Dressed up for summer 2010

Fashion journalist Agnès Boulard in the movie

It is the time of the year when movies try to nudge into various rankings. Director Loïc Prigent did not have the rankings in his mind shooting HABILLÉES POUR L’ÉTÉ 2010 (DRESSED UP FOR SUMMER 2010). The movie chronicles Agnès Boulard (better known by her TV pseudonym, Mademoiselle Agnès) catching the runway shows, or rather contemplating which one to choose. Agnès yawns and whistles while sitting front row at all the shows, and does swine-flue kisses.

The documentary build around the premise that Paris isn’t doing enough to support its emerging design talent. Anna Wintour seems to be touted for the effort of promoting the young designers in the U.S—hence the questioning of what French or Italian Vogue has done for the new. But if only magazines with wider and wider volume as the most proud feature are seen as the way of promoting the burgeoning names in fashion, wont’ the names make it faster to the airport dumpsters than to the mass’s purchasing lists? Or maybe reaching to the mass is not necessarily the ultimate goal of some designers, just like the release of this documentary?

Anyway, color, joy, fashion, and fun—the key words for Marc Jacob’s collection, are what the New Year looks forward to.

Reference:
sundancechannel

Chanel showcase

Left, Agnès Boulard as Anna Wintour at the Lanvin show in 2008. 

Right, the real Agnès Boulard.

Source: nytimes 

Have a colorful Christmas

A sunny and balmy Christmas, what more can we ask for ?

 

Holiday Window Display (3)

A holiday window pop-up with no Santa or reindeers? Tokujin Yoshioka (吉冈德仁 ) made it at the Maison Hermès in Tokyo. The silky scarf softly sways in the air in response to the image of Tae Kimura (木村多江) projected on a monitor.  As Yoshioka puts it “one can perceive someone behind the scarves as if life were being breathed into them”.

If Issey Miyake (三宅 一生) had not looked for non-fashion talent to bolster his product line, Yoshioka’s collaboration with fashion designers may not have started that early. Besides the clever designs that shows the natural movements in daily life, the names of the projects are playful and memorable too: “media skin” cell phone, “honey-pop” chair, “kiss me goodbye” chair, “crystal forest” Swarovski storefront in Ginza, “pleats please”, and now, how do we name the Hermès display? Obviously “blown away”.

Watch Video

Collaboration with Issey Miyake

Colloration with Swarovski in Ginza, Tokyo

Collaboration with Camper

Holiday Window Display (2)

                    Photo credit: Racked

Since it’s opening with a snazzy alien and an astronaut in the window display at the MePa in 2008, Moschino has been making other window pop-ups in the district work harder.  The Burglary scene at Vince during Fashion’s Night Out undoubtedly cracked up the shoppers and allured them inside, only that it is a year behind Rudolph the Robber in Moschino. The Cosmic Dust installation for the holiday at Calvin Klein is not lack of festive glitter with all the light stars, only that the astronaut looks a bit lonely.

Enjoying poking fun at the industry with the coined slogans as “Stop the fashion system!” and “Ready to where?”, Franco Moschino has always created the windows personally until 1993. His legacy is left safely with Rossella Jardini, who has kept the witty spirit of Moschino alive. This season’s window display—Santa at Therapy, once again, stayed faithful to Moschino's quirky and imaginative style.

Moschino Aug, 2008

Calvin Klein Dec, 2009

Moschino Dec, 2008

Vince, Fashion Nights Out, Sep, 2009

Moschino Queen of Hearts, March 2008

 

Holiday Window Display

 

Photo credit: racked.com

The swan has paddled away, the rat has been dizzy spinning in the hamster wheel, the pink cow ghost is mooing over the Warhol-ed out Marc photo, and Pepe Le Pew ran for some deodorant. Now it’s time for polar bears and penguins to finally meet in the Marc by Marc Jacobs holiday window display this year. 

Having been in a polar bear costume himself, Marc Jacobs didn’t forego the opportunity to collaborate with The Climate Project (TCP)—dressing up the polar bears with holiday red scarves and hats. Only that the drop of tear is a bit overkill.

photo credit: casasugar.com

Happy Thanksgiving

First time hosting thanksgiving with families and watching Charlie Brown with a satisfied belly :)

They've been hiding today

Waist vs. Butt

Alber Elbaz's style: the black suit along with a silk bowtie and black rectangular glasses.



We can already guess who may not be interested in the movie in the last post. On his ouster from Yves Saint Laurent by Gucci Group in 2000, Alber Elbaz said "Some people had a different perception of my work, or thought that a designer should be more handsome or more out there, which is not my story." Elbaz is known for his fashion philosophy —the elegant simplicity of a Lanvin dress or skirt or sweater should last for many seasons.

We also know who sure doesn’t think it’s cool to flaunt. Elbaz doesn’t want to define trends; he wants his designs to be timeless, perfectly resonated in the logo of Lanvin—a mother and daughter holding hands. Elbaz can’t bear the word sexy anymore; he wants to bring beauty back to fashion. Elbaz doesn’t begin designing a dress with the butt, but with the waist, where he sees as the most important part of a woman’s body.

For Alber Elbaz, the beauty of the Lanvin job lay in the lack of image, when a Taiwanese publishing magnate, Shaw-Lan Wang, bought Lanvin from L’Oréal in 2001.When Elbaz left Israel, he dropped the ‘t’ from his first name. In Judaism, if you change your name, you change your destiny. At Lanvin, the world’s oldest running couture fashion house, he is changing its destiny, quietly, with his own vision.

Reference:
NYtimes

A Single Man

Tom Ford, with his notoriously provocative advertising campaigns, was not known for his subtlety—the exact reason why his call to Colin Firth, the Mr. Darcy, could have easily been mistaken for a Vanity Fair project photo shoot. But when Firth read the script of “A single man”, he was convinced it was not a series of visual delights, but a story important for Ford.

Receiving rave reviews at a preview screening at the Venice Film Fest, this first movie attempt by Tom Ford was adapted from Christopher Isherwood's novel A Single Man, written in 1964, praised at the time for its artistry but also denounced for its then unpalatable subject matter.

Another cast member who gets a good grasp of the script, and maybe a good chance for her supporting role in the Oscar is Julianne Moore. I would imagine that it helps to gain a fine understanding of “Mrs. Dalloway” in “The Hours” about Virginia Woolf, who applauded Mr. Isherwood “the great hope of English letters.” Julianne Moore wears one black and white long gown that is so Los Angeles in the 1960’s, designed by Arianne Phillips, the Oscar-nominated Costume Designer for “Walk The Line” and Madonna’s stylist. “Costumes inform character, help underscore and illustrate mood, tone, and texture.” She was flattered to be the chosen costume designer by Ford.

Reference:
The Australian

That tan corduroy blazer

That tan corduroy blazer, once worn by Bill Murray in the Royal Tenenbaums, will be seen again on Mr. Fox next week—over Mr. Fox’s fur, to be accurate. How is that to add to the quirky specificity in Wes Anderson's movies? If Grace Kelly’s clothes in Rear Window gave her an identity, as commented by Wes Anderson, the corduroy blazer seemed to have become a symbol of his distinctiveness in real life. Like a stopped fashion watch, the blazer had the occurring appearances in many occasions including the Sartorialist last year.

In the Royal Tenenbaums, Richie always dresses in his tennis gear and Margot always wears barrettes. Same style goes to Wes Anderson’s casting for his movies—always in the lists are Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and Jason Schwartzman—even as the voices—American accent is okay since the animals in England don’t speak. Style is all about consistency after all, isn’t it? Eight years after the Royal Tenenbaums, Wes Anderson is still wearing that tan corduroy blazer. It's not the same suit, though, he told the Gardian. “They last a couple of years. I have a guy who makes them specially for me. They're very inexpensive and I can just call him up and say, can I have another one please?”

BTW, I’m still looking for a knee-length striped Lacoste dress that Margot had.

References:
nytimes
only style remains the same

I invented grunge

“Hey, I invented grunge! It’s a look I’ve been sporting for years,” Even Grungetta won’t deny that. Oscar the Grouch has been, more often than not, grouchy for 40 years, since he was put into the garbage can after Jim Henson encountered a grumpy waiter at a New York restaurant Oscar’s Tavern.

Approaching 40 in a few days, Oscar cannot be more ill-tempered. Not only was he told that some early 'Sesame Street' episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today's preschool child, but he had to teach grown-ups fashion? Well, together with some other fashion icons—oh, no, not Vera Wang or Carolina Herrera—we mean Big Bird in feather, and Bert in stripes, the fashion education day in fact turned out to be one of those more enlightened time for him on the street.

References:
CNN
Harper's Bazaar












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