ParisVienne

FASHION archive

2012-01-27T08:00:00.002+01:00

... do please save the date, all Vienna-based fashion experts (to be) - the University of Applied Art's fashion archive will open its doors next Friday, Feb. 3, at 11 am, and disclose some of the treasures it contains (Dominikanerbastei 5, 1010) ... alors là, c'est vraiment une date à retenir si vous êtes basés à ou passez par Vienne vendredi prochain : le 3 février, à 11 heures, les archives de mode de l'Université des Arts Décoratifs vont ouvrir leurs portes et permettre qu'on se fasse une grossière idée des trésors qu'elles cachent (à l'adresse suivante : Dominikanerbastei 5, 1er arr.) ... un appuntamento da ricordare assolutamente, almeno per tutti coloro che s'interessano della storia della moda. L'archivio di moda dell'Università delle Arti Decorative di Vienna aprirà le sue porte venerdì prossimo, il 3 febbraio, a 11 ore precise (Dominikanerbastei 5, 1010). Per più informazioni consultare questo sito ...

BITCH skin

2012-01-26T08:00:00.001+01:00

all images courtesy of Steinek gallery

... pardon my French, ladies and gentlement, all I did for the title of this post was to translate the title of the pieces I'm showing you, which Michaela Spiegel, the artist, calls "Peaux de pute". In fashion terms, I'd call these "customised fur coats", of course, and what I find interesting is the fact that they could just as well be the result of one of the countless fashion-meets-art collaborations that we have witnessed recently. But no, this is not a work COMMISSIONED by Fendi or Révillon, it is instead a chapter of Spiegel's work that she shows in the context of her show PSYCHE which is on at Steinek gallery in Vienna until February 25 ...

... j'espère que vous n'allez pas penser que je suis devenu fou ou tout à fait vulgaire en choisissant le titre que j'ai choisi pour ce message, loin de là, tout ce que j'ai fait, c'était de traduire le nom de ces pièces remarquables créées par l'artiste viennoise Michaela Spiegel, qui les appelle des "peaux de pute". Ce que je trouve très fascinant, c'est que ces manteaux en fourrure pourraient tout aussi bien faire partie d'un projet commissionné par une marque de luxe, on va dire Fendi ou Révillon, des maisons spécialisés dans le domaine de la fourrure, mais non, il ne s'agit pas non plus de vêtements "customisés", c'est plutôt un chapitre de l'exposition intitulée PSYCHE, en vue chez la galerie Steinek à Vienne jusqu'au 25 février ...

HAVE A BLAST, a colour blast

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000+01:00

all images courtesy of Hien Le,
of his summer 2012 collection
campaign photos by Amos Fricke

... I think I must have been the only person based in Vienna and professionally interested in fashion (except for my dear colleagues who are roaming showrooms in Milan and Paris) who didn't make it to BERLIN FASHION WEEK, an event that has been attracting a lot of interest recently, and from major fashion players as for that (I'd still like to know whether the whole craze is more about Berlin-style partying or whether important deals are actually made there - well, the business situation cannot be worse than in Vienna, that's for sure). So had I gone, I would have been more than delighted to check out the amazing progress in the work of the very talented young designer Hien Le (who I already told you about). I think his use of colour and shapes is fabulous, I love his campaign photos for spring/summer, and I consider him a very convincing ambassador of minimalism in fashion ...

... après avoir été la seule personne travaillant dans le champ de la mode à Vienne qui n'a pas été à Berlin pour assister au BERLIN FASHION WEEK qui vient de se terminer, je voudrais tout de même vous signaler le seul créateur dont j'aurais absolument voulu voir la collection : c'est le très talentueux et remarquable jeune designer, Hien Le, dont je vous avais déjà parlé il y a quelques saisons. Son emploi de la couleur, sa maîtrise des formes, son œil pour l'esthétique la plus harmonieuse, font de lui, comment dirai-je, l'advocat irrésistible du minimalisme le plus réussi ...

... è appena finita la settimana della moda a Berlino e se mi chiedete a me, ho l'impressione di essere l'unica persona lavorando nell'ambito della moda a Vienna che non è andata (tranne coloro che sono andati a Milano o a Parigi per gli uomini ... ah, vi dico, la vita è ben dura...). Comunque, se fossi andato, la collezione che avrei assolutamente voluto vedere è quella di Hien Le, un giovane designer con moltissimo talento il cui lavoro sto osservando da ormai qualche stagione. Il suo occhio per le forme le più armoniose, la silhouette la più perfetta, l'uso dei colori con moderazione e gusto, tutto ciò fa di lui un designer da ritenere per i prossimi anni e un ambasciatore del minimalismo molto attraente ...

FROM RUSSIA with love

2012-01-15T08:00:00.000+01:00

communism and pedagogics:
WHO BUILT OUR HOUSE?...
that's who built our house, the house we live in

... now I DO have to be honest with myself and ADMIT that my knowledge of the MAGNIFICENTLY BEAUTIFUL Russian tongue will not allow me to absorb texts whose degree of difficulty goes beyond that of a regular children's book (and even then...)? I mean, of course, for the time being - things have been improving, and after all I do have SOME OTHER language babies to look after (I wouldn't want to open Castilho's Portuguese translations of Molière that were the topic of my first book and not be able to understand a word, would I?). Anyhow - so what a great flea market find are these Russian children's books, I just adore them. And I would of course have bought them even if, as we say in German, Russian were to me a Spanish village - meaning the proverbial "all Greek" incomprehensibility ...

even in the midst of THE BLUEST OF SEAS, all of a sudden
a "shtorm" may come up ...

... malheureusement, et même après des années et des années d'études, l'état de mon russe est encore plutôt pitoyable. Mais bon, ça avance, ça avance, à pas de nain plutôt que de géant, et c'est sûr que 2012 n'est pas l'année où j'entamerai mon premier Dostoïevski en langue originale. Pour ce qui est d'un livre pour enfants, par contre, je pense que le moment est venu ... je suis donc d'autant plus content d'avoir déniché, sur un marché aux puces à Vienne, ces quelques exemplaires - et je les aurais achetés quand bien même je n'aurais pas la moindre idée du russe, tellement ils sont beaux - ne trouvez-vous pas? ...

THE PATTERNS of Prada

2012-01-13T08:00:00.001+01:00

the Prada capsule collection of scarves

... isn't it always quite the same: you go to a label's fashion show, you like it or you do not, and then you start wondering which (re)interpretations of a collection's main motif will actually be meant to hit shop floors. More often than not, you'll be able to reencounter a bag, or a shoe, or a boot. Or a pair of sunglasses. Or a combination of a woolen fabric and a prominent button. Or a pattern. To make it really easy for all aficionados of Prada, the brand recently issued a "capsule collection" of scarves that carry characteristic prints from some past and the upcoming spring/summer collection (Hot Wheels - remember?). A welcome gift - for anyone who hasn't decided to stick to Thomas Zeitlberger's designs, that is ...

... c'est toujours la même chose après qu'on a assisté au défilé d'une grande maison de mode : la question est de savoir quels éléments caractéristiques, quels détails marquants vont effectivement faire le chemin jusque dans les boutiques et sous quelle forme (une citation par-ci, une allusion par-là, une délicate réinterprétation ailleurs). Pour faciliter le traintrain de la mode à ses adeptes les plus férus, Prada vient de lancer une collection limitée de foulards avec les desseins les plus voyants de ses dernières et de sa prochaine collection. Et ceci donc juste à temps pour inspirer aux fans de Miuccia des doutes sur sa prochaine inspiration - en effet, après les oasis dans le désert, les voitures, le golf, des fleurs à la façon de marimekko (ou presque) - que reste-t-il du monde ? ... effettivamente, la domanda è sempre la stessa, più o meno, dopo aver assistito alla sfilata di una delle più importanti maisons : quali dettagli caratteristici della collezione avranno fatto tutto il cammino fino ai negozi una volta che la collezione comincia a esser venduta sei mesi dopo. Normalmente, l'affare si riduce a un'allusione, una reinterpretazione, un'idea di ciò che venne presentato ai giornalisti delle importanti riviste. Vabbe', ma per rendere più contenti i suoi fedeli, Prada ha appena uscito una capsule collection con dei motivi centrali delle sue ultime collezioni, ma anche (macchina! macché?) della prossima, di primavera 2012. E tutto ciò a tempo, si capisce, per istigare i tifosi del marchio a chiedersi quale sarà il motivo principale della collezione che sarà presentato tra, ma figuratevi, un mese e mezzo. Che eccitazione (uffi) ...

COVER GIRLS 3.0 (industry secrets revealed)

2012-01-12T13:25:00.004+01:00

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

... just in case anyone didn't already come across the really beautifully done "Fotoshop by Adobé" fake cosmetics commercial by Jesse Rosten - there you go. I'd say that after the fake fashion and beauty ads photographed by Steven Meisel for W magazine, this is the logical next step, and it's almost as revealing and unsettling as the legendary Dove "Evolution" commercial that caused such a great stir when it was first screened ...

OF CATFIGHTS and chocolate candy

2012-01-11T08:00:00.005+01:00

a catfight, or should I say, THE ultimate catfight of
Alexis and Krystle (the name alone!) in the Dynasty "Reunion" series.
Best thing: this even involves fashion!!!

... with great interest I heard the news that Joan Collins will be the new "face" of the Snickers chocolate bar. Where Mr. T reached out to the community of Snickers snackers until recently, Joan "Alexis" Collins will do her best soon. So let me express my feeble hope that the Snickers commercial which she is supposed to star in will feature a chocolate candy catfight (that's what what everyone was waiting for when they had dinner & Dynasty back in the 80s, right? I was even allowed to stay up longer when the Denver Clan was on) ...

Mrs. Collins will hardly have to reach out to snackers
quite as aggressively as Mr. T does, will she?

... alors ça : le Daily Mail britannique a annoncé que Joan "Alexis" Collins est la prochaine star qui fera venir l'eau à la bouche de ses fans en essayant de leur vendre la barre de chocolat Snickers. Eh ben ouais. En vieux partisan de Dynastie (d'accord, j'étais encore très très jeune quand cela passait à la télé mais on me permettait tout de même de rester éveillé jusqu'à très tard à ces occasions-là), j'espère que la pub sera imbibée de l'esprit de la légendaire série télévisée Dynastie - peut-être même qu'il y aura une des bagarres attendues avec tant d'impatience par les fans de la série. Allez, les cacahuètes ...

edit: the German agency that co-produced the spot just leaked the German version (I guess that's not what Snickers originally intended, because the brand is definitely saving this for Super Bowl, right?)

just out - the German version of the commercial feat. Mrs Collins

do we have to expect something along these lines? after all, Collins is a real diva too...

really "sweet" - Betty White playing football

KNIT girl

2012-01-08T09:00:00.002+01:00

all photos (c) Nicolas Receveur

... it's an obvious and well-known fact that the spring/summer season is a bit difficult for certain domains of fashion, for example milliners, furriers - and experts of knitwear will find it more of a challenge to sell their designs throughout the warm season. It's all the more impressive to see how the young Paris-based designer from Austria Michaela Buerger, who I appreciate immensely for her clever approach of the marché de la mode, adapts her collection by focussing on interesting, slightly vintage-looking swimsuits and beach accessories like the oversized shawls. Bravo, I say ...

... vous n'allez pas être surpris si je vous dis que la saison chaude s'avère un peu difficile pour certains domaines de l'industrie de la mode, par exemple les chapeliers, les fourreurs et, mais oui, les spécialistes du tricot. C'est d'autant plus intéressant d'observer comment Michaela Buerger, la jeune designer autrichienne si bien établie à Paris (où elle dessine une capsule-collection pour la maison Fabre, par exemple), a su adapter sa collection (elle mise sur le tricot depuis plusieurs saisons déjà) aux jours où il fait bon et chaud. Pour des jours à la plage, ses maillots de bain en tricot, pourquoi pas ? Et pour les compléter, quelques ensembles bien sexy ainsi que des foulards oversized. Adorable, qu'en dites-vous ? ...

... and to top things off, Michael was invited by the all-important Fédération française de la haute couture to present her collection on the upcoming Sidaction gala during Couture week - just take a look at this album published by Vogue Paris to check out the very important audience that attended the gala last year. Good luck to Michaela, then ...

... dernière nouvelle de l'univers de Michaela : elle vient d'être invitée par la Fédération française de la haute couture de participer au gala de Sidaction, lequel a lieu en janvier pendant la semaine de la haute couture et où, à en croire cet album publié sur Vogue.fr après l'édition de 2011, le tout Paris de la mode vient pour s'amuser et apporter du soutien à une bonne cause ...

ORGY of the dolls (HAPPY NEW YEAR!)

2011-12-30T13:27:00.005+01:00

these dolls know how to party ...

... now that's what I call a real eye-catcher: this is the window of Herzliein shop, which sells children's clothes and stuff in Vienna, and at first sight it's a quite convenient dolls having fun setting. At a second glance, however, it becomes clear that this is a window created for grown-ups rather than for children. And the person who created the decoration actually explicitly said so, adding a little note that explained how this mise-en-scène was addressing a public of moms, dads and grandmas rather than very young people. In any case, a really nice way of stageing the never ending holiday season. And HAPPY NEW YEAR, of course ...

more lively than the Muppets even, right?

... alors là, pour une fois, c'est ce que j'appelle une décoration de vitrine qui retient le regard : la boutique Herzilein, une bonne adresse pour la mode enfantine, termine l'année en bonne et due forme. C'est-à-dire, de façon un tout petit peu surprenante peut-être, car ce que j'avais pris pour une décoration aux poupées "normale", c'est en effet la mise-en-scène d'une espèce d'orgie, genre "La Grande Bouffe". Très drôle, vraiment, et j'ai bien aimé le fait que quelqu'un a placé une petite note à côté de tout cela, expliquant aux enfants que, pour une fois, ce n'était pas fait pour eux mais pour leurs papas, mamans et tatas, et qu'on leur demandait donc d'être un peu indulgents, pour cette fois-ci. Adorable ! Eh ben ouais, plus rien à dire, sauf ... BONNE ANNÉE, bien sûr, mais ça s'entend, n'est-ce pas ? ...

one should always stop a little short of THIS, I guess ...

XMAS antennae

2011-12-25T08:00:00.001+01:00

... nothing more to wish you than a SUPER MERRY CHRISTMAS and a joyful, relaxing holiday season loaded with presents (sorry, I've got my materialist nano-seconds) and, see above, stylish, indispensable, must-have accessories ...

NOW screening

2011-12-24T08:00:00.002+01:00

"oh, and I had lunch with Karl Lagerfeld!" ... "WHY?"

... at last: a new season of ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS will be aired by BBC One starting on Christmas Day (10 pm UK time), and I must say, judging by the clips that have been uploaded to Youtube, this is all very promising. "... oh, and I had lunch with Karl Lagerfeld!", says Patsy's intern. "Why?", retorts Edina's best friend rather harshly. Adorable, right, and quite understandable, in a way - for isn't Karl the slightest little bit exposing himself too much to whoever it is? And of course, another fashion thingy on TV, this year's edition of the Sapins de Noël des créateurs was made into a programme by producer Marie-Christiane Marek (who I recently talked to for this article), and it will go on air on December 24, 12.30 pm (TV 5 Europe, that is, it'll be on at 5 pm on TV 5 France, Suisse, Belgique) ...

Christmas trees created by Austrian-born designer Barbara Hermé
of the very successful accessory label Barbara Rihl for
Marie-Christiane Marek's annual charity auction in Paris

... Noël à la télé, et le plus beau cadeau, ce sera sans doute la suite de la série si bien-aimée et regrettée "Absolutely Fabulous". A partir du 25 décembre, à 22 heures précises, Eddy et Patsy vont encore avoir plein d'occasions pour s'avérer absolument fabuleuses sur BBC One. Un des premiers extraits à être apparu sur la chaîne Youtube de BBC montre Patsy en parlant avec sa stagiaire - trop trop drôle, je vous dis. Avec même une petite mention du trop omniprésent "Kaiser" Karl L. Et puis, puisque j'y suis, c'est pour aujourd'hui déjà, sur TV 5 (à 17 heures en France, Suisse, Belgique, à 12.30 sur TV 5 Monde Europe) résumé de l'édition 2011 des Sapins de Noël des créateurs, un programme réalisé par Marie-Christiane Marek avec qui j'ai parlé récemment pour cet article. Particulièrement intéressant, je trouve, est l'apparition de la créatrice d'origine autrichienne, Barbara Hermé, qui est la force créative de la marque Barbara Rihl et que vous connaîtrez peut-être ...

that's the rather charming Christian Dior Christmas fantasy ...

DRAWING THE LINES of fashion

2011-12-23T08:00:00.003+01:00

book cover created by Andrea Peterson,
this and all spreads from the book
courtesy of Amelia Gregory

... and drawing them ever so well: Amelia Gregory, the widely known and recognised publisher and editor of Amelia's Magazine (a print version of the periodical existed from 2004 to 2009, today it continues to prosper and fascinate its readers as an online-only title), put together a selection of particularly gifted and original fashion illustrators for her book "Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration". What's more: the book includes profiles of (interviews with) 50 upcoming ethical fashion designers (including Ada Zanditon, who I adore and much appreciate, and Edun, among many others). If you follow Amelia's editorial work (or even her Twitter timeline, of all things), you will be familiar with her strong and decisive points of view. Impressive, I say, and an ideal read for all fashion people who want to kick off 2012 in style (you can order the compendium here) ...

profile of the ethical fashion label "Tara Starlet",
illustration by Katie Harnett

... comme tant de gens, j'ai toujours été impressionné par le travail des illustrateurs les plus doués, et c'est surtout au domaine de la mode que cela s'applique (où il existe, bien entendu, le genre indépendant des desseins faits par les créateurs eux-mêmes, à côté des illustrations qui sont réalisées après un certain vêtement a été produit). Voilà donc que je suis particulièrement reconnaissant à Amelia Gregory (vous la connaîtrez sûrement, c'est la rédactrice-en-chef d' Amelia's Magazine, la merveilleuse revue qui existait sous forme imprimée de 2004 à 2009 et qui continue à prospérer en ligne) d'avoir mis ensemble le volume "Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration", dans lequel elle réunit le travail de quelques illustrateurs particulièrement intéressants. Pour tous ceux qui s'y intéressent, le livre s'achète sur le site d'Amelia ...

profile of ethical fashion designer Ivana Basilotta,
illustrated by Bex Glover

profile of ethical fashion designer Marina Spetlova,
illustrated by Krister Selin

NOM D'UN chien éco

2011-12-21T08:00:00.002+01:00

... isn't it always the most difficult thing to figure out what present to give to your favourite DOG!?!? Right, and so the designer collective of Göttin des Glücks, one of Austria's best-known sustainable fashion labels, recently launched their first eco-friendly collection of dog-fashion. Stylish corgies, pugs and sausage dogs galore, we say ... Noël s'approche à pas de géant et vous serez certainement d'accord avec moi si je vous dis que j'ai du mal à imaginer le cadeau parfait pour un chien bien aimé (quel aveu !). Bon ben, finalement, grâce à la marque de mode durable Göttin des Glücks, les éco-chiens pourront désormais s'habiller comme il faut : première collection de mode canine lancée juste à temps pour Noël ...

FINGER food (kawaii version)

2011-12-19T11:54:00.004+01:00

... isn't that just the most kawaii of all things? I bought it last summer in L.A.'s Japan Town, and I'm still quite in awe of it. The only tiny little problem is ... that I don't seem to recall which purpose it is supposed to serve. I think it's meant to be a miniature peeling glove for your finger-tip to be used on your nose, mainly (!) ...

STRIPPED to the bone

2011-12-18T08:00:00.001+01:00

... ideal for the purpose of spicing up ParisVienne a little: Andreas Eberharter, the man behind the jewellery label AND_i, just sent me his latest lookbook - and the visuals that accompany his collection "taboo" will definitely appeal to many fashionistas (Lady Gaga and Nicola Formichetti may well be among them). Andreas continues to design the eye patches and masks he does so well, I also particularly like the skull ring he created - as you might now, I've got a certain weakness for that kind of jewellery (see here and here) ...

... le créateur de joaillerie Andreas Eberharter vient de m'envoyer le lookbook de la dernière collection intitulée "taboo" de sa griffe AND_i. Et je suis sûr que les visuels qui vont avec plairont à pas mal de victimes de la mode (Lady Gaga et Nicola Formichetti, c'est sûr, font partie du troupeau...). Très sexy, très osé - Andreas continue à proposer les bandeaux et les masques qui sont devenus le trait distinctif de sa marque, et il a même créé une de ses bagues à crâne que j'aime autant (vous vous souvenez ? allez voir ici et ici) ...

taboo by AND_i (extended version) from Andreas Eberharter on Vimeo.

... il molto apprezzato creatore di gioielli con sede a Vienna, Andreas Eberharter del marchio AND_i, mi ha appena inviato il lookbook della sua ultima collezione intitolata "taboo". Come potete facilmente rendervi conto guardando sopra, le immagini che accompagnano le sue creazioni sono un tantinetto osé - ma sono sicuro che piacciono. Ad esempio al branco dei fashion victims, e tra loro, Lady Gaga e Nicola Formichetti (che hanno già, e varie volte, fatto la loro apparizione come brand testimonials per Andreas). Mi piacciono le bende, le maschere - ma anche l'anello a teschio che fa parte della collezione (e forse ricorderete che tali anelli non mancano mai d'affascinarmi come si vede qui e qui) ...

STYLISH trumps

2011-12-15T08:00:00.002+01:00

all images courtesy of Laurence King Publisher

... if you were one of the kids that enjoyed playing card games, namely those wonderful trump cards featuring cars or lorries (mostly), back in the, what was it, 80s?, 90s?, and then went on to discover your passion for fashion - you'll definitely love this: Maia Adams and Erin Petson teamed up to create the ultimate fashion face-off for Laurence King publisher, and I truly love the categories they put together. Show-stoppers and classic models are compared according to "day-to-day practicality", "eBay top bid", "timeless appeal", "mainstream imitations", "red carpet wow! factor" and "trendsetting potential". Such a nice idea, and not to be taken entirely seriously I'd say (otherwise the fashion brands would already be suing I guess...) The ideal pastime for everyone DRIVING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS and not manoeuvering the stirring wheel, naturally ...

... c'est la confrontation ultime des marques de mode les plux luxueuses que nous ont concoctée Maia Adams et Erin Petson. Leur jeu de cartes "FASHION FACE-OFF" (publié par Laurence King) est une collection des modèles de proue des plus importantes maisons de mode, juxtaposés dans des catégories tels le "facteur tapis rouge", la fréquence des "imitations par le mass-market" ou encore le "prix maximum sur eBay en dollars". Le jeu, ça reste tout de même un jeu et ne doit donc pas forcément être pris tout à fait au sérieux, mais je trouve que cela pourrait être un passe-temps idéal pour tous ceux qui affrontent de longs voyages en train ou en voiture pour rentrer chez eux à Noël ...

Vive le FOULARD

2011-12-13T08:00:00.001+01:00

all images: Stephanie Kloss, courtesy of Thomas Zeitlberger

... tired of your grandma's Hermès carrés? I might just have something for you: the Vienna-based designer (a graduate from the Art Academy's sculpture class) Thomas Zeitlberger, who has already made himself a name for his extravagant wallpapers, will launch his foulard collection "Consumded" next Thursday in Vienna's "Samstag" boutique (for details click here). Isadora Duncan would be enchanted, wouldn't she? ...

... si vous vous sentez un tout petit peu las de toujours et toujours replonger dans le placard de votre grand-mère pour y dégager le carré Hermès qui aille avec votre look du jour, eh ben voilà qu'il y a une nouvelle proposition tout à fait convenable : le jeune designer Thomas Zeitlberger, qui s'est déjà fait un nom pour les papiers peints tout à fait extraordinaires qu'il crée sur mesure et sur commande, va lancer sa première collection de foulards jeudi prochain. Le lancement aura lieu chez Peter et Christian, soit dans la très wonderful boutique Samstag à Vienne (pour plus de détails, cliquez ici) ...

... se è vero che non avete più voglia di costantemente completare il vostro look con un carré Hermès che la vostra nonna vi ha lasciato, e vabbe', penso che ho la proposizione giusta per voi: il giovane designer viennese Thomas Zeitlberger (che si è già fatto un nome con delle creazioni di carta da parati molto stravaganti) lancerà la sua prima collezione di foulards "Consumed" insieme alla favolosa boutique Samstag (per più dettagli, cliccare qui) ...

GOUDE vibrations

2011-12-11T08:00:00.001+01:00

Jean-Paul Goude, "Allegorie de la mode"

... two weeks ago and just before falling ill so that I could not move a finger for ten days, and that was really quite ghastly, anyhow, just before that I I hopped over to Paris to meet my darling friends and their darling darling daughter as the three of them will soon leave the city of lights for San Francisco (not such a bad move, actually), I visited the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and was impressed by the huge Jean-Paul Goude retrospective "Goudemalion". The exhibition title alludes to the fact that, in a way similar to Pygmalion (yet in the opposite direction), Goude transforms his living models into unreal statues ...

Tavi Gevinson undergoes Goude's "French Correction" process

... j'ai passé le weekend dernier à Paris parce que je voulais saluer des amis à moi qui vont bientôt quitter la ville pour aller vivre à San Francisco (c'est très excitant je trouve, et aussi un tout petit peu triste pour tous ceux qui restent en Europe), j'ai profité de mon court séjour pour aller voir la retrospective de l'œuvre de Jean-Paul Goude qui vient d'ouvrir au Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Le titre de l'expo, "Goudemalion", fait allusion au fait que, comparable en ceci à Pygmalion (mais dans le sens opposé...), Goude a transformé ses modèles vivants en statues, en sculptures "plus belles que la vie" ...

Valentino, his dogs - and Linda Evangelista

... he started elaborating the principle of his "French Correction" when he was creative director of Esquire magazine in the 70s - and never stopped. Apart from the amazing work he did with Grace Jones (remember the fabulous Citroën commercial I recently wrote about? - well, it was him who directed it). One of his most notable appearances in France was when he choreographed and created and directed the parade commemorating the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution on July 14th, 1989. The exhibition also had plenty of space for countless other commercials Goude directed (marvellous: the images he created for the Chanel fragrances Coco and Egoïste). And, of course, he is also shown as a great portrait photographer of fashion personalities including Marc Jacobs, Alaïa, Valentino, Diana Vreeland and, most recently, Tavi "Style Rookie" Gevinson ...

"Slave to the rhythm", Grace Jones (re)invented by JPG

... c'était pendant les années 70 à New York où il travaillait comme directeur artistique de la revue Esquire que Jean-Paul Goude a élaboré le principe des "French Corrections". Plus tard, il a contribué essentiellement à forger l'image de Grace Jones, laquelle il avait découvert. Une seule apparition de Goude suffit pour témoigner de la grande reconnaissance dont il jouit en France, et c'est la fonction de créateur et directeur de la très impressionnante parade pour commémorer le bicentenaire de la Révolution Française, orchestrée par Goude le 14 juillet 1989. Egalement inoubliables : tous les spots publicitaires qu'il a créés, par exemple pour Chanel, voir ci-dessous - mais aussi pour Citroën (comme celui dont je vous ai parlé récemment...). J'ai aussi beaucoup aimé tous les portraits de grands personnages de la mode qu'il a réalisés, ainsi a-t-il photographié Alaïa, Valentino, Diana Vreeland, Galliano, Marc Jacobs parmi d'autres. Quelque peu surprenant a été l'apparition de la fameusissime et très jeune "Style Rookie" Tavi Gevinson qui a aussi été soumise à un procédé de "French Correction".

Azzedine Alaïa seen by JPG

... final verdict: An absolutely wonderful exhibition, so if you're in Paris some time soon (fashion week!?) make sure not to miss this exhibition (which is on until March 18, 2012) ... jugement final : une exposition à ne pas perdre, donc tous ceux qui se trouvent à Paris ou qui visitent la ville avant le 18 mars 2012, allez la voir absolument ...

FASHION HISTORY with Liz Taylor

2011-12-07T08:00:00.001+01:00

watch that, H&M: a "Versace Vogue magazine voluminous silk blouse"
from 1991, 200 - 400 USD

... whereas a lot is being written these days (and in a very appreciative manner, too; well, would you be surprised?) about the auctions of Dame Elizabeth Taylor's infamous jewellery collection by Christie's on December 13 and 14, I would like to draw your attention to parts III and IV of said auction that will focus on her Haute Couture and ready-to-wear fashion as well as some of her accessories. Some really nice pieces will come under the hammer, and all of them genuinely "vintage" ...

Barbie's delight: a Valentino velvet and satin ball gown with
scarlet and beaded evening bag" from the 90s, 3000 - 5000 USD

... tandis qu'un grand nombre de commentateurs s'est déjà empressé pour parler de la légendaire collection de joaillerie établie par Elizabeth Taylor, laquelle va être vendue aux enchères chez Christie's le 13 et 14 décembre, je voudrais diriger votre attention sur le fait que, dans ce même contexte, le 14 et 15 décembre vont passer sous le marteau quelques unes de ses robes de Haute Couture et de prêt-à-porter acquises au cours des six dernières décennies - du vintage à l'état le plus pur, voilà tout ...

period pieces: an Ungaro couture dress (1967), 700-900 USD (left)
and an Emilio Pucci silk ensemble with two beaded sautoirs (1959),
800-1200 USD

... when I did research for an article that was published in the spring of 2010, I realised that the entire myth surrounding the vintage terminology seems to be blown up at times. What matters most - these pieces are part of fashion history, and they are meant to be worn. Now, with Elizabeth Taylor's suits and coats and dresses and evening gowns, I think there are some really marvellous opportunities to go back in time, to wonder at the very daring colour and fabric combinations from times past, and to remember the legendary actress and her violet eyes of course ...

working woman: an Yves Saint Laurent houndstooth
two-piece ensemble from the 60s/70s, 600 - 800 USD (left) and a
Valentino wool plaid suit from the 70s/80s, 600 - 800 USD

... lorsque j'ai fait des recherches pour un article paru en mars 2010, je me suis rendu compte que, s'il existe tout un ensemble de règles établies et suivies par les férus de la robe mythique, il s'agit donc surtout de découvrir des pièces (devenues !) uniques appartenant peut-être même, et dans le meilleur des cas, à une personne célèbre telle l'actrice aux yeux violets, Elizabeth Taylor, pour la mettre et lui permettre de continuer à être un objet destiné à l'usage dans la vraie vie ...

a Torero fantasy from the house of Givenchy, jumpsuit and jacket
from the 80s, 1000 - 2000 USD

... last thing I'd like to add: when clicking through the auction lots I couldn't help being reminded of so many of the Barbie dresses that were around when I grew up - as if the Mattel costume design team had drawn immediate inspiration from Mrs Taylor's shopping preferences ...

almost cheaper than in the shop:
a Louis Vuitton Stephen Sprouse Alma bag for 700 - 1000 USD

... dernière remarque : quand j'ai fait le tour virtuel des robes qui seront vendues, il y avait un certain effet nostalgique pour moi car pas mal de modèles de la fin des années 70 et du début des années 80 m'ont rappelé des robes de Barbie qui me sont familières de mon enfance - l'armoire de Liz, une source d'inspiration pour l'équipe de Mattel ? ...

CAR SPOTTING Talbot Samba

2011-11-30T08:00:00.003+01:00

a Talbot Samba convertible, designed by Pininfarina

... the history of the Talbot car brand (initially a synonym for luxurious sportscars) was a rather shaken one, and at its end came the car model Samba constructed and marketed by Peugeot in the late 70s and early 80s. Talbot itself ceased to exist in 1986, and so did the Samba, naturally. One a side note: the convertible was designed by Pininfarina. Talbot was also linked with the car brand Simca, launched by Fiat in the 1930s in order to produce its cars in France without having to pay taxes for importing them from Italy. Simca, which also belonged to Peugeot later on, was closed in 1980.

L'histoire de la marque de voitures Talbot a été aussi longue (elle a été établie en 1903) qu'incertaine. Le dernier grand constructeur d'automobiles qui l'avait rachetée, Peugeot, a décidé de la fermer en 1986, l'un des derniers modèles issus de ses sites de production était le modèle Samba que vous voyez ci-dessus. Soit dit en passant: le modèle décapotable a été dessiné par Pininfarina... Tenant en compte le fait qu'elle a été produite il y a au moins 25 ans, cette voiture se présente en très bonne forme ...

SKINNY dipping (feat. Spencer and Cindy)

2011-11-29T08:00:00.002+01:00

Spencer Tunick edition of a Mara Hoffman swimsuit

... wonderful news for all admirers of the never-ending flood of FASHIONxART collaborative projects: Art Basel Miami was on again, and the Florida-based art fair once again turned out to be a hybrid between a gigantic art gallery and a catwalk for some select fashion brands. Dior had Anselm Reyle, Pringle of Scotland featured Liam Gillick, Bally brought it on with Olaf Breuning. Okay folks, we got the message. Isn't everyone starting to feel a bit bored after the countless collaborations we've already seen in the past? Apparently not. Maybe the most entertaining contribution to this year's artsy fashion thingy was Spencer Tunick's swimsuit for Mara Hoffman - the limited edition of 15 pieces was on sale in Mara's Miami pop-up store from December 1st to 4th. Ah, and by the way: Spencer Tunick's swimsuit reminded me of Cindy Sherman's "skinny dipping" overalls which were on display in the Padiglione Centrale of this year's art biennial in Venice ...

Cindy Sherman's "skinny dipping" overalls - seen in Venice

... pour de certaines marques de mode, il y a d'innombrables occasions pour lancer des mini-projets du type FASHION MEETS ART tout au long de l'année, pour d'autres, un salon comme ART BASEL MIAMI représente le contexte idéal pour rouler les mécaniques. Voilà donc que Bally s'y vantait d'avoir engagé Olaf Breuning, Dior a ammené Anselm Reyle, Pringle of Scotland était tout content de compter Liam Gillick parmi ses fidèles - et ainsi de suite. Un peu monotone, vous ne trouvez pas ? Bon, mais pour les observateurs de la mode, bien entendu, c'est assez pratique, au moins on a des choses à commenter. Parmi tous les projets dont j'ai entendu parler (je n'étais pas présent, naturellement - viendra un jour peut-être ? [je plaisante !]), celui qui m'intéresse le plus sont les maillots de bain créés par des artistes (en édition limitée, bien sûr...) pour Mara Hoffman. Le maillot "naturiste" de Spencer Tunick est très attirant, qu'en dites-vous ? Et il me rappelle même le modèle de surtout créé par Cindy Sherman pour un travail photographique qui était exposé pendant l'édition 2011 de la Biénnale de Venise ...

ODD man OUT

2011-11-28T12:53:00.002+01:00

... not that difficult to spot the odd man out, right? ... ce n'est pas trop difficile de chercher l'intrus, qu'en pensez-vous ? ...

CLASH of the scents

2011-11-13T08:00:00.002+01:00

here it comes at last .. Madonna's "Truth or Dare" fragrance

... some days ago (and a surprisingly short while after the licencing deal was made official) I was lucky enough to smell a first whiff of Madonna's celebrity fragrance (her first one, even though that's hard to believe) "Truth or Dare", due to launch in spring 2012. Very caramel-ish, and sweet-ish, and not necessarily the kind of fragrance you'd associate with a woman aged 50+. "Truth or Dare" is also going to be the name of Madonna's second clothing line, hey ho. Now, what makes all of this all the more exciting is the fact that the same company behind Madonna's licencing agreement, Coty International, is also in charge of Lady Gaga's first perfume, also due to launch soon (and apparently conceived to carry notes of "blood and semen"). Now, I do wonder - who of the two will turn out to be the queen of fragrances? Whose perfume range is going to be priced above the other one? And of course, wouldn't that make for another exciting new episode on Charlie Hides' fabulous Youtube channel? (if you don't know it yet, go check it out immediately, it's really fantastic) ...

earlier this year on Fashionista.com

... il n'y a que quelques peu de jours, j'ai eu l'occasion de sentir le premier parfum signé Madonna et dont le lancement et prévu pour le printemps de 2012. Très sucré, une note de caramel très dominante j'ai trouvé, bref pas forcément un parfum que l'on associerait avec une femme âgée de 50 ans et plus (mais bien sûr, pour Madonna c'est impossible de penser en tels termes). Le tout s'appelle "Truth or Dare", et conjointement avec le lancement du parfum, le démarrage d'une nouvelle collection de mode du même nom et créée par Madonna a également été annoncée. Bon, et ce que je trouve particulièrement excitant (enfin bon), c'est le fait que Lady Gaga, on va tout de même dire qu'elle n'est pas la meilleure des amies de Madonna, va aussi lancer son propre parfum en 2012, au moins c'est ce qu'a déclaré la vedette en janvier 2011. D'ailleurs la multinationale de cosmétique derrière tous les deux parfums, c'est le géant Coty (qui distribue les parfums signé Calvin Klein, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Marc Jacobs et autres). Que pensez-vous, qui va l'emporter dans cette bataille des bonnes odeurs ; quel parfum sera le plus cher, par exemple ? Je trouve d'ailleurs que cette confrontation olfactive serait un parfait point de départ pour un nouvel épisode de la chaîne établie sur Youtoube par Charlie Hides - si vous ne la connaissez pas encore, mais allez-y tout de suite, illico, je vous assure ...

hilarious: Charlie Hides TV on Youtube

GIMME GIMME GIMME a Superman (or three)

2011-11-09T08:00:00.002+01:00

Mel Ramos

... now, this is another blog post that I've had in mind for quite some time. And for the simple reason that - throughout the year! - I came across images that bear witness to the omnipresence of the legendary figure that is Superman, even (especially?) in contemporary art. I particularly cherish the cross-cultural background of two of these very works of art ... c'est tout au long de l'année que j'ai, dans des contextes fort variés, retrouvé des représentations du personnage légendaire de Superman, dans l'art contemporain ...

Sener Ozmen

... apart from Mel Ramos' very reduced Superman painting that I saw in San Francisco's De Young museum, I was impressed by Sener Ozmen's "Super Muslim" that was on display at ViennaFair in spring ... mis à part la toile aussi simple qu'impressionnante de Mel Ramos, qui a donné sa version de Superman laquelle peut être contemplée dans le musée De Young à San Francisco, j'ai beaucoup aimé le travail intitulé "Super Muslim", crée par Sener Ozmen en 2003, qui a fait partie de l'édition 2011 du salon ViennaFair ...

Ditte Haarløv Johnsen

... and then of course, in Helsinki, I saw Ditte Haarløv Johnsen's "Superman", an image that belongs to her Maputo photo diary (stunning!), which was part of the ARS 11 festival in Helsinki's contemporary art museum Kiasma, entirely dedicated to African contemporary art ... et puis, à Helsinki, dans le cadre du festival ARS 11 du musée d'art contemporain Kiasma, j'ai vu cette photo appartenant au journal photographique de Ditte Haarløv Johnsen, qui nous livre ses impressions très personnelles cueillies à Maputo, au Mozambique ...

IT'S ALWAYS CHRISTMAS in San Francisco

2011-11-06T08:00:00.002+01:00

... of course it's NOT always Christmas time in SF (and I would hardly be able to tell, would I?) but when I recently went through some pictures I'd taken during my summer vacation (shortly before a first and not so timid selection of gingerbread cookies hid Viennese supermarket shelves in mid-August by the way...) what resurfaced was this very bizarre yet somehow intriguing installation of silver tubes and wig and necklaces and disco balls and a mannequin, and so I thought to myself that the time had finally come to post it on my blog. And since I'd just watched the most peculiar and essentially 1990s video to "Push the Feeling On" by Nightcrawlers that same day, I went on thinking that I could post the two of them togethe to create an even more, uhm "metallic" overall effect (the background photo booth!!!). So here you go, then ...

a wonderfully puzzling music video, don't you think
(must have been quite cheap in the making, too...)

CAR SPOTTING Ford Taunus

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000+01:00

... in a marvellously picturesque setting provided by Vienna's harbour, I spotted these beauties that instantly triggered some childhood memories. My uncle drove a Ford Taunus in the early eighties, he even had a golden one very similar to this one. What I didn't know until googling it right now: "Taunus" was the brand name used by Ford for all the cars it launched on the German market in the immediate post-war period and up until 1967 ... c'est contre le fond du port viennois situé à Albern que j'ai photographié ces voitures-ci, et elles m'ont tout de suite rapporté des souvenirs de mon enfance. Car mon oncle conduisait une Ford Taunus couleur d'or au début des années 80. Ce que j'ignorais par contre : tous les modèles Ford destinés pour le marché allemand pendant les années après la fin de la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale (et jusqu'en 1967) furent vendus sous la marque "Taunus", laquelle a ainsi fonctionné comme remplaçant de Ford en Allemagne ...

WATCH OUT for this woman!

2011-11-03T08:00:00.001+01:00

... Vienna's international film festival Viennale just closed its doors, and (hear, hear) much acclaimed director David Lynch had produced the festival trailer. But you know what - who needs David Lynch when they can get a Lynch-ish short film directed by Georg Sokol Leitgeb and entitled "Dark Loop".

I found out about the soon (???) to be released film by mere coincidence and was all the happier to spot the marvellously talented and fair young actress Michaela Bilgeri, a truly timeless beauty indeed, as the main female part. Ah, and should you want to feature her on your next film's list of cast, drop me a line, I can put you in touch.

Le festival du cinéma viennois, la fameuse (enfin bon...) Viennale, vient de fermer ses portes, et la bande d'annonce de l'édition qui vient de se terminer a effectivement été réalisée par l'archi-fameux directeur américain David Lynch. Mais vous savez quoi ? Qui a découvert Georg Sokol Leitgeb renoncera très volontiers à Monsieur Lynch. Après avoir vu un extrait de son court métrage "Dark Loop", ambiance très David Lynch bien entendu, je vous assure cela.

La raison pour laquelle je suis tombé sur le film, c'est l'actrice principale, la très belle, très jeune et très talentueuse Mademoiselle Michaela Bilgeri, qui incarne on ne peut plus parfaitement un archétype de femme fatale des années 30 ou 40. Absolument irrésistible, je trouve ...

all images: screenshots or via darkloop.at

CAR SPOTTING La Déesse (spit it out, Grace!)

2011-10-23T08:00:00.003+02:00

... enfin bien sûr ce n'est pas une vraie déesse que j'ai vue dans les rues de Vienne, c'est plutôt une Citroën DS, une véritable voiture de philosophe, ou pour être plus précis, de sémiologue, depuis que Roland Barthes l'a incluse dans sa liste des mythes modernes. Quoi ajouter, sinon de dire qu'à l'époque, et même après la DS qui était construite entre 1955 et 1957, Citroën fabriquait de très jolies voitures. Même le modèle qui a suivi à la DS, la Citroën CX (pour moi, à ce moment-là, enfant au début des années 80, c'était une voiture tout à fait infecte, mais les goûts changent comme on sait), est vite devenue mythique, un très grand succès auprès du grand public - et grâce à l'intervention de Grace Jones dans un légendaire spot publicitaire, elle doit avoir connu un succès fou auprès de tous les cinéastes de son temps ... right, as I said before, I didn't run into a real goddess in the streets of Vienna but into one of the nicest cars ever built, and that's the Citroën DS (to be pronounced the same way as "déesse" in French, that's what the whole goddess-fuzz is about), which was built from 1957 to 1975 and one of the most succesful and without the trace of a doubt nicest cars ever produced by Citroën. I think the French company was impertinent enough to relaunch a series of "DS" cars in the past few years but really, there is nothing whatsoever that these cars have in common with the original beauty, which was also mentioned by Roland Barthes in his "Mythologies". Very fine. Ah, come to think of it: even the DS's successor, the Citroën XM, was a relatively nice car (and equally very successful - I mean, I hated its guts back then but really, I had plenty of time to reconsider my original impression since then). And I shall for all times remember the legendary TV commercial that had Grace Jones's head pop up somewhere in the desert and spit out a CX. That's when advertising was still allowed to be truly witty, I guess ...

THE DIOR RANGE by Anselm Reyle

2011-10-19T08:00:00.001+02:00

Anselm Reyle for Dior, eyeshadow-artwork plus accessories

... after spotting the work that Cindy Sherman did for Mac cosmetics this season (if truth must be told, the whole thing seems to have taken a rather bizarre course: after the initial press release that referred to a collaboration between Sherman and the brand, Mac later had to correct the first statement and lessen Sherman's involvement with the brand - I mean, as an artist, either you decide to work with a brand our you don't, isn't it absolutely vital to have a very clear vision of where you want to go with such a project? anyhow...) I found it quite peculiar that the beauty industry, unlike fashion, has so far neglected the huge potential of recurring to an artist's creativity. And that, despite the vast array of possibilities. I mean, we all know the Salvador Dalí fragrances, and I found out that Niki de Saint-Phalle also created a fragrance when she was in need of money (true!), but the most obvious thing, I thought, would have been for a brand to invite an artist to create a mini-artwork using the season's range of eye-shadows (or summert similar). Wise little me: virtually minutes before we sent our magazine to the printer, we received news that Berlin-based German artist Anselm Reyle had created a limited edition eye-shadow artwork for Dior. Wouldn't we die to see more of that? And: isn't Mona Lisa the godmother of what we generally refer to as the "NUDE LOOK" ? ...

not really super recent but still interesting:
Niki de Saint Phalle's fragrance

... c'était la collaboration assez remarquable entre la marque de beauté Mac et l'artiste Cindy Sherman qui a réveillé mon intérêt à l'égard du manque de projets comparables dans le domaine de la cosmétique, tandis qu'on en voit à tous les coins dans la mode. Et ce, en dépit du grand potentiel qu'il y a incontestablement dans ce terrain encore inexploré. Il suffit de penser au fait que les professionnels du maquillage s'appellent eux-mêmes des "artistes" (enfin...). Tout le monde connaît les parfums créés par Salvador Dalí, un peu moins de monde sait que Niki de Saint Phalle en a créé le sien lorsqu'elle avait besoin d'argent (pourquoi pas, je dis ?). Mais l'option la plus évidente, ce serait tout de même de faire appel à un artiste pour qu'il crée un chef-d'œuvre temporaire à base des "couleurs de la saison" en ombres à paupières, par exemple. J'avais à peine terminé ma pensée (c'est vrai, je vous l'assure) que j'ai reçu une notice annonçant le lancement d'une série limitée d'ombres signée Anselm Reyle pour Dior - eh ben ...

FASHION against BACTERIA

2011-10-17T08:00:00.001+02:00

... on my little Sunday stroll I discovered this amazingly original outcome of Pierre Cardin's licensing frenzy - a frenzy that, sure enough, turned him into a multi-millionaire and a predecessor of the limitless licensing craze that was to follow (and still haunts the universe of middle-to-high-fashion ...). But I do think that once a fashion house is credited as being "ANTIBACTERIAL" (I think this shop-window sticker refers to bed sheets) a line has been crossed that should be left untouched ... tout le monde le sait fort bien, Monsieur Pierre Cardin a été le précurseur absolu de l'enthousiasme illimité pour les licences allant dans tous les sens (et ayant pour centre une marque de mode). A n'en point douter, Monsieur Cardin a fait fortune grâce à ca perspicacité en termes commerciaux. En revanche, si j'ose le dire, une fois que le nom d'une maison de mode (à l'origine ce fut même une maison de haute couture, avant que Cardin n'ait été exclu du monde de la haute couture...) est étroitement associé à un attribut tel "antibactérien", je crains qu'une limite n'ait été dépassée qui n'aurait pas dû l'être ...

STYLE TYRE Pirelli

2011-10-04T08:00:00.003+02:00

... on the opening night of fashion week in Milan the first free-standing Pirelli flagship store for the P lunga fashion and accessory brand opened (am I allowed to confess that I didn't even know it existed...?). Sure enough, on one of the city's best addresses, and that is Corso Venezia, right outside the quadrilatero d'oro (read: a block away or so from the brandnew Louis Vuitton store that also opened during fashion week). I was virtually sucked in by the fabulous 60s style installation in the shop window, which made me think that a Courrèges or Cardin or Rabanne or, indeed, any kind of Space-Age-Fashion exhibition was going on in the venue. And the shop actually more resembles an exhibition space than anything else, everything is very beautifully arranged, very neatly presented. A certain lack of merchandise was very flagrant, though. Wellingtons, rubber bags and jackets, that's all very fine with me and I really admire the initiative that the Pirelli brand (after which Milan's highest skyskraper is named, did you know?) took to boost its fashion credentials. Even though I'm inclined to ask myself: what for??? And: will the initial buzz suffice to help the shop survive in the long run - well, we shall see ...

... le premier jour de la semaine de la mode à Milan a vu pas mal de (ré)ouvertures de boutiques de dimensions plus ou moins grandioses (parmi lesquelles, les réouvertures des boutiques Gucci et Louis Vuitton, c'est tout à fait clairement une bataille de géants et, si j'ose dire, l'invasion de terrain ennemi de la part de la maison parisienne). Le lendemain, juste après mon arrivée, je suis passé devant une vitrine qui semblait être l'entrée d'un musée, car derrière la vitre était exposée une installation d'art, de figurines vêtues d'imperméables jaunes version flash-flash, j'ai tout de suite pensé à Courrèges, ou Rabanne, ou Cardin, quoi jamais. Sûrement, la marque Pirelli ne m'est pas venue à l'esprit, même si c'était bien cela, c'était le tout nouveau Pirelli Flagship Store de Milan, surface impressionnante où est présentée la marque P LUNGA (jamais je n'avais entendu parler de ça, vous ?), on va dire, la gamme des produits n'est pas vraiment très grande. Je ne dis pas que c'est absolument nécessaire, mais une boutique qui fait plutôt semblant d'être musée qu'espace où devraient être vendus des objets, je ne suis pas convaincu que cela puisse fonctionner à long terme. Enfin, avec un peu de patience, on verra comment et si le nouveau concept arrivera à s'imposer ...

a little bit of car-spotting, a yellow Ferrari gem
(images D.K., courtesy of Pirelli)

FASHION, even in the gutter

2011-09-30T08:00:00.002+02:00

... of course the fashion pack has already moved on to Paris but I'd still like to share some impressions from Milan with you - in the first place because I'm always so truly impressed with how present fashion is all over town during fashion week (and I think there you've got a valid argument for what really makes a fashion capital) ... même si le trombinoscope de la mode s'est déjà déplacé de Milan, je voudrais partager avec vous quelques impressions de la capitale lombarde. Pour la simple raison que, à chaque fois que j'y vais pour la Settimana della Moda, je suis impressionné par la présence massive de la mode partout en ville ... sebbene i fashionisti più importanti e convinti si sono già mossi di Milano a Parigi, vorrei condividere con voi qualche impressione dalla capitale lombarda dove, ogni volta che si svolge Milano Moda Donna (ma anche nei momenti meno modicizzati...), la mode è davvero presente dappertutto nella città ...

... Michael Kors even made it onto the Duomo di Milano, that's quite something I would like to think ... le designer américain Michael Kors qui a fêté le 30ème anniversaire de sa maison plus tôt cette année a même réussi à laisser son empreinte sur la façade du dôme ... l'americano Michael Kors ha persino riuscito a lasciare una sua traccia sulla facciata del Duomo ...

... and then there was some kind of Valentino guerilla gardening thingy I stumbled into ... puis il y avait un peu de jardinage urbain de la part de Red Valentino ... c'era da stupirsi di un po' di giardinaggio urbano della griffe Red Valentino ...

... the opening of Gucci's very own museum in Florence at the end of fashion week (which caused, according to Jessica Michault, empty seats galore at the Ferrè show) already jumped at me upon my arrival in the train station of Milan ... l'ouverture du musée Gucci à Florence s'était déjà annoncée au moment où je suis arrivé à Milan, à la gare, visible pour tous ... l'apertura del museo Gucci a Firenze, prevista per l'ultimo giorno della fashion week, era molto visibilmente annunciata alla stazione centrale di Milano, è stata praticamente la prima cosa che ho visto a Milano ...

... but then, what do expect in a city where even the manhole cover bears a logo that reminds one of the Fendi signature icon ... mais de l'autre côté, à quoi d'autre pourrait-on bien s'attendre dans une ville où même les plaques d'égout rappellent le logo de la griffe archi-italienne Fendi ... ma alla fine, che cos'altro potrebbe aspettarci in una città dove persino i tombini somigliano alla griffe iconica della maison Fendi (sebbene sia di Roma) ...

DESIGN memorabilia

2011-09-25T08:00:00.002+02:00

beautiful "Heuriger" wine glasses by Das Goldene Wiener Herz

... for an article in last Sunday's edition of the newspaper in which I talked about especially design-based approaches of urban souvenir-making (as tribute to the endeavour of positioning oneself as a CREATIVE CITY, hello, Richard Florida), I set out and talked to Veronika, Ursula and Alexander from DAS GOLDENE WIENER HERZ (a Viennese heart of gold). I think that their take on the topic of design souvenirs is particularly interesting since they manage to create beautiful objects for everyday life that appeal to people from Vienna just as much as they hold a special charm for visitors of our ever-so beauuuuutiful capital city ... pour un article paru sur l'édition du dimanche du journal, j'ai rencontré Alexander, Ursula et Veronika, trio responsable de DAS GOLDENE WIENER HERZ (un coeur viennois doré) - leur approche de créer des souvenirs de design me paraît particulièrement intéressante, ils arrivent à s'adresser aux touristes comme aux Viennois de souche, en jouant sur plusieurs registres de l'expression "un coeur doré" (faisant référence à Karl Kraus et à Helmut Qualtinger, parmi d'autres) et en présentant des versions remixées d'objets archi-connus, comme cette sélection de quatre verres de vin "Heuriger", ornés de vignes dorés, très beau et (presque) authentique ... per un articolo pubblicato sull'edizione del giornale di domenica scorsa, sono andato a parlare con Ursula, Veronika e Alexander, i tre fondatori del marchio DAS GOLDENE WIENER HERZ (cuore d'oro viennese), e devo dire che mi piacciono assai i loro souvenir di design che riescono a correre tutta la distanza tra l'ogetto d'uso cotidiano e, appunto, il souvenir viennese interessante per il turista che ha voglia di portare con sé un autentico ricordo. Bei bicchieri di vino, decorati di viticci dorati, una riedizione di un originale che si trova da tutti i Heuriger della città ...

ISN'T IT IRONIC (the Milanese way)

2011-09-24T08:00:00.002+02:00

... even during fashion week (or should I rather say, ESPECIALLY during fashion week) we should keep our eyes open for other things AND be aware of the (potential) power of irony ... this Milan-based guerilla art intervention (near Porta Ticinese in a very lively and not at all luxury-flooded part of town), fake street sign closely resembling the official ones, is an amuse-bouche for sure ... "Via dell'ironia ... e l'apatia se ne va via" means something like "the road of irony ... and apathy vanishes", and living life on the ironical side myself, I think I can only agree ...

FASHION press

2011-09-22T08:00:00.001+02:00

... "The real issue is that in the fashion business, it's almost against the law to tell the truth, and anyone who steps behind the silk curtain to show how raw the business really is can expect a rough time" (John Fairchild) ... PRECIOUS INPUT for the fashion journalist that will hit Milanese ground later today ...

UNKNOWN street artist

2011-09-21T08:00:00.001+02:00

... wonderful, wonderful, wonderful: I love bumping into true gems of really wild-growing public/street art, remember the horse mural made of leather? Lovely, that was. Some days ago, upon crossing Vienna's Schwarzenberg-Platz where another example of highly official and officially commissioned "public art" has already materialised, I came across this tribute to an anonymous sprayer erected by an "unknown artist". I like! ... je trouve tout à fait adorable des rencontres fortuites avec de l'art urbain tout à fait sauvage. Il y a quelques jours, en traversant la place de Schwarzenberg à Vienne et passant à côté d'un autre exemple d'art créé pour l'espace public (des goûts et des couleurs, vous le savez fort bien ...), j'ai remarqué cette sculpture-guérilla, un hommage au tagueur inconnu, érigé par un artiste inconnu: j'aime bien, décidément ...

BLUE print

2011-09-20T08:00:00.002+02:00

... I recently interviewed the dream-team of traditional Austrian costume ("dirndl", notably), consisting of mother and daughter Gexi and Anna Tostmann for the newspaper ... cet été j'avais la chance de rencontrer le très ravissant duo par excellence du costume traditionnel autrichien (qui s'appelle ici "dirndl"), et ce sont donc Gexi et Anna Tostmann - l'interview a été publiée dans le journal ...

... after we'd had our little chat, we descended to the basement of the building that houses this Viennese fashion institution, and I had a first look at the costume exhibition that was put together by Gexi Tostmann, entitled "My 365 dirndls tell their story" ... après notre entretien, on est descendus à la cave de l'immeuble où se trouve leur siège viennois (il y en a un autre, en Autriche Supérieure), et c'était là une belle occasion d'avoir une première impression de l'exposition de Mme Tostmann, "Mes 365 dirndl racontent leur histoire" ...

... I returned to the exhibition twice afterwards to marvel at these dresses a bit longer, and there are a lot of things to see for sure. I was especially drawn to the selection of traditional patterns produced with a blueprinting technique from various regions of Austria (and other countries, I presume). What's particularly charming about the exhibition is the fact that Mrs Tostmann, a great connoisseuse of traditional costume (which was also the topic of her PhD), tells all kinds of stories and anecdotes that are connected to the 365 garments on show. About the blue-prints, she tells her guests and visitors that her mother was very fond of them and insisted that her daughter wear blue-prints, which, at the time, were materials of rather poor quality, which was much to the detriment of the dresses (that frequently burst open at the seams) that were then made of them ... je suis retourné pour voir l'exposition deux fois depuis, afin de contempler avec un peu plus de tranquillité les dirndl et tous les autres objets exposés. Une chose qui m'a particulièrement plu, c'étaient des tissus imprimés à l'indigo et les différents dessins que cela donnait. Qui plus est, les pièces de l'exposition étaient accompagnés de petites fiches où Mme Tostmann racontait des faits-divers et des anecdotes. Ainsi, elle se souvient de combien c'était difficile de trouver des tissus à l'indigo assez robustes pour correspondre aux exigences de faire des "dirndl" très moulants ...

CAR SPOTTING Mitsubishi Colt

2011-09-18T08:00:00.000+02:00

... the other day in Vienna's 7th district, on my way to an interview (don't remember which one), I passed by this charming Mitsubishi Colt, which, by its colour and shape, brought back all kinds of vague childhood memories because (a) it was a very popular car model back then (the Colt A150 was produced from 1978 to 1984 in this form, Wikipedia tells me) and (b) it was all over the place on TV. I also liked the background which, surprising for Vienna, seemed almost Mediterranean ... l'autre jour, j'ai croisé cet exemple tout à fait mignon d'une Mitsubishi Colt, fabriquée à la fin des années 70, en version marron foncé. La petite voiture me plaisait, garée qu'elle était devant cette grille bleue, avec les arbres derrière, il y avait même un je-ne-sais-quoi de méditerranéen qui émanait de cette composition fortuite. Et, inutile de le dire, la voiture elle-même évoquait tout de suite maints souvenirs de mon enfance car c'était bien pendant ces années-là qu'on la voyait partout (et, si je me souviens bien, je ne l'aimais pas trop à l'époque) ...

... l'altro giorno, quando mi mossi attraverso il 7° distretto di Vienna, vissi questo bel esempio di una Mitsubishi Colt, seconda serie, prodotta alla fine degli anni settanta. Mi vennero in mente subito dei ricordi dei primi anni della mia infanzia nei quale questo modello fu particolarmente frequente - sebbene non mi piacesse molto allora. Si sa però che con gli anni che trascorrono, irremediabilmente e non di rado, i gusti cambiano. Infatti, e eccezione fatta dell'aspetto nostalgico di questa osservazione fortuita, mi piacque anche tutto l'ambiente, gli alberi e il recinto dietro, non so perché ma inaspettatamente, mi sentí catapultato quasi quasi in un ambiente vagamente mediterraneo ...

BIKE clutch

2011-09-16T08:00:00.001+02:00

... when I met Eva Blut this summer to talk about accessory design for an article that was published in the newspaper, she showed me a prototype of what appeared to be a bike-clutch that can easily be attached to the frame of a bicycle. And I loved the idea. I truly appreciate Eva's very neat design approach, and the cleverness of her elaborate constructions. This also goes for her handbags, but this interesting attempt at creating a bag for urban bikers is a step in another, more industrial design oriented direction. Eva will present her vélo bags during Vienna Design Week, which is up in October. A special bike-based bag launch will take place on October 1st, hosted by "Fix Dich" (Zieglergasse 78, 1070 Vienna), starting at 4 pm ... quand j'ai rencontré Eva Blut cet été, lors d'une interview réalisée en préparation d'un article paru sur le journal, elle m'a déjà montré un prototype de la minaudière à vélo (c'est moi qui dis ça, Eva n'aurait sûrement pas parlé d'une minaudière, soyez rassurés ...) qui va être lancée pendant la Vienna Design Week qui aura lieu début d'octobre. J'aime beaucoup ce concept d'un sac à main qui s'attache facilement au châssis d'un vélo et qui est pourvue d'un STYLE FACTOR de loin supérieur à tout ce qu'on connaît du domaine des accessoires pour cyclistes. Il est grand temps qu'un créateur s'en rende compte, et je suis convaincu qu'il y a un grand potentiel derrière cette approche tout à fait originale ...

CAR SPOTTING Russian Hill Beetle

2011-09-02T08:00:00.002+02:00

a nice pick for Anna Madrigal, don't you think?

... stupid little me thought of the "car spotting" section on ParisVienne.com too late - I should have started taking images of automobilistic gems in California where the most beautiful, impressive cars can be found virtually on every corner. Well, at least I brought back this image of a VW Beetle parked in San Francisco's Russian Hill, which makes us think of, well of corse, Mrs Madrigal, who else. Did she ever own a car? Not sure, but I guess, this one would just have been to her liking ... j'ai pensé trop tard à cette nouvelle rubrique que j'appelle "car spotting", donc, comment dirais-je, des "trouvailles d'automobiles", car j'aurais très facilement pu commencer à prendre des photos de voitures tout à fait extraordinaires en Californie (où il n'y en a pas peu). Enfin bon, j'en ai quand même une ou deux, comme cette coccinelle stationnée à un coin de rue dans le quartier "Russian Hill" de San Francisco, ce qui nous fait penser à Armistead Maupin et ses fameux "Tales of the City" bien sûr, et qui sait, si Anna Madrigal avait eu une voiture, cette coccinelle serait peut-être à son goût ... sfortunatamente ho pensato troppo tardi alla possibilità di includere anche l'aspetto automobilistico in questa pagina, in California ne avrei trovate in abbondanza, di queste vecchie macchine così belle. Va bene, almeno ho fatto una foto di questo Maggiolino nel quartiere Russian Hill di San Francisco, e chi dice Russian Hill dice anche Tales of the City, ovviamente. Non ho mai visto la serie televisiva, dunque non so se Anna Madrigal guida una macchina, ma nei libri non mi pare proprio che ne abbia una. Dunque, eccovi una proposizione automobilistica per Anna Madrigal ...

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER coming to Vienna?

2011-08-31T08:00:00.005+02:00

from Helmut Lang's "Make it Hard" series of works -
maybe the only way for fashion to make it
into a Viennese "design museum": after meltdown

... tomorrow is not only my birthday (ahum...), it is also the day that Vienna's Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) welcomes a new director: after excessively long years under the "reign" of Peter Noever, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, previously director of the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York and managing director of Vienna's support institution for the creative industries, departure, will take over. Congratulations to this very charismatic homme-de-lettres, Mr Thun-Hohenstein, and new hope for Vienna's design scene?
I mentioned the cancelled Helmut Lang art exhibition in a previous post (and the absurdity of Lang's only chance of being exhibited as an artist, not as a fashion designer). Who knows, maybe Mr Lang will bring his "Make it Hard" exhibition to Vienna one day, or another piece of destroyed fashion. But that's not what matters most right now.

I would consider it of some importance for MAK to bethink itself of its inherent mission to function as a showcase for the landscape of applied and decorative arts (ie., without relegating exhibitions of design to the basement of the museum!). Which does not mean that the focus must necessarily be on AUSTRIAN design, fashion and architecture.
Why is there not one museum in Vienna that could potentially bring one of the huge fashion exhibitions that we see so successfully touring the international museum landscape to this town? Now, because quartier21 definitely doesn't have the money, and because no other museum, except for MAK, has the mission to do so.
When I recently visited San Francisco's De Young museum, the Jean-Paul-Gaultier exhibition due to open in summer of 2012 was already (!) advertised. Well, why would that be? Because such an exhibition does attract visitors, and a lot of them, and attracting visitors is what a museum should be about at the end of a day. You know what Horace says? "Prodesse et delectare", instruct, be useful and entertain at the same time.

all images: courtesy of The Fireplace Project

And if we keep on asking ourselves why Vienna isn't a true "fashion capital", and of course it isn't (its inexisant role as a B2C-hub notwithstanding), the fact that the local public is never presented with a big and potentially very popular exhibition might just have to do with that. Isn't it part of the responsibility of a museum to influence and forge the taste of the local public? No doubt.
And allow me to say one more thing about the obvious scepticism of the Austrian "intellectual" scene regarding all fashion-related discourse and phenomena (this also, but to a far lesser degree, concerns design): these are not the trivial and deprived-of-intellectual-value topics as which they are viewed by many (and as which they appear, more often than not, in the widely received mediatic discourse).
As a matter of fact, I would like to think that it was about time for a little change, and it might be too big a birthday wish to express for me, but would it not be wonderful if we could see a new orientation of a this Viennese museum landmark take place. And in the months to come, ideally, not years or decades ...

GROUP SHOW Vienna in Paris

2011-08-30T08:00:00.005+02:00

watch out for the Austrian Fashion Showcase from September 3-6
in Paris, Première Classe, Porte-de-Versailles

... the first few days of September (3 to 6, to be exact) will see a remarkable initiative materializing on the Porte-de-Versailles edition of Première Classe in Paris: for the first time, an "Austrian Fashion Showcase" brings together a total of 17 accessory labels with the aim to attract the attention of fashion buyers through such a collective effort. Congratulations from me, and I would really like to hope that the organising team around Camille Boyer will see their venture crowned by success.
Quite fascinating, too, that the Austrian Fashion Showcase was put together by Camille and her partner Marlene Agreiter who have equally taken over the organisation of Vienna's "Kooperationsbörse-event (which brings together designers and production facilities).
And isn't it impressive in how little time they made this possible, which is all the more interesting as no other institution has succeeded in putting together (or effectively tried to do so, and I'm not talking about initiatives taken by designers in their own right) a comparable B2B-event reaching out beyond the boarders of Austria up until today. But let's not look back, let's look ahead, that's always the best thing to do I guess, and so I'd like to wish everyone involved with that Austrian Fashion Showcase, designers as well as organisers, the best of luck ...

accessory design by "local hero" Michaela Buerger will be on show

... il ne manque que peu de jours jusqu'à l'ouverture de la prochaine édition du salon PREMIERE CLASSE à Paris, Porte de Versailles, et voilà que nous attend, enfin : vous attend (car moi, je suis bien au courant, et depuis longtemps déjà ...), une belle surprise. C'est l'apparition de 18 marques de mode et d'accessoire autrichiennes dans le cadre d'un AUSTRIAN FASHION SHOWCASE organisé par Camille Boyer et Marlene Agreiter. Les deux sont donc un duo tout à fait impressionnant, et elles s'avèrent toujours plus importantes pour la scène locale puisqu'elles ont aussi pris en main la gestion d'un événement annuel ou des créateurs de mode rencontrent des sites de production. Effectivement, je trouve assez remarquable en combien peu de temps les deux se sont imposées avec des concepts si utiles ...

did you know that Anna Aichinger does accessories?

... tra qualche giorno aprirà le sue porte il salone Première Classe a Parigi, Porte de Versaille - e, per la prima volta, si vedrà l'apparizione rimarchevole dell'iniziativa AUSTRIAN FASHION SHOWCASE che comprenderà un totale di 18 marchi dell'ambito della moda viennese/austriaca. La presentazione collettiva è stata organizzata da Camille Boyer e Marlene Agreiter, a chi auguro un grande successo per questo evento. Secondo me, Camille e Marlene stanno diventando sempre più importanti per la realizzazione di progetti notevoli e utili per i designer con base a Vienna, siccome, eh sì, hanno anche preso in mano l'organizzazione della cosiddetta Kooperationsbörse, cioè una piattaforma dove i designer locali s'incontrano con aziende di produzione locali ...

also on show: accessory design by Hartmann Nordenholz
all images courtesy of Austrian Fashion Showcase / catalogue

VANITAS vanitatis

2011-08-29T08:00:00.001+02:00

... Monday morning, ghastly, right? Well, no better start into the week than with a beautifully intimidating skull on your finger - that's the super cheap version (I got it in a local jewellery shop run by a Turkish family) of Codognato's baroquely Venetian jewellery visions that already inspired Visconti ... afin de commencer la semaine en bonne et due forme, veuillez contempler l'option d'orner votre annulaire de cette belle bague sous forme de vanité diamantée - c'est la version ultra-cheap des créations tout à fait impressionnantes de Codognato à Venise, lesquelles inspirèrent déjà Luchino Visconti pour ses visions d'une mort à Venise ... per cominciare la settimana, niente meglio che una versione molto cheap&chic dei bellissimi gioielli della casa Codognato a Venezia, io ho trovato questo anello a teschio in un piccolo negozio turco qui a Vienna, e vi assicuro che ci sono anche altre creazioni molto impressionanti da vedere ...

THE VOGUE disaster

2011-08-28T16:40:00.010+02:00

"seductive" Iris Strubegger on the cover of German Vogue,
naturally not a word about her in the magazine -
that would have cost some journalistic effort, and
that's definitely not on the radar of the magazine's, uhm, "editor"

... I'm sorry but this time round the DISASTER that German Vogue is month after month after month really makes me want to comment. You know, to cut a long story short (and the same goes for Vogue Paris, naturally), when you pick a former "fashion director" (more often than not, in the case of a glossy magazine, that will be the stylist in charge of the fashion editorial spreads that define a title's characteristic "aesthetic"...) as future EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, you're just not in for a good MAGAZINE - as in: a periodical publication that doesn't only consist of IMAGES but also contains some WRITTEN STORIES that surpass the length of a DOUBLE PAGE and transport an overall editorial vision. I mean, I don't know where Christiane Arp thinks she is taking the magazine (I can tell you and her: to meaningless and endlessly boring realms) but it has nothing whatsoever to do with magazines like US VOGUE or (American) VANITY FAIR (or even British or Spanish Vogue, as for that - I do actually like Spanish Vogue a lot!) which are excellent examples of how a magazine can content those readers that are looking for beautiful images as well as INTERESTING STORIES. And yes, dear "editors", these readers still exist and I even think that those people who actually bother to go to the newsstand (or send in a subscription-postcard) and buy a magazine instead of just browsing through the latest pick-and-mix of fashion news on the web are exactly the same people that want to READ comprehensive, intelligent, witty articles. Hello? Yes, that IS an option. Instead of being presented with one-page-features about the latest must-haves blah blah blah. You know, I'm not particularly keen on being fed endless "news" about celebrity weddings BUT let's just take the September issue of German Vogue and of American Vogue as an example: both feature newly wed supermodels on the cover and whereas Kate Moss is presented in a portrait in the American version, German Vogue, uhm, "forgets" about Iris Strubegger's wedding? I mean, OF COURSE Mrs Arp had to clear some space for the obligatory two pages dedicated to KARL LAGERFELD in German Vogue (believe me, he's in there every month, sure as hell - more often than not as the "talented" photographer that he is, ahum). Clearly, Condé Nast's directory board must know the reasons why they go for people like Arp or Emmanuelle Alt, or even Sozzani in Italy (I think that Vera Montanari does an excellent job with Mondadori's flair magazine in Italy by telling the stories that the "artsy" industry magazine, Vogue Italia, leaves untold), maybe it's easier to leave the advertising clients satisfied with plentiful beautiful colourful images galore, but come on... And I don't say that everything Juliet Joan Buck (recently taken on board by Dasha for Garage magazine) does or did was good, but I think that the editor-in-chief of a renowned magazine (such as French Vogue, in Buck's case) should have a far-reaching vision for a lifestyle magazine, and one that does go beyond the fashion spreads and trend pages a fashion magazine OBVIOUSLY has to contain. It just shouldn't be all about that, should it ...

SILVIA and Francesca

2011-08-26T08:00:00.001+02:00

"Modern Primitives" by Aranda/Lasch for Fendi
(via Aranda/Lasch Flickr album)

... great was my surprise when I recently opened the international edition of Citizen K (I positively adore this magazine, kudos to Kappauf and his extraordinary team) and found Silvia Venturini Fendi sitting on a "Modern Primitives" piece of furniture that is so unmistakably an Aranda/Lasch creation. I had completely missed out on this first excursion of the Fendi brand into the art world, which is even more unforgivable as a Vienna-based art institution is also part of the venture: the "Modern Primitives" project is co-commissioned (I so like that term) by T-B A21, Francesca Hapbsburg's (that's Francesca Thyssen, for all you Spanish readers out there) art foundation. Aranda/Lasch, the New York-based duo of architects, are definitely into fractals and Mandelbrotings, and the resemblance with their "Morning Line" pavilion is ever so striking. Which makes me wonder how these things come about - do Silvia and Francesca meet and, over a flûte de champagne, decide that they could do a thing together, boosting the art credentials of the Fendi brand? Not totally unlikely, I should think, but then again, you never know ...

feathers are so modernly primitive
(via Aranda/Lasch Flickr album)

... grand fut ma surprise lorsque j'ouvris le dernier numéro du si adorable magazine Citizen K (félicitations à l'équipe qui entoure Kappauf pour la réalisation de cette belle revue de mode, et de cosmétique, si j'ose dire), car ce que je vis ... eh ben, ce fut Silvia Venturini Fendi qui se présenta aux lecteurs, assise sur un meuble créé par le duo d'architectes new-yorkais Aranda/Lasch auquel avait été octroyé le très impressionnant titre de "Modern Primitives". Voilà tout. Et cette grande ignorance de ma part est d'autant plus impardonnable que "Modern Primitives" fut réalisé par la marque Fendi, qui cherche évidemment à se munir d'un nouveau profil dans le monde de l'art et des artistes, en collaboration avec une institution viennoise, à savoir la fondation d'art de Francesca Habsbourg ("de" Habsbourg ?), T-B A21. Une certaine ressemblance avec le pavillon "The Morning Line", également commissionné par T-B A21, n'est donc pas fortuite. Loin de là, et je me demande même comment de tels projets voient la lumière du jour. Est-ce que ce sont Francesca et Silvia qui, toutes les deux ensemble et en sirotant une flûte de prosecco, décident de donner au monde un projet réalisé conjointement ? Qui sait, mes chers, qui sait ...

that's the "Morning Line" in its Viennese form

... immaginatevi, quando ho aperto l'ultima edizione (internazionale) della bellissima rivista Citizen K (per cui vorrei felicitare il team intero intorno a Kappauf, come ogni volta), vi ho anche scoperto Silvia Venturini Fendi, ordinariamente piuttosto discreta, seduta su un mobile creato dagli architetti new-yorkesi Aranda/Lasch, intitolato "Modern Primitives" (che nome!). Quando mi sono lanciato su internet per fare qualche ricerca ho realizzato che "Modern Primitives" è stato realizzato dalla maison Fendi in collaborazione con un'istituzione viennese, cioè la fondazione d'arte di Francesca di Absburgo, Thyssen Bornemisza Art Contemporary, T-B A21. La somiglianza con il "padiglione d'arte" di T-B A21 che si chiama The Morning Line e fu ugualmente concepito dagli stessi Aranda/Lasch e che reside attualmente a Vienna dopo fermate a Siviglia e Istanbu non è dunque più così tanto sorprendente. Rimane la domanda: come tali progetti vengono la luce del giorno? E' all'occasione di un cocktail molto mondano che la Silvia e la Francesca discutono di progetti potenzialmente interessanti per ambedue? Non lo penso proprio, ma, dall'altra parte, cari lettori, chi è che sa dircelo, chi è che lo sa ...

Aranda/Lasch even did an architecturally remarkable
interpretation of Fendi's peakaboo bag, well, wow ...
(via Aranda/Lasch Flickr album)

DANIELA KARLINGER dresses Lady Gaga

2011-08-24T08:00:00.001+02:00

Daniela Karlinger's mirror dress, also worn by Lady Gaga

... it was totally by chance that I came across the interesting (let's face it, this IS SOME news) bit of information that Lady Gaga wore a piece by a young Vienna-based designer in the booklet for her BORN THIS WAY album. The key to Lady Gaga's outfits, we all know that, is Nicola Formichetti, and it must have been through him or one of his assitants that DANIELA KARLINGER was approached. This young student at the Hetzendorf bachelor course (which she will finish this autumn) created some quite stunning showstoppers using mirror elements which she combined giving them a truly avantgarde, very deconstructivist look. The mirror-dress was chosen by Formichetti for Gaga, and the mirror-harness appeared in a Take That video as well as, yes ladies and gentlemen, the Thierry Mugler show - and we all know that Formichetti plays a key-role there. So congratulations to Daniela, who I also featured in last Sunday's edition of the newspaper - she told me that she was overjoyed and couldn't believe her luck when she was approached by someone from the Gaga squad, and in her opition such a celebrity-link may well help kickstart her career later this year. We would sure like to hope so, and kudos to Hetzendorf, by the way, which has been producing an impressive number of fresh and exciting talent in the recent past ...

Daniela Karlinger's mirror harness "chez Mugler"

... il y a quelques jours, et totalement par hasard, je suis tombé sur cette information tout de même assez intéressante (surtout, vous me comprendrez, en considérant ce qui se passe d'habitude à Vienne, c'est-à-dire, euhm, presque rien) : la jeune et tout à fait prometteuse créatrice DANIELA KARLINGER a créé une robe-miroir portée par Lady Gaga dans le livret de son dernier disque. Qui dit "garde-robe de Lady Gaga", dit Nicola Formichetti, bien sûr, et le si recherché styliste semble en effet avoir un minuscule faible pour le travail de Daniela, vu qu'il n'a pas seulement travaillé avec la robe-miroir (très avant-garde, et assez déconstructiviste...), il a aussi utilisé une impressionnante carcasse-miroir (même esthétique du côté de Daniela, qui m'a dit, quand je lui ai demandé de répondre à quelques questions pour un article sur le journal, qu'elle essaie de faire converger l'art, la mode, l'architecture et, oui mes amis, la philosophie : quelle ambition, je dis !) dans une vidéo du fameux groupe Take That, et pour le défilé de Mugler. En voilà donc une jeune Autrichienne dont la carrière démarre de manière tout à fait remarquable (d'autant plus remarquable qu'elle ne va terminer ses études à l'institut de Hetzendorf associé à l'Université des Arts de Linz que cet automne) ...

take that, fashion folk ...

... qualche giorno ho appreso che una giovane e molto promettente stilista viennese che si chiama DANIELA KARLINGER e che, per ora, è ancora studente all'instituto di moda di Hetzendorf associato all'Università delle Arti di Linz, ha creato un modello molto affascinante tipo VESTITO-SPECCHIO che viene indossato dalla famosissima, celeberrima Lady Gaga nel libretto del suo ultimo CD. Chi dice Lady Gaga, dice anche Nicola Formichetti, e pare proprio che questo ormai quasi leggendario stylist italo-giapponese abbia scoperto il lavoro della giovane Daniela. Vediamo dunque l'apparizione di un altro modello suo, una corazza-specchio, in un video del gruppo Take That, su un numero di GQ China, e nella sfilata di Mugler Homme. Meglio quattro volte che una sola, e quando ho parlato con Daniela per un piccolo articolo che abbiamo pubblicato sull'edizione del giornale uscita domenica scorsa, mi ha detto che si sentiva molto felice ed onorata di veder i suoi modelli associati a questi lavoro di stylist, e faceva persino un po' la misteriosa non volendo rivelarmi che cosa hai in testa per lanciara la sua carriera una volta finiti gli studi. Be', suppongo che ce ne renderemo conto e che vedremo dove va l'ambiziosa Daniela con il suo lavoro di, direi quasi, designer di costumi ...

that's the Céline version of Daniela's verve, I would say
(all images courtesy of Daniela Karlinger)

CAR SPOTTING Renault Caravelle

2011-08-22T08:00:00.001+02:00

a chance meeting with a hidden treasure

... did I ever tell you that I truly and deeply and madly love OLD cars, as in AUTOMOBILES? Well, I guess I didn't (and I don't even know why it never occurred to me... too much into fashion and consorts, I reckon), but I still do. My love with cars goes back a long way, as it were, since I think I knew most car brands and models when I was a small child - and my dear dear dear great-aunt, with who I spent lots of time (I actually preferred staying at her place by far to kindergarten, which I loathed), would always be eager to test my knowledge. When all of a sudden I was able to read, a year or so before starting school, what adults generally told me was that I learned the alphabet by reading and incessantly checking car brands (that's actually what I'm inclined to believe until today, even though there is a faint chance my great-aunt consciously taught me to read little by little and I forgot all about it). So, in a way, it was maybe cars that brougth me to study comparative literature later on. ANYHOW, there is that wonderful and non-descript garage in Vienna where they routinely repair and sell new Renault cars, but there is also that one Renault Caravelle model on display: the Caravelle was produced from 1958 through 1968, and it was conceived for the Amercian market, which makes it look so, well, un-French in a way. An adorable little car indeed, I would like to say (and it faintly reminds me of Columbo's Peugeot, too) ... juste quelques peu de mots en français, mais je me suis dit que je pourrais ENFIN partager avec vous, mes chers lecteurs, ma grande passion pour les voitures. D'accord, "grande passion", c'est peut-être un peu exagéré, mais ce n'est pas moins vrai que, depuis mon enfance, j'ai toujours eu un grand penchant pour les belles automobiles, et cet intérêt ne m'a pas encore complètement abandonné (même si, absurdement, et vu les circonstances dans lesquelles j'ai passé mon permis, je ne conduis pratiquement pas...). Quand bien même je préférerais de loin, dans la plupart des cas, les modèles anciens à ceux qui sont lancés aujourd'hui, appelez-moi donc un automobiliste empêché nostalgique, je ne puis vous contrarier. Quoi qu'il en soit, quel bel exemplaire de la Renault Caravelle est-ce que je n'ai pas découvert à Vienne, chez un voiturier point spécialisé dans la (re)vente de voitures anciennes. Un rêve d'automobile conçue pour le marché américain par la grande marque française, et produite tout au long des années 60. Pas mal, hein ? ... e, per finire, qualche parola sul mio amore per gli automobili, soptrattutto le macchine non completamente contemporanee (troppo "slick" per i miei gusti, più spesso che no), mi sono dunque detto che avrei potuto cominciare a parteggiare questa passione piuttosto teorica (siccome non guido, sfortunatamente, sebbene abbia la patente...) ed orientata verso il passato con voi, cari lettori. Eccovi dunque un esemplare del modello Caravelle prodotto da Renault per il mercato americano da 1958 e 1968, una bella macchina che ho visto in una carozzeria viennese per niente stravagante ...

CALIFORNIA STYLE Paris Parnasse

2011-08-18T08:00:00.002+02:00

from Paris 1900 to Santa Monica, CA

... when I recently went to California (I already told you about that trip and about how much I was looking forward to it), I couldn't help but notice (SURPRI-HISE!?) that the beautiful "ville des lumières", the capital of style and glamour, the Parnasse, as Paris likes to call itself, is highly cherished by the people in California just as much as anywhere else in the US (Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" will very eloquently point out just those beautiful feelings, I reckon) ... lors de mon récent séjour en Californie, j'ai pu me rendre compte que, dans cet état perpétuellement ensoleillé (enfin bon), la ville des lumières, la capitale de l'hexagone, le Parnasse, bref, Paris Paname, fascine et excite autant les Californiens que tous les autres Américains, et enfin, pas mal de gens de partout ...

my favourite Paris find: "Paris Colors for Smart Occasions"
in a shop window in the ghost town Bodie

... in Santa Monica (Main Street) I came across this beautiful store selling vintage fashion called PARIS 1900, and owner Susan Lieberman definitely brought together some very beautiful period pieces, specialising on fashion from Paris between 1900 and 1930. Apparently (according to the website), garments from her store appeared as props and costumes in various film productions (hello, H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D !!!). Definitely a good address for all Los Angeles-based lovers of Paris ... ainsi, par exemple, j'ai trouvé cette jolie petite boutique qui s'appelle PARIS 1900, située à Santa Monica, Main Street. La propriétaire Susan Lieberman a découvert sa passion pour la mode française, parisienne, pendant son enfance passée à Genève, elle se spécialise sur la mode des trois premières décennies du vingtième siècle, et des vêtements de sa boutique ont déjà fait leur apparition dans de très grandes productions hollywoodiennes ...

Paris in Las Vegas, of course, and French fashion as the epitome
of all things stylish (and murderous)

... and apart from interesting references to French culture (and style and fashion, in Los Angeles of course, even more omnipresent in Las Vegas which, I am aware of that, is not in California) in numerous and most different places, there was the absolute highlight in terms of hommage to the French - in the Californian ghost town Bodie (a state park since the 1960s), we were marvelling at all kinds of relicts from times past, and in one of the well preserved shop windows, there was this nice little fashion magazine, advertising "Paris Colors for Smart Occasions" on its cover - a truly charming SOUVENIR PARISIEN, right then, right there ... en dehors de toutes les manifestations du grand enthousiasme pour le style et le savoir-vivre parisiens, omniprésents en Californie, et, bien sûr, à Las Vegas, l'incarnation parisienne la plus originale, je l'ai trouvée dans la vitrine d'un magasin abandonné dans la ville-fantôme Bodie, qui est devenue un parc naational dans les années 60. N'est-ce pas joli, en quelque sorte, qu'une revue de mode, affichant "PARIS COLORS FOR SMART OCCASIONS" ait pu survivre juste là, évidence plus ou moins muette, mais s'offrant à tous ceux qui sont prêts à y faire attention, à cette grande fascination que portent les Américains au style de Paris, et ce, de si longue date ...

EXTRA baggy

2011-08-16T08:30:00.001+02:00

Mathias Lippitsch is the director of Kostümhaus and founder of Wien Zwölf

... last week I talked to Mathias Lippitsch, the director of Vienna's Kostümhaus, one of the city's best-known and most notable costume rentals, which also collaborates with various theatres and film production companies. Now, the basic idea that led to the launch of the brandnew label Wien Zwölf in late 2010 was to optimize the capacities of Kostümhause's own workshops and develop a brand and product of their own. This ended up being a beautiful bag which immediately became very popular - one of the reasons is that a lot of stylists come to Kostümhaus, and they usually carry large bags around with them (the standard equipment is a yellow Ikea bag, as most of you will know). Well, to cut a long story short, the Wien Zwoelf bag was introduced some months ago, a sample collection is currently on its way to Australia or so it would seem, and an order was already placed by a shop from San Francisco. A beautiful success story indeed. And a sustainable one, too - as the bag is made of a mix of new and recycled material (read: kitpack, felt, firefighter's hose, parachute), and as an extra goody there is the included shopping bag that you can unfold to store away your grocery shopping - that's a nicely versatile design approach, I find ...

the bag that comes complete with a plastic bag made of recycled parachute material

... il y a quelques jours, je suis allé parler avec Mathias Lippitsch, c'est le directeur d'une vraie institution viennoise, à savoir le soi-disant KOSTÜMHAUS, une location de costumes et l'atelier qui produit des costumes pour de nombreuses productions de théâtre et de cinéma. Voilà donc qu'il y a quelques mois, les responsables du Kostümhaus ont cherché une solution pour optimiser les capacités de leur atelier en développant un produit relativement facile à coudre. C'est ainsi que le sac de la marque récemment inaugurée WIEN ZWOELF a vu la lumière du jour, et je trouve que c'est effectivement une solution tout à fait remarquable, à cause des matériaux utilisés (un mélange durable-non durable), et à cause de certaines fonctions comme le "sac en plastique" inclus, fait du tissu d'un parachute recyclé et qui peut être déplié une fois qu'on en a besoin pour ranger les articles qu'on achète dans le supermarché à la fin d'une journée de travail - formidable, n'est-ce pas ? ...

the idea was to optimise the capacitites of the Kostümhaus workshop

... qualche giorno fa sono andato a parlare con il direttore di una vera istituzione viennese, il cosiddetto Kostümhaus che è metà locazione di costumi e bottega dove vengono prodotti i costumi per film e opere teatrali. Per migliorare l'efficienza della bottega, si cercava dunque d'introdurre un prodotto del Kostümhaus stesso. Perciò è stato lanciato il marchio Wien Zwölf qualche mese fa, e poi è anche stato introdotto una molto robusta e funzionale borsa che convince (secondo me), tra altre cose, con un dettaglio doppiamente durabile: un sacchetto di plastica (fatto del tessuto di un paracadute riciclato però...) nascosto nell'interno della borsa che si spiega facilmente e dove spariscono velocemente gli articoli comprati in supermercato alla fine di una lunga giornata di lavoro. Una bella idea, vero? ...

all images courtesy of Wien Zwölf

A SLANTED view (Tobias Wong)

2011-08-08T23:02:00.005+02:00

... recently, in San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art/SFMOMA, I discovered a small exhibition of work by American conceptual artist Tobias Wong (1974-2008, read the NY Times obituary here). Wong obviously addressed luxury brands (and fellow artists) in the most original, disrespectful, oblique manner, and created minute aesthetic momentums (would you prefer me to write momenta? no, right?) distorting their, pleaseforgivemedearreaders, "DNA" (ugly PR speech, ghastly, yuck!). Sued by companies such as Issey Miyake or McDonald's because of the provoking nature of some of his work, Mr Wong was one the rebels that contemporary art so desperately needs in order to prove that some cells of resistance persist where luxury-brand-art-foundations have started taking over ...

... récemment, à San Francisco, dans le musée d'art contemporain de la (si belle, si si belle !) ville, le SFMOMA, j'ai fait la découverte de quelques objets créés par le jeune, très talentueux et hélas, défunt artiste Tobias Wong (1974 - 2008), lequel, cela devient très vite très évident, a été l'un des rebelles de l'art conceptuel contemporain, se lovant dans une cellule de résistance aux tentatives des marques de luxe et des maisons de mode de s'approprier pleinement le monde de l'art par le biais de l'ouverture d'espaces d'exposition, de la création de fondations d'art, de la mise-en-œuvre de collections, eh ben voilà, même si cela lui a valu des litiges légaux entamés par des marques telles qu'Issey Miyake par exemple, je trouve tout à fait impressionnant le travail réalisé par Monsieur Wong et je suis très heureux de l'avoir vu, à San Francisco ...

... nellambito del mio soggiorno di qualche giorno nella bellissima città di San Francisco, recentemente, sono anche andato (ma naturalmente, mi direte... eh sì...!) al museo d'arte contemporaneo della città, il quale si chiama SFMOMA. E lì, nel contesto di una mostra dedicata alle interferenze tra design ed arte, ho visto una selezione di oggetti creati dal giovane artista Tobias Wong (1974 - 2008). Le sue creazioni, non di rado inscrivendosi nell'estetica di grandi marchi di lusso, rappresentano una specie molto particolare, e molto adorabile, anche, di pièces de résistance. Tobias Wong, questo è stato molto evidente, rappresentava uno degli ultimi bastioni dell'arte che cerca d'evitare le invasioni (amichevoli? speriamolo pure ...) dell'universo del lusso e della moda, dove, ma lo sappiamo tutti, le fondazioni nascono da tutte le parti, le collezioni d'arte s'espongono nei negozi super esclusivi, le modelle sfilano di fronte ai collezionisti che si sono accomodati in prima fila ...

SUPER duper

2011-07-31T21:06:00.004+02:00

... just back from my three-week-trip to California and a little bit of Nevada (yes, that's right, Las Vegas of course ...), and I must say, America never stops short of surprising me (in Las Vegas I felt like a stupid cow from some forgotten village in the countryside - aka Europe - when marvelling at all the artificial glitz and bling and ever blinking, flashing and twinkling, well, EVERYTHING there), but this time round I think I found the actual key to the American-dream-mentality: this set of HOLOGRAPHIC CORRECTING STICKERS really is America in a nutshell, it seems to sum up the essence of what US citizens want their, uhm, things to be like - so bear that in mind, everyone toying with the idea of hitting it big in the US, BIG is not enough ...

MANISH will puzzle you

2011-07-27T08:00:00.003+02:00

Manish Arora's "Puzzle Dress" created with Swarovski Elements
is the centre-piece of Gerda Buxbaum's shop window installation
"Summer of Love", now on display in Vienna

... just the other day I remembered the fact that the Indian designer Manish Arora was confirmed as the creative mind in charge of reviving a Paco Rabanne ready-to-wear line. Improbable choice? Well, let's wait and see. Next thing I heard was that the "puzzle dress" he created in collaboration with Swarovski Elements earlier this year had been brought to Vienna by Gerda Buxbaum, who is in charge of decorating the Swarovski Flagship Store windows on Kärtner Straße. What a perfect opportunity to check out the (hidden) qualities of that infamous puzzle dress by Manish and to cross-check whether the puzzle dress may indeed be considered as the updated version of Paco's legendary metal dress (hardly so, I'd say) ...

... quelques jours après m'être souvenu du fait que Manish Arora va être en charge du relancement du prêt-à-porter de la marque Paco Rabanne (que nous retrouvons actuellement plutôt dans les pages "beauté et parfums" des revues ...), voilà que j'ai reçu cette information pas tout à fait indifférente : Gerda Buxbaum, l'ancienne directrice de l'école de mode à Hetzendorf (et qui s'est battue comme une lionne pour lancer un cours de licence en création de mode à Hetzendorf en collaboration avec l'Université des Arts à Linz) qui s'occupe maintenant de la décoration des vitrines de la boutique Swarovski sise Kärntner Straße, a réussi à faire venir à Vienne la robe "puzzle" créée par Manish en utilisant les Swarovski Elements. C'est l'occasion ultime pour tous les fashion people de Vienne d'aller voir si la robe-puzzle de Manish a le potentiel de succéder à la légendaire robe en métal créée par Paco à la fin des années soixante ...

all images courtesy of Swarovski/Gerda Buxbaum

... appena mi ero ricordato del fatto che quest'anno Manish Arora è stato confirmato come designer da rilanciare la collezione di prêt-à-porter del marchio Paco Rabanne, ecco che ho ricevuto l'informazione che Gerda Buxbaum è riuscita a far venire a Vienna un esemplare del vestito-puzzle creato da Manish in collaborazione con Swarovski Elements. Gerda si occupa attualmente della decorazione delle vetrine del flagship-store di Swarovski a Vienna, e per la sua installazione "Summer of Love" ha scelto di esporre il vestito scintillante che fa abbastanza bella figura, devo dire. Sebbene, se ci ricordiamo dei legendari vestiti di metallo o di plastica disegnato da Paco negli anni sessanta (abbiamo visto un eco delle sue placchette nella collezione d'inverno 2011 di Prada, mi sto chiedendo?), non sono sicuro se la versione "puzzle" di Manish ha davvero la stessa forza espressiva. Comunque, vedremo che tipo di lavoro farà per la maison Rabanne, vero ? ...

AUX anges

2011-07-10T08:00:00.000+02:00

Bette Midler in Ruthless People, screenshot (the fashion!!!)

... I'm off for my summer vacation which takes me to LOS ANGELES of all places, I mean all of California of course but that's where we start our little journey, and I'm very much looking forward to that much needed and awaited time off. Absurdly, one of the first things that comes to my mind when I think of L.A. interiors is the living room of the Stone couple in RUTHLESS PEOPLE, such a charming Hollywood comedy, and I can only wonder whether that place is really filled to the brim with MEMPHIS DESIGN objects? Hardly, right? But I'm definitely in for some ARTIFICIAL AESTHETICS, I should think ...

Danny DeVito in Ruthless People, screenshot, the interior!!!

... vivent les vacances - les miennes, cette année, se déroulent en Californie. Wouah! Bizarrement, pour moi, l'esthétique californienne, mis à part les toiles d'Alex Katz, c'est le salon entièrement décoré en Memphis Design du film Y a-t-il quelqu'un pour tuer ma femme ? que j'adorais et que je continue à adorer. Ben, on verra si c'est vraiment ça, là-bas ...

Memhis Design, Google image search, screenshot

... finalmente, un po' di TEMPO LIBERO, un viaggione come si vuole, e sapete dove vado quest'anno (dopo la Corea del Nord l'anno scorso si voleva un po' di cambio...)? La California, e cominceremo il nostro giro a LOS ANGELES, è molto eccitante per me. Anche perché la prima cosa a cui penso quando penso a Los Angeles, eccovi, è il salone dei Stone nel film Per favore, ammazzatemi mia moglie. Interamente decorato con mobiliare Memphis Design. Anche se Los Angeles non è solo fucsia e flashy, sono sicuro che d'estetica artificiosa ce ne sarà abbastanza ...

SHOE bee doo

2011-07-07T08:00:00.000+02:00

... just a quick word about the BALLY CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS capsule collection of select shoe models created by Craig Green, student of Saint Martins' MA in fashion design. I think it is so important that a famous and globally renowned brand such as Bally should choose to collaborate with a fashion school and pick a student who is allowed to create a limited range of models that will be sold through Bally's retail network (the collections hit stores on July 4). And now wait, if we consider that Bally was bought by the investment group Labelux with its central office in Vienna, wouldn't that open up new possibilities of academic approaches? I'm just saying ...

... c'est la fin de l'année universitaire, quelle belle occasion donc pour Bally de lancer finalement les modèles créés par le jeune étudiant en mode Craig Green, inscrit à l'université SAINT MARTINS à Londres dans le cadre de la soi-disant BALLY CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS COLLECTION. Combien de choses à apprendre, combien d'expériences gagnées grâce à un projet du genre, n'est-ce pas ? Il est très important et à saluer absolument que de tels projets soient réalisés. Et puis, juste une petite pensée supplémentaire, si nous considérons que Bally a été racheté par le groupe d'investissement Labelux il y a un ou deux ans, et que le siège social de Labelux se trouve à Vienne, eh ben, pour de futures collaborations, on pourrait peut-être s'orienter vers la capitale autrichienne, non, oui, non ? ...

... l'anno universitario è arrivato alla sua fine, ed è quindi il momento perfetto per il lancio della collezione BALLY CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS realizzata in stretta collaborazione dal marchio svizzero e dell'università di moda a Londra. E' lo studente Craig Green che ha disegnato quattro modelli scelti dalla squadra Bally diretta da Graeme Fidler e Michael Herz (due signor molto simpatici, inoltre, li ho incontrati a Vienna l'anno scorso quando lavoravano giusto sulla loro prima collezione per Bally). Si capisce cosa vuol dire per uno studente una tale opportunità, e poi mi sono detto ... considerando che Bally è stato comprato dal gruppo d'investimento Labelux qualche anno fa e che Labelux ha la sua centrale a Vienna, sarebbe la ragione perfetta per Bally d'orientarsi anche verso gli studenti di moda della capitale austriaca, vero ? ...

ASCOT, or almost

2011-07-05T08:00:00.000+02:00

... some weeks ago I walked by this amazingly beautiful mural somewhere near Vienna's Naschmarkt flea market zone, and really, what an impressive, perfect example of spontaneous and unsigned public art - of textile nature (again!). For the skilled ones and artists among you: think twice before you throw away that leather jacket of yours, it may well serve as an animal of some sort on a wall, somewhere ...

... il y a quelques semaines déjà, je suis passé devant cette peinture murale tout à fait remarquable, vraiment, très très belle je trouve. Ni signée, ni commissionnée par une institution publique (j'imagine), cette œuvre d'art est un exemple parfait d'art urbain spontané. Et pour tous les artistes parmis mes lecteurs : faudra peut-être y repenser avant de jeter cette veste en cuir que vous vouliez jeter depuis tant de temps, hein - elle pourrait bel et bien servir d'animal mural quelque part ...

... qualche settimana fa ho visto questo bello, bellissimo esempio d'arte urbano nello spazio pubblico di Vienna, giusto accanto alla zona del mercato Naschmarkt, un lavoro spontaneo, non è firmato, non è stato commissionato immagino io, e rappresenta dunque un caso perfetto d'intervenzione artistica in città, inoltre con carattere sostenibile siccome questo chiodo che avevate voglia di gettare da tanto tempo, forse si può trovare un altro uso comunque ? ...

SEEN IT ALL, done it all

2011-07-03T08:00:00.004+02:00

on aura tout vu présente la collection de Galéa,
at the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco,
the exhibition is on until early 2012
photo: Philippe Jusforgues

... when I talked to Didier Grumbach last year, and Monsieur Grumbach is of course the very distinguished and charming president of the ever so important Fédération française de la Haute Couture et du Prêt-à-Porter, he told me that if Haute Couture is to survive (Monsieur Grumbach certainly thinks that it must at all costs do so and prosper in the future), it needs fresh talents and new faces. And you know what: I think he's absolutely right. So when I met Livia Stoianova and Yassen Samouilov from the Parisian couture house "on aura tout vu" (established in the mid-nineties by Samouilov and the late André de Sà-Pessoa), it was after their wonderfully lively, fresh and original couture catwalk show for summer 2011. What they do is certainly a bit short of the great art and skilfull mastership of long established couture houses the likes of Chanel or Dior (but how could it not), and yet, these young designers are certainly on their way. In the late nineties, "on aura tout vu" even ran a multi-faceted interdisciplinary salon where designers, writers and artists were supposed to mingle. (Did you know that Didier Grumbach and his sister Sylvie launched an initiative called "Créateurs et industriels" in the early 1970s that exhaled the same kind of spirit. Charles de Castelbajac, who was one of the designers the programme benefitted, was very enthusiastic when he told me about it...) Well, and today the brand survives not (merely) by selling couture dresses to celebrities, there is also a ready-to-wear line as well as accessories, and then there are some very handy collaborations. Livia and Yassen work for the house of Caron, a long-standing Parisian fragrance brand for which the two design perfume bottles of the most refined nature. And they also design a hugely successful accessory collection for the Moulin Rouge. The latter collection is hugely popular and, I'm told, is also an important source of revenue for the manufacturers behind it. The Haute Couture shows are about to kick off, and I'll be right in the middle. For those of you who prefer to go to Monaco rather than Paris, here's a little cultural tip: on aura tout vu stage the collection of dolls and automats donated by Madeleine de Galéa to the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, the exhibition is open through January 2012 ...

on aura tout vu, collection de Haute Couture, p/é 2011

... lors d'une interview avec le formidable, très affable et tout à fait merveilleux président de la Fédération française de la Haute Couture et du Prêt-à-porter, Didier Grumbach, je me suis vu me dire : "Si elle veut survivre, la Haute Couture a besoin de nouveaux talents." C'est très net, très clair et tout à fait convaincant, je trouve. En effet, on les a vus, ces dernières années, Anne Valérie Hash par exemple, ou Felipe Oliveira Baptista, des créateurs qui ont célébré leur entrée de manière assez grandiose sur la scène de la HC. Car n'oublions pas : moins de défilés, cela égale plus de visibilité (potentielle), des journalistes plus attentifs, et avec l'accélération du rythme du système de la mode, il y a un grand nombre d'acheteurs venus en Europe pour placer de premiers ordres en juillet. Voilà. Lors de la dernière semaine de la haute couture à Paris, je me suis donc entretenu avec Livia Stoianova et Yassen Samouilov de la très jeune et progressive maison de haute couture "on aura tout vu". Ce sont deux créateures bulgares tout à fait sympathiques (au moment où j'ai parlé avec eux, il y avait un mannequin qui avait défilé pour eux et qui les saluait en envoyant un texto pour les remercier, d'être des "personnes si spéciales" et de lui avoir donné la possibilité de "participer à cet événement extraordinaire"). Mmmmh... Bon, je pense qu'OATV ne survit pas que de la formidable Haute Couture que les deux créent, on fait aussi du PaP, et qui plus est, la maison de beauté Caron fait souvent appel à on aura tout vu pour la création de très précieux flacons de parfums et, surtout surtout, Livia et Yassen créent une ligne d'accessoires pour le Moulin Rouge - une collection qui semble connaître un succès fou. N'oublions pas : si la créativité ne se conjugue pas avec un esprit orienté vers les besoins et les nécessités du marché, c'est difficile de survivre, indépendemment de la création de collections jamais vues et archi-osées. Bravo donc, on aura tout vu ...

on aura tout vu, collection de Haute Couture, p/é 2011

... all'inizio di quest'anno, abbiamo pubblicato sul giornale per cui lavoro un'intervista che ho realizzato con il molto simptico signor Didier Grumbach, presidente della Federazione francese dell'Alta Costura. Oppure mettiamo comunque, della Haute Couture. Perché di due cose distinte si tratta. Il signor Grumbach mi ha quindi detto che per lui la Haute Couture continua a essere cruciale per il profilo della moda francese e del mondo della moda parigino, ma se vuole sopravvivere ha proprio bisogno di nuovi talenti. Ricordiamoci che anche degli stilisti come Anne Valérie Hash (adorabile!) o Felipe Oliveira Baptista (da poco "Monsieur Lacoste") hanno fatto la loro entrata nella scena di Parigi attraverso delle sfilate durante la settimana della Haute Couture. Ho dunque cercato di conoscere due altri talenti straordinari di questo ambito ed ho incontrato Livia Stoianova e Yassen Samouilov della giovane maison on aura tout vu, fondata a metà degli anni novanta. All'inizio c'era un po' di tutto nel mondo on aura tout vu, ad esempio anche un salone per incontri tra stilisti, artisti, scrittori intitolato "espace on aura tout vu". Questo ambizioso salone è stato chiuso quando si sono messo a fare della Haute Couture nel 2003 o 2004, da allora hanno potuto lasciare la loro impronta, estendendo il campo d'azione alla moda prêt-à-porter, ma collaborano anche con il marchio Caron per la creazione di flaconi di profumo e, soprattutto, creano una collezione d'accessori per il Moulin Rouge. Pare che questi gioielli e guanti conoscano un successo straordinario. Felicitazioni per tanta creatività combinata ad uno spirito astuto assai ...

MAKE THAT G & G, not D & G

2011-07-01T08:00:00.004+02:00

"It Shall Be Written", Gilbert and George 2008

... a fortnight or so ago I was lucky enough (and I do really consider myself lucky to have a job that opens up such opportunities of meeting truly marvellous people) to go to Linz and interview Gilbert & George for the newspaper - right before opening of their exhibition JACK FREAK PICTURES at Lentos Museum (the show is on until early October). Sure enough, Gilbert & George turned out to be two perfectly well groomed, polite and yet original elderly gentlemen, with who I had a chat of approximately 45 minutes. We talked about them considering themselves as the "fairy godmothers" of the contemporary art scene in Great Britain, and about how bit the international art circus has become, and about a person like Charles Saatchi, who, would you believe it, never bought a Gilbert & George painting ...

George: Mr. Saatchi, yes indeed, we have the great distinction of being among the artists he never bought. Very few of our colleagues can say that. It took us years to realise that this is a distinction. People used to come to London to see us and they'd say, which pictures does he own? And we were very embarrassed to have to say: Not one.

Would you like to keep it that way? Or would you sell him a painting if he approached you?
George: We would probably try to avoid it, very politely of course. Gilbert: But not at all costs. We're quite amazed by the success that he has. Today he shows totally unknown artists from all over the world, and he has a public beyond belief, more visitors than all the big museums. George: His collection is on its way to becoming some kind of circus, people go there who would never normally go to see art, and then they go, it's a different public.

I also liked it when they told me what life is like in London's East End, the part of town where they live and that has become very fashionable in the past few years. Sometimes they are even photographed by tourists who like their looks but do not necessarily recognise them:

"Toynbee Street", Gilbert & George 2008

You once said that the East End, to you, is a microcosm containing everything and anything that's important in society on the whole?
Gilbert: Yes, everything is there, it's such an extraordinary mix, you've got all the bankers, you've got the Bangladeshes, the artists, musicians, tramps, drug addicts, Russians and Romanians now, queuing up for food, sexual dissidents. And it's been changing a lot recently and is still changing, it's become very fashionable. It would seem like every photo shoot has to take place in the East End of London now, in our street.
Is that how you ended up making a guest appearance in a German musician's video - without prior casting, he just passed by and filmed you, right?
George: Yes, oh I remember that, you're right, he didn't know who we were at first. Gilbert: It's actually very interesting because a lot of times the fashion interested people from Japan who come to the East End are fascinated by what we look like, they don't know who we are but they take our picture...

TULIP and beetle

2011-06-30T08:00:00.001+02:00

all images by Gabriel Hyden

... ever since Elizaveta Fateeva received the fashion award sponsored by Range Rover during this year's "festival for fashion and photography" in Vienna, I meant to post a little something about the good work that she does. For, disagreeing with a fellow fashion writer, I do think that fresh talent has to and deserves to be shown - and yes, even before a first successful season in Paris or before a commercial collection hits store shelves. For what else can established media effectively give to newcomers on the scene other than encouragement and support. Anyhow... Last year already, Elizaveta's was one of the few collections shown at Show Angewandte that struck me as really mature, an independent work with a strong and easily recognisable signature aesthetic. Well, now she's back, and ready to go international, obviously. I definitely wish her all the best for her international adventures. Just one little remark, if I may: strictly geometrical shapes and silhouettes that remind of ladybirds and flower buds can all too easily become repetitive and lose that edgy surprising little something if they lack the essential dose of variation ...

... quand j'ai vu la collection avec laquelle Elizaveta Fateeva s'est diplômée l'an dernier à l'Université des Arts Décoratifs de Vienne, j'ai été impressionné par la maturité de son style et la clarté très décise et nette de son esthétique. Surtout et aussi en vue du fait que la plupart des étudiants ont évidemment été très épris par le travail de leur (alors) tout nouveau professeur, Monsieur B. Willhelm bien sûr. Bon. Et voilà donc qu'Elizaveta, il y a quelques semaines et lors d'une cérémonie qui a eu lieu pendant le festival de la mode et de la photographie à Vienne, a reçu la première édition du Evoque Fashion Award. Bravo, bravo, je ne peux me retenir de m'écrier, et je souhaite tout le mieux à Elizaveta pour sa future carrière. En ajoutant une toute petite remarque, tout à la fin : des bourgeons de fleurs et des silhouettes qui rappellent vaguement des coccinelles, c'est tout très beau ça, mais il faut absolument faire attention à varier cette inspiration de base afin de ne pas tomber en proie à une répétition dépourvue de sens ni de caractère persuasif. Dans l'avenir, pour l'instant, tout est pour le mieux ...

... l'anno scorso quando ho visto la collezione con cui Elizaveta Fateeva si è laureata all'Università delle Arti Decorative di Vienna, sono stato colpito dalla sua estetica coerente, convincente - e sopratutto anche dal fatto che Elizaveta è stata una dei pochi studenti che non si erano lasciati travolgere dall'impatto del loro nuovo professore, il signor B. Willhelm, arrivato frescamente di Parigi all'inizio dell'anno academico (stiamo parlando dell anno 09/10, mi raccomando). Poi qualche settimana fa Elizaveta è riapparsa a Vienna quando ha ricevuto la prima edizione del premio Evoque Fashion Award, felicitazioni. Sono contento di rivedere il suo lavoro, e auguro tutto il meglio a Elizaveta per il futuro. Con un solo commento da fare: l'ispirazione di una silhouette tipo boccio di fiore o coccinella può anche cadere nella troppo facile repetizione se esagerata e continuata troppo a lungo, lo dico solo per il futuro, per ora però - tutto a posto, a postissimo ...

VEGETABLE monstrosities

2011-06-26T08:00:00.001+02:00

the very beautiful motif advertising the exhibition "Monsters in the vegetable shelf",
photographed by Ernst Grilnberger

... when I went to Linz recently I spotted the poster advertising the current exhibition at Landesmuseum Linz - entitled "Monsters in the vegetable shelf". And what a wonderful poster that is. First thing, I couldn't refrain from thinking that the show that started in April 2011 quite genially anticipated one of the topics that's currently on our minds, all over Europe at least. Monster cucumbers and monster sprouts and, well, yes indeed, monster vegetables of all kinds. And then, I repeatedly realised that the blog post "Melon Carving and the World of Fashion" is one of the most popular ones on ParisVienne.com, so I said to myself, why not feed my readers more of that healthy and wholesome veggie stuff, right? ...

tomatoes, photographed by M. Pfosser for "Monsters in the vegetable shelf"

... bon, la semaine dernière j'ai fait une petite découverte lors d'un très court séjour à Linz ; cela a été un truc assez banal en effet, et tout de même je l'ai adoré. Complètement. Vous voulez savoir de quoi il s'agit ? Ben, j'étais là, à côté de la fac, et j'ai vu une affiche pour l'exposition intitulée "Monstres dans le rayon de légumes" du Landesmuseum Linz. Première remarque, l'expo a été inaugurée en avril, elle a donc de la manière la plus géniale anticipé le topique de la "monstruosité" des concombres et des pousses de soja qui nous hante actuellement. Deuxième point, je suis tout à fait ravi que le message "Melon Carving and the World of Fashion" soit l'un des plus lus de mon blog, je me suis donc dit que peut-être les visuels de ce message vont vous plaire autant que les pastèques sculptés ...

you say potäto and I say potato? potatoes, beautifully arranged and photographed by M. Pfosser

... la settimana scorsa sono andato a Linz e poi passai accanto alla facoltà delle arti e ho visto un affisso per la mostra attualmente in corso presso il Landesmuseum Linz: "Mostri dello scaffale di verdura". Due osservazioni, brevissime: quando la mostra è stata inaugurata, in aprile, non c'era ancora traccia dello scandalo dei germogli e/o dei citrioli che ci sta preoccupando in questi giorni. Che stupenda anticipazione, vero? E poi, siccome so che un messaggio su ParisVienne.com nel quale parlo del taglio delle angurie piace estremamente ai lettori, mi sono detto, chissà se questa riuscita non la potrò ripetere ...

DECORATIVE and dirty (kind of)

2011-06-22T08:00:00.003+02:00

one word for this collection: amazing!
George Bezhanishvili in collaboration with Franziska Fürpaß

... after being the last to comment on the HETZENDORF PERFORMANCE BATTLE, why not do the same thing for the FASHION SHOW OF VIENNA'S UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED ARTS - be the last one to comment...? Here we go, then ... après avoir été le dernier à laisser son petit commentaire sur le "combat" conçu et réalisé par les étudiants du département de mode associé a l'Université de Linz mais situé à Vienne/Hetzendorf, je me suis dit que je pourrais bel et bien faire la même chose pour le défilé du département de mode de l'Université des Arts Décoratifs - être le dernier à trouver des mots ... penso che sono stato l'ultimo a fare il suo commento sulla "gara di moda" concepita dagli studenti dell'istituto di Hetzendorf, mi sono detto, finalmente, perché no ripetere la stessa cosa riguardo alla sfilata dell'Università delle Arti Decorative - essere l'ultimo a scrivere qualcosa ...

George Bezhanishvili (graduate collection)

... well, the show was very decently and professionally organised, in a way that you rarely see in Vienna. The budget must have been quite remarkable, too. My overall impression is that, quite surprisingly, the show was much less imbibed with the Bernhard-Willhelm-spirit than last year's, when the then new professor maybe felt like he had to prove something (or students were so in awe of him that they decided they all wanted to be like him...). Well, and of course, there were some good, and a few excellent, even outstanding collections. Why not start with George Bezhanishvili? Right, why not? I already pointed him out as "Vienna's new fashion star" on ParisVienne and even as a guest contributor to Hint Magazine two years ago, and never changed my mind since then. As a matter of fact, I think that working together with Franziska Fürpaß on both the Femme Maison womenswear label and the George Bezhanishvili menswear label has led to amazing results, enabling both of them (I also particularly appreciate Franziska's talent, a point I equally made in the write-up of the 2009 show for Hint) to prove and strengthen his talent. The collection was strong, the presentation was powerful, the silhouettes were astounding, the colours blasting, the catwalk show quick and impressive. Ten points out of ten. No, wait, eleven. And Mr. Bezhanishvili, hopefully alongside Miss Fürpaß, should definitely find his place in the fashion world. Which means, of course, that he should do it outside of Vienna. And you know what, I'm even optimistic both of them will realise just this - with George recently being granted a scholarship for an internship abroad, that may become a wee bit easier ...

gorgeous and classy: Milena Heussler (4th year, to be watched out for)

... première remarque : le défilé de la fac a été l'un des mieux faits et plus professionnels que j'aie vu ces derniers temps à Vienne, tous les festivals et semaines de la mode inclus, donc décidément : chapeau pour ceci (le budget doit avoir été impressionnant, tout de même). Puis, concernant les collections des étudiants, il y en avait qui étaient tout à fait remarquables : chapeau, encore une fois ! Pour l'impression générale, je dirais que le défilé a été de loin moins BERNHARDWILLHELMISÉ que celui de l'an dernier, sera-ce parce que Monsieur Willhelm a compris qu'il ne faut pas que la signature du prof transparaisse à chaque prix, ou parce que ses étudiants se sont émancipés un peu plus ? Qui saura le dire ... ? Bon, la plus impressionnante, plus cohérente, et ouais, pourquoi pas le dire, la meilleure collection de la soirée a été présentée par George Bezhanishvili, qui a encore une fois réaffirmé son talent tout à fait extraordinaire. Et je dirais même, depuis qu'il travaille avec Franziska Fürpaß sur aussi bien la jeune griffe FEMME MAISON que la collection signée "George Bezhanishvili", l'esthétique a maturé, l'effet de l'ensemble étant tout à fait extraordinaire ... allora, primo commento, uno che riguarda l'insieme della sfilata - è stato un evento impressionante, molto professionale, compatto. Poi la presenza del professore Bernhard Willhelm è stata meno evidente che l'anno scorso, non so se perché lui si è ritenuto un po' nelle preparazioni, o se gli studenti hanno realizzato che non si tratta di rimodellare ad ogni costo il lavoro del professore. E tra le collezioni, ci sono stati degli esempi davvero bellissimi, prima di tutto direi la collezione di laurea di George Bezhanishvili, realizzata insieme a Franziska Fürpaß, un duo con un grandissimo talento che si è affirmato recentemente anche nel loro lavoro sulla griffe di moda femminile FEMME MAISON ...

Milena Heussler, Cobra Commander vs. Eminem?

... another collection that I really loved was 011 by Milena Heussler (4th year), who, in my opinion, is a hot tip for an excellent graduate collection to come our way next year ... puis j'ai adoré la collection de Milena Heussler, étudiante en 4ème année, un nom à retenir pour l'année prochaine à mon avis ... tra le altre collezioni sono stato impressionato dal lavoro della giovane Milena Heussler, studente del 4° anno, il suo nome, nella mia opinione, può esser ritenuto per l'anno che viene ...

truly lovely: light colours by Taro Ohmae (3rd year),
one of the astounding young Japanese designers in Vienna

... Taro Ohmae and Takahiro Ueno are two Japanese students in their third year at university who have amply proved their ability to beautifully work out how colours can function in a collection ... deux étudiants d'origine japonaise, et tous les deux en troisième année, ont également retenu mon attention, il s'agit de Taro Ohmae et Takahiro Ueno, les deux ayant prouvé qu'ils savent utiliser la bonnte quantité des bonnes couleurs ... due studenti giapponesi, Takahiro Ueno e Taro Ohmae, tutti e due nel terzo anno di studi, mi hanno convinto con il loro talento di utilizzare dei colori, finalmente, dei colori a Vienna, ptete immaginare ? ...

more Japanese power: Takahiro Ueno (3rd year), more than convincing

fun with Isis Flatz (2nd year)

... excellent, too: Ken Kumagai, another Japanese student (2nd year) and Isis Flatz (2nd year), colourful and witty, but just right, never exaggerated, and that's definitely good to see in Vienna after long years of mournful purism ... des étudiants en 2ème année, j'ai bien aimé les couleurs et l'humour de Ken Kumagai et Isis Flatz, juste ce qu'il fallait, pas d'exagération (comme on la connaît de leur prof, par exemple ...) ... tra gli studenti del secondo anno, ho trovato interessanti le proposizioni di Ken Kumagai (un altro giapponese...!) e Isis Flatz, ancora una volta, colori, umore, ma mai troppo, mai esagerato ...

final proof by Ken Kumagai (2nd year): the Japanese are good with colours

cut-up cosplay or so? ... Anna-Sophie Berger (left, 4th year)
received two awards for her collection,
her work I show next to Caroline Pretterebner's (2nd year)

... well, and of course there were so many other students' collections to be marvelled at, I can hardly mention all of them. All in all, the show definitely proved that there's enough fresh fashion talent around in Vienna for the next few years and that quite obviously, students from abroad also have the town on their fashion radar. Anyhow, if I may just give everyone a little advice: continuing that Viennese tradition of the past few years and launching your own label immediately after university without gathering further work experience or giving a career as an assistant designer at some bigger fashion brand a try is maybe not the cleverest thing to do. Just a thought ...

Luciano Raimondi's diploma was maybe a Kate Middleton aftermath (left),
Markus Binder (3rd year) received one of the numerous awards

... et voilà tout. Beaucoup de collections, énormément d'étudiants, et avec un talent tout à fait extraordinaire remarquable la plupart d'entre eux. Je pense que Vienne se maintient comme capitale prometteuse dans le contexte international, et puis, peut-être, un jour, le chemin logique que fera un jeune créateur issu d'une des facultés viennoises ne sera plus de lancer sa propre marque immédiatement après avoir diplômé, on verra ... eccovi tutto ciò che volevo dire, ovviamente non posso menzionare i nomi ed i lavori di tutti gli studenti, comunque sono ottimista che Vienna si manterrà come una delle città europee con un impressionante ambito per la moda, e non sono della stessa opinione di uno dei miei colleghi che mi ha detto, "ma perché mostrare e dare tanta visibilità al lavoro di studenti che non hanno mai presentato una collezione a Parigi" (appunto perché non l'hanno fatto!), una cosa solo: lanciare il suo proprio marchio immediatamente dopo essersi laureato, questo è un cammino che non consiglio a nessun giovane designer - sebbene sia stata la soluzione tipicamente viennese degli ultimi anni ...

that's Lisa Maria Kreiter's diploma, "Hyphen"

BRAND confusion? Versace for the Swedes ...

2011-06-21T09:15:00.005+02:00

screenshot NY Magazine / The Cut

... along with probably a zillion other fashion editors around the globe, I just received confirmation that Donatella Versace said YES to the Swedes, and a Versace for H&M collection will hit the stores in November 2011. Well, that adds another brand to H&M's collaboration-hall-of-fame. Right? Actually, I think that Versace is really the biggest fish where H&M high-low fashion is concerned, apart from Karl the Great of course (who, however, if he doesn't design for Chanel or Fendi isn't that big a brand in his own right...). And you know what's particularly interesting? In 2008, and that's not soooo long ago despite all that crazy pace of the fashion universe, Donatella told NY Magazine that H&M, under her reign, never... " (...) I work very hard to put the Versace line in the luxury section. I think to put the Versace line in H&M would confuse the brand." Well, never say never, right ... moi, et tous les autres journalistes et bloggueurs de mode tout autour du monde, on vient d'avoir la confirmation que la prochaine collection réalisée par H&M en collaboration avec une grande marque de luxe, ce sera VERSACE POUR H&M, les vêtements seront disponibles à partir de novembre 2011 - c'est assez intéressant, je trouve, et pour deux raisons : d'un côté, c'est la plus grande marque à collaborer avec H&M à ce jour (c'est clair, il y avait Karl Lagerfeld bien sûr, mais en tant que marque, il n'est pas aussi grand que Versace...), et puis, voyez donc ce qu'a confié Donatella au New York Magazine en 2008: "... je fais d'énormes efforts pour assurer le positionnement de la marque Versace dans le domaine du luxe. Une collaboration avec H&M pourrait brouiller ce positionnement." Eh ben, elle semble bel et bien avoir changé d'avis ... il "Made in Italy", da novembre, si coniugerà con un branding alla svedese all'occasione della collaborazione di Versace con H&M che è appena stata confirmata. Notevole, vero? E per due ragioni: d'una parte, il marchio Versace è di gran lunga il più importante e più conosciuto tra tutti quelli che hanno firmato una collezione per H&M finora, vabbe', all'inizio c'è stato Karl Lagerfeld ovviamente, ma è stato lui, appunto, e né Chanel né Fendi. Dunque, se di marchio si tratta, è oltrepassato da Versace, e chiaramente. E poi, ancora nel 2008, dunque non fa così tanto tempo, Donatella Versace, parlando con NY Magazine, diceva che per lei, una collaborazione con H&M sarebbe stata inimmaginabile siccome "lavora così duramente per assicurare lo standing di Versace come marchio di lusso" e una collaborazione con H&M "potrebbe causare confusione in questo senso". Eh be', mai dire mai ...

BATTLE ships

2011-06-20T08:00:00.001+02:00

from "Pimp My Silhouette and I Will Reanimate Your Pose" (the evening's
winning team) - I really liked the exuberance and the exaggeration -
and also the fun and the fact that the performance gave a witty interpretation
of "fashion in a nutshell", even though, but that won't come as a surprise
in Vienna, indeed, several people I talked to found the performance too cliché
and too simplistic, to put it very clearly I would say "too reminiscent of fashion",
for the local scene is famously sceptical and critical towards all
things that remind them of the "fashion world", which is obviously
considered as a rather ghastly environment noone would ever want to belong to,
but let me tell you - it's not so bad to stick to what fashion is and
is about, if, of course, one day, you would like to be a successful part
of that fashion that does inevitably live by its clichés and stereotypes ...

... a little late, I know, but still, I wanted to say some words about last week's ultimate PERFORMANCE BATTLE powered by Azubis, the students of the bachelor course at Vienna's Heztendorf institute. First thing: Wally Salner and Johannes Schweiger, the parting professors and designers of _fabrics interseason, did an excellent job throughout the past two years and definitely succeeded in re-positioning Hetzendorf as an important academic institution for fashion design in Austria - so congratulations for that. Second thing: with roughly twenty students per year and a total of three years showing their collections, this makes for a total of sixty to seventy and it is virtually impossible to stage a conventional "fashion show" (unless you would want it to resemble the fashion marathon in Antwerp, which is legendary of course) with each and every student showing his or her creations from the past year. Too much, too long, too straining for the audience that would be. The inevitable solution: to select and combine various outfits - and to come up with "alternative modes of presentation" that are so dear to Johannes and Wally, at least they made that clear the very moment their new position was made official two years ago ...

from "How to Do Things With Performance", a stageing of subtle ways of refracting and
altering the conventional modes of presentation in the context of fashion,
yet not leading the concept of a fashion show completely astray

... now, first result, at the end of the last academic year _fabrics interseason invited Samuel Drira, a Paris-based stylist, and asked him to do the styling for the Azubis01 fashion show, picking whatever he liked from the students' collections (without necessarily using pieces from all the collections and without consulting with them too much). There was some talk back then regarding the not so democratic selection process, but spilt milk is spilt milk and shall not be cried over any more ...

from "Performing the Gap" (left), a reflection about gender in fashion and elsewhere,
and "Dress as Though Your Life Depends on It", a performance where the clothes themselves,
it has to be said, ended up being rather invisible ...

... however, the selection of clothes is a principle that, since it is inevitable, was maintained in this year's presentation, but it's quite clear that the students had a word or two to say. When I talked to him beforehand Johannes told me that the overall motto of the past year had been the stageing of fashion, so the idea to invite artists specialising in art performances and have them work with the students on that genre lay at hand. And so it came that Maria Ziegelböck & Salvatore Viviano (Salvatore is an ex fashion pro and part of the gelatin art collective by the way, and just back from the opening of La Biennale in Venice), Jakob Lena Knebl, Sonja Eismann, Christian Egger and Tanja Widmann directed/"curated" a total of five workshops that comprised all students from Hetzendorf's bachelor course.

from: "It's Over" - a performance that was nurtured by the ambivalence of passive obedience (models)
and aggressive dominance (a God-like voice giving directions)

... well, and I do think that we saw some very impressive peformances last week, just like I'm sure that the audience had a really good time and appreciated the ambitious efforts that had been made in order to create a slightly "different" kind of fashion presenation. To entertain the public is NEVER a mistake if you want to pass on a message, do bear that in mind! Now, inevitably, the performances with all their varying approaches that were presented to the audience that night, made it difficult to distinguish between the different collections that were actually shown, maybe some kind of additional online presentation or lookbook or photo shoot would come in handy there for the students, especially the graduates, to actually have something to show that carries their personal handwriting, but all in all, and that's definitely a valid and noteworthy point, people who had come to see the show and expected to see something special did definitely not have to leave empty-handed ...

Some essential information concerning the different groups of performers and designers:

Group 1:
PIMP MY SILHOUETTE AND I WILL REANIMATE YOUR POSE,
curated by Maria Ziegelböck und Slavatore Viviano
participants: Bakk 2: Birgit Danler, Shira Ehlers, Stella Gebauer, Dorothee Huber, Matejana Ilic, Sebastian Kaucky, Susanne Kerl, Julia Platzgummer, Stephanie Rizaj, Lena Scheerer, Ines Sommer Bakk 4: Olivia Altmann, Pia Bauernberger, Elvira Greblic, Laura Haberkorn, Isabel Helf, Alice Jieun, Kim,Luba Liebendörfer, Simone Kathrin Sassmann, Leonie Soyel, Daria Vdovitchenko, Bakk 6: Johanna Diwold, Lisa Edi, Juliane Hutterer, Daniela Karlinger, Lida Marinkova, Katrin Mayer, Jennifer Milleder, Valentina Suvorova, Dominika Turociova, Romana Zöchling

Group 2:
PERFORMING THE GAP,
curated by: Sonja Eismann
participants: Bakk 6: Stefanie Dirninger, Lisa Donhauser, Diane Krusche, Christina Nehrer, Romana Zöchling, Bakk 2: Alina Saavedra

Group 3:
HOW TO DO THINGS WITH PERFORMANCES
curated by: Jakob Lena Knebl
participants: Olivia Altmann, Valentina Schwarz, Louise Witt-Dörring, Lisa Sattlegger, Sophie Skach, Esther Knoll, Theresa Toth, Matejana Ilic, Gabriel Schlesinger, Katharina Zanon, Katharina Perzl, Natalie Ofenböck, Maximilian Rittler, Simone-Kathrin Sassmann, Alice Frey

Group 4:
DRESS AS THOUGH YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT
curated by: Christian Egger
participants: Isolde Mayer, Lena Scheerer, Katharina Triltsch, Aleksandra Kuleska, Johanna Pflaum, Karin Wallner, Ilija Milicic, Claudia Stanek, Esther Knoll, Dalia Hassan, Carolina Neuhold, Lena Fuhrmann, Jana Wieland

Group 5:
IT´S OVER
curated by: Tanja Widmann
participants: Bakk 2: Renée Chvatal, Theresa-Anna Erlach, Johanna Pflaum, Julia latzgummer, Stephanie Rizaj, Linda Schirmel, Bakk 4: Pia Bauernberger, Elvira Greblic, Laura Haberkoren, Isabel Helf, Bakk 6: Katrin Mayer, Lisa Edi, Lida Marinkova, Johanna Diwold, Daniela Karlinger, Christina Nehrer, Madeleine Nostiz, Valentina Suvorova, Romana Zöchling

Fashion's name IS AMBER

2011-06-17T08:00:00.002+02:00

the installation by Wendy & Jim, photographed by Team Peter Stigter

... art has got its all important biennial exhibition, or rather, there's several of them, Venice, São Paulo, the Whitney Bienial. Well, and since many designers won't disagree if you call what they're doing art, it was about time for fashion to get its own biennial attracting and international audience. Arnhem is the place to be since Arnhem Mode Biennale is on until July 3 (it opened almost at the same time as La Biennale di Venezia on June 1st). The creative director of this year's edition (the fourth one, if I'm not mistaken), JOFF, wanted the participating labels/designers to create installations that would reflect their vision of what MAKES fashion, of what is so FASCINATING about it - beyond the mere display of clothes, obviously. "Amber" was the name given to fashion in this exhibition, you can find all the concepts and explanations and press texts online, I'm probably just to dumb to really understand what it is all meant to be about, or, alternatively, the concept is so conceptual that it does end up being meaningless. Anyhow, Amber (please note that the first three letters may well refer to Arnhem Mode Biennale itself...) makes for an obviously rather beautiful exhibition, and if the images of Prada's installation didn't really make me go crazy (looked just like the Prada showroom in Milan, I mean, SUPER, right? - which is why I didn't even download them), there are quite obviously some nice works to marvel at. Wendy & Jim, the Austrian fashion label that has, after an absence of several seasons from the international fashion stage, resurfaced with an appearance in London earlier this year, was invited and showed a fashion tipi (reminiscent of one of their first installations at Palais de Tokyo in Paris, I think), then there is another half-Austrian fashion duo, BLESS, with some of the works they also showed in the exhibition they had in Graz last year (where I was lucky enough to interview them, the interview was a bit chaotic with so many children and friends and family of theirs around, but it sure was interesting...), then there's some Keith Haring-ish work by Nicholas Kirkwood (I'm actually rather fond of Kirkwood's work, even though the Haring reference is totally unnecessary, even Puma and Hilfiger already had his motifs on their shoes...), yes, well, and that's that, and of course, since I haven't even been there - SHAME ON ME - I can't tell you anything about what is going on in other places in Arnhem and what the whole lecture-programme is all about ...

hammocking with Bless, photo: Team Peter Stigter

... une biennale dédiée à la mode, voilà ce qu'il faut à l'univers obsédé par la beauté, le style et l'esthétique du corps pour affronter le monde de l'art. Je veux dire, la biennale d'Arnhem, aux Pays Bas, a ouvert ses portes presque en même temps que La Biennale di Venezia, elle restera ouverte jusqu'au trois juillet - et elle s'engage pour sonder les profondeurs de la mode. Le personnage fictif auquel s'intéressent tous les participants, c'est la fille AMBER qui a été présentée comme figure de proue de la quatrième édition de cette biennale par son directeur artistique JOFF, car Amber, c'est l'essence même de la mode, c'est elle qui incarne tout ce qui fait la différence entre la mode (en tant que phénomène socio-culturel) et les vêtements tout court. Sont accourus pour participer à la biennale beaucoup de maisons, parmi elles de grands noms comme Prada ou Jil Sander, et de moins grandes, par exemple Nicholas Kirkwood de Londres (le prochain Manolo Blahnik, si vous me demandez, à moi), le duo austro-allemand Bless - et le duo fatal Wendy & Jim de Vienne, qui revoient et représentent leur interprétation du tipi de mode, je pense qu'à Paris on l'a déjà vu au palais de Tokyo au début de leur carrière. Je n'ai pas été à Arnhem, mais je pense que l'exposition principale de la biennale vaut peut-être le coup ...

things get Keith-Haringy with Nicholas Kirkwood - Puma and Hilfiger had done
the artsy shoe trick before, and countless coffee mugs, too
photo: Team Peter Stigter

... mentre tutti i tifosi dell'arte si sono resi a Venezia per l'inaugurazione della Biennale d'Arte, i fashion people che volevano rimaner fedeli al loro mondo (sebbene una parte non trascurabile ha preferito di sorbire lo spumante lungo il Canale Grande) potevano tuffarsi in una biennale di moda, a Arnhem, nei Paesi Bassi. La biennale di Moda a Arnhem rimane aperta fino al 3 luglio. La mostra è organizzata intorno a un personaggio fittizio creato dal direttore artistico JOFF: è una ragazza e si chiama Amber, ed è lo spirito della moda, oppure la sua essenza, è tutto ciò che fa che la moda sia più che solo qualche vestito. Be'... Delle interpretazioni del tema sono state presentate da grandi maisons come Prada o Jil Sander, ma sono anche presenti nella mostra delle griffes più piccoli, giovani, ad esempio il marchio berlinese Bless, il designer di Londra Nicholas Kirkwood, e, appunto, di Vienna, il duo Wendy & Jim. Loro presentano una nuova interpretazione d'una installazione che hanno già mostrato a Parigi qualche anno fa, il loro tipi di moda ...

a little Jil Sander minimalism alongside what looks like some video projections,
photo: Team Peter Stigter

STUFF YOUR CAKEHOLE with s.o.a.p. and get h.a.p.p.y.

2011-06-15T08:00:00.002+02:00

"partial visibility" with behind-the-scenes live coverage,
Berlin's Volksbühne is NOTHING in comparison

... I hardly know how to express my joy and glee, actually, I'm still so excited, amazed, breathless, after the wonderful wonderful theatre epiphany that I had last week. After countless unsuccessful attempts (pretentious boredom: Patrice Chéreau featuring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, unbearable and catastrophic: Christoph Marthaler, a little better: Peter Sellars for Festwochen, not to speak about some rather ghastly Burgtheater experiences) to see some decent, entertaining, nice dramatic art, I finally - and more or less by chance - found what I was looking for. It was during an interview with the graphic design duo Eva Dranaz and Jochen Fill that they mentioned the satirical project entitled S.O.A.P., a theatrical soap opera persiflage conceived and produced by Herr Tomtschek and the "H.A.P.P.Y." gang. A look back: Mr Tomtschek and his joyful crew started a legendary series of clubbings including absurd performances in the nineties, and I was a huge fan and assiduous follower of theirs when I came to Vienna (the older I got, the less assiduously I followed them, because of the boulot-métro-dodo trap that you might be familiar with).

the inimitable Cliffhanger-choreography performed on stage, and cliffhangers there were

Okay, so what S.O.A.P. is actually all about can hardly be summed up in words (the video trailers that you can find on YouTube eloquently demonstrate this great difficulty). Just like in any "real TV soap", the action is manifold and confusing. Intrigues, love, passion, murder, countless coma patients, sex (the pivotal point, I would say), and lots of, uhm, rhubarbing. Wonderful. Unfortunately, I had missed the two preceding episodes and only started with episode # 1002 (to accelerate things a little, the first episode of S.O.A.P. was officially labelled as the 1000th), but I was quick to understand - that there's nothing to understand, really. Just like in real life. There's no point to it, and full stop. Except for learning about the all-important concept of the CLIFFHANGER, which was the evening's dominant theme. And you know, that's a really really precious kind of knowledge that I wouldn't want to miss. For a cliffhanger apparently is that point where an episode or even an entire series stops and leaves you in the dark about a character's future (my all time favourite: a terrorist attack at a Carrington family member's wedding, where the last scene was endless butchery and you really had to wonder whether Aaron Spelling would let the whole thing continue in the first place).

drama! drama!! drama!!!

Right, and of course, even though episode 1003 will not be on stage before autumn, these H.A.P.P.Y. people will be back with a temporary CAKEHOLE pastry performance from June 19 to 26 in Vienna's 17th district. You can find out everything you need to know about this "happyning" on the website of Kulturnetz Hernals. I think I'll stick to Marie Antoinette's infamous stupidity and indeed have cake instead of bread in this promising setting.

such darlings, the cast of S.O.A.P. - theatre stars that you would really like to befriend... boohoo!!

Un peu épuisé déjà après tant d'affabilité à l'anglaise, mais voyons donc pour les faits essentiels : je viens de découvrir un nouveau spectacle tout à fait extraordinaire, hors de l'habituel, très très très amusant. Le tout s'appelle S.O.A.P., c'est un persiflage de la totalité des soap-opéras télévisés, et cela ne se passe pas la télé mais sur scène. Ce magnifique projet théatral qui fut lancé il y a deux ou trois mois par Herr Tomtschek et les associés du collectif H.A.P.P.Y., à Vienne (les "h.a.p.p.y." people ont, depuis les années 90, organisé des soirées techno formidables). Le premier épisode, c'était officiellement déjà le 1000ème, en effet, pourquoi ne pas accélérer un tantinet les choses. Eh ben voilà, pour ce qui est du contenu, il n'y a pas grand-chose à raconter puisque, de toute manière, le contenu reste plutôt incompréhensible - comme dans quelconque "vrai" soap qui tient à sa réputation. Et puis, bon, pour l'instant S.O.A.P. fait une petite pose et ne recommence qu'en automne (ce qui est tout à fait tragique après que les acteurs ont servi un chiffre impressionnant de soi-disant CLIFFHANGERS aux spectateurs). Mais, pour consoler un peu les anciens et les nouveaux fans des happynings, Mr. Tomtschek et ses amis vont participer au festival de l'arrondissement de Hernals du 19 au 26 juin (cliquez ici pour plus d'info en allemand), où ils offriront du gâteau et des tartes à tous ceux qui sont prêts à descendre dans une cave à pâtisseries. Mmmmh, ça promet ...

in for some cake? eager to stuff your cakeholes with fantastic sweet creations? well, no prob ...

Uffi, ascoltatemi bene perché recentemente ho scoperto qualcosa che v'interesserà sicuramente. Si tratta del progetto teatrale concepito e realizzato da Herr Tomtschek ed il collettivo col nome - programmatico - H.A.P.P.Y. Li conosco dagli anni novanta quando, per me, appena arrivato dalla lontana e molto provinciale Carinzia, sono stati una vera rivelazione. Durante anni e anni hanno soprattutto organizzato delle serate tecno, ma sempre includendo i cosiddetti HAPPYNINGS, dunque una specie di performance molto satirica, umoristica, divertente. Di lì al teatro vero e proprio è stato solo un passo, e qualche mese fa è stato lanciato il progetto S.O.A.P., una parodia molto molto molto riuscita delle soap-opera televisive. Il primo episodio che ci fosse è già stato, ufficialmente si capisce, il millesimo, e infatti, perché perdere tempo. Sesso, droghe, invidia, gelosia, pazienti in coma, intrighi - c'è proprio di tutto. Di tutto ciò che si vuole, anche. Poi, sfortunatamente, adesso S.O.A.P. fa una pausa estiva, ma per tutti i tifosi inhappicizzati, c'è un altro promettente progetto che si realizza dal 19 al 26 giugno nell'ambito del festivale di Hernals (si tratta di un borgo viennese), intitolato BUCO DELLA TORTA. Cosa c'è esattamente dentro questo buco, se si tratta unicamente di torte o se magari c'è ancora qualcosa di più, lo vedranno tutti costoro che hanno il coraggio d'esplorarlo ...

THE SHIRT off your back

2011-06-13T15:35:00.003+02:00

Kaarina Kaikkonen's textile entanglement "Paths of Life" in Helsinki

... a little more from Finland, just some Public Art impressions: outside Galerie Forsblom in Helsinki, one of the most important art hotspots in Scandinavia, we saw this beautiful installation created by Kaarina Kaikkonen (* 1952) entitled "Paths of Life". Originally a painter, Mrs. Kaikkonen has later succeeded in making herself known as a sculptor - apparently relying on the use of all kinds of materials. Beautiful. On the gallery's Facebook page, I found information about another installation by Mrs Kaikkonen, which can presently be seen on the island of San Servolo in Venice as part of the present edition of La Biennale ...

... encore quelques mots sur Helsinki, cette fois-ci un exemple d'art urbain assez impressionnant: devant l'immeuble de la Galerie Forsblom, l'une des plus importantes galeries dans les pays scandinaves, j'ai beaucoup aimé ce travail installatif créé par Kaarina Kaikkonen et intitulé "Paths of Life". Pour tous ceux qui comptent visiter La Biennale di Venezia sous peu, je vous recommande donc d'inclure l'île de San Servolo dans vos itinéraires, car une autre installation signée Kaarina Kaikkonen, "The Gate", s'offre aux regards des passants à cet endroit-là ...

... ancora qualche parola sulle mie esperienze finlandesi, vi vorrei mostrare delle immagini di un bellissimo esempio d'arte urbano intitolato "Paths of Life" (Cammini della vita), creato dall'artista finlandese Kaarina Kaikkonen di fronte alla sua galleria, cioè Galerie Forsblom a Helsinki, pare proprio che sia una delle più importanti gallerie nei paesi scandinavi. A chi piace questo lavoro e pensa visitare La Biennale di Venezia in questi giorni, eccovi un'altra informazione: attraverso il suo profilo su Facebook, la galleria informa che un altro lavoro di Kaarina Kaikkonen, "The Gate", può attualmente essere visitato sull'isola di San Servolo ...

UNIDENTIFIED FINNISH OBJECT

2011-06-12T19:00:00.001+02:00

... oh, that's all so very exciting. Where to start? Hum. You may know from what I told you that I recently visited Helsinki. And I was lucky. The Finnish capital is absolutely charming, and unlike what happened to me in Athens (staff of Acropolis on strike, impossible to visit it throughout my entire stay - we only saw it from very far from the top floor of the hotel Grande Bretagne where we were having hopelessly inaffordable cocktails) or Brasilia (the Brazilian capital was preparing for some anniversary and many of Niemeyer's buildings were under re/construction, so we actually entered Brasilia's cathedral but didn't get to see very much), Helsinki's totally amazing ROCK CHURCH (Tempeliaukio Kirkko), planned by the two architect brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen, was actually open to visitors. Now, that's an amazing, U.F.O.-like, futuristic construction like no other, a dome built into an enormous rock of granite. I then remembered another amazing construction of Finnish origin, the mobile home/pavilion FUTURO designed by Matti Suuronen, also in the late 60s. I actually saw one exhibited in a wonderful exhibiton about Finland and Finnish art and design in the PS1 Art Center in NYC two or three years ago. Totally Barbarell-esque. Well, and from the Tempeliaukio Kirkko and Futuro, it's only a small sidestep to one of my favourite TV productions of all times (where props and set design is concerned, not the acting or the actual plot, mind you), and that is Gerry Anderson's U.F.O. series, remember? I'll give you a hint: lunar base personnel wearing violet wigs with geometrical Sassoon-inspired haircuts. Yes? And did you know that the production company that Anderson worked for, AP Films based in the UK, was known for its crazily otherwordly SUPERMARIONATION technique - meaning the use of marionettes suspended on thin wires for specials effects. Well, I shall leave it at that for the time being since I've already come a long way from my trip to Helsinki to a TV series I devoured when I was a child ...

the cover of a book about Suurolainen's Futuro construction, edited by Marko Home and Mika Taanila - they could ideally have found a catchier title than "Tomorrow's House From Yesterday", but you can't have everything I guess

... je pense vous avoir parlé du voyage qui m'a mené à Helsinki la semaine dernière (si peu de temps que ça s'est écoulé depuis, mais je jurerais il s'est passé des semaines - après la semaine que j'ai eue surtout), eh ben, j'ai eu de la chance, il a fait un temps très très beau, j'ai pu visiter tout ce que j'ai voulu voir, et donc, ce qui m'a impressionné le plus, c'était l'église TEMPELIAUKIO, une construction monolithique construite à la fin des années soixante, réalisée d'après les plans dessinés par les frères-architektes Timo et Tuomo Suomolainen, il s'agit là d'un dôme en pierre vraiment fascinant. Bon, et du coup je me suis souvenu d'une autre construction-coupole finlandaise qui date de la même époque, à savoir le pavillon utopique FUTURO réalisé par Matti Suurolainen. J'en ai vu un exemplaire dans une exposition du PS1 Art Center à New York il y a deux ou trois ans, et j'y repense régulièrement depuis. Car je serais fort impressionné si un jour, en me promenant dans une forêt quelque part, je tomberais sur un exemplaire paumé du Futuro. Et parlant de promenades dans la forêt, si vous regardez en bas vous y verrez un ovni en train d'atterrir, c'est le sosie de la maison Futuro qui apparaît dans la formidable série télévisée U.F.O. de Gerry Anderson, une série anglaise des années 60 également, où l'on se sert généreusement du procédé soi-disant SUPERMARIONATION, ce qui désigne l'usage de marionnettes afin de créer des effets spéciaux. Et là je m'arrête parce que sinon je me perds irrémédiablement dans les profondeurs de l'espace pseudo-futuriste ...

that's the interior of Futuro - image courtesy of PS1 Art Center

... allora, versione italiana in due parole, ma comunque, eccovi - vi ho già parlato del mio viaggio in Finlandia, è stato davvero bellissimo, e di tutto ciò che ho visto a Helsinki mi ha forse impressionato di più la chiesa TEMPELIAUKIO, progettata dai fratelli Timo e Tuomo Suomalainen, una construzione completamente fuori dell'abituale, mai visto direi quasi, un duomo scavato in una gigante roccia di granito nel cuore di Helsinki. Vabbe', e poi la chiesa Tempeliaukio mi ha ricordato un'altra construzione finlandese con un'estetica, mettiamo, simile, cioè il padiglione FUTURO disegnato da Matti Suurolainen, ne ho visto un esemplare in una mostra che s'interessava dell'arte finlandese nel PS1 Art Centre a New York qualche anno fa. E poi, siccome stavo già ricordandomi di altre cose, dando corso libero al flusso delle associazioni (... uffi ...), mi è anche venuto in mente una delle mie serie televisive di predilezione, cioè la favolosa produzione britannica U.F.O. di Gerry Anderson, dove gli ovni assomigliavano pericolosamente al padiglione Futoro di Suurolainen, ma vabbe', ammettiamo che quell'estetica lì era proprio IN THE AIR, e infatti, tutto le produzioni di Anderson mi hanno sempre affascinato perché c'era questa tecnica d'animazione con le marionette chiamata SUPERMARIONATION, e ciò mi ricorda i titoli che i giornalisti trovano una volta su due quando si tratta di scrivere su Marios Schwab, ad esempio, e siccome adesso sono così super contento di me di esser stato capace di completare il circuito e di tornare alla moda austriaca, wow!, subito, mi fermo qui ...

a U.F.O. from the eponymous TV series crashing into a "forest", via ufoseries.com

POURQUOI pas ?

2011-06-10T08:00:00.000+02:00

... when I did research for my modest little piece about wonderful and legendary Diana Vreeland which came out recently (her autobiography came out in German a little while ago), I became interested in her WHY DON'T YOU page in Harper's Bazaar, where she worked as fashion editor before joining Vogue US as editor-in-chief. That's when I found this marvellous book, THE BAZAAR YEARS, edited by John Esten. The volume gives insight into Mrs Vreeland's fabulous life with words and, more impressively, IMAGES (she discovered Lauren Bacall shortly before she left New York and became a film star in Hollywood...), and there are lots and lots of WHY-DON'T-YOUs, too. What an imaginative woman, and of course she was a terrible snob. But the whole thing turns out to be so decadent that you just love what she writes, as long as you don't take it completely seriously.

Why don't you tie an enormous buch of silver balloons on the foot of your child's bed on Christmas Eve?
Why don't you cover a big cork bulletin board in bright pink felt and pin with colored thumb-tacks all your enthusiasms s your life varies from week to week?
Why don't you rinse your blond child's hair in dead champagne to keep its gold, as they do in France?

Indeed >>> why don't you? ... go and get yourself that fabulous style adviser for your life, too ...

... quand j'ai effectué quelques recherches avant de rédiger le petit article sur DIANA VREELAND qui est sorti il y a peu, non seulement suis-je tombé amoureux de cette légendaire et assez excentrique rédactrice-en-chef du Vogue américain, j'ai aussi trouvé de nombreuses références à sa page mensuelle sur Harper's Bazzar, intitulée WHY DON'T YOU. Peu après, j'ai commandé le livre "Why Don't You. The Bazaar Years" édité par John Esten, lequel réunit sur ces pages des images de la vie de Madame Vreeland, des textes bien informatifs, et, argument principal, maintes versions du POURQUOI NE PAS ... Merveilleux, je vous l'assure, toujours en supposant que l'on ne prend pas tout à fait au sérieux ce qu'elle écrit (et je suis même presque sûr qu'elle n'aurait pas voulu que l'on prenne tout ceci à la lettre...). Pourquoi ne pas laver les cheveux de votre enfant (afin de garder leur couleur naturellement blonde) avec du champagne mort, comme le font les Français ? Ah ben, dis donc, on fait ça, à Paris ? ...

... conoscete sicuramente la direttrice legendaria dell'edizione americana di Vogue negli anni 70 che prima si era fatto un nome come redattrice di moda presso Harper's Bazaar, DIANA VREELAND ...? Io l'ho conosciuta un po' meglio quando ho letto la sua autobiografia che è uscita in tedesco poco tempo fa, poi a questa occasione ho scritto un articoletto sul giornale. Ora, quando ho preparato questo testo, ho trovato molto spesso menzionato il suo formato regolare su Bazaar, la pagina intitolata WHY DON'T YOU, piena di consigli quasi quasi assurdi, ma molto divertenti - scritti da una persona con uno stile eccezionale (e una vita per accompagnarlo). La disinvoltura, il tono molto personale, la nonchalance di dire delle cose che per la maggior parte delle lettrici erano completamente loufoques, pazze, fuori del normale, mi piace assai. E poi adoro anche questa leggerezza di dire delle cose "solo così", juste comme ça, una collezione di idee che non devono (anzi, non di rado è che non POSSONO) essere realizzate, e questa è per me la prova di un ESPRIT totalmente straordinario come l'aveva la Vreeland ...

NEON pastry

2011-06-09T08:00:00.001+02:00

... of course I know that I already told you about my unlimited affection for Vienna's all-in-pink pastry chain AIDA, but last time when I was about to climb the stairs in its Stephansplatz branch (that's practically the epicentre of Vienna, if you look at the city map), I almost fainted because of this perfectly preserved 1950s neon sign - adorable ... je suis bien conscient du fait que je vous ai déjà amplement informé de l'affection sans bornes que j'éprouve pour la chaîne de pâtisseries viennoise AIDA, mais là, vraiment, c'est le top du top, une CONSIGNE LUMINEUSE on ne peut plus originale des annés 50 dans la succursale située juste en face de l'église de St Stéphane ... sì sì sì lo so, ve ne ho già parlato, e con abbastanza chiarezza, della mia grande passione per le pasticcerie AIDA a Vienna, e comunque, questa volta, quando sono salito al primo piano della succursale ubicata a Stephansplatz, di fronte al duomo praticamente, sono praticamente svenuto quando ho visto questo bellissimo esemplare d'iscrizione illuminata. State per svenire anche voi? Magari no ...

THE LANG bang

2011-06-07T08:00:00.003+02:00

an installation created by Helmut Lang for the exhibition "Avstrija davaj" in Moscow, courtesy of MAK

... to give you a short wrap-up of the important facts: Vienna's Museum of Applied Arts MAK scheduled a huge HELMUT LANG retrospective due to open later this year. Remarkable. Some days ago, on the occasion of an exhibition opening in Moscow where Mr Lang's work (as a sculptor!) was on show - the exhibition was also organised by Vienna's MAK - the former fashion designer made a public statement that he would like the aforementioned Viennese show to be cancelled. Background information: MAK's long-standing and far from undisputed director Peter Noever was forced to step down earlier this year after allegations concerning the fraudulous use of museum funds. So far for the facts.

installation view, courtesy of MAK

Now, I think this episode points towards two notable facts, different facets of the same story. First off, Mr. Lang, who has recently been dedicating his creative drive solely to art and gave up fashion in the mid-noughties, will hitherto cease to rank as Austria's "most important and/or best-known" fashion designer, a perception still upheld by numerous commentators (one possible reason: every other fashion journalist and/or professional active in Vienna in the 80s and 90s claims to having "made" Mr. Lang - Vienna is a small place, and whenever, unlikely though it is, it produces a design star, this event has to be celebrated...) and one that does not coincide with Mr. Lang's vision for himself and his future. Furthermore, if it's finally time to bid Mr Lang goodbye, this would be a good opportunity to be realistic and admit that, where it comes to GLOBAL FASHION FAME, Vienna has probably had its five minutes within an ever-changing fashion system that has undergone radical acceleration even since the heyday of Mr Lang's label. So that's that.

the exhibition created to be a "creative summit", definitely more artsy than design-y...

And second, isn't it all too characteristic of the work of the museum's parting director Peter Noever that not Helmut Lang, the fashion designer could have made it into the sacred halls of this renowned institution dedicated to the APPLIED arts (yes, ladies and gentlemen, for we've got our contemporary art museums, and enough of them), but Helmut Lang, the sculptor. No more comment is needed, I think, beause all has been said about Peter Noever's abilities as a polarizing exhibition maker. Still, as we're looking towards a new era at MAK, which will be taken over by Christoph Thun-Hohenstein later this year, I think it would be beautiful to see fashion and design exhibitions on the museum's main floors and not in the basement, where they have been relegated more often than not until now (do please note that the city's most remarkable and fashion exhibitions in the past few years have taken place in other museums than MAK!).

Apart from that, why should the MAK, located in the building adjacent to Vienna's University of Applied Arts and therefore closely linked to a tradition of design and workmanship that goes back to Wiener Werkstätte and beyond, voluntarily give up its potential position as a notable spot for fashion and design exhibitions and leave it to, say, the Freiraum premises of quartier21? That doesn't make much sense, does it? And it's not like there wouldn't be work to display, from Vienna's fashionable past, for it is possible to look further back than to the 1980s, as it is equally possible to display the work of designers who do not lead a double life as artists and who are part of Vienna's contemporary fashion scene. Taking that into account, and respecting the obligations (!) of an institution dedicated to applied and decorative arts, it should be possible to exhibit other things than gigantic installations made of mud and wood created by a man formerly known as fashion designer ...

ACADEMIA, not macadamia

2011-06-05T08:00:00.002+02:00

from Ute Ploiers fall 2005 collection "Pioneers"

... yes, darlings, that's right, ACADEMIA and not MACADAMIA is on our menu today as I finally received confirmation concerning the soon-to-be fashion professor at Hetzendorf Institute's bachelor course in fashion design upon inquiry for my article in today's edition of the newspaper. Ahum. According to what I heard, after initial hearings the competition was reduced to a final selection of three, and after weeks of to and fro, UTE PLOIER has now finally been confirmed as the institute's next creative director. CONGRATULATIONS, I say, and after collecting previous teaching experience in Basel, Ute is definitely going to do an excellent job. What's more, she is based in Vienna and will therefore be able to provide sensible guidance for her students starting next fall. The final decision does however raise another question, and that's whether Andreas Bergbaur, who had also applied for the job (among others) and who is a very prominent member of Vienna's fashion scene (being one of the founding members of Unit F - fashion office, the local equivalent of, say, the British Fashion Council), has nevertheless made up his mind and is prepared to come back to Vienna or whether he'll stay in Milan at Jil Sander where he currently holds an important position. And, should he come back to Vienna, there may be other interesting jobs within the scope of CREATIVE INDUSTRIES SUPPORT for him, I guess, and even, right, why not..., yep, any ideas ? ...

... après de longues négotiations et beaucoup de suspense concernant le choix d'un successeur de Johannes et Wally / fabrics interseason à la tête de l'institut d'études supérieures en création de mode à Vienne/Hetzendorf (techniquement, c'est associé à l'Université des Beaux Arts de Linz, économiquement c'est la ville de Vienne - c'est une construction assez compliquée, donc tout à fait typique pour l'Autriche...), il paraîtrait, non, on vient d'avoir la confirmation finale que UTE PLOIER a été désignée comme futur prof et directeur créatif de l'institut. FELICITATIONS, ma chère (cela s'entend qu'on a entendu des voix pas très favorables avant de sa nomination, mais vous savez aussi bien que moi que l'envie n'est pas un très joli moteur pour quoi que ce soit...). Et puis, maintenant que l'on sait que c'est Ute et qu'elle va sûrement faire un boulot excellent à Hetzendorf (elle a déjà fait des expériences dans l'enseignementa l'Universié de Bâle en Suisse), reste à voir un petit détail : que fera donc Andreas Bergbaur, qui a déjà, pendant de longues années, enseigné à l'Université des Arts Décoratifs à Vienne avant de rejoindre Jil Sander à Milan (où il était emmené par Raf Simons), et qui a été l'un des membres fondateurs de la tout-puissante institution UNIT F, équivalent de l'ANDAM en France ? Car une fois qu'il a signalé d'être disponible pour une position importante à Vienne, je me demande s'il restera désormais en Italie ou si, par contre, il y aura peut-être AUTRE CHOSE, une autre position qui pourrait le tenter en Autriche, car là aussi, si j'y repense, la direction créative de Hetzendorf n'est plus ce qu'il y a de plus TOP DE LA GAMME depuis tout récemment, mais là, naturellement, c'est juste moi qui suis en train de me poser des questions - et l'on verra si c'est à juste titre ou non ...