Andre Is The New Kate. Andre is FANTASTIC.

Reading people's bad reactions in relation to the latest cover of Paris Vogue with artist Andre J. and model Carolyn Murphy shocked me more than the cover did to them.

I think the cover is fantastic, and best of all, Andre is fun and interesting and it's always refreshing to see new faces in magazine covers.

The first time I saw Andre's image i said to myself, "this kid reminds me of someone else"...
Thinking over et voilá! I found the portrait The Bearded Kate by photographers Vinoodh Matadin and Inez van Lamsweerde.
The picture was taken in 2005 and shown during the exhibition The Kate Show at FOAM in Amsterdam last year.

Another character who reminds me Andre is Harold Perrineau in his role of Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996). In the party scene Mercutio wears a white afro wig, beard, red lipstick and an ultra tight sexy silver short dress (Halloween party-goers, here there's throwing some ideas). What a pity i couldn't find a better image than this ... But Andre is exactly the same! Same hair, same beard, same dress, same attitude... I wonder if he does it on purpose or not, in any case, the wink is there and the image of Harold's butt at the rhythm of Kym Mazelle's Young Hearts Run Free is unforgettable. Thanks Andre for bringing it back.

New Yorker fashion designer Mal Sirrah enlisted Andre to narrate – “One Dress – All Women – One World”, for his Spring-Summer 08 collection. Positivism never looked so sexy!

Andre:

"My favourite fashion icon, believe it or not, is the one and only, Diana Ross [...] I've never seen a woman so elegant, so glamorous, so lean and just so captivating"

" The key in living your life is you don't need validation from anyone. A good compliment or a bad compliment, is still a compliment. So my word to YOU, out there in the world, is to love yourself 'cause nobody can't do it like you, and regardless what they say, keep on doing what you do because, guess what?, it got me right here!"

Punk Can't Be Dead ...

... when projects like this are still fully alive.



American born, Japanese descendant artist Hanayo, JPG model in a 1993 ad campaign, musician, photographer and based in the epicenter of rad counterculture, Berlin, teamed up with the members of the band Wooden Veil (where she also performs), to create an 8 minutes video called Gravity Problems, (enjoy it by clicking play in the video above).
Wooden Veil did both the music & the costumes, and they did such an interesting job.

Hanayo is one of those rare characters that the Art world conceives every once in a while.
It tickles me her wonderful sense of humor and some of her projects are so witty and fun: just to name my fav, in 1989 she started her education as a Junior Geisha, writing about it in 1991 in the book Oshakuchan No.1
A year later she is featured in now deceased British magazine The Face chewing bubble-gum and looking quite rad. In 1995 she ends up her work as a Geisha and moves to Europe to live. Nice live uh?.

Gravity Problems has been just featured in Spanish zine Fake magazine.

Our Love For Old Fashion Keeps Growing

When I attended Paper mag Un-Hollywood Film Series and saw the video of bleach haired, Paris-based designer Two Tom, I got very curious and started to explore a little more about his work.

Illustrator and fashion designer, I felt in love with his world of Querelle-alike figures and his designs that remind me the best XVII male attires. His collection for the Festival International of Hyéres was such a pleasure for an old fashion lover as yours truly.

Going through my collection of XVII male plates, i did my very own selection of similarities: cavalier hats, bows, brocades, embroidered vests, feathers, ribbons ... It took almost 400 years for this fashion to come back, let's welcome it then with open arms!

As A Matter Of Fact

First of all, please don't get me wrong; I am the biggest Stella McCartney for Adidas' designs fan and I would buy them all if a) they were more affordable and b) they weren't as synthetic as they are, not that I don't use synthetics, I'm ashamed to admit it but I do, it's just that these are too much, and I can't picture my body exercising under such circumstances: no air for my body, sweat, sweat, sweat. No thanks.

A couple of days ago I was having a discussion with a very good friend of mine who is as fan as Stella's Adidas as I am with the exception that she doesn't care about synthetics or money matters. She mentioned how cool is Stella and her 100% cruelty free designs and her use of innovative alternatives and I was amazed at the hearing of such a statement. I don't get it.

I respect Stella for what's she's doing, for being one of the first current fashion designer to support cruelty free fashion (Following the death of her mother in April 1998, Stella stepped up her fight against the maltreatment of animals, a cause Linda had always held dear) and alternative fabrics, she even turned down an offer to work for Gucci as such position required her to work with leather.
She teams up with PeTa and is all for Vegan fashion but, are we being serious?.

* Vegans do not use or consume animal products of any kind. The most popular reasons for becoming a vegan are ethical commitment or moral convictions, concerning animal rights, the environment, or human health [...].

As I mentioned before, Stella's designs for Adidas are basically all made out of synthetic materials such NYLON, Polyester and Lycra, hidden under names such ClimaLite® or ClimaProof® and those products are not very eco-friendly really. They are not good for the environment, ain't not good for human health either... Isn't protecting animals from a cruelty treatment in opposite direction than supporting and using chemicals that affect all animals' (humans included) environment?.

• Nylon and Polyester are made from petrochemicals, whose production creates nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that's 310 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
  
  
• Lycra or Spandex is made from several chemicals that are known sensitizers. TDI (Toluene Diisocyanate) and MDI (Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate) are used as precursors of the polyurethane used to make spandex.
  TDI is a toxic chemical which is proven to be carcinogenic. It is also a skin irritant and can cause severe dermatitis. MDI is toxic and known to be an allergic sensitizer.

Now you tell me if this eco-friendly fashion designer is such or not.

Being Incomunicated Can Be BAD as Hell

You go on vacation thinking, "i want to rest, relax and disconnect". The first days are great, you really relax. Then you start to think, "am i missing something?".
I was having a lot of fun in Key West and wasn't thinking anything of the like when yesterday I opened my email inbox and saw what i just missed:

I was invited to the premiere of the film Lagerfeld Confidential by Rodolphe Marconi that Accompanied Literary Society was hosting yesterday at Tribeca Grand Hotel, event that I missed because I was on holidays... now you can figure how upset I am.

The movie is the result of the edit of a total of 300 hours of footage that Marconi got once, for the first time in history, the kaiser agreed to be followed and filmed in a daily basis.
Many have tried to write a biography of this German genius (do you remember Alicia Drake's The Beautiful Fall?) but any of those succeed in getting a word from the subject.
Now we get not only words but images as well, and intimate moments with a living myth.

The film, officially opens in the US on Wednesday, October 24 at Film Forum. I'm going prob on Friday, is there anyone out there who wants to come with me? email me!

Lagerfeld Confidential : Kidman private photo shoot



all teasers here

More Sun and More Fun

Yes, I've been away again and couldn't let you know earlier because of my lack of success in finding an internet connection somewhere.

When I got back from Puerto Rico, my hubby proposed me a trip to Key West, the Southernmost point in the US (just 90 miles / 144 km from Cuba), home of writers such Ernest Hemingway or Tennesse Williams, as well as French writer Anaïs Nin honeymoon nest.

Here is the preview of the short-film Key West Picture Show, by BJ Martin, where you can get a glipse of the kind of place this used to be...

The reason why my dear fella asked me to go there was Fantasy Fest, a once a year festival/parade that celebrates the originality of Key Westerners.

Taking advantage that he knows quite a few people there, we packed and road-tripped down south to help create one of the floats, King Cock, where we cut and painted card boards to shape it into all kind of things. I loved to get dirty in papier-maché ...

Each float in the parade chooses a theme and the members create the costumes around it. Even though there's a general theme that the City Hall picks up each year, the floats normally do what they please.

Our float theme was a parody of the film King Kong, using a rooster instead of a gorilla because Key West is full of wild chickens everywhere. Now you know the meaning behind the name King Cock.

Unfortunately or not, I got a call to assist in a commercial back in NY and couldn't say no.
For this reason I came back earlier than expected (that's why I'm now being able to write this post) and have only pictures of the before show.
Hopefully someone will send me images of the parade to see how everything went.
Meanwhile, enjoy what we did and some other treats... It was fun, sniff...

* Big thanks to Cayman for putting all this together, to Arlo for sharing his car with us and to everyone else in the float for welcoming us the way they did.

Collections in Drawings.

When I studied Fashion Design in college I remember the importance of a good drawing to show your ideas; it was very painful to have a good "picture" in my mind of what I wanted and not being able to reproduce it.
For this reason I always love to see the sketches of artists. For this same reason too I always enjoy The Coveted's process section.
Belgian designer Celine Collard, who I interviewed for MilkshakeChocolate but whose interview can't be seen now due to some technical problems (we just changed server and are in the process of updating) sent me the drawings that French illustrator Nine Antico did for her Fall-Winter 07-08 collection. I couldn't help myself but posting them because they are the loveliest drawings I've seen in a long time. What a sweet way to introduce your collections.

Cecil Beaton: Memoirs of the 40's. Part I

Cecil Beaton: Memoirs of the 40's, is the marvelous autobiography of the great Cecil Beaton, British photographer (Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Vanity Fair), set designer (My Fair Lady, Tenderloin), illustrator and one of the most important witnesses and tellers of the XX Century's Art society. He befriended geniuses like Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Gertrude Stein, Truman Capote ... and talked about them in the most openly and sensitive way.
He was an insatiable diary keeper and his diaries from the 40's form the pages of this book. There are other books with his diaries from the 60's and the 70's or 80's, but as you might know, I'm a 40's lover so I'm sure this will be my all time fave book.

Cecil was to me, before reading this book, a funny character, some kind of effeminate guy whose love for society, magazines and photography led him to be one of the most interesting portrait artists of his time. Thanks to him though I discovered women as Nancy Cunard (who he photographed during the 20's) whose look has been imitated for some many women afterwards, so I had him in big steam.

Beaton's image and persona had a meaning to me that has changed 180º since I read the memoirs ... he was not that funny and effeminate guy I thought him to be, he was witty, sharp, sensitive and very very intelligent, and his life was one to envy.
I have been thinking the best way of reviewing this book and I came to the conclusion that who better than he to portrait his own genius?.

I'm going to reproduce parts of this book, (I hope i don't have problems with the law now...) where he portraits artists and people we all know or should know, the way they were, for you to show you how this way differs to what magazines, gossips and legends of the time has told us.

I would like to start with a Spanish person, Rita De Acosta, or Rita Lydig as he calls her (in 1902 she married retired U.S. Army Captain Phillip M. Lydig).
This extract is from a conversation the author has with Mercedes De Acosta, Rita's younger sister and very good friend of Beaton's lover, Greta Garbo. (surprised? i was too!)

" I also asked her [Mercedes] about her remarkable sister Rita Lydig, who was renowned for being the most extravagant woman of her day, and travelled abroad with seven servants including masseuse and hairdresser. [...]

I had known Mrs Lydig from her Boldini portraits but only met her once when I first came to America nearly twenty years ago. But by then her health had been undermined by drugs, to which she had become addicted after a careless doctor has caused her terrible suffering. By forgetting to turn off an electric pad placed under her while being given an anaesthetic before an operation, he had inflicted upon her such serious burns that they were never to heal. [...]

Her patronage of the arts-with particular taste for music and encouragement of musicians- resulted in her house's being used at all times for rehearsals or concerts. She had a special penchant for the Renaissance, was an expert on Oriental art, and as innovator of fashion wore the first backless evening dress at the opera. Shoes were also one of her passions, and she possessed literally hundreds of pairs made of Elizabethan lace, rare skins, and quattrocento velvet, all buckled, often with jewels, made by the genius Jan Torny, who worked only for women he admired. He did not charge them for every pair -each of a different style- but asked for an initial fee of a thousand pounds. After this, he could afford to have the tress made from wood normally used for making violins. When hard-pressed for money, Mrs Lydig preferred to fill her house with rare white flowers rather than to eat"

Cecil Beaton: Memoirs of the 40's. pages 246-247
McGraw-Hill Book Company editorial

Give Me Give Me Give Me...

I want a body and an attitude to pull off these amazing dresses the way they deserve ...
Soon-to-be NY based designer Leon Curry alas Ellie Owen is the head behind them. His shinny cover-like fabrics are killer and I find the adds very funny and inspiring, they seem out from a futuristic shoot in any Vogue around the world... Juan Gatti, anyone?

Let's Be Cruel and Have Some Fun

In one of my fave posts of Gigi, alas Wendy Brandes, on Anne Boleyn, she named Henry VIII as Henry teh 8 thanks to whoever hit her blog with such a search term. I laughed out loud and thought, what a great idea!.

Dear bloggers let's play some funny game ... I'm going to write my 15 favourite search terms that people wrote and hit my blog for.
Some of these search terms are hilarious, others are pure non sense, I have common searchings too (Lara Stone, women in their sixties, Agyness Deyn...) I find very interesting full sentences as "where is lara stone" or "patti boyd was so skinny", as I never search for full sentences like that...

I find very curious to "study" my stats to see how other people behave on the net, it's like spying them in some way ... It's Sociology 100%.

If you are one of the hitters, please don't be offended, i can assure you my search terms are even more hilarious if i think about them... so no bad feelings, just some laughs.

Note that all the sentences are written the way the were searched, i didn't changed a thing, so if you find typos, that's the way it is! :)

So there we go! ...

• "autobiography of a bee stinged me": trying to find "that" bee on the net to kill it!
  

• "beatfull women sixties": beat the full!

• "blonde woman dressing models": the dresser was prettier than the models themselves

• "dorian parker the most beautiful woman in the world": nothing else to add
  

• "exciting free photo": glad you like my pics

• "hamansutra": funny typo
  

• "how to bee beautiful girl": The pretty "bee"
  

• "i love nylon": loving NY, loving LONdon
  

• "lara stone is ugly": how did they find my Lara Stone-pro blog with this phrase?
  

• "patti boyd was so skinny": full sentence
  

• "why is "lara stone" doing so little shows": dunno
  

• "where is lara stone?": some hates her, some no.
  

• "rich woman" skinny "los+angeles": Looking for the ideal girl
  

• "i scheduled my agenda": I wonder what this has to do with my blog
  

• "alex kapranos ideal girl": Eleonor, someone is looking for you
  

The Merchant of Venice

Written sometime between 1596 and 1598, The Merchant of Venice is my Shakespeare's later discovery.
As you might already realized, I'm in a XVI century phase... I can't help it and I love it, therefore, my Netflix account (an online video rental) is burning with XVI century tittles.

The Merchant of Venice, the movie, has been my latest acquisition and regardless my hopeless straggle with the language (i'm not use to proper English really) I watched the 2h and 10 min of the film till the very end without blinking.
I have been very surprised for the quality of the movie because I didn't heard of it before so I thought it would be a mediocre version. None of this at all.

The Art Direction, by Jon Bunker, and the Production Design, by Bruno Rubeo, are both over the top, from the very beginning of the movie you can feel the colors of the time, the surfaces, the atmosphere... terracota, green, mustard... the look of the film is fantastic, and I'm glad it is so or I wouldn't bear the more than 2 hours of film understanding very little (as i mentioned before, my language straggle...) and not enjoining it with my eyes in awe.

But of course, how not to speak of the costumes!! This is the best XVI century movie I've ever seen, Sammy Sheldon, Costume Designer, who worked also in Gladiator, has all my bows. Even though I read somewhere that Radford [the director] did not want a strict depiction of costume during the period but a rather more stylised overall look, I found the wardrobe very inspiring and real and I didn't have the impression at any time of dealing with "theater", but with dresses straight from that époque.

Sammy said about the experience: "English costumes of this period were very big and decorated with triangular skirts but in Venice all through that century everything is much sexier and softer, really the proper kind of renaissance style. One of the big motivations for it was paintings, Mike liked Sargeant paintings, the whole kind of feel, texture, the lighting in it. They were used as a colour reference."

We try to generalize fashions but even in the same country fashions differ. It is quite interesting, as I said in some posts earlier too, to see this fact during the XVI century, a moment when the whole Western world was boiling in history facts and so, fashion followed (does this sentence make any sense?) ... For this reason movies whose stories happen at the same time in different countries can be so unlike in terms of fashion; Elizabeth (Britain), The Merchant of Venice (Italy), or Queen Margot (France) as to say. Those were the days when globalization and China goodies were still far away...

My favourite outfits so far were the ones worn by the Venetian prostitutes.
I regret I didn't take any pictures from the film, i just thought "I will find images enough on internet... such interesting outfits!" But i was very wrong and now i don't have any sample to prove what i saw.
I found, though, a drawing from a Venetian courtesan whose dress is, although not the same, the closest i could find, that is, breasts out and horn-like hair-do, isn't it lovely?
If i "find" the nerve enough to do it, i will dress like that in this upcoming Halloween.
More on prostitutes during the XVI century in Venice here.

You Wear It Well, Dino Dinco and Paper Mag's Un-Hollywood Film Series

I have always been very curious about Dino Dinco and Diane Pernet's festival of fashion-related videos You Wear It Well so when I knew PAPER MAG was introducing some of the videos in their annual Un-Hollywood Film Series I didn't wait a second to RSVP my attendance.
The event took place on Monday September 24th at the screen in Tribeca Grand Hotel. I called my friend André to come with me and we both went all happy and amused (even though we hadn't seen any movie yet).

There was a pre-party before the screening, which surprised André and me who are use to after-parties not pre ... we were both surprised and happy talking while listening DJ Henry living the evening up with records from the very best 60's.

Some drinks later we were called up to go downstairs to enjoy the videos...

Dino Dinco talked for a little while about the series and took some pictures of us for Diane (I'm the one in the middle of the third row... looking lame and ugly, o well..), then the screen was lighten up and the videos showed up ...

Alexander McQueen for SHOWstudio (who created on-screen-live a groom/bride costume with paint, fabric and glitter, this was probably my favourite one), Maison Martin Margiela, Jeremy Scott, TwoTom, VPL ...

all these designers and some more were featured in all kind of videos; long or short, funny or disturbing, some were super experimental and interesting, other not so, but in general the quality of them was very good.
Only the people at the screening disappointed me a little ... but Dino Dinco explains it better and funnier in Diane Pernet's blog.

Back and Happy

I have had 5 amazing days in Puerto Rico with my mom ... amazing beaches, incredible music, good food and best of all, the PEOPLE.
Fashion news ready to come, meanwhile, let's have some view to the most wonderful beach I've ever been in my life... Playa Flamenco (Flamenco Beach) in Isla Culebra (Snake Island).













me













my mom

Puerto Rico, There We GO

I'm going to Puerto Rico for 5 days, back next Saturday the 6th.
I decided not to take my computer with me for the first time in years ... I need to relax and have some fun. And rest my eyes in the meanwhile ...

Loads of Love,

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