Linus Ricard

My friend Lu introduced me the work of Swedish photographer Linus Ricard, with whom she has worked as stylist in different photo shoots in her native Beijing, where Linus currently lives and works.

Ricard started his career wanted to be a fashion stylist and so he went to study at the prestigious Istituto Marangoni in Milan. But after two years of studies he felt the "call" of the camera.

I must say I thank the providence for making him change his mind and decide to take the camera as a profession because, although I haven't seen his work as designer, his work as photographer is over the top. You tell me...










all images © Linus Ricard

A Punk Lady in 1944

And this lady is not other than the great Edith Head ...

I'm writing about this woman quite a bit in my latest posts without really explaining who she was. And maybe she is not as known as I might think, as not everyone has read the whole lot I have about her. (Actually I'm currently reading Edith Head's Hollywood by the designer herself and Paddy Calistro)

Some of you might "know" her face thanks to Disney's cartoon movie The Incredibles where she "played" the character Edna Mode.

Edith was the head designer at Paramount (although she would work for other studios as Universal or United Artists later in her career) for about 60 years and the first woman to succeed in a man's world: Costume Design. She is probably one of the most important costume designers in Hollywood's history together with MGM Gilbert Adrian, and the woman with more Oscars in her house (8 total).

She created Hollywood mythical outfits as Mae West's in She Done Him Wrong (this movie meant the beginning of Edith 's successful career), Audrey Hepburn's in Funny Face or Paul Newman and Robert Redford's in The Sting (this movie would give her the 8th and last Oscar in her career). She claimed to have worked on 1,131 films (Edith Head's Hollywood, page 163) in a time where costumes were actually designed and made, not bought as often happens nowadays. That's quite something!.

During World War II she was (and this is the point of my post's tittle), frequently quoted in magazines to advice women how to economize by sewing and designing their own clothing (those were rationing times ladies).
To support her own words she modeled in one of her DIY creations: she hand-painted safety-pins in a plain white blouse and used safety pins instead of buttons for the closing.

A : safety pins instead of buttons
B: hand-painted safety pins
C: you can't really see in my scan but she's wearing safety pins in her ears...

D: a safety pin keeps blouse and skirt safe in place

Hard times are hard and we wish they don't happen to us but we can't deny they are the ones to make our brains work...

La Casita de Wendy

When in 2000 Björk wore a dress designed by Spanish duo La Casita de Wendy (Wendy's Little House) for different magazines (The Wire, Les Inrockuptibles) and events she probably wasn't conscious of how important a key she was being to make Inés and Iván, members of the label, to be known internationally. A fact that all of us, fans of the fashion duo, appreciate.
Since then their colorful collections has been seen all over the world, Tokyo, Athens, Paris or NY...

King of the Bongo is their SS: 08 collection, apologies if I'm featuring summer stuff but as it happened with Claudia Rosa Lukas' SS: 08 collection, I couldn't help but posting about it because it's beautiful (I can't take my eyes off those patterns) and fun and besides, what a great composition these images do to make Christmas tree postcards? :)




The other good new is that now we stylists in NY can get their clothing for photo shoots thanks to Angela at eL ShOwrOom as well as order their collections if you own a store.
>> In you would like to know more about them.. Filep Motwary's interview

Colors...

Probably you have noticed all these changes of colors in the background... I'm looking for "the look".... still in the research. :)

Other Platforms to Discover Fashion

Myspace or Iqons*, and now the new Dripbook, have been used as platforms for fashion creatives to show their work to the world community. But I always wondered what does it happen with those whose fashion activities lye in words, history research or sociology, whose not-image based work can't compete with, let's say, Chalayan. In other words, how can fashion historians, journalists and sociologists express their opinions and show them to the world without being overshadowed by their visual peers?... How can they make their point clear and succeed?

So far we had blogger, and it really helped, and I thought that was all we can dream of in terms of "free" fashion journalism until I randomly found SandraLondon63 in Youtube...

Sandra London is, I guess, from London, and she is like a fashion historian and a filmmaker who researches, edits and posts videos about fashion and art in Youtube, starting with the roaring 20's to the 50's decade.

I find her footage a delightful experience, well researched and eye candy for fashion lovers; have you ever wondered why hemlines dropped to the ankle during the 30's?, when the platform shoes were born (and it wasn't in the 70's)? or how 1941 fabric rationing during II WW leaded the fashion industry to create new products as rayon?... then watch her videos!

The short-films are silent with signs that tell you what's happening (the same way movies did in the 20's) and only the sounds of Duke Ellington or Rosemary Clooney accompanies the footage. I can't think of a better way to show what you know other than a coffee table book. So let's add youtube to our bookmarks.

My favourite decades... the 30's and 40's by SandraLondon63.


1930s - Fashion and Design during the Depression

1940s - Style and Fashion during the Wartime Era

Today Is The Future of Fashion

When I watch futuristic movies I always think, "c'mon... that will never happen..."
But the following video shows me than sometimes things really become what we imagine (as Jules Verne or Leonardo Da Vinci already proved).

Margiela and Chalayan "featured" 70 years before their existence..



source

More Gainsbourg through Sorrenti's Eyes

Although Charlotte Gainsbourg is not a favourite of mine (I rather her sister Lou), I anxiously await the arrival of Paris Vogue Dec 07 to my news stand because I still remember with pleasure's chills the special Sofia Coppola the same publication did in December 2004, one of the best "specials" a magazine has ever done on someone (although Interview's Elizabeth Taylor special curated by Bruce Webber wasn't bad either).
Everyone has seen already the editorial so many bloggers has posted in their sites (thanks Mode et Utopie!), but today I found an extract that robot posted in The Fashion Spot with photographs by Mario Sorrenti... what a joy. Now I want the issue more than ever.

I'm having A London Moment

... inspired by Louise Goldin.
I know I just said I don't like to post about my style... but rules are to be broken! .

..Bought them at Trash and Vaudeville. Best store in the city to get British things.

Paned Slops, Hell Yeah.

I said it before and I say it now: old fashioned related men's attire contemporary collections (did I make it clear?) are my soft spot. I think men knew about fashion more back in the days than they do now, or at least they were interested in it and experimented with all kind of shapes and colors; have you read the amazing and super expensive book A History of Men's Fashion? ... you'd know what I'm talking about. Oh, where did all those men go?.
For this reason French designer Romain Kremer's A/W 07-08 collection has gone at the top of my "favourite men's wear look's list" of the season. The way in which he has designed paned slops mixing them with the most futuristic and Prada-like of the sweatshirts has brought me back the fashion pleasure's thrills.
Romain won the Special Award for Creativity in the 20th Festival International de Mode et de Photographie à Hyères in 2005... and I don't wonder why. A designer to keep an eye on.

Last But Not Least

It took me sometime to finish the publishing of this series my dear Angela Esteban Librero did of her very personal trip to Santiago de Compostela to enjoy noovo Festival, but here we have the last post and please do not hesitate to take a tour to the other "days" to really know what she is talking about ...

part I // part II // part III // part IV

My personal trip to Noovo Festival in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. (part V) THE END
by Angela Esteban Librero.

The night of day 3, Graham Tabor and I, presented the 3r issue of FLY to the festival.
It was nice because it was the first time I could actually see the issue. Fly #3 was beautiful as always.
My favorite video was an interview about the photographer Shirin Neshat.


* Day 4

Sunday November 4 was sadly the last day of the festival. At 12.30, there was a Presentation of ART NOTES Magazine which I couldn't attend because I had a little party the night before; Santiago, as surprising as it seems, has a lot of underground clubs and after parties going on...

The afternoon was really interesting. Starting with Henrik Vibskov's performance in the Monastery San Francisco. It was very impressive to see the models walking along a pink and blue catwalk which had bikes and music instruments. The instruments were playing thanks to some of the models that road those bikes.


Here a photo of Diane in the first raw, not missing one shot of the show! >>>

At 7:00 pm we went back to the tent to see the four Fashion Shows of International Designers in the Plaza de la Quintana. Starring one of my favorites: Peter Pilotto.

You already know the London based couple, Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos. They showed an elegant collection with interesting shapes, prints and colors. I need to get those tights!!

Peter Pilotto

Then the French designer Romain Kremer.
Half of his collection was Spring/Summer 2007, that was futuristic inspired, a lots of metallic fabrics and grommets. The other half was Spring/Summer 2008 with very interesting patterns.
The model that opened the show is a porn movie actor. Romain asked him to model the night before because he liked him so much...!!

Romain Kremer

Mikio Sakabe is a Japanese fashion designer who Graduated from Hogeschool Antwerpen.
He presented his Spring/Summer 2008, collection called Industrial Dolls.
This collection is much different from what he's done before, if you get the chance check his work out. He had the rest of the collection in Barcelona for the Mango Fashion Designer Award which will give 300.000 euros to the winner, one of the higher awards in fashion.

Mikio Sakabe

Bulgarian designer, Petar Petrov closed the festival. Please, check his S/S 08 collection. Miguel Villalobos had to model the runaway because only the very skinny models (that were just a few) could fit in his clothes!!

Petar Petrov

<<<> In backstage, I discovered the work of Finnish artist, Jarno Kettunen, he was in Santiago de Compostela for the NOOVO festival. Below are some of his drawings.
He made them there during the shows. Guess who is in the guy in black....

More backstage ...

Petar Petrov team // Graham Tabor with Romain Kremer

The closing party was good, we had some Keimada gallega which is a delicious burned and warm alcohol from Galicia.

Keimada // Miguel Villalobos and Diane Pernet


Peter Pilotto // Diane Pernet taking our photo from her room balcony, she is a queen! I love her....

Henrik Vibskov, Joseph Quartana from Seven NYC and on the right Mario Canal, director of Madriz Magazine and the Spanish WAD Magazine.

That was all. I hope you enjoyed the trip... Lets hope there will be a Noovo Festival Second Edition next year, I hope I will see you all there.

by Angela Esteban Librero

Men Are Aware of a Woman's Clothing Too

Many things are delighting me while reading Edith Head's autobiography The Dress Doctor, but any more than the vision of a man, Jerry Lewis, on women's clothing... very insightful and interesting ladies.

" If you are playing a scene with a girl who is supposed to be sweet, simple and sympathetic, and she looks like a witch in clothes too tight, too low and too siren -no matter how good an actress is, you feel a psychological barrier. You can't think of her as a grown-up Girl Scout. If this is true in comedy, how much more true in serious drama, and how much more true in real life. What a woman wears creates, subconsciously, your idea of what she is. In every scene I'm aware, as an actor, of the impact the actress is making on me and at the same time I'm aware, as a producer, of what the audience is going to think"

The Dress Doctor (1959) page 151

Louise Goldin or How To Make The Best Collection Of The Season

The A/W 07-08 collection of British designer Louise Goldin shown in February during the event Fashion East in London stole my heart; I saw it and that was all. Deep in love.
Other designers have designed more elaborate and impressive collections; Balenciaga, Chalayan... but hers is just so beautiful and stylish, chic and conceptual that if I could know where to find it I would buy every single piece of it. And I mean it.
Her website or bio can't be found anywhere in the web so if any of you know more about her and wants to share, please do so!

** I posted about this designer naming her "Louisa Golden" ... Her real name is Louise Goldin. Oops... It's like I just made up her name and follow the last name Elle.com wrote ... Thanks Blue Floppy Hat for correcting me the typo.

Women Need Advice and Other Women. Do We?

The great Hollywood costume designer Edith Head once wrote: "One hundred years ago, every woman wore a hoopskirt, she had no choice; seventy-five years ago, every woman wore a bustle. Today, a woman can look any way she wishes -if she knows how, if there is someone to help her" (The Dress Doctor -1959- page 21).

When I read such a statement I got very surprised and immediately thought, "I'm sure that was the way 50 years ago, now not anymore... no ones needs advise, we all are independent and wear what we please"... Was I right?

Being a magazine whore and trying to collect as many magazines as possible, from any period of time, made me noticed that no matter the year in the cover, all magazines have something in common; they tell women what to wear.
What-to-wear in regard of the situation we are about to face (a job interview, a blind date) or the person we are about to meet (mom, dad, a boyfriend), what-to-wear when we are happy or sad, at home or at the office...

It seems we really need help... Really?

For many centuries women's roles were severely limited by society's concepts of male supremacy and female inferiority. [...]
Fashions of the times [XIX century] didn't help either. Voluminous, billowing skirts hampered movement, and corsets caused dizzy spells and fainting.
A woman's priority in young adulthood was to find a husband, and after doing so, raise a family and run a well-kept household. [...]
The male-dominated social order dictated that women be meek and obedient "domestic creatures," for the most part confined to housewifery and raising of children, deferential to men, and financially dependent on the husband. These very definite ideas about a woman's part in the overall scheme of things were responsible for the restricted part women played in their world. "...[A]n exclusively nineteenth century phenomenon among women... developed as a result of the concept of the 'woman's sphere,' whereby the woman's role in life was strictly limited to home and family. [...] ". (Muhlenfeld) " >> source

Although the text was written with reference to women in the XIX century I found those matters timeless...

For centuries women haven't been able to study, to work, to do any sports, to be part of any political or cultural event. They were imprisoned in their own home and with time in their hands, rich ladies decided to use it to embellish themselves and to find new methods to improve their natural beauty; they invented in the solitude of their homes new fashions, new hair-dos, new beauty products and techniques... And to do so they used other women (sisters, mothers, friends) in this ritualistic grooming—that potent, mutual currency of female friendship.

It would be a facile argument to say they did so to impress their husbands, "masters" of their house and world. But we all know very well how much we like to dress for other women, the ones who will understand if what we're wearing is faux or not, if the bag we're carrying is Chanel, Prada or Lanvin.
If we would dress for men only we would be naked or with just a mere brassiere. Instead our fashions are very elaborate and the highest the fashion the more knowledge you need to know what's going on.. and really, how many men have the knowledge?

It would be wrong too to accuse them of being frivolous for acting in such a way. Now we can work, do sports, be part of political and cultural events and we do not have spare time in our hands but still, we use the little we have to embellish ourselves and... write blogs about it.
Although I don't post about my outfits or my beauty secrets and i don't follow what others do, I might be a rareté, what kind of woman am I?, because they get the most comments, they get the most love&hate, they are like blog-celebrities and I have to admit that when I started to post some pictures of myself my stats began to rise up like froth.
We women definitely like to see each other getting dressed and looking nice and neat.

It is then something on our DNA I guess and it will take years or maybe never, to erase that love for sharing fashion and beauty between each other, for telling each other what to wear, and what's best, for accepting so.

Oh, and I can not forget to mention the dressing-up syndrome that we all suffer since we are little girls (Lula magazine wouldn't exist if we wouldn't suffer from it); we love to dress up together, to put make up on our best girl friend... so i wonder if this is the real love we all share. :)

naomi campbell + kate moss / edith head + gloria swanson