Xiao Li of The Marshmallows!

July 13, 2013July 13, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

Xiao Li, a Chinese designer of RCA FASHION London is one of the most exciting designer of the year! Her amazing, over large costumes in a marshmalow colour palet are very precised and made in with high technology. Plump pastel silicone garments moulded from knitwear feature in this collection by Royal College of Art graduate Xiao Li. And this knitwear doesn’t look like a simple now, made by a grandma. It’s, I would say, looking like if it was blew up or something.
“Traditional knitwear is more soft and shapeless,” Li told Dezeen. “I wanted to find out a new way to present knitwear and was influenced by Modern architecture and 60s Balenciaga.”
It all sounds pretty sophisticated, but these mind blowing fabrics are very wearable and easy. “I wanted to make sure my collection is innovative but still wearable,” she said. And my fav look is the one with the pink dress with organza bottom- looks stunning. And the boots… Plastic rules!

The Cabinet of Couture

July 5, 2013July 5, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

“A cabinet of curiosities was an encyclopedic collection in Renaissance Europe of types of objects whose categorial boundaries were yet to be defined. They were also known by various names such as Cabinet of Wonder, and in German Kunstkammer (“art-room”) or Wunderkammer (“wonder-room”). Modern terminology would categorize the objects included as belonging to natural history (sometimes faked), geology, ethnography, archaeology, religious or historical relics, works of art (including cabinet paintings) and antiquities. “The Kunstkammer was regarded as a microcosm or theater of the world, and a memory theater. The Kunstkammer conveyed symbolically the patron’s control of the world through its indoor, microscopic reproduction.”[1] Of Charles I of England’s collection, Peter Thomas has succinctly stated, “The Kunstkabinett itself was a form of propaganda”.[2] Besides the most famous and best documented cabinets of rulers and aristocrats, members of the merchant class and early practitioners of science in Europe also formed collections that were precursors to museums.” Wikipedia about Cabinet of Curiosities…

The Valentino Couture show was a poesy of fashion and art. No more to write, but just to ply your eyes with beauty by Pierpaolo Picciolini and Maria Grazia Chiuri!

Men’s: Extraordinary. London SS14

June 17, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

Well I was really excited about the SS14 Collections for man- and mostly for London ones. You know, Gucci for man is always about coats and shirts. Dior is black and white. Dolce and Gabbana is always into Sicily, etc. So here we are in London, the town where MOST talented young designers do their jobs. This season I was waiting for J.W. Anderson. TRAGEDY. I will not show this on blog, because this is just to terrible. If you think of Anderson this season, you see a boy in a skirt and in a midriff. Yyyyuuu. Who also didn’t do best was Sibling. First collection was super cool with all these knitts and so on. Now there are less knitts. And nothing else. But the designers I introduce here impressed me. Some less, some more. I am insanely in love with Richard Nicoll prints that are SO GOOD! Craig Green was also superb. TOPMAN… You will see. And Chris Kane… Aw, LOVE IT!CHRISTOPHER KANE_____ Chris is getting even better and better in his print skills. He mixes elegance with colour just as at Woman’s and Man’s. He is a real shooting star of this fashion year. These 3-D, structural human face t-shirts are so amazing with the strong colours. In reality, I see that Kane uses some kind of high tech in his clothes, because this cool coat with “waves” doesn’t look like normal cotton. Same as this yellow tracksuit. A wish. I am already up to that red face tee!TOPMAN DESIGN_____ That was like Isabel Marant, but for man. Just slightly. The flower embroiderments on sweaters and shirts looked cosmic with these shades. Still thinking if I hate it or love it. Maybe I would wear this black shirt that comboys wore on their mustangs… But only for a carnaval!

ALAN TAYLOR______ A absolvent of LCM, just as Craig Green. Looks bad, but it is still original idea. And lets hold to that. A linen, gray top with attached elegant linen, gray jacket. It would look together (one on other) better and stylish, but not UNIQUE. And should be always UNIQUE if we talk ’bout London.AGI & SAM_____ A pair of designers thought of casual clothing in a colourful edition. I can’t say I am really shocked or something- This is all about perfect Britisch tailorship with a mix of modernity and a colour splash. My one hundred favourite is the orange coat. So summerish and my style!ASTRID AGREN_____ This girl knows (or maybe not) what a man should wear every summer. Mint colours, loose tracksuits and of course her biggest bestseller… white lace t-shirt. Well. Would love to wear this mint sport suit, but would look bad in this lace. And I don’t thik that men look god in lace- oppositely, lace is for women. I don’t know how modern time it should be, but for me lace is for ladies. And I don’t like it. This is visibly a gender mixing that paradoxally I like,. Yes I wrote that lace for men is a bad idea, but at the same time I think that it is always good to experiment! For now bravo to Astrid!RICHARD NICOLL_____ That was the best London collection of this season. Richard Nicoll. His womenswear is a bit boring, but menswear… SO COOL! The snake prints with these men taken from ancient painting look like a collage of Linder Sterling. The varsity jacket and sweatshirt look really good with all these sweatpants… Nothing more to say. Just a wish for more collections like this and… my size available on MrPorter.com!CRAIG GREEN______ This is a human art. The texture “installations” that Craig Green is known for are just awesomely mind blowing. It looks like if a colour splash exploded from a body of a man. Last season it was all dark, but now the surrealistic textures are all dyed with ink… If someone prefers something darker, Craig thought of a faceless serial killer (my idea!). This model look really scary without his “face” but bound with dark fabric and junky sweater with leather patchworks. Just where is his knife? In these junky-patchworked-sweatpants? My total thought of the collection- OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD!

Fashion is Art, Art is Fashion

June 13, 2013January 6, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Fashion was and is and will be influenced by art and design. How? In geometry, form, fabric, color, flower detail, a paint spot. The Louis Vuitton SS13 was all influenced by Daniel Buren geometric installations. The most dirty punk collection of AW13- Saint Laurent- had the flower motives from Yves Saint Laurent private collection of furniture. Givenchy Pre Fall 13 collection add by the way print similarities to the CH07 by Hans Wegner armchair! In this crazy art world of trends, changes, cults, everything has it’s replacement. If we talk of Eames chairs I think of a Givenchy SS13 dress and Jil Sander AW12 coats that are so lite and delicate. Just like Ray and Charles Eames furniture! Oh, and my less known to most interest are of course furnitures and specifically- chairs!

The New Yorkers

June 8, 2013November 3, 2013 | Design & Culture by Ed

The Resort 2014 is already arriving everyday with tones of new collcetions, and it’s the time when the the hottest designers of New York already went for a nap, and the Europeans have just woke up before the Resort/Haute Couture Fashion Weeks. So here it is- a short review of Resort’14 in New York, that covers Proenza Schouler, Altuzarra, Balenciaga (it’s Parisian, but for me, because of Wang as head, it’s New York), Derek Lam and Jason Wu. So lets begin with… The PS brothers, Proenza Schouler!Well, Proenza Schouler is getting every season more mature and colourless, as you can see. Creme, white and grey colours, comfortable forms and warm prints. And it looks very similar to the Pre-Fall collection. There is no excitment, because clearly Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez stand for practicality, and their fantastic unique ideas are on the other side. Sad, because that was really different from others. Now it’s a bit Ralph Lauren- boring, classical.From some time I really love what Joseph Altuzarra is doing recently- first he did a amazing AW13 collection, then took Stella Tennant as a muse… The resort is how he said, sensitive and very femine, but not as sexy as his past ones. We’ve got some wild west pants here and a bit cowboy shirts mixed with modern elegance. Beautiful fur scarves, white dresses, lace and gold, do really match Altuzarra style! No, I’m not crazy. Balenciaga officially IS Parisian, but since Alexander Wang is the creative director, it lost all Parisian Chick. The collection began from Wang’s visit at Cristobal Balenciaga Museum. Yes. Then, Alex did nothing more, but copied the archives and made them black and white. When Ghesquiere designed Balenciaga, it was inspired by archives, but it was futuristic, edgy, modern. Now, with Mr. Wang it looks only into past, and just makes a first look that it’s SO FRESH bacause of the colour palette. I thought it won’t be so bad. Now even Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent is much more better for me.Derel Lam maybe is not a newcomer, but for sure a shooting star of NYC Fashion. This resort was minimalistic, eometrical and full of inovative fabrics. The dresses are at the time perfect for a shopping at Bergdof’s Goodman, for a run in Central Park and as well for a dinner in Nobu Tribeca. Is it a New York Celine? For now I see big future for Derek!Jason Wu suprised me this Resort season. I usuall didn’t really like Jason Wu’s collection because they were always so formal. But, this time I am pleased! Lots of new materials, fantastic paradise prints, jeans jacketa and midi skirts, plastic trench coats, pink bra’s, transparent lace dresses… There is really a lot of telling. For sure Michelle Obama won’t wear any of these, but it looks more affordable than ever! Jason Wu, big bravo’s for the best (exequies with Marc Jacobs galmorous collection I wrote few days ago)!