, maybe they were just representations of all of us, a wide humanity living in a permacrisis and fighting against adversities conscious that, while the oldest lie of war is still alive, so is the indomitable spirit to resist.

Just days before the International Day of Commemoration in memory of Holocaust victims and the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation (January 27th), the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) released its first-ever, eight-country Index on Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness.

The survey reveals a concerning global trend of diminishing knowledge about basic Holocaust facts. In the surveyed countries – the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Romania – large portions of the population are unaware that 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. Alarmingly, among 18-29-year-olds, many believe the number of Jewish victims has been exaggerated.

Shocking as well, some respondents admitted they had never heard of the Holocaust, or weren't sure if they had, before taking the survey. When asked to name concentration camps, killing centers, or ghettos, nearly half (48%) of Americans could not identify a single one of the more than 40,000 camps established during WWII. Auschwitz-Birkenau was the most commonly recognized name.

Despite this lack of knowledge, the majority of respondents believe that something like the Holocaust could happen again today. On a more hopeful note, there is strong support for Holocaust education: in every country surveyed, more than nine out of ten adults agree that it's crucial to continue teaching about the Holocaust to prevent such atrocities from happening again.

However, the survey also highlighted the concerning spread of Holocaust denial, misinformation, and distortion, particularly on social media platforms like X and Facebook. "The alarming gaps in knowledge, particularly among younger generations, highlight an urgent need for more effective Holocaust education. The fact that a significant number of adults cannot identify basic facts – such as the 6 million Jews who perished – is deeply concerning," Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference stated in a press release announcing the survey. "Equally troubling is the widespread belief that something like the Holocaust could happen again, underscoring the critical importance of educating people about the consequences of unchecked hatred and bigotry."

There are many ways to educate ourselves, and for younger generations, the graphic novel format may be an ideal choice. Several authors have employed this medium to tell real stories or create equally compelling fictional narratives.

From today until February 10th, there's a special exhibition entitled "Holokaust c komikse" (Holocaust in Comics) showcasing comic book illustrations from graphic novels about the Holocaust at the Old Town Library in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The exhibition covers a wide spectrum: from biographical accounts to imaginative storytelling, historically accurate reconstructions and intimate portraits, including works such as Paolo Bacilieri's Ettore e Fernanda, (Ettore and Fernanda), Lorena Canottiere and Julian Voloj's "Bartali, la scelta silenziosa di un campione" (Bartali, the silent choice of a champion), "Una stella tranquilla: Ritratto sentimentale di Primo Levi" (A Calm Star: A Sentimental Portrait of Primo Levi) by PIetro Scarnera, and "X-Men: Magneto Testament" by Greg Pak, illustrated by Carmine Di Giandomenico. These artists approach the Holocaust from a variety of angles, using different narrative and artistic styles.

Paolo Bacilieri's "Ettore e Fernanda" tells the remarkable story of Ettore Modigliani and Fernanda Wittgens, who devoted their lives to art as a means of preserving humanity and educating the public. Modigliani, the director of Milan's Pinacoteca di Brera, famously shipped over 900 masterpieces of Italian art to London for a major exhibition in 1930. His antifascist beliefs and Jewish background eventually led to his dismissal, forced confinement, and professional persecution under the fascist regime.

Fernanda Wittgens, his brilliant assistant, succeeded him in 1940 as the first woman in Italy to lead a major museum. She heroically protected the Pinacoteca's treasures from bombings and looting during WWII, was imprisoned by fascists for helping Jewish families escape, and played a key role in the museum's post-war reconstruction.

Through the evocative imagery and vibrant colors of Lorena Canottiere, and the meticulously researched writing of Julian Voloj, "Bartali: La scelta silenziosa di un campione" tells the story of Italian cycling champion Gino Bartali, from his sporting triumphs to his secret work during World War II, helping Jews escape Nazi-Fascist persecution.

After the enactment of racial laws, Bartali, at the request of Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa, joined the Delasem underground network. Using his bicycle as a courier, he transported secret messages and forged documents, assisting countless Jews, both Italians and refugees, to evade the horrors of Nazi-Fascist persecution. This life-threatening act of heroism, which he never boasted about, earned him Israel's recognition as "Righteous Among the Nations" many years later.

"Una Stella Tranquilla" offers a fresh perspective on Primo Levi, looking at his time in Auschwitz, but also exploring his career as a writer and scientist. This graphic novel combines biography, documentary, and fiction, drawing from photographs, book covers, and personal artifacts, such as the copper-wire masks Levi created, to bring his multifaceted life to the page.

"X-Men: Magneto Testament" takes a different path, following the origin story of the X-Men character Magneto and tracing the life of young Jewish boy Max Eisenhardt, fighting for survival in Nazi Germany and the horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Some of these graphic novels were translated into other languages, others are only available in Italian, but the real-life protagonists behind these stories stand as powerful symbols of resilience amid darkness. It is of crucial importance to remember their legacies because, as Primo Levi wisely said, "All those who forget their past are condemned to relive it."

The exhibition will close on 10th February with a special event featuring comic book expert and curator Nicola D'Agostino.

In the previous post, we explored how art details resonate within contemporary fashion collections. Yet, the dialogue between art and beauty is equally profound. Nearly a year ago, Margiela's Spring/Summer 2024 Artisanal collection rocked the fashion world, reviving the forgotten grandeur of fashion as spectacle. But it wasn't just the collection, the narrative and the presentation that broke the Internet. One of the highlights of the show was indeed Pat McGrath's visionary makeup artistry that transformed the models into ethereal porcelain dolls, their skin gleaming like polished glass.

Speculation ran wild as everyone scrambled to identify the products responsible for the otherworldly finish.

Social media exploded with experiments and theories, but McGrath kept the beauty world guessing until she revealed the secret: a combination of products was used to achieve the look. In that circumstance she also teased the release of a Pat McGrath Labs product promising the coveted glass finish, something she had been working on for three years.

The wait is over: launching on January 30th, Pat McGrath Labs Skin Fetish: Glass 001 Artistry Mask promises to deliver the sought-after porcelain glow.

This peel-off, pore-blurring mask features a blend of hydrating glycerin, rose flower water, and soothing allantoin. Designed to create an ultra-luminous, lacquered radiance, the mask is as versatile as it is transformative.

The application process is straightforward as shown on Pat McGrath's site: brush it onto bare skin or over makeup in thin layers, ensuring each coat dries completely before adding another.

Whether you're channelling Margiela's fully-lacquered runway look or opting for a subtler glow by highlighting your cheekbones, the mask forms a smooth, glass-like film that can be effortlessly peeled away. For the full porcelain doll effect, however, you'll need to keep facial movements to a minimum as the mask's delicate lacquer won't hold where there's motion.

Can we detect any similarities between this porcelain effect and any paintings by a modern artist? Well, the finish evokes some of the hyperrealistic textures in Michaël Borremans' haunting paintings. Like his art, the effect teeters between the surreal and the sublime, bridging the gap between beauty and art with spellbinding allure.

Michaël Borremans shifted his focus from photography to oil painting, employing traditional techniques inspired by masters like Velázquez, Manet, and Degas. His works carry the richness of historical painting while incorporating an unsettling, surrealist aura.

In 2008, Borremans exhibited his works at the Zeno X Gallery in Antwerp: the show was entitled "Painted Fruit" and explored the themes of masks and the lustrous sheen of glazed surfaces. The invitation card to the show was indeed a painting by Borremans representing a porcelain figurine View this photo).

One standout painting in the show, "Mombakkes I (Mask)" (2007-2008), depicted a close-up of a figure whose ambiguous identity amplified the work's emotional complexity. The figure's exaggerated makeup evoked the playful spirit of commedia dell'arte, with arched brows, blue eyeshadow, glossy cheeks, and bright red lips. Yet, the figure's gaze looked hollow, distant, and profoundly melancholic and his smile seemed frozen and disturbing, looking more like a sneer.

This contrast between outward merriment and inner desolation actually encapsulates the tension in Borremans' work. His aim is not to portray realistic portraits but rather to create masked figures imbued with dramatic, often ambiguous, narratives. As the viewer is drawn in, the painting reveals the truth about the sitter who is actually wearing a mask, made of a transparent material. In another work, Borremans also depicted the discarded mask, stripped of its illusionary joy once removed.

The mask itself heightens the illusion of humanity while simultaneously exposing its artifice. The recurring motif of masks in Borremans' oeuvre, such as in "Untitled" (2008), where a woman lies with a similar mask on her face, embodies layers of reality, oscillating between appearance and authenticity. Masks in his art function as a metaphor for modernity's preoccupation with surface, concealment, and the blurred boundaries between what is genuine and what is contrived.

The hyper-glossy finish by McGrath mirrors Borremans' surreal transparency, both invite us to explore the interplay of illusion and reality. The skin mask is therefore a tool for performance and transformation, embodying narratives of identity, fragility, and artificiality. Like Borremans' works, it examines the dualities of fake and real, depth and surface (and in fashion surface and appearance reign supreme…), and permanence versus ephemerality. 

The artistry mask offers a playground for these contrasts, allowing users to engage with its creative potential. But the opportunity to experiment with the Skin Fetish Mask may be fleeting – the product will be available in limited quantities, so those ones eager to explore its glassy allure will have to be quick to snatch it as soon as it goes on sale. 

In Jacques Audiard's trans musical crime drama "Emilia Pérez", Zoe Saldaña delivers a standout moment as her character, Rita, a lawyer in Mexico City, attends a gala with politicians.

The scene is electric: Rita, in a ruby red velvet suit, glides from table to table, exposing scandals and corruption through the fiery lyrics of "El Mal." Under the spotlight, the velvet transforms into more than fabric, it becomes a symbol of power, temptation, and rebellion, casting Rita as a devilish, kinetic force commanding the room.

With two Cannes awards, four Golden Globes, and thirteen Academy Award nominations, "Emilia Pérez" is a cultural sensation (albeit in Europe; in Mexico the film has been criticized for trivializing the drug war violence, misrepresenting trans people, and lacking authenticity since it was shot in a French studio by a writer-director who doesn't speak Spanish and features only one Mexican actor…), while the crimson velvet suit, a bold sartorial choice by costume designer Virginie Monte, is poised to inspire trends in fashion, anticipated by what we've already seen on the Autumn/Winter menswear runways in Milan and Paris.

Velvet appeared with renewed energy in the men's shows. Saul Nash showcased it in a modern tracksuit (View this photo), but Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani took the textile to sumptuous new heights.

At Giorgio Armani, velvet dominated the A/W 25 collection, shaping loose, fluid silhouettes: harem pants, softly structured jackets, and sweeping coats in shades ranging from ruby red to forest green, navy, dove, charcoal and cognac.

Textural play added depth, with herringbone-patterned velvet paired with velvet fedoras, culminating in a finale of formal black velvet designs.

Armani himself took his bow in navy trousers and a double-breasted black velvet jacket.

Emporio Armani offered its own take on velvet's versatility. Here, the fabric shimmered with a tweed effect, appeared crushed for a tactile edge, and was reimagined in tapestry-inspired bomber jackets.

Black velvet dinner jackets adorned with intricate floral embroidery brought a poetic grandeur to the collection. Across both runways, velvet emerged as a sophisticated statement, equal parts heritage and innovation.

In Paris, Willy Chavarria chose the American Church, a historic landmark in the 7th arrondissement, as the setting for his runway show in which he combined his Mexican-American heritage and LGBTQI+ culture. Once the first American church established outside the United States, its roots date back to 1814, while the current building at 65 Quai d'Orsay has stood since 1931.

Against this hallowed backdrop, Chavarria's signature broad-shouldered boxy suits with oversized '70s collars took on a solemn, liturgical air, especially his opening look: a deep ruby red ensemble in which fashion clashed with ecclesiastical grandeur, something symbolized also by the rosary beads worn as necklaces or carried by the models in their hands. 

The show was not centered on religion, though, but rather on a spiritual sense of humanity, one that calls for salvation through embracing our shared humanity. This message was powerfully reinforced in the show's finale, where models gathered together and Chavarria joined them while an excerpt from Episcopal minister Mariann Edgar Budde’s speech at Trump's inauguration in which she urged the president to "have mercy" on immigrants and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, played.

Championing humanity and compassion is a central theme for the designer, who unveiled at the show a sweatshirt emblazoned with the phrase, "How we love is who we are." This piece is part of a collaboration with Tinder aimed at raising awareness and funds for the Human Rights Campaign and LGBTQIA+ rights.

Besides, an olive velvet suit from the collection will be auctioned on eBay (some of the designs on this runway were archival pieces that Chavarria sourced on eBay) in support of the California Community Foundation Wildfire Recovery Fund, which aids fire recovery efforts in Los Angeles.

Velvet, particularly in opulent shades of red, has long been synonymous with power and refinement, a connection often immortalized in portraiture.

At the upcoming Sotheby's auction, "The Vision of Aso O. Tavitian: Master Paintings & Sculpture" (a series of four sales offered during Master’s Week New York at the beginning of February 2025), the fabric finds its historical echo in several works. 

For instance, Bartholomäus Bruyn the Younger's portrait of Nicolaus von Gail and Sophie von Wedigh captures the upper-class elegance of 16th-century Cologne, with ruby velvet sleeves and gilded jewelry symbolizing wealth and influence.

In the same auction there is a portrait by Ambrosius Benson featuring Saint Mary Magdalene reading an illuminated manuscript in which she is portrayed like a grand lady, wearing a wine-colored velvet gown with crimson sleeves and lynx fur.

Benson often portrayed Mary Magdalene in the act of reading and wearing a red velvet gown, as proved by a 1520 painting in the archives of the National Gallery in London.

Yet, no piece in the auction embodies velvet's allure quite like the portrait of Margaret of Austria by the Master of the Magdalene Legend, painted circa 1495. The artwork presents a young Margaret, just fifteen years old, poised in a gown of sumptuous red velvet trimmed with ermine.

Her half-length figure is set against a simple green backdrop, which highlights the richness of her attire. Her calm gaze foreshadows the formidable leader she would become: Princess of Asturias, Duchess of Savoy, Governess of the Burgundian Low Countries, and a distinguished patroness of the arts.

This connection between velvet's symbolic legacy in art and its modern reinvention in fashion resonates strongly in recent collections.

In "Emilia Pérez", Zoe Saldaña's crimson velvet suit becomes a metaphor for rebellion and power, while on the runways of Chavarria and Giorgio Armani, the fabric is reinterpreted for the contemporary wardrobe and continues to signify elegance, authority, and artistry.

Modern fashion trends often draw inspiration from historical dress and artistic details immortalized in paintings. While many designers pursue authorized collaborations with contemporary artists, others subtly weave art history into their collections, creating a dialogue between the past and the present.

Kim Jones, the creative director of Dior Homme, exemplifies this interplay between fashion and art.

Known for his curated partnerships with contemporary artists, Jones also integrates elements reminiscent of classical works into his designs. In Dior's A/W 25 collection, certain details appear to have been borrowed from historical portraiture. For example, Jacob Ferdinand Voet's portraits of women often featured gowns with ribboned sleeves, where the ribbons added both functional ruching and decorative elegance. Jones reinterpreted this motif in men's jackets, incorporating sculptural ribbons along the sleeves (a nod, perhaps, also to the attire of King Louis XIV of France – View this photo and View this photo).

Besides, some of his slashed tops that echoed historical costumes as well, were accessorised with a chatelaine, a medieval and 19th-century "tool belt" that predated pockets in women's garments. Once clipped to a belt, chatelaines kept essentials like scissors, thimbles, watches, household seals and keys within reach, making them indispensable for housewives and housekeepers.

Their utility is well-documented in 16th-century portraits of Central European women and even in whimsical illustrations like Albert Robida's or Walter Crane's (for the fable "The Frog Prince"). On Prada's A/W 16 men and women's runways, the chatelaine re-emerged with a modern twist, transforming this functional relic into a statement piece.

But there are further art and historical references in current collections. We've previously explored how statues with their cloaks draped below the hips have influenced fashion, inspiring fitted skirts or dresses with sculptural draping around the waist. This motif resurfaced on Juun J's runway where pencil skirts and trousers seemed to melt or drip down the hips. Aside from creating a sculptural silhouette this gave the chance to the designer to play with different and contrasting materials and use this trick to display his tailoring skills.

So, the next time you explore a fashion collection, take a moment to look for references to paintings, sculptures, or other art forms. It's a fascinating exercise that not only sharpens your eye but also deepens your understanding of the creative connections shaping our visual culture.

When Donald Trump held a press conference in January 2017, just before his inauguration as U.S. President, he appeared before the press alongside a table piled high with manila folders (View this photo). He claimed these documents represented the agreements he had signed to transfer control of the Trump Organization to his children, effectively relinquishing his business responsibilities. The stacks of folders were striking but enigmatic; journalists were told they could not examine their contents. This left many wondering, were the documents genuine, or were they mere stage props? The mystery was never resolved.

Artist Thomas Demand found this scene fascinating and reinterpreted it in his 2017 artwork "Folders", meticulously recreating the table and stacks of documents in his signature style. Demand's photographic depiction of the recreated moment is now featured in his retrospective exhibition "The Stutter of History" at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) in Taipei, Taiwan (running until 11th May).

The exhibition showcases around 70 works spanning Demand's 30-year career, highlighting his unique approach at the crossroads of sculpture and photography.

Born in Munich in 1964, Demand studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts, later earning a master's degree in fine arts from Goldsmiths, University of London.

In the early stages of his career, Demand crafted paper and cardboard sculptures, using photography primarily to document his creations. However, this process prompted him to reflect on the contrast between three-dimensional objects and their flat, photographic representations. This shift in perspective led him to focus on creating objects specifically for the camera, a method that has since become the foundation of his practice.

Thomas Demand meticulously reconstructs life-sized scenes of seemingly mundane images sourced from mass media, using paper and cardboard. He then photographs these crafted scenes to produce images that closely resemble the originals. Once the photographic phase of the project is complete, he destroys the models, leaving only large-format photographic prints as the final artwork.

Through this process, Demand challenges the perception of photography as an inherently objective or truthful medium, emphasizing the gap between reality and representation, a tension similar to what journalists faced when confronted with Trump's enigmatic stack of papers.

The subjects of Demand's works often stem from news photographs depicting significant historical or social events, reimagining pivotal moments that have shaped Western or global narratives.

Some of his earlier works explore German history through iconic images of events he did not personally witness but learned about through visual records. Examples include the bomb-damaged room where Hitler narrowly survived an assassination attempt in 1944 ("Raum / Room," 1994) and the film archives of Nazi-supported filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl ("Archiv / Archive," 1995).

Demand has also recreated scenes tied to major world events. These include the hotel room in Russia where Edward Snowden, the American National Security Agency whistleblower, first stayed as a fugitive ("Refuge Series," 2021); the storeroom of the Wildenstein Institute in Paris, where missing artworks were recovered during a police raid ("Vault," 2012); and the abandoned control room of the Fukushima nuclear power plant following the devastating 2011 Tōhoku earthquake ("Kontrollraum / Control Room," 2011).

Thomas Demand's works also explore the interplay between artificial and natural worlds. In "Clearing" (2003), he used over 270,000 paper leaves to construct an idyllic forest scene with sunlight filtering through the canopy. The work reflects humanity's idealized and often unrealistic vision of nature as pure and untouched.

Another ambitious piece, "Grotte / Grotto" (2006), was created using 36 tons of cardboard. Demand studied hundreds of postcards of caves, commonly sold in gift shops worldwide, to construct a life-sized grotto complete with stalactites formed over millennia.

"Grotto" is the only model among Demand's works that has been preserved, and it is on permanent display at the Prada Foundation in Milan. Demand's relationship with the Fondazione Prada is longstanding: he collaborated with filmmaker Alexander Kluge and stage and costume designer Anna Viebrock for the widely praised exhibition "The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied" that was on view at Fondazione Prada in Venice in 2017.

At the entrance to the TFAM exhibition, Demand's wall-sized photographic wallpaper "Hanami" (2014) creates an immersive experience inspired by nature. Made by reconstructing countless cherry blossoms from paper, the piece invites viewers to reflect on the fleeting and cyclical nature of life, evoking the delicate and ephemeral beauty of the blossoms in full bloom.

In 2008, Thomas Demand shifted focus from monumental subjects to more personal and everyday themes, resulting in his "Dailies" series.

Using the same meticulous methods – transforming images into paper sculptures and photographing them – Demand drew inspiration from snapshots he captured on his mobile phone. These seemingly banal scenes include an empty yogurt cup with a pink plastic spoon left on a shelf, a bar of soap balanced on the edge of a sink, a pile of letters spilling out from under a door, and cups placed in the holes of a chain-link fence.

Through the "Dailies" series, Demand crafts an autobiographical narrative, celebrating the understated beauty of life's minutiae. By weaving the mundane into his work, he presents a more holistic view of history: one that encompasses not only monumental global events but also the quiet, everyday details of individual lives.

These unremarkable yet evocative moments encourage viewers to reflect on the importance of the countless images we take, share, and consume obsessively on social media and messaging platforms.

Demand has also ventured into stop-motion animation, using the medium to explore motion and time. In "Pacific Sun" (2012), he recreated viral surveillance footage showing a cruise ship cabin battered by rogue waves off the coast of New Zealand. Tables, chairs, lockers, paper plates, and computer monitors slide back and forth chaotically. Demand spent months reconstructing the tumultuous scene frame by frame, using paper and cardboard to capture its bizarre, almost whimsical energy.

In "Balloons" (2018), a string of balloons tied to a red plastic clothespin drifts lazily across a brick and concrete sidewalk, propelled by the wind. The balloons themselves remain outside the frame, their presence suggested only by shadows dancing gracefully on the ground. These shadows, accompanied by the swaying of tree branches and the occasional flutter of fallen leaves, transform a fleeting urban moment into a poetic meditation on movement and light.

In 2011, during his residency at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, Thomas Demand initiated his "Model Studies" series. Departing from his usual practice of reconstructing images through sculpture, Demand turned his focus directly onto the preparatory paper models created by architects and designers. His photographs capture abstract, fragmented elements within these models, exploring the creative process behind their design.

His fascination with models and architecture has also led to collaborations with renowned international architects like David Chipperfield and Rem Koolhaas, on projects ranging from exhibitions and installations to architectural building designs. Demand also appeared four times at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

The "Model Studies" series includes the provisional maquettes of figures such as John Lautner, one of America's most influential modernist architects, as well as contemporary architectural firms like SANAA. It also extends to unexpected realms, such as the radical paper dress patterns of fashion designer Azzedine Alaïa (a delightful nod for fashion enthusiasts). Together, these images unveil the profound role of paper in art and design, offering a glimpse into the creative and structural underpinnings of the objects and spaces around us.

Through layers of reproduction and translation from one medium to the other, Thomas Demand’s works reveal the inherent gaps in our perception of truth. While history persists in collective and individual memory as images, his ghostly creations underscore how fragile materials like paper can carry the weight of both personal moments and world events. Besides, by exploring the tension between photographic representations and reality, Demand questions the inertia of image culture and the paradox of perception. As he puts it: "I guess the core of it is making the world into a model by redoing it and stripping off the anecdotal part, that’s when it becomes an allegory, and the project becomes a metaphor. Making models is a cultural technique – without it we would be blind."

Image credits for this post

1. Thomas Demand, Folders, 2017, C-Print/Diasec, 125 × 195 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Taipei Fine Arts Museum. © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

2. Thomas Demand, Archiv / Archive, 1995, C-Print/Diasec, 183.5 × 233 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Taipei Fine Arts Museum. © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

3. Thomas Demand, Kontrollraum / Control Room, 2011, C-Print/Diasec, 200 × 300 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Taipei Fine Arts Museum. © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

4. Thomas Demand, Pacific Sun (still), 2012, Video, 2.02 min, stereo (3,050 frames). Courtesy of the artist and Taipei Fine Arts Museum. © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

5. Thomas Demand, Refuge II, 2021, C-Print/Diasec, 160 × 200 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Taipei Fine Arts Museum. © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

6. Thomas Demand, Grotte / Grotto, 2006, C-Print/Diasec, 198 × 440 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Taipei Fine Arts Museum. © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

7. Thomas Demand, Hanami, 2014, UV Print on Non-Woven Wallpaper, Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Taipei Fine Arts Museum. © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

8. Thomas Demand, Daily #22, 2014, Framed Dye Transfer Print, 82.3 × 58.5 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Taipei Fine Arts Museum. © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

9. Thomas Demand, Starling, (Model Studies 4), 2020, Framed Pigment Print, 135 × 172 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Taipei Fine Arts Museum. © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

10 – 17. Installation views, "Thomas Demand: The Stutter of History", Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan. Courtesy of Taipei Fine Arts Museum.