Evanescent Metamorphoses is a film created by Karl Lagerfeld for the Fall-Winter 2011/12 Pre-collection.
Karl Lagerfeld plays on the ambiguity between masculine and feminine. In a dreamlike atmosphere, he films model Kristina Salinovic, whose initially androgynous look becomes increasingly feminine as her numerous metamorphoses take place.
mardi 29 novembre 2011
LA SEINE- Vanessa Paradis et M
Chanson extraite de la bande son originale du film « Un Monstre à Paris »
Vanessa Paradis porte une robe de la collection Prêt-à-Porter Printemps-Été 2011 spécialement réalisée par Karl Lagerfeld.
Vanessa Paradis porte une robe de la collection Prêt-à-Porter Printemps-Été 2011 spécialement réalisée par Karl Lagerfeld.
lundi 28 novembre 2011
Chanel | Spring Summer 2012 | Focus on Acessories/Details
Voici les close up de la collection Chanel S|S 12. Ces details sont directement reliés à mon thème des fonds marins.
A Villa with Relating Architecture and Nature
Carl-Johan Smedshammar cooperates with Andres Holmberg Architects to design this villa. The villa is located in Vallentuna, Sweden. The villa shows its beauty by relating architecture and nature. The villa is surrounded by oak trees and sits a top of a small hill, with views nearby lake. The exterior of the villa is very interesting. Then the interior are bright and large and has nice decoration. The bookcase with many storage places gives calm sensation to the entire rooms. The outdoor balcony is really good for meditation.
It's really mysterious to see that the more a man is being modernized, the more it gets closer to nature in itself. It is quiet small houses that are built to move away from the city, the city short of its own corruption, because in the words of Jean Jacques Rousseau: "Man is born naturally good, it the society that corrupts. "
Inspiring video
Oscar ZabalaAfter high school I spent a couple years on the road touring in a band called Rodeia with my best friends.. I got to see the world and meet a lot of amazing people. Then I ran away to the circus... I graduated from The Creative Circus in Atlanta, GA on June 2009. While I was there I also scouted for new artist at Columbia Records. At school I was awarded the AAA Art Director Scholarship, and over 40 Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards including Best of Show, and the Student Choice Award. I was snatched up by an agency called Baldwin& so the school graduated me a little earlier than planned. I was asked to come to Baldwin& as one of four founders, and spent a year learning from one of the most awarded, and nicest creatives in the business, David Baldwin. I wore many many hats while I was there, and am thankful for it. Now I'm pursuing that whole "dream" thing in NYC. Overall, it's been good times thus far.
Inspiring video
Model turned jewelry designer Nicole Trunfio debuts her latest collection in a film directed by Jenna Elizabeth and Oscar Zabala modeled by Zen. Shot on location at Seth Sabal studio.
(source:http://fashiononfilm.wmag.com/fashion-films/1/14/eight-and-a-half)
GLORIFICATION OF THE NATURE-S O M E T H I N G E L S E - C A S T A W A Y
Something Else - Castaway from Lorin Askill on Vimeo.
Lorin is a Sydney based director, editor and creative collaborator who has worked both in Australia and overseas. He has been directing and editing commercials, music videos and other short and long form projects for over 5 years and has worked in the creative world since 2002.
Since graduating from the College of Fine Arts in Sydney, Lorin gained representation as a director with Collider Sydney and more recently Caporal Paris. He has created work for a variety of companies including BMW, Sony Ericsson, XBox, Nescafe, Acne, Sydney Dance Company and many others both as a director and collaborator with brother Daniel Askill. As an editor Lorin has worked freelance with a number of other production and post companies including Radical Media and Animal Logic.
Nature and man will become one for next season. this is what I can conclude with my observation. One can easily see how the theme of nature and the water is recurring this season. It does not involve the only fashionable as can be seen in the video below, one associates it with the decoration, to alcohol, food ... and so on. water is a recurring thread of the season.
Lorin is a Sydney based director, editor and creative collaborator who has worked both in Australia and overseas. He has been directing and editing commercials, music videos and other short and long form projects for over 5 years and has worked in the creative world since 2002.
Since graduating from the College of Fine Arts in Sydney, Lorin gained representation as a director with Collider Sydney and more recently Caporal Paris. He has created work for a variety of companies including BMW, Sony Ericsson, XBox, Nescafe, Acne, Sydney Dance Company and many others both as a director and collaborator with brother Daniel Askill. As an editor Lorin has worked freelance with a number of other production and post companies including Radical Media and Animal Logic.
Nature and man will become one for next season. this is what I can conclude with my observation. One can easily see how the theme of nature and the water is recurring this season. It does not involve the only fashionable as can be seen in the video below, one associates it with the decoration, to alcohol, food ... and so on. water is a recurring thread of the season.
GLORIFICATION OF THE NATURE- Yana Toyber
Hide and seek from yana Toyber on Vimeo.
Yana Toyber doesn't remember the two years she spent in her native Ukraine before her parents moved to Brighton Beach, but her photography nevertheless betrays an outsider's eye, a hard-edged Eastern-bloc poetry. Her sense of grace and form—specifically the female form—was honed in part at the School of American Ballet, which she attended on scholarship as a teenager. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts, Yana has flitted through Manhattan's art and fashion circles for more than a decade, chronicling the city's culture and nightlife for such publications as The Fader and Vanity Fair. Her work has appeared in museums and galleries including the International Center of Photography, Kodak Eastman House, and the Soho photo gallery. She has been profiled in W, Zoo, and Modern Painters. She lives with a monster.
The kings Dollmaker from yana Toyber on Vimeo.
I find this truly brilliant artist, I can also see the trend of glorification of nature in his work. By the atmosphere and environment in which seats are his videos.
ASVOFF BEAUTY PRIZE - Waters de Kira Lillie
“Waters”
The film is born from the understanding of the power, the symbolism and the purification that water portrays throughout religion, and not only religion, but spirituality as a whole. Water, such a precious liquid, perfectly conveys that which is essential, and brings with it immense power. This film is about unifying religions, through the common thread of water, the power of “Self” and self-belief.
Short Director Bio
Kira Lillie grew up in Santa Cruz, California and is currently living in Paris. Kira divides her time between Directing, Photography and VK Lillie- her Jewelry line. She strives to add meaning to her creations; seeing life as an opportunity to bring conscious change.
(source:http://www.labdailyblog.com/?p=38713)
The film is born from the understanding of the power, the symbolism and the purification that water portrays throughout religion, and not only religion, but spirituality as a whole. Water, such a precious liquid, perfectly conveys that which is essential, and brings with it immense power. This film is about unifying religions, through the common thread of water, the power of “Self” and self-belief.
Short Director Bio
Kira Lillie grew up in Santa Cruz, California and is currently living in Paris. Kira divides her time between Directing, Photography and VK Lillie- her Jewelry line. She strives to add meaning to her creations; seeing life as an opportunity to bring conscious change.
(source:http://www.labdailyblog.com/?p=38713)
LADY GAGA IN THE EYES OF MUGLER
After making an erotic video for Fashion Week last man, Nicola Formichetti, the new artistic director of the house Mugler, took another step this Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2012. In fact the creator has used the famous duo of photographers Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin to stage the singer Lady Gaga through exclusive short film that aired during the parade Mugler Spring-Summer 2012 in Paris.
VOGUE us-LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
It's crazy to see that I am not mistaken in my direction from my social trend of the glorification of nature. Indeed, one of the editor of Vogue Us confirms my thesis on this trend. This trend turned towards the sea and seabed. In vogue in the month of December you can see Charlize Theron out of the water as a nymph. The editor also support my thesis by asserting that this trend can be found in several collections of top designers.
This is the article:
dimanche 27 novembre 2011
BP de retour dans le golfe du Mexique après la marée noire
Bob Dudley a toujours expliqué l’urgence de la relance de la production dans cette région par son importance dans les comptes du groupe pétrolier.
Dix-sept mois après la catastrophe de Deepwater Horizon (11 morts) et la marée noire qui a souillé les côtes américaines, BP se prépare à retrouver une cadence normale dans ses forages du golfe du Mexique.
Pour y parvenir, BP a, selon l’agence Bloomberg, déjà envoyé deux plates-formes dans la région. La compagnie devrait aussi entreprendre trois nouveaux forages avant la fin de l’année. Une information que le groupe n’a pas souhaité commenter.
Goldman Sachs avait d’ailleurs abaissé la notation du géant pétrolier pour stigmatiser l’absence de progrès dans l’évolution de la situation du forage dans cette région. Le pétrole du golfe du Mexique est au moins deux fois plus profitable que le reste de la production de la compagnie britannique. Or, après la catastrophe, le groupe avait été logiquement contraint d’en limiter la production. En 2010, quelque 250.000 barils/jour avaient été extraits, contre 390.000 barils/jour à la veille de la catastrophe.
Désormais BP, qui avait été contraint de passer une provision de 41 milliards de dollars dans ses comptes pour faire face aux conséquences de l’explosion de la plate-forme, attend la lettre d’approbation pour reprendre les forages.
(source:http://marches.lefigaro.fr/news/societes.html?&ID_NEWS=206041246)
Another link to the theme of my social trend, BP to set the underwater fauna of the Gulf of Mexico at risk. I even think I can make a connection with my previous post on 61 visionary.
Dix-sept mois après la catastrophe de Deepwater Horizon (11 morts) et la marée noire qui a souillé les côtes américaines, BP se prépare à retrouver une cadence normale dans ses forages du golfe du Mexique.
Pour y parvenir, BP a, selon l’agence Bloomberg, déjà envoyé deux plates-formes dans la région. La compagnie devrait aussi entreprendre trois nouveaux forages avant la fin de l’année. Une information que le groupe n’a pas souhaité commenter.
Deux fois plus profitable
Le nouveau patron de BP, Bob Dudley, a toujours expliqué l’urgence de la relance de la production dans cette partie du monde par son importance dans les comptes du groupe: le golfe du Mexique possède les champs pétrolifères les plus rentables de BP. Il s’agit donc non seulement de retrouver le plus rapidement possible les meilleurs niveaux de production, mais aussi de redorer l’image du groupe britannique auprès des investisseurs et accessoirement dans l’opinion publique.Goldman Sachs avait d’ailleurs abaissé la notation du géant pétrolier pour stigmatiser l’absence de progrès dans l’évolution de la situation du forage dans cette région. Le pétrole du golfe du Mexique est au moins deux fois plus profitable que le reste de la production de la compagnie britannique. Or, après la catastrophe, le groupe avait été logiquement contraint d’en limiter la production. En 2010, quelque 250.000 barils/jour avaient été extraits, contre 390.000 barils/jour à la veille de la catastrophe.
Désormais BP, qui avait été contraint de passer une provision de 41 milliards de dollars dans ses comptes pour faire face aux conséquences de l’explosion de la plate-forme, attend la lettre d’approbation pour reprendre les forages.
(source:http://marches.lefigaro.fr/news/societes.html?&ID_NEWS=206041246)
Another link to the theme of my social trend, BP to set the underwater fauna of the Gulf of Mexico at risk. I even think I can make a connection with my previous post on 61 visionary.
Thinking, and Literally Looking, Very Big
PARIS — Imagine Lady Gaga, her slender figure so elongated that she would cover half the width of a road, as measured by her image on the cover of a giant magazineOf all the performer’s covers, this Visionaire production, with its photograph of a slinky, shimmering mermaid Gaga with a tar-covered fish tail, has to be the most flamboyant. The magazine is two meters high and 1.5 meters wide, or 6 feet high and 4.8 feet wide — so large that it has just entered history in the Guinness Book of World Records.
A magazine? Aren’t those paper productions supposed to be going the way of the dodo, an endangered species in the era of the Internet?
Cecilia Dean, one of the three founders of Visionaire back in 1991, has reason to rejoice that the art/fashion combo is celebrating its 20th birthday in such good shape.
“Everyone keeps asking ‘Is print dead?’ It’s been the question of the moment for last five years,” Ms. Dean said. “Print is not dead. But it has to evolve. The challenge for a magazine is to create real physical experience for their audience. Visionaire makes more sense now than it did before.”
The editor and her founding colleagues, Stephen Gan and James Kaliardos, saw the magazine as an interactive experience long before the era of cyberspace. Issues on the subject of “smell” and “taste” literally offered those opportunities to the readers.
When Karl Lagerfeld, as guest editor, helped to develop the tasting issue, a glass vial of liquid re-created the warm smell of freshly baked bread from Paris. To take the concepts past striking visuals, there was a collaboration with International Flavors and Fragrances that included scent strips to accompany the images of the London artist Gary Hume
“The painting depicted life, so the taste was fertile soil about to blossom,” Ms. Dean said. “If there is too much water it tastes like a bog. Too dry and it is like the desert: sand with no fertility. Every morning my desk had taste strips and gel tabs that melt on the tongue. And the issue came out with packets like that.”
Other issues pushing the boundaries of print included a battery-operated “light” magazine, and an issue that had a tray of 10 toys. Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons was the first guest editor, in 1996, with the magazine covered in her signature checked muslin fabric.
Visionaire was as much a student start-up as Facebook. Ms. Dean, a graduate in English and French literature; Mr. Gan, a multitasker who had been creative director and visualizer of Details magazine; and Mr. Kaliardos, who had just left Parsons school of design and was fascinated by makeup and beauty, got together to found what was then a revolutionary meld of art and fashion. But for all its imaginative content, it was still physically a classic magazine.
“When we started in 1991 it is just crazy to think it was pre-Blackberry, pre-Internet, pre-Google and desktop,” Ms. Dean said. “It was a completely different world. We were offering a forum for fashion photographers and illustrators to show their personal work. They were not accepted in art galleries, didn’t have Internet, publishing their own books was expensive and the landscape was very commercial. Yet all these people had personal work tucked in a drawer.” As a model working with photographers like Peter Lindbergh, Mario Testino and Ellen von Unworth, the would-be editor knew that personal work would be carried out after the photo shoot. That was then the source of creative and unpublished work.
“Artists now are so busy and paid so much money, we have to come to them with such a fun idea that it piques creative juices and they will make time for you,” Ms. Dean said.
Since the early days, photographers have been honored to collaborate on projects — not least Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, who did the Gaga image. The Gaga issue, “Larger Than Life,” comes at a price. The deluxe edition is limited to 250 and costs $1,500; the smaller version, more friendly to bookstore shelves, sells at $375.
Only the support from Africa, a Brazilian advertising and media agency and its colorful owner, Nizan Guanaes, allowed it to be produced.
For those who want the joy without the bucks, the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris has just acquired a complete collection of Visionaires. Does Ms. Dean think of more areas to conquer, like moving images, now that Vmagazine and Vman have already been spun off from Visionaire? “There is no grand plan or mission statement,” she said. “It has to be an organic project and anything creative has to come from a very personal place.”
(source:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/fashion/22iht-fmagazine22.html?_r=2&src=tp)
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: November 22, 2011
A previous version of this article misspelled the surname of a co-founder of Visionaire magazine. He is Stephen Gan, not Gann.
The Times article, a direct link to the theme of the glorification of nature (collection that I will go out soon). The siren envellopée tar and all the organic matter mentioned Cecilia Dean. I think it addresses the issue enjoy considerable industry of the printing press with a sense of optimism. it is true that this mode of communication is very expensive to produce, however, I love to shop in order to procure the new Dress to Kill magazine or ZINK .... I fully support the thesis of Mrs. when she says to do something physical experience to consumers .... I understand why the name of the magazine is call Visionary61!
Gareth Pugh for M.A.C by Ruth Hogben
Fashion maverick Gareth Pugh collaborates with fashion film director Ruth Hogben on this film to unveil his first make-up range, created with M.A.C. A further development from their electric collaboration for Spring/Summer 2012 and inspired by the contrast of black and white - or light and darkness - this fashion film showcases a selection of specially-fashioned faces for the twenty-first century
(source:http://showstudio.com/project/gareth_pugh_for_mac)
Direction: Ruth Hogben
Fashion: Gareth Pugh
Styling: Katie Shillingford
Make-up: Val Garland for M.A.C
Hair: Martin Cullen
Nails: Marian Newman
Soundtrack: Matthew Stone
Toujours fidèle à son style, le créateur Gareth Pugh sait toujours plaire à ses clientes (clients) que ce soit par les vêtement ou le maquillage. On peut voir dans ce film dirigé par la très talentueuse Ruth Hogben, que Gareth created with M.A.C. A further development from their electric collaboration for Spring/Summer 2012 and inspired by the contrast of black and white - or light and darkness - this fashion film showcases a selection of specially-fashioned faces for the twenty-first century.
vendredi 25 novembre 2011
Toit vert
La membrane bi-couche de bitume élastomère
Au Québec, la membrane de toiture la plus utilisée par les architectes pour les toitures commerciales et les complexes résidentiels est la membrane de bitume élastomère posée en deux couches.On les utilise depuis près de 40 ans pour réduire l'entretien et assurer une qualité plus uniforme de l’étanchéité. Aujourd'hui, plus de 50% des nouveaux toits plats réalisés au Canada sont faits avec de telles membranes. Ce sont des membranes constituées d'une couche de base et d'une membrane de finition avec des granules en surface qui protègent le bitume contre les rayons du soleil.
La technique de pose traditionnelle des membranes élastomères se fait au chalumeau. Il s'agit de faire fondre le dessus et le dessous des membranes par la chaleur pour ensuite les fusionner ensemble et créer une seule membrane continue. Dans les années 90, plusieurs incendies ont été créés par des entrepreneurs qui ne respectaient pas les recommandations des manufacturiers en matière de sécurité. Cependant, cette situation s'est grandement améliorée depuis 10 ans. Il existe des techniques de pose au chalumeau tout à fait sécuritaires. Il s’agit pour les propriétaires d’engager des entreprises qui respectent les règles de l’art recommandées par les fabricants.
La technique collée à froid
Il est aussi possible, pour la construction résidentielle, d’utiliser une nouvelle technique de pose à froid lorsque le pontage du toit est fait de bois. Théoriquement, le toit collé à froid devrait être aussi durable que la membrane soudée, cependant la durée de cette technique n'a pas encore subit l'épreuve du temps.La durée et le coût
Au Canada, la durée moyenne des membranes de bitume élastomère est de 21 ans mais une membrane bien posée sur un toit ventilé peut certainement tenir 30 ans avec très peu d'entretien. La visite automnale sur le toit demeure tout de même importante par précaution. Le coût des membranes élastomères est environ de 10% de plus qu’une membrane d’asphalte et gravier mais compte tenu de sa durée de vie beaucoup plus grande la membrane élastomère est nettement un meilleur investissement. (source:http://www.infotoitsverts.com/fr-category316/Membranes-elastomeres)
FEVER RAY
What would you do if, one decade into your career, you suddenly saw your latest release named album of the year by one of the world’s most influential music websites? If you’re Karin Dreijer Andersson, formerly singer with ‘90s pop hopes Honey Is Cool and now one half of The Knife, the answer is to take a couple of years off and return as a solo artist under a new name.
Fever Ray is the title, of both project and album, an evocation of the music’s sound, intense and anxious, yet luminous. It’s the culmination of work that began in 2007 when Karin and Olof, the brother-sister duo who are The Knife, decided to take time out following a handful of incredible live shows. Their first two albums did well in their Swedish homeland; their third, Silent Shout, went to Number One, won six Swedish Grammys, underlined their reputation as an act capable of the truly extraordinary and was pronounced the best record of 2006 by Pitchfork. Karin needed a break – she was about to have her second child – but couldn’t stop writing.
Small wonder the post-natal period proved so fertile. She composes best in that state any new parent will recognise, awake but exhausted, where reality blurs into imagination and ideas flutter in and out. “Half of what the songs are about is the subconscious,” she says, “ideas of things happening. A lot of it is like daydreaming, dreaming when you’re awake, but tired; a lot of stories come from that world. I try to write when I‘m in that state – I’m very bad at remembering later, so I have to do it right away.”
Eight months of the most productive daydreaming later, Karin had a batch of new songs and the raw materials for the production. Unsure how to get them over the finishing line, she took half to Christoffer Berg (who mixed The Knife’s work), half to Stockholm production duo Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid for a final brush and tickle.
The result is Fever Ray, an album that, while recognisably the work of the same artist, is dramatically different from The Knife. It’s still constructed on electronic foundations and embellished with traditional instrumentation (guitar here, congas there), but Fever Ray is starker, moodier, in places quite sombre – less an invasion, more a slow process of colonisation. Not that you’ll find anything so literal in the lyrics.
Her distinctive writing process is at its most striking in ‘Seven’, where a succession of stories – some real, some imagined, but all tangentially related to that number – are obliquely referenced. That’s the way Karin writes; just enough detail to sketch the outline and splash some colour without becoming mired in anything too specific. As she says herself in the song: “I know it, I think I know it from a hymn/ They’ve said so, it doesn’t need more explanation.”
“I prefer lyrics that are like that,” she says, “I like to keep it as minimal as possible. I like films the same way, ones with very little dialogue, such as the Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki (Leningrad Cowboys Go America), I think he’s fantastic. It’s very important to keep the magic and the feeling of something you can draw yourself. You don’t want to be too literal.”
Thus ‘I’m Not Done’, one of Fever Ray’s more upbeat moments, only reveals its true meaning in its title, a gesture of defiance against Karin’s own thoughts of retirement. “That was the last song I wrote and in contrast to many tracks that are more about anxiety and depression, that one is very full of life,” she says. “Sometimes, when you’re as old as I am now, you think you’re going to quit, and people around you think you’re going to quit. But then you have days when you realise how good music can be, there’s so much left to explore and so much left to do. That’s why I sometimes feel I’ll never quit.”
You can figure out for yourself whether a song such as ‘If I Had A Heart’, which sings of “Dangling feet from window frame/ Will they ever reach the floor/ More give me more give me more”, is inspired by observing her young children. Or if ‘Concrete Walls’, despite its ghostly demeanour (that seemingly masculine vocal is, as always, Karin working the voice transformer) and sense of entrapment, is actually about new motherhood, as revealed in “I live between concrete walls/ In my arms she was so warm/ Eyes are open and mouth cries/ Haven’t slept since summer.” Or whether the regular references to snow reflect anything more profound than the national climate.
One thing’s for sure – in a country with a wealth of leftfield pop artists, Karin Dreijer Andersson sounds like no one but herself. Constantly inventive, restlessly emotive, Fever Ray swaggers, broods, intrigues and dazzles without ever making concessions to the soap opera demands of modern media. “I think the music should be able to stand for itself without interfering, like what the artist looks like. That’s something you find out during the process, it’s a steady ongoing process about how you survive. When you work with music, you have the possibility to create magic.”
Opportunity taken, Fever Ray works its magic. Here’s your chance to fall under its spell.
Words By: Steve Yates
I can feel the organic aspect musqiue in the group. Tribal sound, playing voice transports us. I love this group, it fits into my theme of glorification of nature or by the aesthetic of the videos for the lyrics.
lundi 21 novembre 2011
ALEXANDER McQUEEN-S|S 12
Sarah Burton has done an exceedingly good job at Alexander McQueen. That's not an opinion, it's a fact. Using the McQueen codes of femininity, sharp cutting and catwalk drama, she has not only upheld the legacy of Lee Alexander McQueen, but has given it her own handwriting. It's been exhilarating to watch.
But there's still a part of you that felt something was missing. There's still a part that hankered after the old McQueen danger, the chilling moments when the refined was married flawlessly with the macabre. The moments that gave you goosebumps, that made your hair stand on end with shock and awe. Burton achieved that with her Spring/Summer 2012 collection. She didn't ease up the romance, she didn't compromise the workmanship, but she combined these to a sense of showmanship and an eerie beauty that felt unequivocally McQueen.
Burton looked undersea for her inspiration this season. It's a place McQueen examined himself - his Spring 2010 Plato's Atlantis collection imagined a world of melted polar icecaps, flooded cities and evolved/devolved humanity scrambling to survive. Burton's take was woman as underseas predator. If Neptune were to take a wife, chances are she'd look just like this. 'Siren dressing' is a fashion journo stock-phrase, but Burton's women like sirens in the true mythological sense of the term - oddly alluring, fatally seductive, and utterly terrifying. Each and every one had their heads veiled, some in whisper-fine veils of lace framing the face, some obscured entirely with crystal-crusted barnacles or anemone-alike beading, faces tremblante with bugle-beads standing on end like Hellraiser's Pinhead. It was appalling, but it was also one of the most powerful catwalk statements of the season - and the most beautiful, albeit strange and warped.
I think that
The thrill factor was what was really great about this collection, but Burton is a canny businesswoman too. She didn't let the theme overpower the clothes. Rather it gave an edge to Burton's savage tailoring, exquisite embroidered sheath dresses and tatterdemalion chiffon ball-gowns floating down the catwalk like elegant algae. The latter two looked like private order and red carpet stuff, exquisite couture level (and price) pieces for editorial and the discerning clientele who can see the beauty amidst the menace. But the former was resolutely real: the curvy suiting, intricately seamed and bursting into rippled volume at the hip or hem, in beige wool bound with gold or a blue-hued multidimensional print that looked like a combination of refracted water and some aquatic reptile. They had a retail appeal, but also an engaging complexity. The evening-wear took that complexity and ran with it, producing garments that were unlike anything we've ever seen before. Coral clambered up chiffon, shells tumbled down a torso, beading formed exoskeletons over lace or tulle.
The drama of this show was palpable, but the clothes never felt secondary to the unfolding narrative as McQueen's woman descended into the depths and returned as a different creature entirely. When I say McQueen's woman, of course I mean Burton's woman. The two are now so completely fused that they have become one and the same. For this virtuoso, masterful fashion performance, I can think of no higher praise.
Report by Alex Fury on 5 October 2011.
(source: http://showstudio.com/collection/alexander_mcqueen_paris_womenswear_s_s_2012)
But there's still a part of you that felt something was missing. There's still a part that hankered after the old McQueen danger, the chilling moments when the refined was married flawlessly with the macabre. The moments that gave you goosebumps, that made your hair stand on end with shock and awe. Burton achieved that with her Spring/Summer 2012 collection. She didn't ease up the romance, she didn't compromise the workmanship, but she combined these to a sense of showmanship and an eerie beauty that felt unequivocally McQueen.
I think that
The thrill factor was what was really great about this collection, but Burton is a canny businesswoman too. She didn't let the theme overpower the clothes. Rather it gave an edge to Burton's savage tailoring, exquisite embroidered sheath dresses and tatterdemalion chiffon ball-gowns floating down the catwalk like elegant algae. The latter two looked like private order and red carpet stuff, exquisite couture level (and price) pieces for editorial and the discerning clientele who can see the beauty amidst the menace. But the former was resolutely real: the curvy suiting, intricately seamed and bursting into rippled volume at the hip or hem, in beige wool bound with gold or a blue-hued multidimensional print that looked like a combination of refracted water and some aquatic reptile. They had a retail appeal, but also an engaging complexity. The evening-wear took that complexity and ran with it, producing garments that were unlike anything we've ever seen before. Coral clambered up chiffon, shells tumbled down a torso, beading formed exoskeletons over lace or tulle.
The drama of this show was palpable, but the clothes never felt secondary to the unfolding narrative as McQueen's woman descended into the depths and returned as a different creature entirely. When I say McQueen's woman, of course I mean Burton's woman. The two are now so completely fused that they have become one and the same. For this virtuoso, masterful fashion performance, I can think of no higher praise.
Report by Alex Fury on 5 October 2011.
(source: http://showstudio.com/collection/alexander_mcqueen_paris_womenswear_s_s_2012)
Sparkling Crystal Dress – Hussein Chalayan
Hussein Chalayan surprised again during the Paris Fashion week the audience with ‘Technology meets high Fashion’ by showing a Sparkling Crystal Dress.
To underline his ability and willingness to challenge traditional aspects of fashion, Chalayan bended the rules a bit by deciding to show his collection in the from of a short movie rather then with models on the runway.
If you are interested to watch the complete show from Chalayan on video, showstudio.com has it for your viewing pleasure.
We are most interested in our coverage on the Sparkling Crystal Dress Chalayan presented at the end of his ‘08 S/S collection in which he used again technology to create a new fashion dimension.
The Crystal Dress (my naming) is an evolution based on Chalayan’s Mechanical Dress and his LED Dress. It uses hundreds of servo motor driven tiny lasers diodes.
The laser diodes are integrated into the garments, illuminating the Swarovski crystals in the garments and extend so the dresses visually into space.
The effect is an explosion of laser beams and light effects the make the crystal look like living, flowing lava.
The technical wizard behind this Wearable Electronic high fashion piece is no one less than Moritz Waldemeyer who has worked with Chalayan before on the LED Dress.
The result of their cooperation is a stunning light/laser show radiated from the dress that changes continuously the light effects and reflections with the movement of the wearer of the dress.
Swarovskisparkles.tv has a video you must see to experience the magic effect of Chalayan’s creation.
Another movie available on Swarovskisparkles.tv is the ‘Making of’ the Crystal Dress. Watch Chalayan and Waldemeyer how they created this fashion artwork
A fabulous concept Magician Chalayan and Wizard Waldemeyer pulled out of their heads and proved once more that technology and fashion can create a new dimension to our future clothing with the Sparkling Crystal Dress.
(source:http://www.crunchwear.com/sparkling-crystal-dress-hussein-chalayan/)
I am quite impressed by the work of this artist. He knows technology mix and ready-to-wear. His work has and will have considerable influence on the loan-to-wear mass market. His research will ensure that the average consumer will wear smart clothes to her soon...
To underline his ability and willingness to challenge traditional aspects of fashion, Chalayan bended the rules a bit by deciding to show his collection in the from of a short movie rather then with models on the runway.
If you are interested to watch the complete show from Chalayan on video, showstudio.com has it for your viewing pleasure.
We are most interested in our coverage on the Sparkling Crystal Dress Chalayan presented at the end of his ‘08 S/S collection in which he used again technology to create a new fashion dimension.
The Crystal Dress (my naming) is an evolution based on Chalayan’s Mechanical Dress and his LED Dress. It uses hundreds of servo motor driven tiny lasers diodes.
The laser diodes are integrated into the garments, illuminating the Swarovski crystals in the garments and extend so the dresses visually into space.
The effect is an explosion of laser beams and light effects the make the crystal look like living, flowing lava.
The technical wizard behind this Wearable Electronic high fashion piece is no one less than Moritz Waldemeyer who has worked with Chalayan before on the LED Dress.
The result of their cooperation is a stunning light/laser show radiated from the dress that changes continuously the light effects and reflections with the movement of the wearer of the dress.
Swarovskisparkles.tv has a video you must see to experience the magic effect of Chalayan’s creation.
Another movie available on Swarovskisparkles.tv is the ‘Making of’ the Crystal Dress. Watch Chalayan and Waldemeyer how they created this fashion artwork
A fabulous concept Magician Chalayan and Wizard Waldemeyer pulled out of their heads and proved once more that technology and fashion can create a new dimension to our future clothing with the Sparkling Crystal Dress.
(source:http://www.crunchwear.com/sparkling-crystal-dress-hussein-chalayan/)
I am quite impressed by the work of this artist. He knows technology mix and ready-to-wear. His work has and will have considerable influence on the loan-to-wear mass market. His research will ensure that the average consumer will wear smart clothes to her soon...
Agence France-Presse
New York
La livre du coton a atteint un nouveau sommet historique vendredi à New York, à près de 2,13 dollars, alors que l'offre de fibre blanche était extrêmement réduite mais que la demande ne faiblissait pas.Sur l'Intercontinental Exchange, la livre pour livraison en mai s'échangeait vendredi vers 15h50, heure GMT (10h50 à Montréal), à 2,1270 dollars, soit une hausse de 15,45% par rapport à sa clôture d'il y a une semaine, à 1,8423 dollar.
«Aucun signe de l'étroitesse de l'offre ne se dissipe», a constaté Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, de Barclays Capital.
Les ventes à l'exportation depuis les États-Unis ont nettement progressé la semaine passée, selon le relevé hebdomadaire du département de l'Agriculture (USDA) publié jeudi et qui a dopé le marché en fin de semaine.
Avec 403 000 balles vendues, les ventes sont en hausse de près de 50% par rapport à la moyenne des quatre dernières semaines.
«Le monde se démène pour mettre la main sur les quelques balles de coton restantes», a constaté John Flanagan, de Flanagan Trading. Les options posées pour de futurs contrats montrent que «les usines doivent faire encore beaucoup d'achats entre maintenant et juin», a ajouté l'analyste.
Le marché du coton était marqué par des stocks très faibles, qui ont alimenté une hausse impressionnante des prix: le prix de la livre a grimpé de près de 160% en un an et de 47% depuis le début de l'année à New York.
«Le principal problème reste la Chine, dont les importations de coton augmentent fortement», ont souligné les analystes de Commerzbank, de 86% en 2010.
Le géant asiatique, premier producteur mondial de coton, est incapable de couvrir environ un tiers de sa demande par sa propre production, selon l'USDA, ont-ils précisé.
Toutefois, selon Commerzbank, l'Académie chinoise des sciences agricoles a estimé que la Chine importerait moins de coton en 2011 à cause du niveau élevé des prix.
Parmi les producteurs clés, l'Inde, deuxième producteur mondial, est l'un des seuls à voir sa superficie dédiée au coton augmenter, à un niveau record en 2010-2011 et «probablement en augmentation pour 2011-2012», a souligné Sudakshina Unnikrishnan.
«Toutefois, l'Inde a revu à la baisse cette semaine sa prévision de production de coton pour 2010-2011 de plus de 5% à cause de pluies malvenues», a ajouté l'analyste.
Le contrat de coton pour livraison en décembre 2011, qui enregistre déjà des volumes d'échanges étoffés, s'établissait à 1,2548 dollar vendredi.
L'indice Cotlook A, moyenne quotidienne des cinq prix du coton les plus faibles sur le marché physique dans les ports d'Orient, valait de son côté 236,25 dollars (pour 100 livres), contre 209,30 dollars en fin de semaine précédente.
Verts, les jeunes?
Daphné Cameron
La Presse
Pour 83% des jeunes âgés de 18 à 30 ans, la protection de l'environnement passe avant le développement économique. Les jeunes Québécois sont-ils des écologistes finis? Pas si sûr, répond Ariane Paré-Legal, jeune chroniqueuse à l'émission La vie en vert, diffusée à Télé-Québec.
La Presse: Les 18-30 sont-ils environnementalistes?
Ariane Paré-Legal: Je pense que c'est plus à la mode de se positionner en faveur de l'environnement qu'en faveur du développement économique. On cherche toujours une reconnaissance sociale et être écolo c'est une nouvelle façon de se reconnaître entre nous. À preuve, il y a énormément de branding écologique. Le vêtement éthique n'est plus seulement un t-shirt en coton biologique ordinaire. Tu le reconnais, le vêtement, il va se coller aux grandes marques, avoir des signes distinctifs. Ces temps-ci, il est également de très bon ton de dire qu'on a acheté le composteur Blue Planet ou d'affirmer qu'on utilise des sacs biodégradables alors que je n'ai pas l'impression que nos grands-parents se seraient vantés de faire du compostage. Bref, je crois que les jeunes sont nombreux à se dire verts, tout en laissant une empreinte écologique considérable.
LP: Avez-vous tout de même l'impression que les 18-30 ans sont davantage sensibilisés à la cause environnementale que, disons, les baby-boomers?
A. P.-L.: Nous avons grandi en parlant des pluies acides et de la planète à l'école, mais on ne trouvait pas toujours une oreille attentive lorsque l'on arrivait avec ça à la maison. Je crois que nous allons davantage avoir un impact sur nos enfants que sur nos parents. Cela dit, je crois que les jeunes qui sont conscientisés - parce qu'ils ne le sont pas tous - ont poussé les baby-boomers à faire des changements.
LP: Vous prônez la consommation responsable, achetez des produits du terroir québécois et circulez à vélo. Représentez-vous les gens de votre âge?
A. P.-L.: Je ne suis pas la seule dans mon entourage, mais je suis consciente que mon entourage n'est pas la norme. J'ai des amis qui sont écolos jusque dans leurs moindres gestes, mais qui n'ont pas le choix de circuler en voiture. J'en ai d'autres qui ont de la difficulté à faire la différence entre «biologique» et «biodégradable», mais qui sans être conscientisés, ne surconsomment pas et ne voyagent pas en avion. On ne peut pas tous mener la même bataille. Une mère seule de trois enfants ne peut pas acheter bio. Maintenant, est-ce qu'on fait le maximum de choix écologiques dans nos situations respectives? Je pense qu'elle est là, la question.
(source: http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/200809/22/01-22390-verts-les-jeunes.php)
La Presse
Pour 83% des jeunes âgés de 18 à 30 ans, la protection de l'environnement passe avant le développement économique. Les jeunes Québécois sont-ils des écologistes finis? Pas si sûr, répond Ariane Paré-Legal, jeune chroniqueuse à l'émission La vie en vert, diffusée à Télé-Québec.
La Presse: Les 18-30 sont-ils environnementalistes?
Ariane Paré-Legal: Je pense que c'est plus à la mode de se positionner en faveur de l'environnement qu'en faveur du développement économique. On cherche toujours une reconnaissance sociale et être écolo c'est une nouvelle façon de se reconnaître entre nous. À preuve, il y a énormément de branding écologique. Le vêtement éthique n'est plus seulement un t-shirt en coton biologique ordinaire. Tu le reconnais, le vêtement, il va se coller aux grandes marques, avoir des signes distinctifs. Ces temps-ci, il est également de très bon ton de dire qu'on a acheté le composteur Blue Planet ou d'affirmer qu'on utilise des sacs biodégradables alors que je n'ai pas l'impression que nos grands-parents se seraient vantés de faire du compostage. Bref, je crois que les jeunes sont nombreux à se dire verts, tout en laissant une empreinte écologique considérable.
LP: Avez-vous tout de même l'impression que les 18-30 ans sont davantage sensibilisés à la cause environnementale que, disons, les baby-boomers?
A. P.-L.: Nous avons grandi en parlant des pluies acides et de la planète à l'école, mais on ne trouvait pas toujours une oreille attentive lorsque l'on arrivait avec ça à la maison. Je crois que nous allons davantage avoir un impact sur nos enfants que sur nos parents. Cela dit, je crois que les jeunes qui sont conscientisés - parce qu'ils ne le sont pas tous - ont poussé les baby-boomers à faire des changements.
LP: Vous prônez la consommation responsable, achetez des produits du terroir québécois et circulez à vélo. Représentez-vous les gens de votre âge?
A. P.-L.: Je ne suis pas la seule dans mon entourage, mais je suis consciente que mon entourage n'est pas la norme. J'ai des amis qui sont écolos jusque dans leurs moindres gestes, mais qui n'ont pas le choix de circuler en voiture. J'en ai d'autres qui ont de la difficulté à faire la différence entre «biologique» et «biodégradable», mais qui sans être conscientisés, ne surconsomment pas et ne voyagent pas en avion. On ne peut pas tous mener la même bataille. Une mère seule de trois enfants ne peut pas acheter bio. Maintenant, est-ce qu'on fait le maximum de choix écologiques dans nos situations respectives? Je pense qu'elle est là, la question.
(source: http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/200809/22/01-22390-verts-les-jeunes.php)
I believe firmly that the young people of today are concerned about the environment, however I believe that they are not ready to make the sacrifices so to arrive at something concrete. We are returned at a point hinge where we must wonder whether we are ready to make sacrifices.
vendredi 18 novembre 2011
Givenchy- FALL COUTURE 2011
Just over a week ago, Riccardo Tisci dazzled the menswear crowd with a lush, colorful show inspired by bird-of-paradise flowers. For his new haute couture collection, it was paradise in general that intrigued him. "Purity, lightness, fragility," was how he summed up his focus. At first glance, this was a much more restrained affair. The ten looks were all white, or very nearly so. But Tisci held nothing back when it came to the handwork.
Months and months in the planning, a long tulle dress was decorated with tiger's-eye pearls that had been inserted with crystals to catch the light and arrayed in the exact same pattern as the marks on an ostrich skin. Another gown was even more painstakingly embroidered with tiny silvery-gray caviar beads. In a callback to his women's ready-to-wear, Tisci paired it with a matching jumper boasting a sheer front panel and beading everywhere else so thick it was 3-D. A third dress, the most expensive and time-consuming to make of all the pieces, was entirely sewn of symmetrically placed hand-cut silk tulle paillettes. The result looked like some sort of exotic fish--in the most flattering possible way.
And, really, that was just the beginning of the embellishments. Hand-curled feathers; plumes so densely embroidered they looked like fur; dégradé beading that not only changed color but also went from shiny to matte—all rewarded the sort of up-close inspection that Tisci has made a point of his Place Vendôme couture installations. At these presentations, every detail, however small, warrants his attention. On the one hand, a fragrance diffuser misted the scent of spring roses through the rooms; and on the other, Popol Vuh, circa Werner Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God, played on the speakers.
Tisci, in other words, hasn't entirely abandoned his dark side, nor lost his taste for provocation. Mingling among all those high-priced embellishments were the oversize plastic zippers that have become a signature of his modern take on the traditional art of custom dressmaking. And don't forget all the flesh laid bare by his cutouts, peekaboo fringe, and tulle. Still, the exquisite technique was the big story here, pointing as it did to the continuing evolution of this designer's unique couture vision.
Matt Wisniewski Collages
Matt Wisniewski Blends Humans with Earth into Surreal Hybrids
Web developer and student of Rochester Institute of Technology, Matt Wisniewski provides a, quite literally, fresh perspective on the currently popular art forms of photomontages and mixed media. He takes images of models and strategically superimposes epic imagery of nature on top of them. Mostly concentrating on the head and torso, he creates surreal beings that are hybrids between humans and nature.Based in New York City, Matt Wisniewski predominantly uses photos that he finds on Tumblr sites. By blending mankind and Earth together, it becomes hard to see where one ends and the other begins. Although the human form provides a convenient boundary for nature, Matt Wisniewski’s works really show how much people are part of Mother Nature...
(source: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/matt-wisniewski)
Matt Wisniewski posts his work on his own Tumblr titled Five Minutes to Live. His imagery really depict this urgency to experience life.
jeudi 17 novembre 2011
Florence + The Machine - Cosmic Love
Cause sometimes, we don't want to explain every choice that we do... we just need some beautiful image, I believe sincerely that Man needs to surround himself with beautiful things.
I present you here a video from Florence + the machine, it's an artist whom I love, we can observe something very organic in her work, what has a direct link with my current research for the collection...
However, putting this judgment I lean not only on what I see, the choice of her words is also a good argument. So, the metaphor of the tune evokes all this organic universe with which I deal;
" The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No. dawn, no day, I' m always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart "
lundi 14 novembre 2011
PHOTOGRAPHER- Hedi Slimane
In 2001 Hedi Slimane's first paris collection for Dior Homme felt urgently new to everyone. His razor-slim silhouettes, exquisite haute couture tailoring, and luxurious fabrics epitomized sophistication and sensuality. Hidden details— like the clear sequins he sewed inside trouser pleats — delighted even jaded critics.
Two more inventive collections have followed. For Spring/Summer, 2002, Slimane showed very low-slung pants and white button-down shirts embroidered with red-sequined "love wounds." For his most recent show, he reinterpreted the tuxedo with triple lapels and embellished elegant shirts and jackets with heraldic crests. After three pitch-perfect collections, Slimane is now rightfully considered Men's Fashion's most important new voice.
Klaus Biesenbach is chief curator of New York's P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center — which has recently formed an intriguing partnership with MoMA. He founded and still directs the Kunst-Werke contemporary arts complex in Berlin, where Hedi also keeps a shoebox-sized studio/apartment.
Two more inventive collections have followed. For Spring/Summer, 2002, Slimane showed very low-slung pants and white button-down shirts embroidered with red-sequined "love wounds." For his most recent show, he reinterpreted the tuxedo with triple lapels and embellished elegant shirts and jackets with heraldic crests. After three pitch-perfect collections, Slimane is now rightfully considered Men's Fashion's most important new voice.
Klaus Biesenbach is chief curator of New York's P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center — which has recently formed an intriguing partnership with MoMA. He founded and still directs the Kunst-Werke contemporary arts complex in Berlin, where Hedi also keeps a shoebox-sized studio/apartment.
KLAUS: In Paris you’re surrounded by so many people, and you drive around with a crew. But in Berlin I see you dragging your stuff to the neighborhood laundromat in plastic bags. How do you survive that jump? I mean, what is it that you like about Berlin? HEDI: Berlin is an open space for me — I don’t feel like I need to make any effort when I am here. I take the overnight train from Paris, and I arrive really early in the morning, when the city is only slightly awake and silent. The train going from west to east creates a sort of urban intimacy. It’s a very pleasant, slow journey.
KLAUS: Not needing to make an effort doesn’t necessarily sound like a good thing. What do you really appreciate about the city?
HEDI: Well, I don’t know many people in Berlin. In addition, I don’t speak German. So my rapport with the city is quite easy and immediate, without any particular expectations. It’s almost as if I were autistic.
KLAUS: So you go there to escape — Berlin is your countryside.
HEDI: Yes, my friend Jean Jacques Picart always jokes that the Kunst-Werke is my country house! When I arrive here, I feel like my time is really my own.
KLAUS: You actually prefer the city to the beach or the mountains?
HEDI: When people say they’ve found an incredible, empty beach with no one around, I understand why they’re excited. But to me, the idea of a holiday by myself on a beach — I’d have a nervous breakdown! I
need to have lots of things around to observe. I don’t necessarily need to interact with people — in fact, I usually don’t — but I need to see people interacting.
KLAUS: Do you like Berlin because it’s a young, wild, improvised, vacant space?
HEDI: It offers a totally different perspective from Paris. Berlin is constantly being reinvented. It draws a very individualistic crowd. Also, it doesn’t seem like anyone there was actually born a Berliner, so that makes me feel at ease. It has a particular mood that the East Village had in the mid and late ’80s. Of course, there’s a very strong youth culture in Berlin, which is totally nonexistent in Paris. There’s a feeling of activism, and yet there’s also a side that appears disenchanted. I find all of that attractive.
KLAUS: What is your ambition?
HEDI: I don’t really have one, I’m afraid. Everything I’ve done is part of a chain reaction. But I’m naturally determined, so I guess you could say that my ambition is just to make the next day interesting. Also, I’ve been lucky enough to meet people with whom I have a good understanding. So another ambition is to meet the people with whom I might develop future projects. Things arrive by accident. I really believe that.
KLAUS: Who got you started in fashion?
HEDI: Actually, Jean Jacques Picart pushed me.
KLAUS: How did he know you would be a great designer?
HEDI: It’s not for me to say. I was twenty-three, and I was a little bit lost, doing things like street casting, anything. I was all over the map. He’s been involved with fashion for so many years. He did the same with Christian Lacroix — he started Lacroix.
KLAUS: He just had the instinct?
HEDI: Some people care about you, and are really able to see you, and other people will never see you, even if you’re standing in front of them and waving. It’s like I said about ambition — who you meet next is so important. That’s how ideas get translated into a project. What makes it wonderful is that you never know what will happen next.
KLAUS: Did you grow up in Paris?
HEDI: Yes, I was born and raised there. I didn’t leave much when I was growing up, so I think that’s what makes it difficult for me to spend more than a few days outside of a big city now. I get really nervous.
KLAUS: Which area did you grow up in?
HEDI: Near Buttes Chaumont, a small garden that was built at the end of the nineteenth century. It’s a beautiful garden, even if it is a bit kitschy.
KLAUS: Do you have any fashion background in your family?
HEDI: Not fashion, but mother’s family had a lot of tailors. She’s Italian.
KLAUS: And your father — isn’t he Tunisian?
HEDI: Yes he is, and I actually feel closer to those roots, somehow.
KLAUS: What do they think of all of the attention you’ve been getting since you started at Dior?
HEDI: My parents are very discreet. They’re more concerned about how I’m doing, and if I’m working too hard.
KLAUS: You said that you like to observe. Is that why you take a lot of photographs?
HEDI: Since I was eleven, I’ve always carried a camera with me. I’m always taking pictures for my archives.
KLAUS: Are they part of your design process?
HEDI: It depends. When I work on collections, I always photograph more. I’m trying to get a sense of composition and proportion within the frame. That’s very important in terms of the construction of the clothes.
KLAUS: What is most inspiring for you in terms of your design — is it color, architecture, people walking around?
HEDI: Oh, anything. It’s difficult to say, because I don’t like to start with a narrative, the way some designers do. I don’t like focusing on themes at all.
KLAUS: Are you thinking of Yves Saint Laurent?
HEDI: Totally. He would work like that, going from a Russian collection to a Chinese one ...
KLAUS: So when you talk about composition, are you coming from a formal point of view?
HEDI: Strictly formal. For me, most of the composition comes from the atelier. In order to design, I have to be inside the workroom. I need technical people around. I need to build the clothes.
KLAUS: What do you mean by technical people?
HEDI: I have a very traditional haute couture studio. So there is a Premier d’Atelier, who is the head of the studio. There’s a Seconde d’Atelier, who goes between the Premier d’Atelier and the seamstresses and pattern makers. There are three tailors, etc. I didn’t build my studio from my old team at Saint Laurent, because I didn’t want any references from the past. The only person I brought from Saint Laurent is the Premier d’Atelier — but he came from Haute Couture, not Men’s. I had never worked with him before.
KLAUS: When you started at Dior Homme, didn’t you redesign the whole atelier, from the furniture to the layout of the floors?
HEDI: We had no choice but to build the whole thing. When I arrived at Dior, there was only a little atelier for the store, but no bureau d’études for studying new ideas and proportions. I started by designing the studio, which had to be ethereal, almost without physicality, because the collection changes every season. I’d rather not see the space at all.
KLAUS: So when you went to Dior, you started from scratch in every way.
HEDI: Yes. Building the space, and inside it, the team.
KLAUS: Your process seems quite structured. Do you go to the atelier for eight or twelve hours every day?
HEDI: Yes. I could easily stay away a for a while, but I prefer to be there to keep things moving.
KLAUS: So you don’t show up three weeks before you need to finish a collection, work day and night until it’s done, then spend the rest of the time traveling around the world?
HEDI: No, I don’t like that. Other people work that way, but I’d have the collection prepared a month before the show if I could. I prefer not to change things at the last minute.
KLAUS: Can you describe your relationship to your team? It sounds like a family, or a soccer team, where everybody has an integral role.
HEDI: Yes, totally. Christian Dior is quite a big corporation, and within it Dior Homme is really small. That gives us the feeling of being a very tight group, which is so important. Since the beginning, everybody has been really involved and committed, so you just feel that spirit.
KLAUS: You must be a very disciplined worker.
HEDI: I have requirements — not just for myself, but for my team as well. I don’t want to rush the studio just because I’m not ready. I start up again right away after I’ve done a show, because the team needs a regular schedule.
KLAUS: People ask me how you can be in Berlin so often.
HEDI: I’m not here that often. I wish I were, because I’m more comfortable here than in Paris. A good rhythm for me would be four days in Berlin, every two weeks. I only regret that I can’t — I’m always stuck in Paris.
KLAUS: A few years ago, Paris didn’t have any exciting young designers or artists. Now there’s a whole new generation — people like yourself and the artists Pierre Huyghe and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. There’s a lot of hope and expectation invested in the new Palais de Tokyo art center. Would you say it’s an exciting city again?
HEDI: It’s hard for me to say. I feel a little bit constrained there at the moment. I find the whole situation a bit upsetting and heavy.
KLAUS: Because you’re becoming more famous?
HEDI: No, it’s the work. So much work. It’s sad, but I don’t really go out in Paris anymore. But I’m not sure new things are emerging there anyway. Paris is about being established. If you want to be able to push new ideas in Paris, there’s only one way to do it — use your position within the establishment as a tool. That’s why I like working collaboratively.
KLAUS: Paris rewards success and makes it official early. In New York you have to fight longer. And Berlin is kind of against individual success anyway!
HEDI: It takes a while in Paris too. And you don’t get success from the French anyway. They’re more influenced by the opinions of people in other countries. My first press came from America. It wasn’t until the French press saw that there was interest coming from somewhere else that they started to pay attention.
KLAUS: What do you think of New York these days?
HEDI: I think New York will be more interesting in the next few years than it has been recently. New York was in a vertigo of success and money during the late ’90s, and consequently there was a lot of inauthenticity in people’s creative processes. People were not true to themselves. They were jaded. Everything looked formulaic. Since September 11th, it’s a different world. I think the way people relate to each other has changed a lot. It feels more like the city that I remember from ten years ago. There’s more doubt, and that means, eventually, a place for more creativity.
KLAUS: Could you envision living there?
HEDI: I love New York. But I’m not the sort of person who could design the clothes in Manhattan, then send them to Paris just before the shows. I joined Dior because of its proximity to the whole tradition of couture, which you can only have in Paris. There would be no authenticity anywhere else.
KLAUS: Have you seen anything inspiring coming from New York yet? Any new music or new films?
HEDI: I don’t really think that way. Unless it’s something really striking, I usually integrate and move on. It’s always hard to mention any one film or band. I find that sort of thinking restrictive.
KLAUS: Well, do you have a favorite movie?
HEDI: No. There are lots of movies that I like very much, such as Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth. That’s a movie that impressed me as a kid.
KLAUS: Why?
HEDI: I suppose David Bowie had a lot to do with it.
KLAUS: I like that movie too, because anyone who makes art sometimes feels like they’ve fallen down in one place and landed somewhere else. The movie reminds me of Pasolini’s Teorema, where a young man, played by Terrence Stamp, comes to visit a conservative Italian family, causing every person in the household to question who they are, and why.
HEDI: In Teorema, the Terrence Stamp character changes a whole family — his arrival is totally cataclysmic to them. Whereas in The Man Who Fell to Earth, the Bowie character doesn’t make a difference. He can’t connect.
KLAUS: Do you like Berlin because it’s a young, wild, improvised, vacant space?
HEDI: It offers a totally different perspective from Paris. Berlin is constantly being reinvented. It draws a very individualistic crowd. Also, it doesn’t seem like anyone there was actually born a Berliner, so that makes me feel at ease. It has a particular mood that the East Village had in the mid and late ’80s. Of course, there’s a very strong youth culture in Berlin, which is totally nonexistent in Paris. There’s a feeling of activism, and yet there’s also a side that appears disenchanted. I find all of that attractive.
KLAUS: What is your ambition?
HEDI: I don’t really have one, I’m afraid. Everything I’ve done is part of a chain reaction. But I’m naturally determined, so I guess you could say that my ambition is just to make the next day interesting. Also, I’ve been lucky enough to meet people with whom I have a good understanding. So another ambition is to meet the people with whom I might develop future projects. Things arrive by accident. I really believe that.
KLAUS: Who got you started in fashion?
HEDI: Actually, Jean Jacques Picart pushed me.
KLAUS: How did he know you would be a great designer?
HEDI: It’s not for me to say. I was twenty-three, and I was a little bit lost, doing things like street casting, anything. I was all over the map. He’s been involved with fashion for so many years. He did the same with Christian Lacroix — he started Lacroix.
KLAUS: He just had the instinct?
HEDI: Some people care about you, and are really able to see you, and other people will never see you, even if you’re standing in front of them and waving. It’s like I said about ambition — who you meet next is so important. That’s how ideas get translated into a project. What makes it wonderful is that you never know what will happen next.
KLAUS: Did you grow up in Paris?
HEDI: Yes, I was born and raised there. I didn’t leave much when I was growing up, so I think that’s what makes it difficult for me to spend more than a few days outside of a big city now. I get really nervous.
KLAUS: Which area did you grow up in?
HEDI: Near Buttes Chaumont, a small garden that was built at the end of the nineteenth century. It’s a beautiful garden, even if it is a bit kitschy.
KLAUS: Do you have any fashion background in your family?
HEDI: Not fashion, but mother’s family had a lot of tailors. She’s Italian.
KLAUS: And your father — isn’t he Tunisian?
HEDI: Yes he is, and I actually feel closer to those roots, somehow.
KLAUS: What do they think of all of the attention you’ve been getting since you started at Dior?
HEDI: My parents are very discreet. They’re more concerned about how I’m doing, and if I’m working too hard.
KLAUS: You said that you like to observe. Is that why you take a lot of photographs?
HEDI: Since I was eleven, I’ve always carried a camera with me. I’m always taking pictures for my archives.
KLAUS: Are they part of your design process?
HEDI: It depends. When I work on collections, I always photograph more. I’m trying to get a sense of composition and proportion within the frame. That’s very important in terms of the construction of the clothes.
KLAUS: What is most inspiring for you in terms of your design — is it color, architecture, people walking around?
HEDI: Oh, anything. It’s difficult to say, because I don’t like to start with a narrative, the way some designers do. I don’t like focusing on themes at all.
KLAUS: Are you thinking of Yves Saint Laurent?
HEDI: Totally. He would work like that, going from a Russian collection to a Chinese one ...
KLAUS: So when you talk about composition, are you coming from a formal point of view?
HEDI: Strictly formal. For me, most of the composition comes from the atelier. In order to design, I have to be inside the workroom. I need technical people around. I need to build the clothes.
KLAUS: What do you mean by technical people?
HEDI: I have a very traditional haute couture studio. So there is a Premier d’Atelier, who is the head of the studio. There’s a Seconde d’Atelier, who goes between the Premier d’Atelier and the seamstresses and pattern makers. There are three tailors, etc. I didn’t build my studio from my old team at Saint Laurent, because I didn’t want any references from the past. The only person I brought from Saint Laurent is the Premier d’Atelier — but he came from Haute Couture, not Men’s. I had never worked with him before.
KLAUS: When you started at Dior Homme, didn’t you redesign the whole atelier, from the furniture to the layout of the floors?
HEDI: We had no choice but to build the whole thing. When I arrived at Dior, there was only a little atelier for the store, but no bureau d’études for studying new ideas and proportions. I started by designing the studio, which had to be ethereal, almost without physicality, because the collection changes every season. I’d rather not see the space at all.
KLAUS: So when you went to Dior, you started from scratch in every way.
HEDI: Yes. Building the space, and inside it, the team.
KLAUS: Your process seems quite structured. Do you go to the atelier for eight or twelve hours every day?
HEDI: Yes. I could easily stay away a for a while, but I prefer to be there to keep things moving.
KLAUS: So you don’t show up three weeks before you need to finish a collection, work day and night until it’s done, then spend the rest of the time traveling around the world?
HEDI: No, I don’t like that. Other people work that way, but I’d have the collection prepared a month before the show if I could. I prefer not to change things at the last minute.
KLAUS: Can you describe your relationship to your team? It sounds like a family, or a soccer team, where everybody has an integral role.
HEDI: Yes, totally. Christian Dior is quite a big corporation, and within it Dior Homme is really small. That gives us the feeling of being a very tight group, which is so important. Since the beginning, everybody has been really involved and committed, so you just feel that spirit.
KLAUS: You must be a very disciplined worker.
HEDI: I have requirements — not just for myself, but for my team as well. I don’t want to rush the studio just because I’m not ready. I start up again right away after I’ve done a show, because the team needs a regular schedule.
KLAUS: People ask me how you can be in Berlin so often.
HEDI: I’m not here that often. I wish I were, because I’m more comfortable here than in Paris. A good rhythm for me would be four days in Berlin, every two weeks. I only regret that I can’t — I’m always stuck in Paris.
KLAUS: A few years ago, Paris didn’t have any exciting young designers or artists. Now there’s a whole new generation — people like yourself and the artists Pierre Huyghe and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. There’s a lot of hope and expectation invested in the new Palais de Tokyo art center. Would you say it’s an exciting city again?
HEDI: It’s hard for me to say. I feel a little bit constrained there at the moment. I find the whole situation a bit upsetting and heavy.
KLAUS: Because you’re becoming more famous?
HEDI: No, it’s the work. So much work. It’s sad, but I don’t really go out in Paris anymore. But I’m not sure new things are emerging there anyway. Paris is about being established. If you want to be able to push new ideas in Paris, there’s only one way to do it — use your position within the establishment as a tool. That’s why I like working collaboratively.
KLAUS: Paris rewards success and makes it official early. In New York you have to fight longer. And Berlin is kind of against individual success anyway!
HEDI: It takes a while in Paris too. And you don’t get success from the French anyway. They’re more influenced by the opinions of people in other countries. My first press came from America. It wasn’t until the French press saw that there was interest coming from somewhere else that they started to pay attention.
KLAUS: What do you think of New York these days?
HEDI: I think New York will be more interesting in the next few years than it has been recently. New York was in a vertigo of success and money during the late ’90s, and consequently there was a lot of inauthenticity in people’s creative processes. People were not true to themselves. They were jaded. Everything looked formulaic. Since September 11th, it’s a different world. I think the way people relate to each other has changed a lot. It feels more like the city that I remember from ten years ago. There’s more doubt, and that means, eventually, a place for more creativity.
KLAUS: Could you envision living there?
HEDI: I love New York. But I’m not the sort of person who could design the clothes in Manhattan, then send them to Paris just before the shows. I joined Dior because of its proximity to the whole tradition of couture, which you can only have in Paris. There would be no authenticity anywhere else.
KLAUS: Have you seen anything inspiring coming from New York yet? Any new music or new films?
HEDI: I don’t really think that way. Unless it’s something really striking, I usually integrate and move on. It’s always hard to mention any one film or band. I find that sort of thinking restrictive.
KLAUS: Well, do you have a favorite movie?
HEDI: No. There are lots of movies that I like very much, such as Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth. That’s a movie that impressed me as a kid.
KLAUS: Why?
HEDI: I suppose David Bowie had a lot to do with it.
KLAUS: I like that movie too, because anyone who makes art sometimes feels like they’ve fallen down in one place and landed somewhere else. The movie reminds me of Pasolini’s Teorema, where a young man, played by Terrence Stamp, comes to visit a conservative Italian family, causing every person in the household to question who they are, and why.
HEDI: In Teorema, the Terrence Stamp character changes a whole family — his arrival is totally cataclysmic to them. Whereas in The Man Who Fell to Earth, the Bowie character doesn’t make a difference. He can’t connect.
KLAUS. Do you want to make a difference?
HEDI: What do you mean?
KLAUS: In terms of your art, are you trying to create beauty, or clearness, or truth?
HEDI: As an objective? Not so much. I’m quite day to day.
KLAUS: You’re not a missionary for minimalism, or beauty?
HEDI: No, no. In fact, I’m always thinking that something will come along to destroy whatever credo I have. I’m most interested in that moment when my entire perspective changes, and I have to reconsider everything.
HEDI: What do you mean?
KLAUS: In terms of your art, are you trying to create beauty, or clearness, or truth?
HEDI: As an objective? Not so much. I’m quite day to day.
KLAUS: You’re not a missionary for minimalism, or beauty?
HEDI: No, no. In fact, I’m always thinking that something will come along to destroy whatever credo I have. I’m most interested in that moment when my entire perspective changes, and I have to reconsider everything.
This photographer is one of my the biggest inspiration. The simplicity, the minimalism of his clichés is the most inspiring thing on earth.The subject, here is what matters in its photos. I like his "rough"work in a certain way...
TESTOSTERONE-by Toyin Ibidapo
Penny Martin: You are predominantly known as a stills photographer. What prompted you to make a film?
Penny Martin: Can you describe the role of the model in your work?
Toyin Ibidapo: I'm obsessed by beautiful boys, boys who are effeminate but don't necessarily know it. Androgyny is intriguing to me. It's an incredibly distinctive look that a lot of straight men can't handle.
The boys I photograph, the chosen ones!, need to be able to project this, to show the world that there's something special about the way they look. They've got to stir up those special feelings, let me observe their teenage years, their puberty, provoke questions. Is he in the prime of his beauty? How will he grow? What will he be like in a couple of years? Will he maintain what he has now?
What takes the most time is finding the right models to photograph. I realise you can't put everyone in front of the camera. You can be beautiful but if you're an arsehole it doesn't work for me. It's important to elicit honest responses, to find people who aren't scared to let you in. Intimacy is something a lot of people find difficult to communicate, which is why I often shoot the same faces again and again. There's something about them that keeps me coming back for more and the trust has been built up.
Penny Martin: In the original film of Kim Jones' Autumn/Winter '03 collection, which this shorter film grew out of, there were girls as well as your customary androgynous boys. Is it different photographing women?
Toyin Ibidapo: If a girl is confident and gutsy, it's not different at all. I can have the same intrigue with girls as I do with boys. It's just I find men more of a challenge.
Penny Martin: It is clear that the fashion garments are secondary to the representation of the male body in your imagery. How do you approach the inclusion of fashion in a shoot?
Toyin Ibidapo: I think it's important to work with the right people editorially, people who won't be afraid to let me shoot freely. Of course I do show the clothes, we always make sure what needs to be featured is there, but put it this way - if he's topless we're both happy!
Penny Martin: The atmosphere and production values of your film work make it reminiscent of music videos. Do you regard film as part of your photographic body of work or as a separate, more commercially oriented endeavour?
Toyin Ibidapo: Both. Music is very important to me. It's another source of inspiration. To be able to close your eyes whilst listening to something that makes you feel a certain way is magical in itself. If I can capture some of that magic in my moving images, then I'm happy. I'd also like to break into music videos, but only where I've got a free reign and can work with the artist to create something that really says something.
Penny Martin: What are your plans for the 'boys' project?
Toyin Ibidapo: My plan was to shoot 100 androgynous and interesting boys. It's taken me about four years so far! When completed, I plan to publish it with the title "The Cult of Boys', and then to exhibit the images alongside my film work.
(source: http://showstudio.com/project/raphi#interview)
I pretty much like the work of this photographer, in the film part of the image. The depiction of videos illustrates a certain sensibility. I like the visual aspect, cause that's a strong visual sense sinks and "poètique" . I find these movies very inspiring.
Toyin Ibidapo: A few things: firstly my Radiohead obsession - I'd love to shoot their videos; then, of course, the chance to see my work come to life, the opportunity to show every angle, the movement and fluidity, the full rapture I have with my subjects.
Penny Martin: What is the difference between shooting stills and motion?
Penny Martin: What is the difference between shooting stills and motion?
Toyin Ibidapo: When you do a still you are creating, hopefully, a lasting image. But sometimes, and especially with boys who aren't animated - who are silent, maybe more reserved, but have presence - it's always when you are not shooting them that they relax a bit more. They move their heads in a certain way or their hands, whilst all the time I'm still watching them. I'll see something that they've done and say "DO THAT AGAIN!" but they don't know what they just did. It was a simple natural reaction. With films, you get everything. I think it's the next natural thing to explore for a photographer.
Penny Martin: Your photography seems quite personal and your method solitary. Yet this project originated out of a collaboration with Kim Jones. What was it like involving another creative in your working process?
Toyin Ibidapo: The thing with Kim was that he got it! He understood where I was coming from. He'd seen my first film project, 'The Cult of Boys' and wanted something similar for his London Fashion Week A/W 2003/04 presentation - a film instead of a catwalk show. The idea was great, and we had an amazing response to the final result, but the process was actually quite stressful! First I wasn't sure I wanted to give my world away to so many people at such a high profile event - but I did. It was a strange feeling, very close to feeling vulnerable. The thing is until then my film work was quite secretive, only a very few people had seen it. Directing and editing the film for a purpose was also different. I had to make sure Kim was happy too. Whereas I would normally keep a closed set, just me and my subject, or the editor, this time I had a whole team to consider. It was difficult opening up and letting people in, especially when I had to work through creative blocks, but the end result was definitely worth it. Penny Martin: Your photography seems quite personal and your method solitary. Yet this project originated out of a collaboration with Kim Jones. What was it like involving another creative in your working process?
Penny Martin: Can you describe the role of the model in your work?
Toyin Ibidapo: I'm obsessed by beautiful boys, boys who are effeminate but don't necessarily know it. Androgyny is intriguing to me. It's an incredibly distinctive look that a lot of straight men can't handle.
The boys I photograph, the chosen ones!, need to be able to project this, to show the world that there's something special about the way they look. They've got to stir up those special feelings, let me observe their teenage years, their puberty, provoke questions. Is he in the prime of his beauty? How will he grow? What will he be like in a couple of years? Will he maintain what he has now?
What takes the most time is finding the right models to photograph. I realise you can't put everyone in front of the camera. You can be beautiful but if you're an arsehole it doesn't work for me. It's important to elicit honest responses, to find people who aren't scared to let you in. Intimacy is something a lot of people find difficult to communicate, which is why I often shoot the same faces again and again. There's something about them that keeps me coming back for more and the trust has been built up.
Penny Martin: In the original film of Kim Jones' Autumn/Winter '03 collection, which this shorter film grew out of, there were girls as well as your customary androgynous boys. Is it different photographing women?
Toyin Ibidapo: If a girl is confident and gutsy, it's not different at all. I can have the same intrigue with girls as I do with boys. It's just I find men more of a challenge.
Penny Martin: It is clear that the fashion garments are secondary to the representation of the male body in your imagery. How do you approach the inclusion of fashion in a shoot?
Toyin Ibidapo: I think it's important to work with the right people editorially, people who won't be afraid to let me shoot freely. Of course I do show the clothes, we always make sure what needs to be featured is there, but put it this way - if he's topless we're both happy!
Penny Martin: The atmosphere and production values of your film work make it reminiscent of music videos. Do you regard film as part of your photographic body of work or as a separate, more commercially oriented endeavour?
Toyin Ibidapo: Both. Music is very important to me. It's another source of inspiration. To be able to close your eyes whilst listening to something that makes you feel a certain way is magical in itself. If I can capture some of that magic in my moving images, then I'm happy. I'd also like to break into music videos, but only where I've got a free reign and can work with the artist to create something that really says something.
Penny Martin: What are your plans for the 'boys' project?
Toyin Ibidapo: My plan was to shoot 100 androgynous and interesting boys. It's taken me about four years so far! When completed, I plan to publish it with the title "The Cult of Boys', and then to exhibit the images alongside my film work.
(source: http://showstudio.com/project/raphi#interview)
I pretty much like the work of this photographer, in the film part of the image. The depiction of videos illustrates a certain sensibility. I like the visual aspect, cause that's a strong visual sense sinks and "poètique" . I find these movies very inspiring.
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