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| Prada Autumn/Winter 2014-15, photograph www.vogue.co.uk |
The standout collection for me from Milan fashion week was, most definitely, Prada. Perfect dresses and coats in the most sublime colors. Definitely what I’ll be craving this fall.
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| Fortunato Depero, Skyscrapers and Tunnels (Gratticieli e tunnel), 1930. MART, Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Italy © 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome. Photo: © MART, Archivio Fotografico |
What looks to be an amazing exhibition is opening today at the Guggenheim Museum. Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe is a major multidisciplinary installation including fine art, film, fashion, design, performance, architecture and the written word (to name a handful) from this tremendously influential, avant-garde movement that essentially revered the new — technology, speed, industry, youth, urbanism. The first show devoted to Italian futurism in the United States, it includes more than 300 works organized chronologically over its 35 year period, and is poised to be one of the standout exhibitions of the year. I know where I’ll be this weekend.
Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe runs through September 1 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
www.guggenheim.org
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| Photograph www.vogue.co.uk |
I am a big fan of Organic by John Patrick and I am LOVING his autumn/winter 2014-15 collection presented on February 5. Exactly what I want to be wearing right now.
www.organicbyjohnpatrick.com
In the midst of the world’s fashion weeks — Paris Couture ended yesterday, New York starts February 6 — I have been thinking about a particular fashion show, MER KA BA. The fashion and design collective threeASFOUR has presented their spring/summer 2014 collection as a beautiful, almost hypnotic exhibition at The Jewish Museum. On view since September and closing on February 2, MER KA BA, both the dresses and the sublime installation, was inspired by sacred geometry and tile patterns in synagogues, mosques and churches all over the world. The quite sculptural designs were created from 3D-printed textiles, laser-cut lace and origami pleating, very clearly reflecting these elements. And the show’s name was derived from a number of ancient and contemporary spiritual concepts and beliefs, one of which refers to transcendence. MER KA BA and the work of threeASFOUR is most certainly an intersection of fashion and art, and this museum, a perfect place in which to experience it.
London Collections: Men is wrapping up today after three days of great looking shows. I love men’s fashion and my two favorite places to follow this London fashion week are, not surprisingly, London Collections’ own website, and also the T Magazine Blog, one of my several times daily reads. In fact, just this morning I watched the live stream of the Burberry Prorsum Autumn/Winter 2014 show. Held in Kensington Gardens, Christopher Bailey presented a stunning collection, amazing coats and jackets. It looks indeed like an exciting year for men’s fashion.
www.londoncollections.co.uk www.tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com
With temperatures below zero, I am happy to have the chance to escape to warmer waters. My good friend and owner of the extraordinary store of the same name, Jung Lee has discovered a new treasure of a book, FRENCH RIVIERA: Living Well Was The Best Revenge. The description on the store website describes the book best by saying: there has never been any place on earth quite like the French Riviera in the 1920s and early 30s. Artists and writers from all over the world—including Picasso, Man Ray, Stravinsky, Coco Chanel, Cocteau, Edith Wharton, Diaghilev, and Hemingway—came to invent a new way of life. It’s no surprise that such a delightful book would be chosen to be among the exquisitely curated objects of Jung’s store.
available at jungleeny.com
Our lovely bride this past weekend chose this gorgeous Yves Saint Laurent metallic patent leather Belle de Jour clutch as her something blue. Coupled with her sublime Reem Acra gown and Corbin Paris white rabbit fur cape, the effect was stunning. It was indeed a most stylish marriage.
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| Hats by Philip Treacy from the personal collection of Isabella Blow (1958-2007). Photograph by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images for Somerset House. |
Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore! runs through March 2.
www.somersethouse.org.uk
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| Photograph by Paolo Roversi. Tanel Bedrossiantz, 1992. Jean Paul Gaultier’s “Barbès” women’s ready-to-wear fall-winter collection of 1984–85. © Paolo Roversi |
The highly anticipated exhibition, The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, opened a couple of weeks ago at the Brooklyn Museum. We first saw it at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2011, the first stop on its international tour. The only exhibition to date devoted solely to Gaultier, it was definitely one of our favorite shows of the year. It is of course amazing to see so many of his pieces gathered in one space, some 140 in total. But it is very much a multimedia experience, with sketches, photography and film as well. The exhibition design is quite remarkable, especially the interactive mannequins that we still think about more than two years later. And we understand that there is a new element here in New York dedicated to Gaultier’s muses. We’re on our way to Brooklyn!
The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk runs through February 23, 2014
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/jean_paul_gaultier/
She has arrived! Clare Vivier just last week opened her first east coast shop on Elizabeth Street in NoLIta. Recently rebranded Clare V., Vivier’s range of irresistible leather bags are a brilliant fusion of classic French style with a very distinct southern California vibe. You might remember we wrote about Clare Vivier here last December, never dreaming she would one day be but a subway ride away…
Clare V., 239 Elizabeth Street, NYC www.clarev.com