Contemporary fashion vs. dirndl & kimono?

Edwina Hörl, spring 2010, photo Naoko Nambu

... if you had to pick, because, say, two events involving Austrian fashion...

___fabrics interseason, spring 2010, photo Naoko Nambu

... would take place on the very same day (recently happened in Tokyo during Tokyo Fashion Week)...

km/a Kimono inspiration, photo Olivier Capuder

... would you go for an Austrian Contemporary Fashion Event (involving Edwina Hörl and ___fabrics interseason, among others)...

Pitour kimono inspiration, spring 2010, photo Olivier Capuder

or for a Dirndl Meets Kimono cross-cultural show???

Just wondering, actually...

just in: Berlin equipment supply

... Frau Spanehl closes her business...

naturaleza muerta: SLVR travel pack

... apart from the fact that I always found the Romance language expressions for still life, i.e. "nature morte" or, more dramatic even (due to the language's innate character, I guess) "naturaleza muerta" etc., particularly impressive AND also remembering that in German before the ever so confusing new orthography (sorry to go on about that kind of things) the old spelling "Stilleben" for what has now become "Stillleben" of course could lead to the erroneous temptation to think that the "still life" is actually a "style life" and make people ridiculously mispronounce the word but, uhm, where was I, yes, adidas SLVR has come out with a travel pack and even though I'm not really fanatically convinced of the aesthetic qualities of the SLVR collection, they're doing this really nice STILL LIFE (so that's the point I was trying to make, here we go again...) photo campaign which absolutely reminded me of my own little style-bricolage and collage and yet again we see how small this post-modern world (ha! ha!) is and how the same idea can get into so manifold and different minds. Even though I admit that my little arrangements lack in perfection when compared to the commercial thingy but you know...

collaboration frenzy: Joop & medical stockings

... okay, we got the point, slowly but surely: collaborations are cool! Apart from the superstar for fashion label thingy (Beth Ditto for Evans, and the recent scandalon: Lindsay L. for Ungaro, of course), we've got the perambulator and umbrella thing (Henrik Vibskov for Quinny), the soft drink thingy (Rykiel and Blahnik for Coca Cola), the vacuum cleaner (Miyake for Dyson)... We've got virtually everything imaginable.

So, if until today I thought you couldn't possibly do better than the vacuum cleaner - here comes the German medical stocking producer medi and announces a collaboration with Wolfang Joop - which leads to the catchy collection title mJ-1... Wow!

The only problem - apart from the stylish packaging where tights and stockings are worn as eyelids and hairbands, I cannot really discern the designer's contribution to this collaboration.

May this be only about an atmospherical uplifting? Is it possible...? Shame on me to even contemplate the thought...

translator's visibility

... first Viennale film in 2010, and a 100 % score. Fantastic. Yesterday I saw the documentary "The woman with the five elephants" about Ucrainian-born translator Swetlana Geier, who tirelessly and in the most impressive manner has been translating Dostoevskij for just over two decades - the "five elephants" being his five masterpieces, one of which - Crime and punishment - received a new title thanks to Mrs Geier and Ammann publishers (a publishing house that recently had to close its doors).

Mrs Geier is obviously one very special woman, and translator, and I am thrilled and looking forward to reading her rendering of Dostoevskij. Needless to say, the discourse that surrounds translating, including linguistic relativism, the impossibility (and yet need) to make a target-language text communicate with the "original", the ceaselessly threatening invisibility of translators whenever they do their job "too well" - are a wide field and many thoughts can be and have been expressed on the topic. I know what I'm talking about, believe you me...

It was, therefore, absolutely stunning to hear this woman talk about her work, her life, her past, to see her (aged 85) collaborate with two other rather old persons (aged 85 and 86) to complete her work, to hear her go on about how ironing brings the single threads of a tissue back into order or about the inexistence of a real core/centre in an onion (!) and how this made her think about the way you have to approach a text or the way it unfolds as you approach it.

Noone, I believe, not even the author, knows a text as well as the translator does. That's something I realise myself whenever I tackle a translation of any kind, it brings you so close to the text, it catapults you into it and forces you to deal with imperfections or unclear passages you all too easily skip when "simply" reading it.

And how beautiful it was to hear her recite a poem by Andrej Sinjavskij - "What's a wood". How simple, how clever, how beautiful...

Что такое лес?
Лес – это море, где, кто, куда…
Что такое лес?
Лес – это город, откуда, который, в котором…
Что такое лес?
Лес – это небо, благодаря чему, оттого что, за неимением, будто…
Что такое лес?
Лес – это лес

Madonna and other women's body shape...

... oh la la, was what I thought when I had a first nano-second look at the APA message that just landed in my mailbox, wondering why on earth Madonna would pronounce herself on the topic...

... until I realised that it's not Madonna, but MADONNA we're talking about. How many times did we have this discussion already, say? Isn't it just fashionable to embark on this whole weight discourse, and don't we all know about the fashion system too well to take any of this really seriously...? Anyhow, confused little me...

Jimmy Choo / Hunter

... while everybody (vraiment ?) is in line and waiting for Mr Choo to arrive at the H&M store near you, I find his recent collaboration with Hunter Boots quite interesting.

Apart from the fact that I like wellingtons a lot, and especially those purveyed to HRH by appointment...

... so crocodile reptile here we go, I'm just not sure whether the whole thing is still available in a store near you (the collaboration was very exclusive I hear). But anyhow... may the rain begin to fall... !!!

(was this my first post including a mention of the Swedish retailer? did we have to come that far?)

Jef Geys @ BAWAG Foundation

... Wien Vienna Wenen - and, if I may add, VIENNE, of course! Vienna's exquisite artspace run by the Bawag foundation (Wiedner Hauptstraße 15, 1040) will exhibit works by Belgian artist Jef Geys, a premiere for Austria btw.

The opening takes place tomorrow, Oct 22, in the foundation venue starting at 7 pm. And should you wonder what's peeping out from underneath the invitation - I photographed it on my awesome faux fur stool from the 60s. Barbarella hello!

Show off yer Sunday clothes...

... and do it in Linz, will ya? Even though I'd already been to the present Cultural Capital of Europe in spring and written about Linz09 twice (here and here), I found it totally worthwhile to catch a last glimpse at the magnificent Höhenrausch show at the OK art centre...


... and so I made up my mind and sickly though I was got myself a train ticket. Linz, hello again. I must say, that even as the cultural capital is nearing its end, the presence of Linz09 gimmicks and corporate design is still pretty present all over town.


A very nice wrap-up exhibition is currently hosted by the Haus der Geschichten, an absolutely awesome place. Anyhow, I'd gone there primarily for the fun of Höhenrausch - and I got quite what I'd been looking forward to. You had to go up to the roof of the museum on a long wooden staircase, only to embark on an artcircuit that led over the rooftops of neighbouring buildings.


The number one attraction: a lunapark with attached mini-millenium eye or something (in froggy green, so sweet), which gave me the possibility to fly high over the roofs of Linz.


Funny though the whole thing was, I found that the artworks themselves were a bit overshadowed by the fun and adventure part of climbing up and around. The very last thing I saw before starting my descent to Landstraße was this creepy Pipilotti Rist video realised for the Public Art Fund in New York. Pipilotti seems to be one for the attic (the madwoman in the attic?), as some years ago at T-B A21 in Vienna they also staged a giant work of hers under the roof in one of those old Viennese attics with pigeons cooing and stuff...).

What I also liked was the part curated by Brigitte Felderer, where old advertisements and posters were arranged and juxtaposed with slogans that beckoned out to anything airy, floating and high-rising. This is maybe the one tiny little link to the world of fashion - as Brigitte Felderer is of course no stranger to this other playground of mine. And of ours...

Viennale - breakdown and lack of information

... sorry, just needing a valve here - Vienna's international film festival started its ticket sale yesterday, which ended up being a total mess and maze, really, everybody willing and wanting to buy tickets found themselves in a seemingly Kafka-esque setting...

... the online ticket sale had broken down (or: never started), phone lines were CONSTANTLY busy and people queuing at the Generali centre (for example) WITHOUT having drawn a number were told by supervisors that they DID NOT NEED TICKETS to queue, only to be informed - TWO HOURS LATER - that actually no, they had to go home again...

...that's what I call a relaxing Saturday afternoon, no?

outfit post: gold, glitter & glamour

pretty much everything is vintage, except for the American Apparel vest and the adidas shoes...

... admittedly, not REALLY... while I realise that a blog doesn't seem to be a blog without myriads of outfits posted for comparison (kind of a schoolyard feeling at times), I don't really feel the need to take part in that kind of thingy, but then again, I've still got some of these outfit collage images for you... this time round: the urban autumn leaf inspired day look feat. Bee Gee squeezy trousers...

Aokigahara suicidal opening

... such a great time we had yesterday at (and after...) the opening of Monika Nguyen's Aokigahara show (that has already been posted virtually everywhere on most of the blogs in town [and beyond]...), which did actually totally convincingly (ly ly lidldeee...) look like a concept store...

... which was OBVIOUSLY what Monika had in mind but anyhow, yes, death and suicide, remaining fashionable until your last breath - - - how absurd is that???...

... I'm really sorry, actually, that the clothes on display (Claudia Rosa Lukas, Edith A'Gay, Hartmann Nordenholz, Superated, Mangelware - and others) are NOT for sale - but since we already approach the SAMPLE SALE SEASON à très grands pas (and I hear we might be in for surprises...), I only have to be a little patient and then and then...

TRAGIC WOMEN, book stuff

"Mauvaise fille" by Justine Lévy is published by Stock

... sometimes there seems to be a chain of events or things you find interesting or a special kind of attention you pay to certain details, and all the tiny little facets seem to fit into a bigger picture, or all of a sudden a common thread seems to emerge... Whatever.

Justine Lévy and her intellectual gigolo papa Bernard-Henri...

It all started with my buying the new novel by Justine Lévy at the airport in Paris - I KNOW I KNOW - kind of too fashionable a reading and everything, but still. I just wanted to flick through the book at the newsstand (the book came out a week or so ago), totally convinced that I would find it pretty crappy, and indeed: "Mauvaise fille" sets out in this completely Lévy-ish tone, kind of I am so complicated, weak, suffer from an inferiortiy complex (at the same time though I find myself super duper...) - but then I got caught by her description of her mother's death and slow fading away, which I found very touching. And tragic. And sad. Once her mother disappears from the book, btw, the reader is yet again left alone with unbearable Justine Lévy (or her badly disguised narrating voice) - and must hurry through the rest of the book not to be tempted to throw it into the next corner.

Alfonsina Storni

Okay, Lévy and her mother's tragic fate. Then I got into some kind of Mercedes Sosa commemorating frenzy, which of course (Alfonsina y el mar by Ariel Ramírez) led me to the fate of Alfonsina Storni, her suicide, the death note she had sent to the editors of an Argentine newspaper...

VOY A DORMIR
Dientes de flores, cofia de rocío,

manos de hierbas, tú, nodriza fina,

tenme prestas las sábanas terrosas 

y el edredón de musgos escardados.

Voy a dormir, nodriza mía, acuéstame. 

Ponme una lámpara a la cabecera; 

una constelación; la que te guste; 

todas son buenas; bájala un poquito.

Déjame sola: oyes romper los brotes... 

te acuna un pie celeste desde arriba 

y un pájaro te traza unos compases

para que olvides... Gracias. Ah, un encargo: 

si él llama nuevamente por teléfono 

le dices que no insista, que he salido...

... and then again, by mere coincidence, looking for a birthday present, I came across a reedition of the writings of Annemarie Schwarzenbach, who is already a tragic figure for herself, but then she, of course,...

Annemarie Schwarzenbach

... had or did not have this short thing with Carson McCullers, and when I read this short biographical note on Wikipedia, I was really (I know, pathetic...) saddened by how terribly hard a life is inflicted upon certain individuals, with poor Carson McCullers being sick and suffering from the most atrocious illnesses from a very young age, and I think I don't even have a point here...

Carson McCullers - I am really curious to read one of her novels,
maybe the first one she wrote, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

... except for the whiff of melancholy all of these almost simultaneous (re)discoveries leave me with.

Paris Bernhard Willhelm Vienne

... it's actually really a ParisVienne moment, as Bernhard Willhelm flew past me on his bike just a week or so ago at the boulevard de Sébastopol x rue Etienne Marcel junction. And today I saw him in Vienna on the occasion of the annual press conference of the University of Applied Arts.

photo: Marleen Daniels

The attendants were the university principal Gerald Bast, new professor for painting Judith Eisler, Robert Schindel from the brandnew Creative Writing bachelor (the teachability of literary writing remains to be seen, imho... - but that'll be because of my positivist schooling...) and, of course, Bernhard Willhelm - who seemed to be having a really good time, came thoroughly prepared, had a little chat with lovely Judith Eisler while Mr. Schindel presented his somewhat lengthy ideas for the creative writing course - and was a more assiduous interrogator than all the journalists that were present - as he showed great interest for the history of the university, and even for the reasons that might explain why the creative writing course (of all things...) was the one with the greatest number of applicants (almost 400 against "only" 100 candidates for the fashion class).

Concerning his ideas for the upcoming academic year, Mr. Willhelm did not rule out the possibility of a final fashion show - but wanted it to take place later than had been the case until now (to give the students - but probably also himself, busy preparing the menswear show in Paris - a little more time). Meaning, of course, that the fashion show will take place after the city's festival for fashion and photography. Hello, Loora?

In order to get his students in shape for the final show and to avoid that there be only one big fashion moment in the entire year, Mr. Willhelm restated his wish to realise several projects throughout the year, presenting each and every single one of them separately in galleries or comparably artsy settings.

Suprise: Andreas Kronthaler (remember the summer issue of i-D ;)) will be flewn in to supervise and oversee a mid-term project by students of the last year.

Well, ever so curious to see what'll happen. And totally in line with the hope that Mr. Willhelm expressed towards the end of the press conference: creativity will bring it all together again, regardless of the crisis...


EDIT + FORGOT: BERNHARD ALSO ANNOUNCED THAT STUDENTS WOULD BE INVITED TO WRITE SOME KIND OF A CREATIVE DIARY +++ WRITING DOWN THEIR INSPIRATIONS +++ COLLECTING IMAGES & OTHER FRAGMENTS THAT ENTER THEIR WORK (OR END UP NOT DOING SO) +++ WHAT A CHARMING IDEA...

LA RESECA MUERTE...

... much too late. But still - after passing a fashion-less (ok: not totally devoid of fashion though) little moment - time for a word on the alas! too late discovered voice of South America, Mercedes Sosa ...

Sólo le pido a Dios
Que el dolor no me sea indiferente,
Que la reseca muerte no me encuentre
Vacía y sola sin haber hecho lo suficiente.



... well, I don't think so!

ANAMORPHOSIS?

... no, it's not what you think (probably, unless you studied art history OR classical Greek), if you think anything at all...

... but means THIS - distorted renderings of reality and baroque trompe l'oeil... - AND, of all things, served as the inspiration for the shop design of the new STYLEAUT.COM branch in Vienna's Museumsquartier...

... well if that's not a reason to find out what it's all about and have a look, then what...? I'm curious ...

dérive # 37 presentation // urbanity through migration

... the very interesting and absolutely noteworthy magazine for urban studies dérive (and I don't say that it's a good title because I am a regular contributor, oh no oh no) will launch its 37th issue later today...

... notably at 7 pm in Vienna's Ragnarhof (Grundsteingasse, 1160) with a panel discussion about the main topic of the current issue, Urbanity through Migration...

Please spread the news - and be there!

Pelican Avenue spring 2010

... it's really a shame I'm not more familiar with the work of Carolin Lerch/Pelican Avenue, since her conceptual take on fashion is definitely a very interesting, demanding and thoughtful approach...

... at the same time as it leads to beautiful collections and the overall result of a totally convincing aesthetic evolution. I flicked through her light-coloured spring 2010 collection when visiting Paris and really liked the organic prints ...

... and circle-shape details on her summery dresses... And for once: hers is a fashion label you even get to buy in Vienna! Wow...

Claudia Rosa Lukas spring 2010

... after she already gave us Viennese people a whiff of what her spring 2010 collection would be like, Claudia Rosa Lukas presented it in its final version in Paris during the Prêt-à-Porter week that ended on Thursday...

... and it was a very extensive collection that includes an important number of the well-tailored and perfectly executed pieces she has made herself a name for, with red, white, black and pink being the main colours ...

... and that also concerns the very interesting (and in one case: rather wild...) leather jackets (pigskin, goat and lamb)...

... slim pants, generous knit jumpuits and sexy-to-kill knit dresses...

... the 1990s may be over, but THIS IS SO NOW! ...

Hartmann Nordenholz - spring 2010

what a spring-like colour palette

... met & greeted the ever-so charming and gifted Hartmann Nordenholz duo in Paris and am actually totally disappointed that most of the pictures I took (as each and every time, I must say...) are pretty crappy and don't reflect the character of this absolutely BIEN RÉUSSIE, well-done, multi-faceted collection...

this is Austria's NEXT IT BAG...

... if ever a Viennese label will come close to doing an IT BAG, it'll be them - besides their well-known pleated and ruffled leather bags, they did a body-wrap linen bag and a TOTALLY AWESOME FRINGED BAG WITH AN EXTRAVAGANT HORN(Y?) DETAIL, wow!

more and more and more of those bags - remakes of classic designs, this time round

The same detail they also do as a necklace. The basic inspiration, btw., was the turned and twisted and almost impossible form of the Moebius strip (if you're like me, you'll have to look it up on Wikipedia to make up for your lost maths and find out what all of this is about...) - WHAT A COINCIDENCE then that on the first floor of the building where they had their showroom there was an agency (whatever it was busying itself with...) called MÖBIUS... For the second time running, Hartmann Nordenholz did beautiful speckled and spotted prints in many light and very joyful, spring-like colours. The Möbius theme was present, but not oppressing. And I am absolutely in awe...

the MOEBIUS coincidence - too good to be true...

Edith A'Gay spring 2010

red entanglements - a knit dress by Edith A'Gay, seen from up close...

... and another Vienna-based designer in Paris, this time it's Edith A'Gay I met and had a chat with, while running through her very ladylike spring 2010 collection...

... and from a little further back...

... comprising some basic pieces and several garments that are very versatile and allow the wearer do slightly alter them and create two or three different looks from one piece - interactive, ever changing fashion, so to say. The colour palette is very reduced, white, black, grey and red is what a woman needs according to Edith (who very convincingly sports her own look), there are some super luxurious elements such as the tiny little red fur bolero or a black sequin dress...

Edith often departs from a half or full circle shape for her designs...

... and absolutely smart pieces, such as a black crash-silk dress that you can carry around in your handbag as a little knotted something and take it out when you need something classier to wear over your daytime look. A smart solution for contemporary women...

the next Salzburg festival is already around the corner... hello, Signor Muti?

Anna Aichinger à Paris - spring 2010

... the lookbook has already been published I think, but it's always a completely different thing to go and have a look at a designer's collection in their showroom...

... so I was lucky enough to meet up with Anna in Paris, where she showed me her very refined and modern-woman-ish collection for spring 2010 - the most surprising (I'd say) innovation was a crocodile cummerbund, crocodile cuffs and crocodile straps on a little black dress...

... with the reptile structure repeating itself in the surface structure of most of the remaining pieces of the collection. Surprisingly (for Anna), there were also some pieces in very strong pink and fuchsia tones. Also part of the show: a remixed version of a very sought-after body-con bandage skirt and mini dress. Anna promised that you'll just love wearing it, regardless of the heat. And poor little me, ignorant in such womanly concerns, can only believe her...