The Swelle Life

Floral Friday! Papery Printed Porcelain from Bath

This past weekend I went on a girls' trip to visit a friend in Bristol (no one makes toast like you, Sophie) and it included a visit to dreamy Bath, which is a must when in town. We had gorgeous autumn weather and I really wished I had my camera, but I left it at home so I wouldn't be holding up the group or miss everything that was happening. I took lots of pictures in spring of last year which you can see here here here and here. (Though I do find my old photos a bit cringe-worthy so if you look, do it quickly, eh?)

While roaming the shops in Bath I popped into Rostra & Rooksmoor Galleries - I couldn't resist a turquoise-painted shop - and saw a collection of works by local ceramicist Janine Roper which immediately attracted me due to their Delftware influences. And then they really intrigued me when I noticed they weren't poured into moulds but had a papery effect in that they were obviously hand-formed. I didn't get her name (must work on that) but the woman at the gallery was really helpful and explained that the artist rolls out the porcelain into sheets, cuts and shapes it and then screenprints it. That is is so neat! She uses mostly traditional cobalt blue oxides and draws her print design from vintage 'Sunday Best' tea sets and other domestic items from her life.

I had to take one home and decided on the jug, a charming little piece that stands about 6" high. I pictured delicate flowers in it but really wanted to actually use it, as a jug. But I wasn't sure if that was a stupid idea (that happens a lot with me). Was it safe? Would I break it? I got all excited when I read the artist's statement the lovely woman gave me and saw the words "pour exquisite drinks from her range of pitchers of all different sizes." Permission! I've been displaying the jug on my aqua French side table in my living room, then last night when I was putting a tray of tea together I took it into the kitchen and filled it with milk. This was exciting to me. Is milk exquisite? No, not unless it comes from an exceptionally beautiful cow. But it made my tea ritual much nicer.

I know what I want to do in my next life. Study ceramics in Bath. That sounds pretty good to me.

You can see where the porcelain is folded, giving it a papery effect

The spout has been applied as a separate piece but it appears seamless from the exterior

Photos and collage © The Swelle Life

Cupcake Monday! Simply Beautiful Wedding Cakes

In any kind of design, simple is the toughest look to get right. The risk is a bland, underwhelming result if the lines, details and quality of the materials and craftsmanship aren't elegant and refined. Wedding cakes included. (But at least if it's a dud you can still eat it. You can't eat a pair of boring beige pants.) Maisie Fantaisie is my favourite for simple at its very best and most special. And if I ever get married again I'd want their blush pink two-tiered cake with perfect rows of tiny sugar pearls - just kidding honey! (About the wedding, not the cake.)

Mine was blue with three wide but shallow layers and simple flowers here and there. Not nearly as impressive as these but it caught my eye (you know me and blue) and I went for it without a further look so as not to obsess about it and check it off the list. (Bridezilla I was not. Wifezilla, probably.) The cake was tasty but generally forgettable. One cake I will never forget is my friends' which had a custom made bride and groom topper that looked remarkably like the two of them. Before the cake cutting it was crudely snatched off by a rambunctious young nephew who wanted to play with it, and when he realised it was made of sugar he began to suck on their heads! American Bridal has some fun and unique wedding cake toppers for all kinds of themes, including a groom piggy-backing his bride on skis! Mine would have been a lone groom looking around nervously – I was 20 minutes late for my walk down the aisle. (I blame a friend who locked herself in the bathroom of my suite to get ready when I needed to get in!)

And I have a small confession - I ate nearly the entire cake myself. But not at once! We did start to cut and serve it of course but I think a lot of people didn't trust a blue cake so we didn't cut the whole thing, had the better part of the upper layers were left. So we brought it home and froze it, and I had a piece a day until it was gone. I regret nothing!

Photos: Maisie Fantaisie

LFW: Fred Butler SS12 Teaser

It's going to take me a few more days to edit the rest of the shots I took at Fred Butler's mindblowing SS12 presentation at LFW on Sunday, but I couldn't wait to show one of my favourites - a head piece or hat, lilac-pink (one of the best colours ever) hexagonal sunglasses and fabric earrings that follow through on the sorbet softness of the voluminous scarf/top/jacket (in the full shot it's like a longer bolero style). The fact that I can't quite define it exactly is one of the reasons I love Fred Butler.

More to come!

Photos © The Swelle Life

Floral Friday! Wallington's Walled Garden

Now we enter the walled garden at Wallington at last. After a beautiful walk in, past the mansion and past the lush lily pond with baby coots frollicking about and a bed floating in it, I came upon the wall and went through the wood and iron door. On the other side was the most stunningly landscaped garden with sheep grazing on the green hills that overlook this romantic dreamland.

 
 
  

I love the texture of this plant that I don't know the name of.

 

 
    
   

 

   
     

 

Photos © The Swelle Life

Floral Friday! Contrasts at Wallington

I went back to Wallington in Northumberland today to photograph their stunning walled garden which I missed when I visited last year. And had I actually known what I was missing I wouldn't never have been able to leave. Last time, I spent a couple of hours in the mansion, particularly in the dollhouse rooms which you can see here and here (I never did post anywhere near what I had altogether, I hope to dig out the rest one day).

These gardens quickly became my new favourite place and I'd love to go back with a picnic and just take it all in without my eyeball pressed against the viewfinder. A serene, huge pond covered in lily pads with baby coots (a black marsh bird) running atop greeted us on the way to the garden gate, and I couldn't pull myself away. (Somewhere my husband is nodding firmly and slowly with eyes glazed over.) Oh! And there was a red and white bed floating in it! Come back next Friday to see what I'm talking about.

To start, here are some of my favourite shots from a small patch in their enormous and breathtaking garden. The gardener seems to have wanted to create a bit of drama and planted a few varieties of vivid flowers with leaves so dark they appeared black. I especially love the first photo, the flowers appear as if they were painted.

 
 
  
 
 
 
 

Photos © The Swelle Life

Dior Fall Haute Couture...Things Have Changed

On Monday, the house of Christian Dior presented its first haute couture collection without John Galliano. We all know why. At this point, even dogs know it, so I won't go into it.

Names for an illustrious replacement have been tossed around. But for now, the house is dealing with the situation as Alexander McQueen did with Sarah Burton and have promoted the second in command to the lead designer role. Bill Gaytten got to do what he wanted for Dior this time out. I suspect he was behind the previous few collections as well, under Galliano's direction or creating in the style of to make it appear so. Who knows. Fashion is a glorious illusion in all kinds of ways.

At first glance of the opening looks, there's no doubt which brand this collection represents. The sharply feminine Dior silhouette that celebrates the tiny waist with those full flirty skirts is alive and well, but that seems to be a ploy to ease us in before things take an unfamilar turn. It's clear someone is trying out a new vision.

Style.com's Tim Blanks identifies three architectural influences, two of which I can plainly see as they're quite literal:

The Memphis movement of the 80s

A Frank Gehry skirt with the Memphis movement accenting the look in Stephen Jones' pastel pink sphere hat which is total fun

And I'm guessing as to where Jean-Michel Frank figures in, is it within the texture as opposed to structure?

  

And here's where things boomeranged in a new direction before returning to quintessential Dior style in a finale of those voluminous ball gowns (above). I think an entire collection like this (below) would have resulted in even sourer faces in the seats.

Then things went pear-shaped. Tim Blanks described the most awkward conclusion to the show:

"Then came Karlie Kloss, dressed as a Pierrot, sad clown all alone in the spotlight as the soundtrack failed and glitter showered down. But the stardust missed her by this much. And that felt like some kind of crazy cosmic metaphor."

 

Was this spectacle meant to be a replacement for, or distraction from, Galliano's famous end of show bow? Surely. And it may have worked, if it worked!

Seems a certain ghost is having a play at Dior.

Photos from Style.com

Versailles Series: Marie Antoinette's Chateau, the Petit Trianon Pt. 1

Originally built by Louis XV between 1762-1768 for his long-term mistress, Madame de Pompadour (who did not wear a pompadour), the Petit Trianon was eventually given to Marie Antoinette by Louis XVI when he became the King of France (and let's not forget Navarre) in 1774. Unlike the elder mistress of his grandfather who died four years before its completion, Queen Marie actually did live in it.

At 19, she'd already been married for five years after being shipped off from Austria by her mother to marry the future king of France and didn't care much for her royal duties.  She spent much of her time in the (relatively) little chateau and its gardens with her few friends, and later with her children.

It is said that even King Louis wasn't allowed to enter his wife's domain without her permission (impressive) and that he really didn't mind. (You can take that both literally and figuratively - he was more into his hobbies than his wife and they didn't consummate their marriage until 1777, according to a letter Marie Antoinette wrote to her mother. However, considering they were 15 and 14 years old when they married it makes the whole thing far less gross. )

And our tour continues! (The really cool rooms start with the next post.) As you walk into the grounds of the Petit Trianon you see...

 
 

 

     

  

 

Have you seen that Seinfeld episode where George's dad puts a pool table in a tiny room and every time someone goes to shoot they slam their cue into the wall, themselves or someone else? This room reminds me of that.

 
 

 

  

 

 

 

 
  

Everything must be gold!

 

 

 
   
 
 

 
 

 

Lots more to follow and it gets better. This tour is a slow burner!

Photos © The Swelle Life

Cupcake Monday! Fiona Cairns' Royal Creation

You may not be aware, but two Fridays ago there was a wedding in England between one of the world's lesser known princes and a girl he met at school. It went off with minimal fanfare and left the British populace largely unaffected but for a vicar who did cartwheels up the aisle after the ceremony, though rumour has it a red squirrel crawled up his pantleg and the gymnastics were a peppy attempt to loosen it from his knickers.  It's not known whether the squirrel has since repented.

Kidding aside, the cake was pretty spectacular. Sometimes you see the results of what wealth can afford people and you think "What a waste of money." Not here, at least in my opinion. Renowned British cakemaker Fiona Cairns created the official version in an all-white, flower and ensignia-adorned traditional fruitcake.  Its delicate and elegant and not at all pretentious, in relative terms, compared to some ostentatious celeb cakes which were five and six plus feet of what would appear to be subjective beauty. Norway's Crown Prince Haakon and his bride Mette-Marit had a 7 tiered wedding cake of raisins and rum that weighed 140 Kg, measured 2.69-metre high and was decorated with Viking ships. Hmmm...I hope it tasted good.

Fiona talks about how she felt when she was asked to make the Royal wedding cake and explains the 'language of flowers', a Victorian tradition that Kate asked her to incorporate into the design of the decoration:

 

The delicate details:

Fiona Cairns with her Royal masterpiece

Photos © AP

Interiors & Exteriors: Saltburn-by-the-Sea

  

Now I love our beach, the aptly named Longsands that spans Tynemouth to Cullercoats, and the neighbouring idyllic King Edwards Bay with the Priory Castle overlooking the North Sea from its beautiful, craggy cliff. But last weekend I really fell hard for the beach and seaside community of Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire. We were visiting our lovely friends in their new home in Yarm for the first time and they spoiled us in all kinds of ways, and one of them was taking us to their local beach to share the beauty.

Not only was the beach gorgeous and expansive with an impressive look-out pier, there were all kinds of charming little shops, restaurants and ice cream stands, and of course anything one needed to surf (no, I didn't, that would look ridiculous).  It was a clear, sunny day and people from all over had come to pretend it was spring. I have never seen a queue so long for fish and chips, and in England that's saying a lot.  (It was worth the wait!)

This post  is for this week's Interiors & Exteriors feature and it's long enough sticking to the theme, so I'll post the beach shots separately. Are you craving fish and chips now? I am.

In the town, just a quick uphill walk from the beach, there were some great shops. I was already lagging behind and we needed to eat lunch so I didn't go in, but I wanted some photos of the wonderful window displays of Northern Lights Interiors

As I was snapping away I saw a woman smiling from inside - you can see her below! and I smiled and waved. As I headed down the road she came out after me and asked if I'd take photos of the storefront, they'd been having trouble getting them without cars in the way and I was happy to oblige. I even had a man ham it up for me!

 

We passed a random rusted-out door that appeared to lead to nowhere with a keypad right in the middle. I'll bet if you pushed the right numbers it would transport you to another dimension. Prove me wrong!

  This photo would have been so much cooler if I'd waited just 10 more seconds...

 

On display at Arts Bank were lamps and tables in vibrant patchwork by Jane Atkinson and a metal sculpture by Ray Lonsdale. Each contains a 'secret meaning' in the form of an object placed in the head. Now, if I'd read the brief beside this life-size contemplative man instead of taking a photo and reading at home, I would have looked and been able to tell you what was in his head! 

 
   

Photos by Denise Grayson

LFW: Bora Aksu's Exquisitely Structured Textures and Knits

I LOVED this show. Turkish born and London-based Bora Aksu spoiled us with all kinds of delicous details worked into his highly structured pieces.  It was one of those shows where I found myself making audible 'ooh and ah' sounds as I snapped away. And that's how it should be!

In a predominantly black, silver and grey palette with pops of emerald green every few looks, there were intricate and bold knits; lace and panels of sheer chiffon and leather - the latter which at times resembled a breast plate, like a glam Joan of Arc, and was seen plain as well as embossed, outlined with large stitch holes; jackets and shirts with reconstructed tuxedo elements; harness belts; flirty skirts; and a clear plastic-y material that showed up in sleeves, panels and skirts for a more structured transparency than the chiffon could offer.

As you can see, in many of his outfits Aksu used all of these elements to create complex, highly textured garments to stunning effect.  You want to take them in your hands and have a good look and feel at everything that's going on - front, sides and back. The collection is a perfect balance of hard and soft, the silks and knits tempering the rigidness of the leather to make it something wearable.

 
 
  

  

 
  
 

 

Photos by Denise Grayson

Chanel goes to the ballet; Givenchy to Japan

Riccardo Tisci followed up last season with a kind of 2.O of Givenchy's winter anatomy references with his new obsession: Japan. The pieces in the photos below aren't the most laboriously detailed ones but they're my favourites, and the backs of all of them are even more impressive than the front. However, it's worth mentioning that according to Tim Blanks, one really out there outfit required 2,000 hours of cutting and 4,000 of sewing, and a single pair of trousers had 90 meters of plissé. Now that's haute couture! You know my feeling that your eyeballs should desperately plead 'May I have a rest, please?' upon viewing an haute couture show and your brain should fizzle from over-stimulation and amazement.

Karl Lagerfeld delivered what we always want from Chanel. Pretty, delicate, youthful beauty, this time inspired by light and the ballet. There were skirts and dresses over skinny pants and leggings, lots of floaty chiffon - I don't need to mention boucles and tweeds do I? and - flats! At first I wondered why the models looked so 'normal', and that was because they weren't Amazons in their little ballet shoes. I have to say I prefer the freakishly elevated walk down the runway but hey, at least there were no clips for the blooper reel.

Kristen McMenamy closed the show:

 

 

 

 

Photos: Style.com

Cupcake Monday! The 'Most Beautiful Cake I've Ever Seen' Edition

 

Cutting into this cake should be considered attempted murder. I've seen a lot of gorgeous cakes since Cupcake Monday began in 2009 but this has to be the most beautiful yet. This stunning wedding creation is from pastry chef Erin Gardner of New Hampshire's Wild Orchid Baking Company.

Cameos, a skeleton key, pearl buttons and delicate brooches spill out of a vintage jewellery box, all edible of course - if you can bring yourself to do it! And know that I would fight you if you tried.

Here's a closer look at the detail:

As for what's inside it could be bricks for all I'd care because I'd never bring a knife to it! Just a little lick, maybe.

Here are more gorgeous cakes from Wild Orchid Baking Co:

 
All photos from Wild Orchid Baking Company

Intergalactic Transport Blackmarket: For Quilts, of Course!

 

 

Can you say your quilt is made by an Intergalactic remnants trader? You can, if you buy one of Jimmy McBride's aka Stellar Quilts hand embroidered creations. I have never, ever seen quilts - or anything else from an independent craftsperson/designer, well he's a textile artist actually - promoted this way. I pity anyone trying to top this film featured on Etsy for ingenuity, it's a tall order. Traditional craftsmanship combined with forward thinking has limitless potential for new concepts that appeal to what lies within so many of us these days - a yearning for that nostalgic feeling, and the wonder of technology. They can co-exist! I love McBride's message that no matter how advanced we as a civilisation become, we will always need comfort and warmth.

Do you remember when you were a teenager and started going over to guys' houses (only when parents were home, Mom and Dad if you're reading this - and they were gay!) and you first saw their bedroom (as you passed the open door on your way to the bathroom) and you saw that they still had a space-themed bedroom? McBride's quilts are the perfect transition piece from space-loving boy to man, so if you're 15 and you're still into your planets and stars and spaceships and beginning to feel a little uncomfortable about it but you aren't ready to pack it all in for the grey or navy striped bedspread, you don't have to leave it all behind - you can still have planets and stars plus nebulas, spacestations and a scene depicting an "attack on the energy collectors surrounding V838 in the 3rd quadrant occupied by the Reni"! Each quilt tells a part of McBride's intricately woven space odyssey so if you really want to indulge in the fantasy, oh boy can you! And you've invested in a piece of art you can really live with.

Pillar in the Carina Nebula

 

Hey, wait, it's ok Mom and Dad! That's (my brother) John's room I'm remembering! It was like being in Battlestar Galactica. Which reminds me that the only non-girlie thing I ever wore was Battlestar Galactica running shoes when I was 9. I don't know what happened there but they must have been the only pair Buster Brown had in my size at that particular time my feet grew another centimetre. That's the only place my mom would take us because they measured our feet properly and sold proper shoes. In other words, they didn't sell Sparks. I remember one day we had to take off our shoes at school for some reason and I was the last to grab mine from the pile to put back on, and the teacher held them up and said 'Whose are these?' and I sat there looking around thinking some dummy doesn't even recognise his own shoes. The other kids had to remind me they were mine. I tried to pretend that of course I knew they were my shoes, I was just taking my time getting up. Me and those BGs, we just didn't gel.

Wedgwood's Beautiful Baubles and Blues Pt. 2 (and Teacups!)

So I'm back with more Wedgwood baubles and the teacups I was talking about in my last post. Thanks to Alexandra for letting us know in the comments that the baubles are not only still available in the U.S., they are on sale! And they have even more designs! Now why does the U.S. site have more options than the UK site? It's a British company! Stop being stingy at home, Wedgwood, they've got more than they need yet we're deprived. Oh, the injustice.

I'm kidding of course (almost). I so want that teacup and saucer so I can display it on my mantle year round. And how about that three-tier cake? Oh, wait - back up. I just checked and they're gone, as they should be!

As for the teacups, I was at first lusting after Wedgwood's Cuckoo collection, those are three with the large floral patterns in the first collage which come in pastel blue, pink, green and peach. Then I saw the cup and saucer set from their Harlequin collection with the gold stripe deco handle and I instantly cheated on the Cuckoos. And the pink and gold daisy mug, wow. If I had those two I think I would have to put all of my food in a blender so I could drink out of the cups as much as possible. (Ew. On second thought I would just look at them a lot. I eat a lot of pizza.)

The dotty cup and saucer in 1950s minty turquoise - the absolute best colour in the world in my mind - is from Royal Albert. I have one of their sets coming for Christmas, I had to order my own gift as it was low stock and I would have missed out. Does that mean I can use it as soon as it arrives? It's a gorgeous lilac floral set of just one cup and saucer and I can't wait to have it, but that was before I saw the deco cup and lost my mind. Even the box is a dream.

I mentioned in the last post that I was going to do a little story on how I've brought blues into the house. (And by that I mean colours and not PMS. Though to be fair both qualify.) Then I realised that it's not the best time for photos as I've got Christmas decorations up, but I will do it. Especially now that we've got an antique tallboy sideboard painted in a saturated cerulean blue which I found today through sheer luck at our local market. For £80. And they delivered it free. That never happens to me, I'm not that girl! It made our kitchen and I can't stop staring at it. After the holidays I'll do my show and tell. I'm going to stare at it now! (It smells a bit funny but that's ok.)

Wedgwood's Beautiful Baubles and Blues

Let me preface this with something I hope I don't have to say too often: Don't get too excited. These are all sold out. But they are just so pretty and as this blog is a collection of beautiful things, well, I just want them on it. I'm like putty when it comes to powdery pastels and icy blues (our Christmas tree is white with arctic blue baubles) and Wedgwood is synonymous with slate blue pottery, hence 'Wedgwood blue', as well as Royal service and the Peter Rabbit dishes from our collective childhood. Wedgwood was established by innovative ceramacist Josiah Wedgwood in 1759. Can you imagine the pride in knowing that 250 years later your legacy would live on and flourish in the spirit in which it was conceived and nurtured? Except that I don't think he was doing designer collaborations back then.

I have three of their little dishes that I bought at the Tynemouth market for I think £1 each. At that price you can blow your nose on them, but that's not really good use now is it? Below are two of them along with a handpainted gold leaf Japanese dish from 1877 which is the thing that the younger children of friends feel compelled to run up to and slam with their fist. It's a miracle it's still intact. It only cost £2.50 but that's not the point. Pocket change for an antique and people still barter if you can believe it. I witnessed one woman trying to get a bargain on a figurine that was 50p. I'll pay 35p for that but no way I'm paying 50! Those vendors stand out there all day and may only make a few quid for their trouble. You might as well just steal it when she's not looking, that would be more dignified!

 

Okay, at this point I was going to show the Wedgwood teacups I'm in love with - collecting tea cups is a phase I've been going through for about five years now and I don't think it's a coincidence that it began when I moved to England - or go on about how I've brought blue into our house as it's the colour I'm most happy living with. I'm going to take photos of all the blue, in whatever form and do a show and tell. Seeing as it's an ungodly hour I'm going to save both for follow ups. Part two coming tomorrow...

But here's a preview in the meantime, I didn't stop until I found the exact blue I wanted for the walls:

How Not To Embarrass Yourself at a Party

 

1. Don't arrive at your holiday party going to town on a kebab.
2. Drink in moderation to later avoid needing and therefore asking your fellow revellers if they can lend you a Tena pad (or is that just me?)
3. Check that your new exorbitantly priced heels are not dragging half a toilet roll behind you. 
4. No matter how good you think you are at doing The Robot - don't.
5. And most importantly, make an entrance in a gorgeous dress that is guaranteed to bear no resemblance whatsoever to the latest high street window display, for there's a good chance if you do, you won't be the only one representing. You'll be spending the night hiding behind pillars and portly gents while guests are mentally comparing who styled it better. Who needs that? (And you had to pay for it!)

The charm of being an original amongst the identikit masses is one of the reasons I exclusively offer one-offs and limited edition pieces in Swelle Boutique, and luckily I know some very talented people who specialise in doing just that. The three dresses above, left, are one-offs from Rowanjoy, a long time Swelle favourite who uses new and vintage fabrics to create her enchanting, adorable pieces that make girls look dreamy. The Wrapped Up strapless styles are the perfect party dresses and the Obscura halter can go holiday soiree as well as resort.

On the right: It doesn't come more special than an original print created by an inspired and inspirational artist who is behind many of the prints from the London fashion week catwalks. Rob and Kate Burton are the duo known as embodied.creative, and Swelle Boutique is thrilled to have the opportunity to offer their exquisite, limited edition, made-to-order digital art print dresses to you. Thoroughly contemplated imagery is richly layered on fine silks to produce complexity and beauty in colour and texture, as seen in the stunning Babaji and Moonshadow dresses. A collection of gorgeous scarves in a choice of silks and sizes is also available.

 
Wholly Cow is an English label of one-off and limited edition pieces that have beautifully handmade touches such as contrasting crocheted collars and sleeves, and hand carved oak toggles specially made for the dresses, all seen above. Fabrics are luxe and include silk crepe and Italian tweed. The lovely tweed in the toggle wrap dress above has pretty turquoise flecks throughout the pattern, complemented  by the crocheted collar. The black shift can be made in a variety of lengths with your choice of colour for the mohair silk crochet sleeves. The cobalt version is a one-off that also looks great as a top with skinny jeans.

And if you're more of a smart top and skirt girl, there's Mitra's Victoriana mini-collection that offers a seriously figure flattering outfit of the Parlor Gathering top adorned with a list of sweet details, and its perfect accompaniment, the Promenade Pencil skirt with a lacey kick out the back which you can wear demurely or bold depending on your mood. Finish the look with the Victoriana Jacquard wool coat. All are one-offs.

By buying at Swelle Boutique you are supporting independent designers in the UK, Italy, Canada and the United States who personally create the high quality, original work that bears their name, from conception to final stitch.

Georgia Hardinge SS11: La Belle et la Bete

 

I came upon the sculptural and delicately textured creations of Georgia Hardinge at London Fashion Week's exhibition at Somerset House and somehow resisted the urge to rub my face in a sleeve of soft rufffles made of layers upon layers of chiffon ribbon. The London designer's debut catwalk collection ‘La Belle et la Bete’ is in reference to the muse for the collection, Jean Cocteau. Georgia takes inspiration from the surrealism and mystique of his narrative style, combining ideas from French Baroque and romanticism through to early punk. Yes, there's a lot happening here, and it's all harmonious, exquisite and wearable.

 

 

 

 

Lookbook photos courtesy Georgia Hardinge, others by Denise Grayson

Cooperative Designs SS 2011: Bollywood Babylon

  

Please bear with me - I'm still catching up on London Fashion Week posts!

Upon entering the Cooperative Designs SS 2011 presentation at the Groucho Club, I felt as if I'd walked into a scene from Henry and June - if Maria de Madeiros and Uma Thurman had been wearing knitwear in Indian desert hues with leather and stud accessories in their 1920s Paris salons. A barefoot model in a striking graphic monochrome dress was playing a lively ragtime tune on the piano in the art deco-ish room which added to the charm of the scene. And it was a scene.

There's always one face that stands out amongst the models and most keep their observations to themselves (it's so banal to notice the models), but there was one major exception here: an utterly enchanting woman in her 60s or maybe even 70s who was the talk of the room and would have stolen the show had it not been so rich and robust in colour, texture and style:

 

Hang on, I'm not done yet...she's too awesome:

 
Two of the girls were talking with their heads together and it reminded me of, again, Henry and June:

 

 

 

 

 

The official transportation of Bollywood Babylon?

  Photos by Denise Grayson @ The Swelle Life 

Unapologetic, Sweet Lushness at Chanel

I find Chanel's collections reassuring. Being such a fan of lush textures, pastels, and girlie details and cuts, I sometimes feel my preferences are under-represented in a forward-looking design industry that views minimalism as the future. Or that cheap, overdone, saccharine concoctions, like those borne of Jordan's Pepto Bismol-pink-soaked brain are over-represented, which is worse for my case. Chanel reinvents the feminine, adorned woman so exquisitely and so enchantingly with each collection that if they were the lone fashion house cultivating this look, it would still be more than enough to convince the rest of the world it's an aspirational way to dress.

An umbrella shaped like a huge hat - why haven't we seen this before?

 

Quiver.

Ines de la Fressange walked in the show, officially ending her long rift with Chanel, looking even more gorgeous than one would expect.

I'm not usually a fan of denim at Chanel, in the past it has thrilled me as much as a pair of GWGs, but the jeans on the right look like proper Chanel rather than prison issue. Speaking of prison issue (with classic Chanel boucle jackets just to confuse things further):

But isn't that little boy cute? You have to be this tiny to get away with that outfit. I'm assuming he's Brad Kroenig's son, he looks just like him. Imagine trying to explain to a two year-old that he's going to walk in a Chanel show, one of Karl Lagerfeld's last, as he's picking his nose? That's the life.

Photos: WWD.com

LFW: Little Shilpa's Tulle, Chiffon and Lace Dreams

 

I love the exhibition at London Fashion Week, it's a quick and easy way to discover new designers doing exciting things in one building, while seeing your favourites' new collections in person and have a chat about them. I walked in to Somerset on the Sunday through the Embankment entrance where hat designers were grouped. It's a tough spot to be seen. I saw some very unusual hats, some odd for the sake of it, it seemed.

Then I noticed the Little Shilpa display in the corner by the door. I guess someone has to take that lonely spot? I saw delicate shapes and fabrics in the form of tulle, chiffon and lace in slate blues, taupes, grey and rose, and I floated over to them. I wasn't crazy about some of the presentations on male mannequins that look like Ken dolls, but I was still intrigued. And Ken looked ok with it, really ok with it. I fell in love with the chiffon and lace neckpiece hanging from thick chain. I wanted to touch it but Ken's eyes told me 'Noooo.' (That imaginary detail reminds me of a story. Years ago in Toronto I took a part-time job at a boutique while working at my communications job, thinking it would give me extra money. We all know where that 'extra' money went, and then some. One day the owner was helping a Japanese girl who was trying on jeans. When she came out of the changeroom he knelt down behind her and began adjusting something in the 'seat'. I swear, he wasn't a perv. She said sternly 'That not for feel!' He had no idea what she was saying so he kept doing what he was doing. Then she started swatting his hand away and he still didn't get it so I had to go over and say 'THAT NOT FOR FEEL!' The poor girl was traumatised. But I think she still bought the jeans. He should have given her a discount for the 'feel'.)

Back to Little Shilpa. I didn't see anyone there so I didn't speak to anyone, and the website only offers a teeny bit of biographical information in easily digestible form - we want to know about you, Little Shilpa! There's a comprehensive CV for download, however, if you've got the time. (I had a quick skim and after two seconds I was feeling grossly unaccomplished.) What I did gleen is that Little Shilpa is Shilpa Chavan, a Mumbai-based designer of one-off headpieces, jewellery and accessories for retail and runway. (I kind of already knew that.) You can see examples of her commercial and runway work after my poorly-lit photos.  

 The pieces above and below were made for Manish Arora at London Fashion Week, 2005

Life-size flowers and styling for W ad campaign

LFW: Felder Felder 'Born to be Wild'

 

'Born to be Wild' was the name of Felder Felder's SS 2011 collection, inspired by 'an imaginary muse, a rebellious downtown girl fascinated by the free spirit era of Easy Rider, The Trip and the Lizard King, Jim Morrison."

Whatever Annette and Dani Felder do, it's cool. Leather and studs have been a big part of their signature look and they figured here as well. The leather, black and electric hues of blue and pink, were slashed up exquisitely like twisted slats on jackets and pants - the texture echoed on printed dresses - while the studs came in the form of metallic flecks to add soft, pretty texture to leather and chiffon. A collaboration with ic! Berlin on sunglasses also featured Felder Felder's unique studding.

By this point it's apparent that no wardrobe is complete without a piece of Felder Felder - I still can't get their leather and chiffon jacket from AW 2010/11 out of my head!

Felder Felder showed back to back with Hannah Marshall and drew a frenzied crowd that included Paloma Faith in some crazy gold and black headgear (see below, left), Erin O'Connor, and Kanye West's ex-front row companion, Amber Rose. Curious photos will follow...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos by Denise Grayson @ The Swelle Life

LFW: Hannah Marshall's Sublime SS 2011

 

I posted the beauty shots from backstage at Hannah Marshall the other day and mentioned that the eye makeup followed the sequence of the clothes which transitioned from black to lightest grey, which you can see below. I only saw the sheer, black outfits backstage so when I went out to watch the show I was super delighted to see the exquisite sculptural details on the grey pieces, some of light chiffon in lush layers like the underside of a mushroom, others more rigid and of a heavy cotton, it appears. A rectangular piece on the back of one otherwise backless dress reminded me of angel wings. The clothes were simple and feminine with emphasis on texture, through the mix of fabrics which also included suede in the form of a harness in the opening look, and the glorious 3-D pleated details. No accessories necessary. I loved this collection and will follow Hannah Marshall closely from here on. She's proven that the hype around her is justified.

 

 

 

 

Photos by Denise Grayson @ The Swelle Life

Paris Haute Couture: Givenchy, Gaultier, Valentino et Chanel

 

Valentino's super-sweet collection, nicely balanced with a bit of weighty symbolism in the form of cages and underpinnings that tie in with its title The Dark Side of First Love, comes courtesy of Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli (proving to be the right appointment?). This is the couture collection that made me squeal. The society ladies just won't know what to do with this one. 

Karl Lagerfeld indulged in moody-hued, embellished and beaded tapestries, sometimes with matching boots (not so sure about those but then, that's so Chanel). The first two looks are my favourites, they are divine:

The embellished transparency combined with the textured striping of this skirt and top from Jean Paul Gaultier really appeals to me. And I just love this photo of Karlie Kloss in the chic trench looking exactly like a designer's fashion illustration come to life. The girl is not yet 18 years old and is the most sophisticated presence on the runway, and no one walks quite like her:

 

Dita von Teese modelled two outfits for Gaultier. Now, I'm not sure what's going on here but I'll assume it's just an unfortunately timed photo and she's not actually doing the robot, or vogueing. Or both.

Riccardo Tisci doesn't want to show Givenchy couture anymore, he will only do private appointments so the clothes will be that much more exclusive. They were far enough out of my reach as they were but thanks for drawing that line in the sand a little deeper. Well, that's one way it was told. Another way is that he opted for intimate presentations so the details could be fully appreciated (I like that one better.) A quick glance is all it takes to see that these opulent dresses and jackets are rich with painstakingly complex textures that are exquisite and never extraneous, and for me, that is haute couture at its most indulgent and best. And Tisci managed to do it without using black (one chocolate brown dress and jacket was close). Bravo. 

According to Style.com's Tim Blanks "He claimed his inspiration was Frida Kahlo and her three obsessions: religion, sensuality, and, given the painter's lifelong battle with spinal pain, the human anatomy. The zipper pulls were little bones, a belt was a spinal column re-created in porcelain." I'm a bit tired of anatomy as a theme as its been done to death in recent years (how many ribs and skulls can one take?) and Schiaparelli and Dali did it way back in the 30s, but when it's interpreted this beautifully - who cares?

Those white sandals look a bit incongruent, no?

Photos Style.com

Dior's Beautiful Blooms

Fans of flowers will be enchanted by Dior's F/W Haute Couture collection which celebrated the vivid colours and sensual textures of flora. And as we expect from high fashion there were some wonderful oddities to take things out of this world. Steven Jones created head pieces resembling florist's cellophane, which the models bee-like hairstyles - not 'beehive' like, they actually resembled the cinched abdomen shape of the little stingers - were wrapped up in, like a bouquet. The dresses were the usual Galliano ultra-feminine opulence, this time with some voluminous tulle skirts.

 

This is amazing hair:

And the prettiest flower of them all, the grandest of couturier/beekeepers:

Photos have been collaged using original runway shots by Monica Feudi/GoRunway.com

The Gorgeous Gardens of Cragside

 

Last weekend we took a drive through Northumberland to Cragside House, Gardens and Estate, a National Trust heritage site. We'd heard it was one of the most beautiful sites in the area if not England, and quickly remedied having been ignorant of it for so long.

We didn't have time or the energy to go inside the house which is like a modern castle (it's Victorian but that's modern in English terms). To get around the estate grounds requires a bit of hiking skill or at least hardy footwear, so I'll save the history of the intriguing Lord Armstrong for when do see inside this house of magic - the industrialist had the first home to be lit by electricity thanks to his inventive and resourceful nature.

This is a cottage on the grounds near where we had lunch (at which point I remembered that the Wolford cropped leggings I was wearing weren't fully opaque - especially when stretched thin ie. over the bum - and I was wearing a short baby doll dress over them and it was windy. And we were hiking up hills. Well, at least I wore the right footwear.)

The landscape is so lush and there were blossom bushes everywhere. Stunning, but allergy pills are a must next time. I got off easy with a few sneezes.

  

 

I took these at the formal gardens. Its beauty lies in the close-ups; it's not so much a garden that is constructed for grand scenery but rather for its individual elements, like this koi pond complete with lily pads:

 

 

 

There was a little strip of garden along one wall that had the most exquisite varieties of flowers...

 

...which I will continue in the next post with some photos of the amazing house and its 'largest in Europe' rock garden!

Couture Cadbury

I was on my laptop tonight (big suprise) with the TV on because that's the only way I watch it these days, when suddenly I found my eyes away from my monitor, held firmly by this image on the TV screen. A heavenly apparition - a figure in miles of layers of pale yellow chiffon that was flowing in and out like one of those ethereal deep sea creatures fluttering in the currents to an emotional score - was so jawdroppingly beautiful I wondered what the heck could this be? It's an advert on Comedy Central for Two and a Half Men for goodness sake!

I watched intensely until the end and anticipated the name that was about to appear on the screen, I hadn't a clue as to what it might be, there was no familiar pattern in this ad (ie. you always know a car commercial no matter who it's for). It was Cadbury's Flake. The delicacy of the chiffon layers a metaphor for the airy layers of the chocolate. You'd think I am now about to say 'I can't believe it, what a drag!' and that the bubble had burst, but actually I was thinking 'Respect.' It was most certainly an homage to Alexander McQueen's stunning Kate Moss hologram but this was no cheap rip-off. I watched it about 10 times it was so captivating. Yulia Lobova is the creature inside the heavenly vessel. Watch it with the view expanded. 

I still won't eat a Flake, they are way too sweet and I prefer my chocolate bitter, but the next time I see one I will give it an approving nod.

 

The Sublimely Exaggerated Knitwear of Kevin Kramp

Knitwear is arguably the most exciting thing happening in fashion right now. Innovative designers are taking the simple, traditional method of looping yarn and turning it on its head to create extraordinary sculptural shapes and complex and beautiful textures. Ultimately, they are reinventing knitwear and redefining what it means to us and how it relates to our bodies; much of it could easily be considered wearable art.

Kevin Kramp is one of these exciting and richly talented young designers who found himself intrigued with knitting well before the knitwear phenomenon exploded. The Minneapolis native began in the menswear program at London’s prestigious Central St. Martins, but found himself designing knitwear for each project. However, he couldn’t realize any of his designs as he didn’t know how to knit! After careful consideration he bravely made the jump to the knitwear program, having never knitted a thing in his life. Fast forward a few years to his graduation collection which caused a stir in the global fashion industry. Today he boasts several awards, sponsorships from the best of the Italian yarn manufacturers and has worked with many influential designers around the world including Richard Tyler and Carlos Miele. How’s all that for inspiration?

Over the course of our interview, Kevin relocated back to his native home of Minnesota - a move he had never, ever anticipated after working all over the world - to take on the prestigious role of Men’s Knitwear and Collection Designer for the upscale men’s label St. Croix Collections.

Here are our conversations:

One of the things that jumped out at me when I saw your work is that you’re of the ‘more is more’ ethos. Is this a part of a signature style or is volume something you explored with this particular collection?

Yes, it’s true! I do often max things out to the extreme, more IS more! This applies to my daily life as well! I can’t help but gravitate to more pattern, more colour, more shape, more more more, so the presence of all this consideration definitely is a signature of my work. However, your specific question to volume is a bit different – certainly I explore and push shapes to new areas, but they are not necessarily always voluminous, nor do I associate ‘volume’ with ‘more.’ Obviously we have seen form-fitting tops that are extremely maximal, and billowy tops which are plain and minimal. And to be honest, much of this collection is quite balanced to me, because I had pulled myself back from greater extremes in order to arrive at these ‘less extreme’ versions. This collection does not represent the outer limits of my capabilities of maximalism, but rather the satisfactory compromise I reached between my cuckoo tendencies and beauty.

 

I love that, ‘cuckoo tendencies’! Something every truly exciting designer must have! So, within the context of your own body of work this collection is a balance between the full-on and an honest consideration of what beauty represents. Do you think you were willing to look for that compromise because you’ve been able to experiment with your maximal approach as you say ‘to your outer limits of capabilities’? Or is there more work to be done there, more boundaries to be pushed? What was it that made you pull it back? I’m sensing it’s something about the maximalism that is that root of what drives you.

Well, I think that I have always balanced my full-on approach with what is beautiful, and that is not because I have already exhaustively explored my maximalist ideas and therefore must now limit them, but simply because many of my ideas and initial maximal work is hideously awful and ugly! I (happily) lose myself in experimentation, boundary-pushing, technique investigation, materials…to the neglect of beauty. After a good spell of stirring up my idea pot (many of which are ugly and hard to understand,) only then do I attempt to contextualize my ideas with what already exists in the rest of the world and the history of creation. This contextualization, or ‘compromise,’ is when I understand what of my work is very good, is beautiful, and what of my work should be hidden forever! Beautiful ideas often do not manifest into beautiful physical realities. It is my job, in the process of creation, to carefully consider the physical reality and honestly evaluate it regardless of its ideological inception. That is the hardest part…being honest with yourself.

Of course there is always, always more to be done in ‘pushing limits,’ in maximizing ideas and concepts (even if ‘maximizing’ means taking away.) I cannot imagine a point in my life when I will ever feel that I have satisfied all the exploration that is to be done, that I have ‘maxed out’ my maximalism.

That’s the beauty of creating, isn’t it? There’s no end to what’s possible. But as you indicate it’s also a challenge in knowing where to draw your own limits. It must be extremely frustrating to have a beautiful idea that doesn’t translate in reality. Have you ever taken an ‘ugly’ idea and made something beautiful out of it?

Well of course! So many ideas start with such promise, but then very quickly become ugly or lose their potential. This is just yet another part of  the  process that then requires careful thinking and strong decision making. Besides, life is often ugly, and undoubtedly I would not survive without rooting out the beautiful and focusing all attention on it! This ‘transformation’ process is inherent in living for all of us I think.

In the past decade we’ve seen a metamorphosis in what knitwear can be, it’s taken on a sculptural quality through the work of Sandra Backlund and Craig Lawrence and others, and your work in playing with proportion offers a new take on knitwear’s relationship to the body. I can’t think of a more exciting and innovative facet of fashion at the moment. What do you see for the future of knitwear?

I agree, knitwear is hot hot hot at the moment, I don't know why this bonanza of knit innovation occurred now, but it has and it’s damn exciting. But I honestly began (and continue) my work totally ignorant of the wider phenomenon of the growing sexiness of knitwear in fashion. I am just bizarrely excited by knitwear and all its potential…whether or not knit is hot on the runway, it’s going to be hot for me for a good long time. I never stop thinking about it! Ideas are a constant flow. There’s never enough, and always more. This knit frenzy will grow to be quite mainstream in the next ten years, of this there is no doubt. Knit is, or can be, simultaneously comfortable, casual, sporty, luxe and ultra high fashion. It’s easy, and immediately understandable. And much more difficult for the average person to make than is cutting and sewing basic fabric. Many people won’t wear oversized structured woven shoulders, but they will wear oversized piles of knit on their shoulders. Knit is intuitive, organic, much closer to the feeling of human experience. Wovens are forced, hard to understand, uncompromising. I can’t face those qualities in life anymore, I too easy crumble emotionally. I need the flexible, the sympathetic, the easy, for survival.

I think we can all survive - and flourish - on that! 

swelle.

All images courtesy Kevin Kramp

A Giant Helping of Sweet Fashion Week Leftovers

 

 

I spend so much time going through the collections gathering up images that get my adrenaline pumping but I don't have full days to sit and post all of them (there's so much in so little time!). But New York is so generous when it comes to giving the adorable-cool in countless incarnations that I couldn't just let these sit idle as this is my style. (I even have some London fashion week events to post still, ones that I was actually at. For shame, I know. There was just too much and as you can see under my banner I've got a little project I'm working on...)

And I added a little side helping of stunning at the end...

  

My daughter wears a grey pinafore to school but it can be bought anywhere and there are many different styles available. So that means I can make one for her. Considering she's only four and has many years of wearing grey Teflon-coated dresses ahead of her (really, they coat them in Teflon to make them stain-resistant), I think we need to make things as cute as possible and I'll definitely be referring back to this Cynthia Steffe collection for her custom uniform. (Whether I actually get around to that is another matter.) If only we'd had choices when I had to wear a uniform at my Catholic high school in Canada. Well, we did at first. They tried a colour code but white became cream, navy become light blue and grey became black denim. We blew it. And boy did they punish us. To this day I feel ill whenever I see burgundy and grey together in clothes - and guess what colours my daughter has to wear?

 

(Not exactly what you'd call 'adorable' but most certainly a cool femininity from Frank Tell)

Now, I don't believe I've ever uttered the words 'I can't wait to see the new DKNY collection!' before, but the latest is making me pay attention (and to be fair, the last two were quite good as well). And I'm pretty sure I've never been chuffed about black and brown together but add the baby blue floral prints and you get a striking combination that's totally fresh. I love these outfits.

 
This dress blows my mind.

How fun is Peter Jensen's set?

And now for the stunning I promised (many have already seen but I know others have not and it's too good not to share):

This collection makes me yearn for Christian Lacroix. Mary Katrantzou has outdone herself - yes, I do like the direction she's taking with her prints with the adding of ruffles and lace and mixing prints and textures while keeping things quite civilised.

I do love Basso and Brook (and am still stinging over missing out on an £85 t-shirt dress in a Cocosa sale last month). The outerwear in this collection is so cozy and lush, I can't imagine anything more indulgent on a brisk winter's day.

Photos: WWD.com, Style.com and SunoNY.com

Paris Fashion Week: A Pretty Parade

Marc Jacobs conjured his proper ladies once again for Louis Vuitton in full, swishing skirts and some intriguing jackets of leather that appeared to be moulded onto the models. The floral prints were so fresh and spring-like I had forgotten that this collection is for autumn. And who cares? When would you not want to wear these clothes?

He also made some interesting model choices - the bikini babes were out in full force and might I say they blended perfectly (though I thought Bar Rafaeli looked a bit lost in clothes): Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Noemie Lenoir, Karolina Kurkova and Laeticia Casta (though the latter two began their careers in high fashion). And surprise! Elle Macpherson, who wore the final look:

 

Ruffles both structured and delicate and lots of lace appliques from Valentino:

And Miu Miu's acid hues of vivid purple and orange make me long for Luella:

Photos: WWD.com and Style.com

LFW - Rachel Freire's Liberated Restraint

 

I'd better explain that title. But first a little background. I wasn't able to make London designer Rachel Freire's show Future Noir last Tuesday - part of Vauxhall Fashion Scout and a designer deserving of the attention she's commanding - as I was only in town until Sunday. However, I had the opportunity to see many pieces from her A/W 2010 collection up close and personal (the rest were still on their way) at the London a la Mode Pop Up Showroom which was heaving with amazing, diverse, independent talent. More to come on that...

A quick glance at the rack and the dress form beside it was enough to clue in that these were special, impeccably detailed, handmade pieces that needed my eyeballs and fingertips all over them to see exactly what was going on here. Rachel Freire's costume design background was evident in the pieces, they displayed elements of costume in that they made you pay attention and were almost other-worldly, yet they were rooted in the kind of clothes you would wear to a really cool club. Or to dance with a lobster around your living room. The point is, the woman (or man) who wears these clothes is someone who does whatever they please!

This tulle ruffle collar leather vest was amazing from the back but I didn't get a shot. However, this screencap from the show exhibits its peacock-like effect. Funny, it's the male peacock that has the pretty tail feathers and fans them to show them off and attract females and I'm pretty sure that's a guy wearing it in the show. Rachel explores the dark sexuality of the androgynous form with this collection and had both male and female models presenting the clothes.

Now for that paradoxical title! Rachel has a thing for garments of restraint such as straight-jackets and corsetry. She incorporates zippers, ties and intricate lacing into her many of her pieces, or uses a second-skin thick latex to craft a catsuit, among other crafty tricks. Yet there's this explosion of texture worked into some of her creations that whether it be an erect spread of tulle ruffles or shredded leather all entwined and reaching out from the body, there's a distinct feeling of uncontained, wild energy emanating from the source.

 

 

This catsuit was made with reflective strips that glowed when I used my flash:

The ribbons can be arranged any way you please by using the little rubbery loops:

 

A little raw-edged ruffle jacket that offers the apocalyptic feel that Rachel explores in relation to organic elements. She uses salmon skin and stingray in her work which offers a naturally derived texture that sits mysteriously next to the more ornate surfaces she painstakingly builds with her hands.

 

This suit made of thick latex was intriguing, it zips all the way down the front and under so you can get in and then seal yourself inside:

You can view Rachel Freire's current spring collection at her website. 

LFW - Martin Lamothe's Collaborations in Sculpted Leather and Crocheted Chain

This may look like someone messing around with leather, making it spiky for some reason and leaving it up to you to make sense of it or just keep on going. But take another look at what a collaboration between Martin Lamothe and leather sculptor Sebastian Vecchio actually produced:

 

right sleeve

left sleeve

Isn't that incredible? I wanted to touch the horses heads but I couldn't bring myself to, as if they would collapse if I laid my fingers on them. They wouldn't have of course but they appeared so delicate despite their substance.

Here's how they were made by Sebastian Vecchio:

 

And two other pieces that were stunning examples of hand workmanship:

 

This piece was so heavy, it was essentially made with rope of varying thickness

Mercedes Fernandez Mesa crocheted silver, gold and copper chain which was then handstitched into pleated tulle. I was in awe after seeing these pieces.

Milan Fashion Week - Swelle Favourites

Pollini

No, I didn't go to Milan as well. London was to be my one and only fashion week as my passport is with the UK home office with yet another application to stay here and I don't think they make exceptions for international fashion shows. (But they should. I wonder if my MP would be sympathetic?)

While Milan doesn't thrill me as much as some other cities there are a handful of shows that I get completely giddy about seeing once London is all packed up and gone, the ones that deliver what they do best season after season in fresh new pretty packages. Yes, I'm very set in my ways and I like what I like. Change just enough to keep things interesting but please don't betray my aesthetic hardline tendencies.

First up, Pollini. I was kind of expecting and hoping for more contrasting, fun prints from Jonathan Saunders, that's what I love about what he does for Pollini. But I find that whatever he winds up doing it's always a tight collection that I like no matter what, the outfits are always interesting and demand a long stare. The harsh-pretty bottle blonde with huge crimson lips was a surprise choice for autumn's Pollini girl but it works in the Milanese context and I kind of like it. These are cool clothes and I want that metallic blazer.

Albino

Give me a Peter Pan collar with ties straight out of Rosemary's Baby with stained glass window prints on trapeze style dresses with contrasting textured underskirts peeking out and I'm happy. Albino D’Amato proves here that girlie styles with retro roots have endless possibilities and to write them off as banal is just plain foolish!

Antonio Marras

Antonio Marras' spring 2010 vintage lingerie-inspired collection was one of my favourites of all time and for fall he carries through those feminine sensibilities for cooler weather. His thing is layering multiple textures and mixing raw edges with refinery to stunning effect, it always looks beautiful and feminine and never as if you just decided to wear everything in your closet at once. He does a great print, too. 

Luisa Beccaria

Luisa Beccaria is so dreamy. While I see her clothes as belonging in an angel's wardrobe (and I like that), sometimes a few dresses here and there can be a touch too precious, even for a romantic like myself. Not this time. The frou frou was replaced with clever pleating and ruching and any ruffles present were understated and delicate. The first third or so of the looks were done in dusty pale blues and that's all I needed to know. How gorgeous are those coats??

Marni

Marni. Come on, how could Marni not be here? Consuelo Castiglioni dishes out the fun every time. Most of the prints I skipped by after being temporarily blinded (busy!) but I threw in some of the more bearable for good measure (what's Marni without graphic prints?) She also used some of Gary Hume’s paintings on tops as a lighter alternative to the full body print look and ended with outfits in black that were like a whole bunch of textures having a party but still relatively well behaved. As with last fall she went big with the gloves, kind of like a chic version of a work glove - they look like you could fit both hands in there.

And one last thing...these two looks from Blugirl, Blumarine's little sister, are bordering on 'too precious' but stop just before they go over the edge, especially the second look with bouquet and all. But I still think it's sweet and charming. And it was nice to see furry without the fur. (And Missoni is amazing - who doesn't want to own a Missoni knit? - but I wasn't blown away by any one piece despite the incredible technical quality of some - so honourable mention it will have to be.)

Craig Lawrence A/W 2010 Film Presentation

As the title here suggests, Craig Lawrence presented his A/W 2010 collection in film at Somerset House during London fashion week. I had actually taken a video of it myself in the darkened room which was rather unsteady and had some guy's head that was in the way for about a minute, so I was glad to see an official version of the film on YouTube and spare you the amateur version. Not having seen any of the clothes in person it's tough to comment, but we can see that outrageous knitwear is still a love of Lawrence's as his 'pompom' girl would suggest (that's what that giant shrug made of metallic strips reminds me of) as is beautifully worked, intricately lush textures. All of his pieces are handknit and Cynthia F. of The Swelle Life's Designer Series, Knitwear had a hand in assisting with the collection. I'm hoping she can fill us in the materials used, there looks to be a complementary mix of all kinds of textures and fabrics.

(Email subscribers will need to click the the title of this post to view the videos directly from the blog.)

I was going to tell you more about Craig Lawrence but this interview from last summer with Lady Gaga will give you an idea about where his work comes from, and it's more entertaining:

London Fashion Week: Fred Butler Style in the Flesh

 

I spent three (very) full days at London fashion week and naturally I saw many fashion spectacles. I didn't take any photos, however, as the people in the more outrageous outfits kind of let the clothes do all the work, if you know what I mean (with the exception of Susie Bubble who is the first person I saw when I came into Somerset House on Friday, she has a presence beyond the spectacular shell - but no photo, I was in a rush). And then as I was heading out of Somerset House to get lunch on Saturday I saw this amazing vision in red that broke through the dull, heavy sea of black wool, lycra and jersey like a firecracker in the night sky - it had to be Fred Butler. The accessories designer and prop stylist extraordinaire is known for choosing one colour each day and going with it full on. I've said that I wish I lived on her street so I could watch her head out each morning, that would be my guaranteed dose of daily sunshine. (That was not meant to sound creepy.)

I had to capture her look which she completed with her signature full-spectrum accessories and she was happy to oblige. Look at her - how wonderful is she? This is happy, happy fashion.

Alexander Wang and Showstudio Play Well Together

Nick Knight makes even the interview beautiful

Every designer should aspire to a collaborative partnership with Showstudio. They're kind of the future, eh? I'm not sure anything can beat Alexander McQueen's livestreamed, Showstudio produced Plato's Atlantis, especially as it is now consigned to posterity, but the Nick Knight et al touch is magic no matter who the star may be.

I missed the Alexander Wang livestream last night because I was busy trying to sort out my LFW schedule while pushing through a stubborn melancholy that has been with me since I first saw that hideous subject line in my inbox on Thursday.

But tonight I had a look. What a cool production. And I actually liked this collection. Alexander Wang is an adorable creature and I've really wanted to like his clothes because he himself is just so likeable, but I just didn't. They reminded me of what the teenage girls who smoked would wear at the playground when I was growing up. That actually sounds like a concept that would work but crop tops and sexy sweats just weren't my thing and weren't ever going to be. 

And now he's added velvet and a bit of lace to his love of leather, and when you see those luxurious textiles in navy and black made into dresses that are like what a goth vixen would wear to the prom make an entrance against a soundtrack of The Presets on Nathalia Vodianova's body, you kind of have to pay attention.

 

Does this mean I can get away with bedhead from now on? It's like the scene from Something About Mary gone turbo.

My Fun Afternoon Playing 'Victim' in East London

Last Friday I spent the most wonderful afternoon at the east London studio of Victim with the woman behind the label, Mei Hui Liu. From the moment she opened the door to greet me – living up to her designation in a fitted black and white floral print dress, a killer pair of rubber knee-high platform boots and heavy wing-flicked eyeliner – we became engaged in an enthralling conversation that lasted nearly two hours. By that time I felt like I had known Mei Hui forever, and then for the next hour or so she was sat at her machine sewing some Victorian lace onto a top while I tried on some dresses with several pairs of incredible boots and shoes she showed me – more on that later. I had some interview questions that I’d prepared beforehand, but by then just about every query had been answered. And if anything was left unaddressed it was because this previous curiosity had pretty much been deemed banal after the fascinating stories Mei Hui had just treated me to.

Victim is a 10 year-old label of one-off reconstructed dresses and skirts made from vintage and limited edition fabrics that are sometimes handprinted and typically heavily embellished with Victorian lace that is hand-dyed by Mei Hui. Raw stitching and haphazard hems are elements of her signature style. Her collections can range from fitted and structured pieces with more tightly appliquéd trims to looser styles with embellishments that hang from all over in layers upon layers.

I had wondered what Mei Hui thought of Christian Lacroix since I see similarities in the unapologetic mixing of textures and fabrics and building up surfaces with trims upon trims. So I asked her, but Mei Hui just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. “I’ve been told that before” she said, and then I got why she didn’t identify with his aesthetic. As the creator only you know exactly where your clothes are coming from and you’re not likely to identify the same origin in someone else’s work; it’s too personal, too singular. I didn’t ask who she does like because Mei Hui is established, strong minded and focussed, and is exactly where she wants to be – she doesn’t define success as being a household name or being commercially viable as a brand, or establishing a position based on celebrity endorsement (oh, how I love her) because, as we discussed, what appears to be success is usually an illusion. So it seemed insulting to ask, as if to do so would imply she was influenced by another designer or had aspirations to be like someone else.

In fact, she stopped showing Victim’s seasonal collections last year at London fashion week after putting out her A/W 2009 line. “I did the shows for 10 years, then I didn’t need to do them anymore. I already had my customers,” Mei Hui told me. “The money goes right back into the shows. The more you produce, the more you need to invest, and it never ends.” Now that she no longer shows she doesn’t need to create seasonal collections; her pieces can be worn any time of year and she simply supplies according to demand – which is plentiful. In addition to seeing a steady stream of private clients her clothes are stocked in boutiques in Japan, Hong Kong, Spain, New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, Dubai, and of course, London. (A little factoid: Topshop twice asked Mei Hui to produce a range of exclusive one-offs which she did - first in 2002 under the label My Secret and in 2005 as Victim Fashion Street for Topshop. There are many other accolades too numerous to mention here including profiles in Vogue and WWD.)

At the same time she left the catwalk behind Mei Hui had also finished with PRs and opted to handle the business contact herself. This is the way she would have preferred to deal with the publicity for her shows had she been able. The idea of working non-stop on a collection for six months only to have 200-300 people at the show, people who are vetted by the PR, didn’t sit well with her. It was obvious the prevalence of this false hierarchical - or what we can simply call ‘snotty’-  practice got Mei Hui really fired up. “And to have a fashion student with a clipboard giving attitude at the door, telling people who can and can’t come in?” Finally, someone in the industry sees a problem with this!

It’s Mei Hui’s democratic approach to fashion that makes her even more admirable. I mentioned that it seems the people who create with their hands, whether they be knitters, felt makers, jewellers or one-off dress makers like her, have the ability and the desire to maintain that closeness to their work and to their audience; there must be something in the tangible quality of what they do that keeps them connected. And that it perplexes me that a fashion student who works so hard for years sketching designs, selecting fabrics and creating the pieces on their own machine – anything their imagination conjures - would want today’s definition of success. “Someone does the sketches, another sources the fabrics, another makes the clothes...and it all must be commercial,” says Mei Hui. And so it’s a question of what these allegedly successful designers are getting out of it. They may be living the life, but typically they’re not the ones receiving the money from their sales. They may be famous, but they’re distanced from the work that bears their name. That's success?

“In the 50s it used to be that you would go to the shops – the streets were full of them - and have all of your clothes made for you. That’s the way it was done," says Mei Hui, who is continuing this tradition in her Brick Lane studio where she regularly sees clients for fittings. She doesn’t view this as something to one day get away from, to evolve beyond; it’s not a necessary evil she must perform to maintain her business. She once tried a production line but it wasn’t her, so she returned to creating one-offs exclusively. For Mei Hui this manner of doing business is a choice and she wouldn’t have it any other way – she’s doing what she loves. She has assistants to help her but at the time I visited her they had all gone home and wouldn’t be back until March. And so an order for 200 tops going to Japan, all similar in style but each requiring a generous application of those Victorian trims that sit in huge piles in her studio, are all going to be completed by her alone within the month (and yet she still gave me her time).

This kind of personal attention is rare in high fashion but that doesn’t mean this designer is without her counterparts. When Taiwan-born Mei Hui settled into east London – Fashion Street in fact, where she got the name Victim as in Fashion Victim – after graduating fashion school in Paris and doing a stint in Italy, she found herself in an electrifying time and place which revolved around the city’s most exuberant young creatives. Fashion students, artists, DJs and the requisite eccentrics and club kids congregated at each others’ studios and the club of the moment, which was 333 on Old Street, at least until 2002 (hotness is so fleeting) and then Cash Point. Mei Hui worked and partied alongside Gareth Pugh who as we know has become a fashion sensation (and despite this still a very nice guy, that’s how they grow ‘em here in the north east) but reaching those aspirations doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve eclipsed the friends still doing their own thing in their tiny studios. There's a lot of big things happening behind those big steel doors.

And that brings us back to those shoes. Models of hand craftsmanship at its finest, each pair that sat on an unassuming shelf in the corner was made by Mei Hui’s friend, London shoe designer and maker Natacha Marro. Natacha is but one of the like-minded, skilled and passionate masters of their trade that Mei Hui collaborates with on projects from time to time. She is regularly called on to make shoes for fashion week shows and has a clientele that includes Daphne Guinness, David Bowie and other bonafide fashion icons – yet you (yes you!) can request a bespoke pair on her website.

Natacha Marro shoes in the Victim studio and from the last Victim fashion week show. That's me with the double-strap red Mary Jane. There's only one leg because my other shoeless one said 'I can't compete with that' and ran out of the room. And excuse the hot pink socks, I didn't know my piggies would be on display that day, I came in wearing over-the-knee boots. Flat ones.

Mei Hui told me to forget about how uncomfortable these shoes look and to try them on so I could see for myself just how good they feel. They are super high – a red leather Mary Jane had to be 7 inches - but there is a substantial platform and a lot of thick padding under the insole which actually did make them feel easy to wear, once you’ve trained yourself to walk in them - if you’re not used to a heel quite so steep, which I admit I am certainly not. (But I wish I were.) There’s a distinct, measurable difference in the feel, fit and look of a handmade shoe and I’m afraid should I indulge just once in a custom pair I may never be able to go back.

I tried on a lace handprinted dress with the shoes and the fabric was so soft and worked in it felt like an old favourite I’d dug out of my closet. (Not that I’d hide it away if I owned it – this would certainly be a key piece in the weekly rotation.)

As for the gorgeous neckpieces that I’d seen in the photos of the runway looks, I’d just missed them, as well as a good part of the dresses that had occupied the racks. Every piece that had been in the studio was now in Barcelona. Just as with her clothes these pieces convey Mei Hui’s novel way of making romantic sweetness a bit dirty. She takes aesthetically refined elements like the laces and pearls and buttons and through her somewhat irregular arrangements and techniques removes the preciousness, which adds a playful quality that anyone with a sense of adventure can appreciate.

I got so much out of the time I spent with Mei Hui. It was fun, hugely inspirational and I got an education in the way things work both in how a designer like her does her job, as well as certain unpalatable truths about the industry, about which I already had a hunch. And now, I’m more convinced than ever that it’s our independent fashion talent that is generating what we perceive as the creative energy of the high fashion industry, that it’s their ideas that drive the innovation and translate what’s happening on the street into meaningful and invigorating fashion. Meeting Mei Hui made me love fashion even more than I did before I knocked on her studio door. And if your impression of fashion is that it’s an exclusive club for the cool kids? Well, that’s one version. I prefer Mei Hui’s. Fashion victim she is not.

And neither are we.

You can read my column Accessorize This: No Fashion Victim Here at Dream Sequins which features more delish Victim accessories and those amazing Natacha Marro shoes.

 

This will be the wedding dress for a very lucky friend of Mei Hui. She told me there's going to be 'lace all over' and I really hope she'll send me a photo once it's all done. 

Detail of the dress in the header photo

And more of my favourite looks from past Victim fashion week shows:

I'd better stop here, this could go on forever....

Chanel Haute Couture: The Details

What can I say? As we anticipated, Karl Lagerfeld delivered what we love about Chanel - the tweed suits; lots of tulle and lush boucle; feminine pastels in pale pink, lilac, greens and blues; odd hairstyles (adorning the centre part of an unusual updo); opulent embellishments; and froth galore - all wrapped up in the usual youthful, pretty package.

The difference this time was jackets paired with shorts rather than skirts and trousers - which isn't my favourite look but it keeps things fresh (though I wasn't complaining) - and liquid metal leather shoes with carved heels over high-sheen opaque tights and matching racing gloves that could have come from Karl's personal collection. However, monochrome was absent. I was going to say 'noticeably' absent but it just dawned on me. I don't miss it. He'll probably send out a parade of models in black and white for A/W  RTW, so if that's what you want to see you only have to wait until March.

I want to drown in those boucle pastels.

Oh! And camellias! I didn't see any. I think maybe the fingers are still sore at Lemarié after last year's spring camellia extravaganza. There were no multistrands of pearls and chain, and the double Cs seemed to be banished as well in favour of a more elegant image.The accessories were for the hair and hands only, with the exception of some sweetly tulle-wrapped necks. 

And the ever-present groom, Baptiste Giabiconi, looked a bit like C-3PO in his gold suit.

 

Haute Couture Day 1 - Dior et al, We Miss Lacroix

I still can't believe we have haute couture week without Christian Lacroix, but there it is. The last I heard, there was a bid from a Sheikh that was about to become a sale but the paperwork wasn't submitted by the early December deadline. It was going to be some kind of massive licensing deal and from the sounds of it the Lacroix name would be on everything from your clothes to your spoon rest. Something like that. Last reports said it was still going to happen, but do we really care as this proposed incarnation is not the Lacroix we miss dearly? I guess time will tell. But if the deal supports the revival of the haute couture then I don't care if they put the name on toilet paper. I just want to see those ridiculously lush dresses whose details even have little details. In the meantime, the man himself is busy designing costumes in Paris so he's not sitting at home staring at an empty sketch pad.

On to Christian Dior. I know Galliano likes his makeup more severe than Joan Crawford wearing a Croydon face lift but I can never get used to seeing these lovely, fresh faces made harsh to the point of being almost unrecognisable. These eyebrows could not be more Dietrich and even border on an homage to Divine (I'd give a link for those unfamiliar but you'd be mad at me for showing you). We have the Little Bo Peep-type looks, some ladies who want to whip you into shape and of course those gorgeous, massive gowns (though a wee bit less massive than we've seen before).

 

And arguably the most entertaining part of any Dior show, the finale where Galliano fights his chronic shyness and inferiority issues and somehow manages to squeak out a bow:

 

Alexis Mabille went full-on with the two-tone - hair and all, and presented a bride in a 2-in-1 dress with attached sheer veil. Good for holiday weddings where malaria might be an issue:

Anne Valérie Hash gave us looks that couldn't quite be defined in a quick and easy Grazia way (thank you for that) and that's because according to Style.com they are made up of pieces of clothing given to her by the people she most admires, at her request, to create a collection about personal clothing, memory and identity. These include Alber Elbaz's pyjamas, Tilda Swinton's Vivienne Westwood tee, Jean Paul Gaultier's Breton shirt, Pete Doherty's frogged drummer-boy jacket (someone still admires him? You have to love the French, they don't let a thing like crack and heroine addiction and open facial sores taint the enchanting allure of a poet's soul), a veil from Diane Pernet, a Chanel jacket from Daphne Guinness, and a spencer belonging to Charlotte Rampling. She made copies of the elements of the garments and included some pieces of the original items in her designs as well. 

I wonder if she's going to use any of the original pieces for the orders?

Here's Gaultier's Breton shirt worked into a sequin all-in-one:

I'm not sure whose clothes these are composed of but they are just so cool:

 

 

 

This is Thimister (is it just me or do you read that as 'Thighmaster', too?). He took a decade's hiatus from haute couture and chose to show his Fall 2010 collection rather than spring. I didn't know you could do that! I think there are special considerations for haute couture. These dresses aren't particularly representative of his minimal 90s military collection that featured lots of bloodshed red but, well, I just like them better than blood spattered white jodphurs:

And finally, Armani Privé, a name I now cannot hear without thinking of Rachel Zoe. If you watch The Rachel Zoe Project you'll know I'm talking about Season 2 where she had the Armani team fly in that gorgeous beaded ivory strapless dress for Anne 'Annie' Hathaway to wear to the Oscars and asked for a train to be added and they gave her two. Then she went with the train-less dress. That takes guts. 

These remind me of that dress and I'm betting she's got her eye on a few of them for one of her girls - the one Karlie Kloss is wearing (bottom left) is pretty special - but will she have to Americanize it? Did anyone else wish she had kept the Chanel haute couture dress for Cameron Diaz as it was? I'd like to see her use her influence to push what the public deems 'acceptable', and then maybe Maggie Gyllenhaal wouldn't have to take so much flack for her educated fashion choices! But I suppose when an actress' career hinges on her success on the red carpet, one can't take these chances. Crazy, I tell ya.

All images from Style.com

The Utterly Intense and Time Consuming Cropped Layered Rectangle Jacket

Hand made knit fabric, felted and cut into rectangles of 11 different sizes, all layered on top of each other from small to large, then stitched down to a hessian base that is lined in broderie anglaise. Jacket is cropped. Detachable handmade knit fringe collar can be worn separately as a scarf.

Dry Clean only.
One size.

Ingredients:
Approx 2 kilograms of 100% Lambswool
5 metres of interfacing
black broderie anglaise
hessian
2 boxes of black dye for the hessian
1 knitter
2 weeks of hand machine knitting
3 weeks of hand stitching and jacket assembly
2 weeks of cutting fringe
4 washing machine loads of felting
proverbial blood
sweat
tears

This jacket is a one of a kind piece, when you purchase it you will be the only person in the world to own one! So once it's gone, it's gone! I won't even own one!

**********************************************************************

That was a listing from Etsy for a spectacular knitted and felted couture jacket and scarf by Glasgow's Isobel and Cleo. I included it verbatim as an example of how to demonstrate why your superior garment is in fact a superior garment (read more on that here). I love her listing title, I've used it as the title of this post. There is absolutely no reason to be modest when you have put what I count as seven accumulative weeks of intense handwork, in addition to a heaping pile of materials and sundries, into creating something exquisite that can't be found anywhere else. The price tag of $1,250 seems a bargain now, doesn't it? Regardless of whether we can actually afford it is beside the point; the value has proven to be inherent.

I recently saw a listing, also on Etsy, for an $8,000 dress that told me virtually nothing about it in the description. Let's say it was the most gorgeous dress I had ever seen, and $8,000 was pocket money to me. I wouldn't buy it because, well, it was missing the love. The designer didn't care to tell me why it was special and it made the whole thing seem a bit sterile and one-dimensional. I had no doubt that the price reflected an obscene number of hours, specialised techniques and premium fabrics, because it not only looked that way but the other items in her shop were priced in the $150 and under range - it wasn't as if she was just throwing the $8,000 figure out there to see what happened. Shame, isn't it?

Update: A reader (see comments) thought I was saying that $8,000 IS pocket money to me and was greatly offended. It's a hypothetical I used to illustrate how I would approach this situation should money be no object. Let me just clarify that me having $8,000 burning a hole in my pocket is laughable to me as I can't see that ever happening! Fiction, friends. Fiction.

Tonight I Was Seduced By a Coat

There I was, innocently tapping and clicking away at my keyboard, when a garment of many fabrics revealed itself through the ether, enveloped in the rhythm of my keystrokes. It must have sensed I was in the mood for a late-night rendezvous from the aroma of far away spices on my breath (tonight we had Indian take-away), and I don't know if it was my rapid heartbeat and runny nose brought on by the sultry heat of the vindaloo, but I was ripe for seduction.

I can't go on like this, my silliness is going to turn into jibberish, it's late here. But seriously, I was taken aback - I gasped and made some funny noises and my face probably looked funny - when I saw this stunning Couture Evening Coat by RSVP on Shrimpton Couture. Now, this is not something you see every day. It transcends those horrible words, "on trend" (in my humble opinion) and unites us all through our love of truly exquisite clothing. A piece like this creates its own context, taking bits from the past and infusing it with new energy. And RSVP designer and visual artist Christine Davis had a little something to do with it, too. I'm happy that Christine chose to reveal herself; until recently she was anonymously reworking vintage into extraordinary garments for Shrimpton Couture. And while her unclaimed work created an air of mystery about the person behind it, it's also nice to have a name to put with the dress, especially when it is imbued with a touch that is undoubtedly personal.

The style is based on a captain's great coat and made of almost entirely of vintage fabrics, ranging from the Victorian era to the 1970s; Cherie (Ms. Shrimpton Couture) says she counted at least a dozen different fabrics altogether.

And the details. The details!:

I want to live in the lining of this coat. While I hate to draw comparisons when a garment is so utterly unique, the 70s patterned fabric and azure blue silk makes me think of McQueen's Plato's Atlantis. Yet the exterior tells a different story with its mélange of textures and florals. The blues are breathtaking, like a mix of winter lakes and summer oceans. 

You can find out more about this coat at Shrimpton Couture. And the kind of 'responsibility' I was talking about in my previous post - giving a handmade piece of work proper credit and informing potential buyers about its special attributes? Cherie is a shining example.

Noughties Retrospective: The Best of Haute Couture, Pt. 1 - Chanel 2001

It only dawned on me a few weeks ago that we're coming to the end of a decade, those consecutive 10 years that are supposed to be marked by some common thread and fascinating highs and lows. Seems like such an obvious thing but sometimes I don't see the big picture, I'm too busy dissecting the minutiae of the things around me. What that common thread may be, I have no idea yet. Well, actually I did come up with something about how the internet/blogging/social media has revolutionised communication and created previously unattainable opportunities for us keyboard jockeys, but after a long paragraph on the subject I bored myself nearly to tears and so deleted it. I can see you nodding your head in agreement. And anyway, you can read that kind of thing a million other places and it will be a far better read.

Besides, what I really wanted to look at from the past decade - the 'noughties' - is the haute couture collections. The expert craftsmanship from the ateliers of Lesage, Lemarie, Michel, Desrues and Massaro - and the independent designers whose contributions go uncredited - are instrumental in making the creations of our biggest and best fashion houses the exquisite and extraordinary works of art that get our hearts all a flutter. It's the details that I live for and nothing gives the goods like haute couture.

Since documentation of the shows from 2000 are proving to be elusive I'm starting with 2001. And the first is Chanel. Throughout the past decade the beloved Paris fashion house continued to operate as a private entity owned by the Wertheimer family which means they warded off LVMH, Gucci Group, Richemont and Prada (though whether there was actually movement on that front I have no idea). Good for them, good for us.

I took screencaps from grainy video for both the winter and summer collections, it really was all I could find, and the summer is far better looking than the winter. The caps are far from crisp but I think it worked in the summer show with its dusty blue background - the images look rather painterly. I concentrated on the details such as the lushness of the textures all mixed together and of course, the accessories. And it was fun seeing the faces from 2001, the models who are mostly retired now except for Carmen Kass who has found a rare longevity in her runway career - or maybe it's mostly a willingness to get out there again and again?

The hair for winter was very Desperately Seeking Susan with the scrunchy bobs and bow hairbands, though I'm quite certain it wasn't a direct reference to the Madonna movie. I mean, come on.

 

At first I thought the summer show was held in one of the oval rooms of Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris where many of Monet's water lilies paintings are displayed - this was before the Grand Palais became the Chanel venue of choice - but the pillars that appear behind the seats don't exist, at least not in the renovated version I visited earlier this year. Anyone?

 

 

 

 

 

The Pretty, Friendly Adornments of Dos Puntos

Last month a charming email in broken English landed in my inbox from the designer of Venezuela's Dos Puntos, telling me about her earth-friendly hair accessories, rings, necklaces and belts. I looked at her cute Flash website of whimsical drawings that take you around and instantly loved the lookbook photos of her headbands and other pieces. The feel of the book - this being a virtual book with pages you can turn - is youthful, vibrant and playful and it's fun to look through (I like). The entire collection is handmade using materials made of recycled plastic bags, straws, and buttons in addition to scraps of recycled fabrics. Total guilt-free sweetness.

Vintage Beaded Dresses and Parking Violations

I visited The Cat's Meow when I was home visiting Toronto in the summer, it's my favourite brick and mortar vintage shop. And here's why. It was one of the few things I got to do between getting strep throat twice while home. I popped in to see what was new and gorgeous (everything) and found myself obsessing over several dresses and two hats. And a beaded bag. And some 1930s silk camisoles with crochet necklines of which I bought two. Never mind the jewelry which I didn't even have time to ogle. Why? Because I mentioned to the lovely Louise, the gracious owner of the boutique, that my parking pass had probably run out and she informed me that they tow everyone at the stroke of 3. And it was well after 3 pm. I looked out and saw that Avenue road had been cleared of all parked vehicles, including mine. And that sucked so hard. Especially as my mother-in-law's house was just a five minute walk up the street. But it was so hot outside it was gross. Like if you exert yourself for 10 seconds your armpits turn into sprinklers and you're sporting a sweat moustache. You can see why I drove. But Dunce of the Year me forgot to check the signs, probably because I thought I would only be there for about 20 minutes, not the hour + I actually was (as if, I'm never quick with anything. Case in point - this took me four months to post).

Anyway, there were loads of enchanting dresses with beading or sequins or adornment of some kind and I had to take pictures. For a preview of what's new now (rather than four months ago) you can follow The Cat's Meow blog for some serious vintage lusting. And if you're in Toronto and haven't been - a visit is a must!

WhiteFly Casts the Past in Precious Metals

WhiteFly takes delicate and beautiful things like vintage lace and satin ribbon bows and flowers and casts them in solid gold or sterling silver to make gorgeous one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. The Los Angeles jewelry maker cuts and finishes each piece by hand, creating a soft and elegant handworked effect that can be seen and felt. I'm totally smitten with the lace cuffs - how stunning are they?

You can view the entire collection which also includes several styles of beautiful earrings in WhiteFly's Etsy shop. Until the end of today only (Sunday) you can get free shipping by entering FREESHIP in the 'note to seller' at checkout.

 

And these are so simple yet so gorgeous - a bow bracelet and forget-me-knot ring in solid sterling silver cast from a piece of string. They can also be done in 18k gold vermeil or solid 14K gold.

 

Let's Take a Magic Carpet Bag Ride!

I am so in love with these luxury carpet bags by Mary Kaiser - they're such happy, happy bags! They've got it all: the lushness of gros point, cut velvet and tapestry fabrics from Clarence House, Lee Jofa, and Scalamandre; the interior boasts silk lining and two roomy pockets; finishings include leather handles, Italian lock and key and brass feet; and they're embellished with vintage ribbons and braids, velvet flowers, rhinestones, French jacquard trims and buttons. They come in full and petite sizes in two shapes.

I think my favourite is the green and white petite with the black and white striped bow. It's just so fresh and pretty but I think all of them are absolutely droolworthy. 

Mary Kaiser sells her bags and other lovely items through her Etsy shop, including these precious coussin pin cushions of silk atop a French gilt tole stand, embellished with ribbons and jewels (I dare you to stick a pin in it!):

Anita Quansah's Textural Music

A stunner of a jacket floats down the runway of an haute couture show in Paris. No ordinary garment, this adeptly tailored piece has been invested with an exquisite patch of embroidery, applied with an inspired and skillful hand, and all eyes are upon it. It's this very kind of adornment – the fruits of superior craftsmanship - that elevates mere apparel to a coveted and exclusive artisanal creation and sustains the reputation of the most prestigious fashion houses.

Just who are these gifted individuals who make fashion so beautiful and endlessly intriguing, just the way we like it? Many are trained to work for Lesage and Lemarié for example - the Paris embroidery and plummasier maisons, respectively. And then there are the others, passionate individuals who hone their craft through self direction and experimentation.

One of these extraordinary talents is Anita Quansah, a British fashion designer who uses vintage and recycled fabrics with hand and machine embroidery to create gorgeous textures for clothing, jewellery and interiors.

I had the pleasure of having a conversation with Anita about her work:

Your work is so lushly textured, built up with layers upon layers of rich fabrics, colour and various levels of opacity - it's not hard to see the influence Monet and Klimt's paintings have leant to your techniques. Did your style evolve to become this through experimentation or experience, for example; or is this approach your natural inclination and so you were drawn to their work which guided you further in that direction?

I love to paint, I love art and painting of different genres, but I was particularly drawn to these painters because of the way colour, texture and nature played a vital role in their work. I sought inspiration from nature and looked for artists that used this theme and how this was conveyed in their work.

When I first started experimenting with this technique I was very much guided by nature and the ever changing beauty that surrounds it, the colour, texture, the shapes, patterns, tone, placements and proportion, then as time went on every aspect of that change was depicted in my work. I tried to emulate and capture that essence of beauty in my designs by combining the unexpected with various textile techniques such as fabric manipulation, appliqué, hand and machine embroidery to create undulating raised floral textures that seem to float on the fabric. I would say this happened naturally, as each placement of fabric was not planned, neither is the colour nor the build up of texture, so natural inclination took over.

Isn't the unconscious the most intriguing part of creativity? It's interesting you say that nature is such an influence on your work; some of your textures remind me of newly fallen autumn leaves after the rain, when they're wet and kind of fused together in richly coloured layers and really beautiful.

You create your textures using mostly recycled fabrics - what lead you to forsake the new for the abandoned?

Whilst at university in London, I started to gather and experiment with recylced, vintage and reclaimed textiles. There were too many discarded textiles that needed to be reused and reworked on. Once I graduated, my love of transforming found textiles increased. Some of my finds were damaged, worn out pieces from the vintage and charity shops and flea markets which I mixed with the new to create rare treasures which are totally one of a kind, innovative, colourful and abstract work of art which can be worn as a garment or used in an interior space. 

Also, I believe that by working with recycled and reclaimed cloths and materials, I am doing my bit for the planet.

My use of felt stems from my time at university, too. Whilst there I was taught how to hand make felt. Because some of my pieces require a lot of felt, I couldn't make my own any more, so I resorted to using ethically handmade felt by a company here in England.

It's that kind of fearless indulgence with texture that makes Christian Lacroix such a beloved designer. You created an haute couture jacket for his Spring/Summer 2004 collection. Can you tell us more about that piece and your experience collaborating with such a highly regarded Paris fashion house?

Designing the jacket for Christian Lacroix was a joyful experience. It came about when I took part in Indigo Paris and was selected as a winner of an exhibition stand at Premiere Vision and Indigo, a big textile show in Paris. At the show, one of the buyers from Christian Lacroix visited my stand, loved the collection and on the spot scheduled an appointment for me to come back to their Paris design house to show them my collection. On the day I showed my collection they took quite a few design swatches, which they finally narrowed down to one that they really wanted to use. This design was then sold to them and became an exclusive piece, which shall not be repeated and then sold to anyone else. Then a cut of the jacket was sent to me in my studio, for me to apply my design. Once that was completed, I was then told that I shall be reproducing that same design again, for a client who saw the design on the runway and wanted it.

The whole experience was fun. They were good clients to work with, they were precise with what they wanted and how they wanted it. You are made to feel welcomed when in the design house. The people are lovely. I was mesmerised by the beautiful creations in the showroom in Paris. The colours, details, and most amazingly the final piece which I worked on was right there amongst other beautiful creations. Monsieur Lacroix himself was very kind and understanding. I occasionally visit them with my new collections in Paris.

What a dream experience. Christian Lacroix is my favourite couturier and I'm so happy to hear the fantasy doesn't begin and end on the runway. It must have been such a validation of your talent to be considered on par with the Houses's extremely high standards – Lesage, even - and to contribute a piece that was sold to a Lacroix client. How did this change your perspective of your own work?

It changed a lot. I learnt to appreciate my work a lot more. It made me realise that my designs can also be appreciated by high end couturiers. If buyers from Carven and Lacroix and other textile design houses can approach my stand at the trade show and love and appreciate my work, then I am very happy and delighted. I have always feared people’s reactions to my work and getting very positive feedback has encouraged me to work harder to develop my technique. Working on this piece for Lacroix allowed me to push my creative level to the extreme, it allowed me to be freer, yet structured in my design style creating a sumptuous piece for him that is textural with a contemporary edge.

There seems to be a rule that self-doubt must be in inverse proportion to talent. Now that you're free to create as you wish, do you have a particular path in mind in terms of what you want to achieve?

I want to continue developing my technique to make my designs even better. Currently I am developing a jewellery line as well as a fashion line. I have in the past experimented with the idea of having my designs applied to interiors, but I think I shall be focusing on these projects for now. Of course you want to reach that certain goal which is to have your designs in high end boutiques and stores across the world, but people are becoming more aware of me now and in time I shall be approaching the big stores. So watch out!

swelle.

Watch out indeed! You can view a selection of Anita's work at her website and buy her jewellery via her Etsy shop and her fashion collection at Shrimpton Couture.

The following dresses and tops can be purchased from Shrimpton Couture, as can that dreamy concoction in the header photo:

 

Christian Louboutin, why must you tease me so?

This is getting me in the Christmas spirit. While I'm not sure I actually like this as a bag I would carry, I do adore the idea and the execution. It's just like the old-school gift bow! The kind you buy in bags of 50 and some always get squished. The same ones your grandmother has popped onto your Christmas presents (or sometimes on just a card with a tenner in it) since you were born. You'd peel the back off the sticker and there was always that staple that you had to work around. It still needs perfecting, that tacky Christmas bow.

On second thought, the black is gorgeous. And there's something about navy blue velvet that is very appealing. I had a blue velvet fancy dress when I was really little and I'll never forget it. It had a white bib front trimmed with lace and I think elastic cuffs. And that velvet was THICK. (I can tell you're jealous.) Back to the bags...liking the blue and black is quite unfortunate. Why? Because I can't afford to spend $1000 or near the same in £ on a tiny little bag so it's best I not covet it!

Then again...Christian Louboutin's Viola nappa clutch in blue denim and gunmetal are just amazing (though that python metallic gold is a bit blech). I'm a sucker for anything textural or sculptural and I really want to touch this one:

 

Do you see the clasp? Kissing high heels. With a red sole, of course. If only Santa were real...

Passionate about Linen: An Interview with Mayumi Maeda

 

You know that you like the look of a nice, crisp cotton, or maybe the way a smooth, slippery silk feels against your skin. A thick, scratchy wool on the other hand may be something you avoid at all costs. For many of us that’s the beginning and the end of any thought on what our clothes are made of. But there's more to the fabrics we wear than meets the eye, and an unassuming, understated textile would demand closer inspection if the work of one designer is anything to go by.

When it comes to linen, Japanese designer and artist Mayumi Maeda can’t get enough of writing about it, talking about it, and creating with it. She’s even published books on the subject and one in particular, Every Day with Linen, served as a passionate plea to her then linenless country to the embrace the virtues of this natural, versatile, finely textured textile. And it worked.

I was introduced to the wonderful Mayumi through couture feltmaker and textile artist Liz Clay, who brought together four English and Japanese artists, inclulding Mayumi, for the Connections II exhibit at her Sommerset, UK studio as part of Somerset Art Weeks last month.

Here Mayumi describes what it is about linen that endears her so and how she singlehandedly created a new market within Japan’s textile industry:

Can you tell us what it was about linen that first attracted you and made you want to work with it over other textiles?

Flax, which is the raw material of linen, was initially one of my favourite plants as a flower motif to illustrate. It is not native in Japan, so it had been categorized as 'herbs and spices from overseas'. Actually it is easy to raise, so I grew it from seeds. However, at the time I did not have much knowledge about linen and how flax becomes linen. But one day I fell in love with flax and linen; the charm was 'doubled'. That was when I began working with linen.

How does linen compare to cotton - what makes them different?

As a fabric, I love linen's elegant texture while I also adore the softness of cotton. For me, linen is reassuring because of its durability. When we use high quality linen it will last decades which decreases excessive consumption. In this modern age, many things are changing so rapidly. But with linen, I feel I can have something that will stay long in my life and is not easily changed. That gives me peace.

 
Your 2002 book, Every Day with Linen, raised the profile of linen in Japan by exploring its virtues as a natural fabric, which then lead to the creation of a new market for linen in the country. Why do you think linen was overlooked before your book made its impact; and how has the introduction of linen changed Japan's textile industry?

As I mentioned previously, in Japan, there had been little knowledge about linen. In Japanese, we have a term called 'asa' which covers all fibers and fabrics made from plant stalks. Hemp, ramie and linen are all categorized as 'asa'. So my project for the book was to clarify what linen really is and to distinguish it from the other 'asa', and also to highlight its environmental virtues. The chapter about linen being a durable and sustainable material has been embraced by the readers; it has garnered very enthusiastic reactions.

 I also talk about the holy image that linen has in western culture and the role it plays in religious rituals, and the culture of white house linens with monograms which is something that appealed to the readers. Actually, in the past hemp was regarded as a divine fabric in Japanese traditional religion, but now production is now strictly limited to licensees (mainly shrines) by regulation of 'Cannabis control law'. So, linen could be regarded as a suitable substitute for the divine fabric, hemp.

Once the public was given a new context for linen through my book, it became an icon of pure, natural and sustainable lifestyle. Linen is now featured heavily in magazines and I play a big part in that. Due to public demand, we began supplying linen products through our company LINNET in 2002. Until then there was no distribution of linen in Japan.

Following this, many small stores began to carry linen fabrics and linen products which activated the market for linen and brought innovation to the country’s textile industry. Now, linen is a very popular and indispensible fabric in Japan.

Your husband and partner in LINNET is an architect. Can you describe how his architectural view influences the direction of your company?

When I expressed my special interest toward linen to my husband Satoshi Maeda, he shared it from the very beginning because he was also fond of fabrics for furnishing. Currently he is charge of planning fabrics as well as managing the company. I think his approach is very constructive, especially in the way we work with yarns, such as creating processes for how to finish the woven fabric. He also designs top dyed simple checks and stripes, using some geometric ideas. This kind of approach is quite different from mine which is more emotional. Satoshi is now leading a project focussing on the creation of a special soft and light linen yarn.

Through LINNET you are releasing patterns - do you design clothes yourself? If so, do you have plans to develop a special line of linen clothing?

Yes, I am also designing all the patterns for LINNET. We are mainly focusing on releasing the patterns for sewing but we’re also trying to establish some lines of simple clothes as well.

I had not been a design professional. I just learned how to pattern from my mother, who was a seamstress and the owner of a dressmaking boutique. For me, the clothes are also a kind of "container of one's mentality". I make the patterns which I like to wear, to be comfortable, natural, healthy and relaxed, both physically and mentally. For me, designing clothes is not my 'art', but the work that's indispensable in my life, like cooking, gardening, cleaning etc.

In that way, I would like to introduce how it can be fulfilling and enriching to spend time sewing the clothes ourselves, quietly with nice music in the background, rather than being worn out and tired after long walks searching for clothes around the shops located in tthe city center, on some occasions. However I know, too, that simple and good quality ready-made clothes can be also very inspiring and refueling for our mind. So, I would like to continue producing small collections of ready-made linen garments from my patterns for LINNET. We would like to take a long-term approach to the production of our designs, rather than introducing new designs every season like the fashion industry.

The tactile nature of making clothes, especially for ourselves and our family is indeed good for the soul. Do you see yourself working with linen indefinitely? And what do you think of the newer innovations in natural textiles such as bamboo, hemp and soy blends?

I am sure that we will work with linen forever, but also we are seeking a way to work with hemp in future, together with linen. Hemp is a traditional, holy plant in our culture, and is said to be very ecological. It has a number of uses including making fabric, paper, building materials, etc. In Japan, there are techniques to make hemp as soft as linen. When it is as soft as linen, hemp feels slightly lighter and more airy than linen. I adore the quality as well.

What's next for you and LINNET?

LINNET will soon release the new collection of linen fabrics dyed with complete natural dye stuffs (such as madder plants, etc) and I am working on a new picture book of Japanese wildflowers in autumn and winter.

We aim to remain a small, independent company. We appreciate production based on the necessity. The happiest future for us is to continue as we are doing today. Loving linen, plants, arts and working with nice people!

swelle.

How refreshing is that for a company mission? You can visit Mayumi's shop LINNET and read her blog at www.lin-net.com

Linen ribbons, tapes, and yarns

 

A hand crocheted scarf of organic linen

Crocus painting by Mayumi Maeda

Mayumi was asked to design and produced uniforms for Kurosaka Pediatric Clinic in Himeji, Japan. She was delighted to receive the lovely request, especially as they asked to put some small bunnies or birds among the large flower patterns for the children. In Japan cheerful uniforms are not the norm. But when Dr.Kurosaka was working in Britain he saw in a hospital a beautiful curtain with a large flower pattern and wanted something similar to create happy atmosphere in his own clinic.  So, this apron which we made is already 3rd generation of what they adopted.

"I am just so happy to have been involved in this work, and also very honored that my artwork is used for a place where people can be ‘cured’," says Mayumi.

Isn't she something special?

And my favourite piece of hers, a gorgeous linen corsage that was part of the Connections II exhibit:

Tokyo Fashion Week: Fresh Prints, Messy Rooms and Supreme Beings

I love Tokyo fashion week. Well, any fashion week that represents a cultural perspective that is distinctly different from our own. Here we see some elements from the four main fashion weeks such as flowy and romantic dresses, 20s/30s styling and bold prints, but there's a feel that is outside of what we know that makes the clothes exciting, intriguing and fun.

How can you not be taken in by the fresh, fresh prints of Matoho, above? Those shades of blue, the way the prints are mixed, and the clean cuts of the clothes free of superfluous stitching are like a breath of fresh air.

Dress & Co's pretty Victorian lace and layers and layers of flowy fabric were made more casual with waistcoats and cardigans:

Ha, this is so weird...I have no idea how this happened but the Fur Fur show seems to have been staged in my current teenage bedroom!

This long chiffon top and trench with stunning prints from Tiny Dinosaur stand out as the very type of pieces that let us know we're not at home anymore and that it's a good thing:

Mint Designs used gorgeously textured and printed fabrics to create their sweet and easy dresses:

Somarta's ruffles galore were represented in everything from neutrals to whites to mauves and claret - all shown with elaborate petal-like hats:

 

And it seems that God had had enough amusement from the debates amongst us mortals throughout the ages and decided to finally set the record straight by appearing on the runway during the writtenafterwards show:

Photos: WWD

You've Got Me All Ruffled

 

I have to admit this post is a major tease. The reason? I collect images constantly and sometimes they don't get blogged about straight away which is a huge no-no when it comes to Etsy shops. Case in point: These deliciously exquisite ruffled capes, dresses, and neckpieces from Kate Towers - if you don't get on it immediately all of those pretty things are going to be gone well before you hit the Publish button. Sold to a lucky buyer. But maybe drooling readers can request that another of a love-at-first-sight item be made? Etsy is great for custom orders, no? It is. But what if the super talented designer has got some precious little lambs at home to take care of and can't keep up a constant churning out of breathtaking, one-off pieces? So what I'm saying here is, you can look but can't touch. Everything's gone (but one striking red-orange chiffon cape). Unless you live or find yourself in Portland, Oregon where you can buy Kate Towers at what must be the most heavenly boutique, called Seaplane.

Doing a little reading about Kate I found out that she opened Seaplane in 2000 before selling it last year and that her partner was Holly Stalder, a like-minded designer whose dreamy vintage shrugs I featured last March and whose newer pieces are well worth a gander. I've been mentally planning a post focussing on Portland designers. I don't know what it is about the U.S.'s most environmentally friendly city but it is exploding with independent fashion talent, its most famous export thus far being Leanne Marshall who you know as the winner of Project Runway season 5.

If you've fallen in love (like I have), don't fret. Kate Towers is still doing what she does best and is working on her next collection which will be for sale in her Etsy shop mid-November. And despite what your eyes tell you, her prices are ridiculously inexpensive.

I'm not so bad after all, am I?

Here's a glorious helping of eye candy from Kate Towers' past collections: