November | 2014 | THE HARLOW

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LES VOLIèRES CHALLIEèRES – PARIS

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Luisa Fazio

Home-made lovers will certainly find, in an abandoned cellar, an old birdcage and some (exclusively and without identity) trivial polystyrene birds. Too bad! What they will try to create will be just vaguely similar to unique creations of French designer Mathieu Challières. Braided copper to form an aviary and the colorful birds that dwell in and out, the vintage touch, the lyrical light coming from his Paris studio: Les Volières. Caged in any shape and height, the light reflects and generates on walls and ceilings shadows and silhouettes giving a relaxed, romantic, magical and lively soul to the room. It has the feeling of living in an enchanted forest full of life, spring in the air all year round! Probably, it was just that the personal and urgent need of the artist when, at the end of the nineties, something pushed Challières to leave the corporate world and decide to produce in his laboratory furniture and decorative objects that shortly would be sold in nearly thirty countries around the world. It was an autumn day…

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MY RAQUEL ALLEGRA T-SHIRT

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Clara G

Precious and fragile things need special handling. Hand crafted, made one by one with a laborious shredding technic, precious and fragile. How could I resist this t-shirt? I found a way to wear it reversed (originally the net was thought to be in the front), with that simple decision it has became one of favorite tops. Oversized, a little gothic, with this dramatic effect on the back, it works in summer and winter, day and night. There was something special on it since the beginning. What captured my attention was that vintage effect, the cotton’s touch, the black turning into gray color, the strange proportion. Thin like paper that floats over the body. Working on this post, I found out that the designer Rachel Allegra started using old t-shirts reclaimed from Los Angeles County Prison System and this t-shirt I own belongs to that collections. I am quite shocked about that. Things get damage, things get broken… and sometimes, only sometimes, they get much better!

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DRESSED LIKE MEN, ANTI CONVENTIONAL WOMEN

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Margherita Nannuzzi

In the film universe, the masculinization of female fashion invokes a kind of imaginary connected to bisexuality, and to the emancipation of women. Both fashion and films show how style and femininity change in the early 20th century. In the thirties Marlene Dietrich and Katherine Hepburn were the first women to wear trousers in Hollywood.

Travis Banton, Paramount’s Chief costume designer, designed for Marlene Dietrich some masculine suits that have become a source of inspiration for Giorgio Armani. During the filming of Morocco (Von Stenberg, 1930) Dietrich wears for a performance a black smoking and a top hat. At that time, the actress’s outfit impressed so much Gary Cooper, that he defined her “the only woman in pants and jacket looks also sexier.” Even off the set, Dietrich wore with superb elegance, suit jacket, men coat, baggy pants; articles of clothing that have helped to define Armani’s style and that influence most women’s choices about fashion. Marlene Dietrich became symbol of the show girl, a daring woman who can lead, thanks to her charm and her body, a glamorous lifestyle; while Katherine Hepburn was the star of screwball and brilliant comedy. Her style was as much anti conventional: she didn’t wear skirts, but “Katherine’s pants” with long waist and white socks, she preferred men’s shirts and she loved the blazer. Her velvet smoking worn in Women of the year (Stevens, 1942) will inspire, twenty years on, Yves Saint Laurent’s female tuxedo.

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KINDNESS

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Maxim Deluxe

Adam Bainbridge is a British Musician who perform under the name and talking about himself he says : “I’m not a skinny white guy,” “And I don’t belong in an indie band, thank you very much.” Kindness is out with a great new album ‘ Otherness’

http://kindness.es/

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INVENTING AMERICAN FASHION, HALSTON

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Editorial Staff

A new book on American Designer Halston is coming out the 14th of November. Written by Leslie Frowick, Halston’s niece and confidante, this book aims to chronicle the designer’s life and his glamorous, minimalist aesthetic. This is the first serious “monograph” on Halston and its two decades of splendor. From the raise in 60ies till the very last days, Leslie Frowick spotlights her uncle’s most important design achievements and his collaborations with Martha Graham, Elsa Peretti, and Hiro. The untold story of Halston that solidifies his place as a key designer in American fashion. Overture words by forever friend Liza Minnelli. From Rizzoli Usa.

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THE DUKE OF VERDURA

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Editorial Staff

Fulco di Santostefano della Cerda, Duke of Verdura, was a man destined to be a legend. Born in Sicily in 1899, he moved to France in 1927. While in Paris, he met Coco Chanel and designed for her fashion house a line of jewelry in precious stones. He became Chanel’s favorite. In 1937, he was in New York and designed jewelry for Hollywood stars: Greta Garbo, Katherine Hepburn, Joan Crawford. Not until 1937, he opened his first boutique in New York. Ten years later, his European atelier in Paris. In those years he met Salvador Dali, who encouraged him to design a surreal collection. Fulco’s creations were normally based on nature motifs. In the 1950s he created a series of seashells encrusted with gems. Gloria Swanson, Barbara Hutton, Diana Vreeland, Jackie Kennedy, Princess Grace of Monaco and the Duchess of Windsor were just a few of his more famous clients. His designs often featured in Vogue and other magazines. Despite such fame, he rarely sought publicity. Di Verdura was an exceptional visual artist. He never married. He died in London in 1978. He was survived by his family and his legacy: the tradition of a unique artisan.