The Beginning of a Star

Never a big fan of Penelope Cruz until now.
Her style is far from being mine but living in the US and coming from a country as Spain, i know what it means to survive here. Like her. And she's doing pretty good. I also love the way she has to "support" a womanly beauty.

She started her days being the hostess of a music TV program in Spain called La Quinta Marcha (The Fifth Gear). I found a stract of it in YouTube and it really worths a look. Bravo Penelope.

Blake Hamster

The professional collaboration between non-fashion related artists (musicians, graphic designers, actors... you name it) with a fashion label to create a "line", is something that seems very profitable these days and there's not big name in fashion that doesn't try to get the bigger bidder.

Some of the collaborations are bad, and i don't blame anyone, each artist knows a medium and if you change that medium, the result can be anything.
But other collaborations can be really good, very interesting or a lot fun, like the one Amonstro Chocante between street-art artist Zosen and Brasilian fashion label Amonstro.

A new interesting one arrives now from Germany, one of the places, i think, together with London, where more interesting things are happening, and is called Blake Hamster.
The project aim is to create a unique piece of something, "to experiment with different products, production processes and distribution models, while upholding a set of aesthetic and ethic ground rules".

The first of the projects is the release of a total of 6 T-shirts designed by such diferent type of people like street-art artist Inluenza, musician Catriona Saw or fashion designer Hamansutra.
All items claim to be produced under strict ecological guidelines and "the fabric of [the] women shirts is blended with Seacell, an innovative yarn which is giving off pleasant active agents to your skin while wearing the shirt. The moisturising, nursing, tightening and anti-inflammatory agents are already frequently used in cosmetics and medicine. Seacell was awarded the ecolabel of the European Union..." That's my favourite part.

* Picture credits
- Jump & Unforseen.- Ph by Michael Heilgemeir
- Pop Life.- Ph by Lisa Miletic
- Beautiful Stains.- Ph by Michael McKee
- Prohibition.- Ph by Dieter Mayr
- Yeah.- Ph by Martin Fengel

Burqini

The burqini story has been around quite a while. Like 6 months now. But I've never heard anyone talking about it so now that we (North Hemisphere) are close to Summertime i thought it was a good moment to mention and speak about it.

On December 11, 2005 Cronulla Beach, in the suburbs of Sydney, was witness of the violent riots between Australians and Lebaneses in an act that lasted for almost 4 days.

The integration of Muslim women into Autsralian society has been seen as something to care about, so when Lebanon-born Aheda Zanetti designed the burqini in order to open the beach window to Muslim women that otherwise couldn't have access to, the idea was in general welcomed and supported.

The burqini, says Zanetti, allows Muslim women to enjoy the beach and be able to work as surf lifesavers, to patrol the country's beaches, while keeping their religious traditions in place.

People still thinks that fashion is silly, that can not be political, that it is something that we women use to pass the time.
Well, look at this simple piece of clothing. Whoever that wears the burqini is making a statement. It's saying to the world the religion embraced, her position towards that religion and towards the rest of the people, her support of such religion and the awareness of the "discomforts" that this religion has for her. And a desire to improve and change such disconforts and to integrate her tradition into the habits that the society in which she lives has to offer.
The idea of something that gives freedom to these women, a piece of clothing that can open doors to people to work or enjoy the life in a highest level is something that i am all up to.
Although a head-to-toe piece made out of 100% polyester can't be the panacea when the heat gets 77.2 F (25 C) ... is the first step, so welcome.

More info here and here.

High Waisted

I'm a 70's fashion BIG fan, so i am very happy that high waisted pants are back.

I found this girl, Lisa Jo, through Refinery29 street-style section.
She wears HIGH waisted pants as i've never seen before. How cool is that? i think they look SEEEXY!
At Fashion Minute, though, people discussed about them saying that high waisted pants are kind of ridiculous .. which i don't agree at all.

Lisa Jo

New York
Name: Lisa Jo
What do you do? I'm broke.
Nice half catsuit-tell me about it? It's gray and I can't eat too much when I wear it.
So you suffer for fashion? No, but I wish I did.
Do you shop at Bergdorf? I only shop at Bergdorf.
What's your favorite piece of clothing? Cotton underwear.

—James Kendi

Sofia says Bye

For two years our favourite Greek, Sofia Kokosalaki, divided her time and creativity between her own line and Vionnet.
Now Sofia feels she needs to give all her energy to her own line, which i understand and support, and says bye to the mitic French fashion house to be replaced by Marc Audibet, a designer famous for his work with Du Pont in 1984, a designer that, as Azedine Alaïa, liked to work with streching fabrics.
I can't wait to see how this "Lycra" artist brings to live pieces inspired by the work of a Queen of the ethereal as Vionnet was.

^^ Vionnet by Sofia Kokosalaki [winter 07-08 collection]

Floral Dresses are not demodé anymore

I love my vintage cacharel dress with all its little flowers on it. But for some reason each time I put it on everyone says that i'm a little demodé... Now demodé is back!
These three girls kick ass with their floral dresses, and they look gooood!. Thanks Amy Kellner for letting me know, i take note.

Where were you...? At the Beach

Summertime awakes our better selves; We look healthier, we look sexier and we are happier than ever.
V magazine ask 14 people in the Art, Fashion, Movie and Music bussiness to explain a picture of themselves taken during summertime at the beach. Is there any other place better that that to be under the sun?
The pictures of Milla Jovovich in the Maldives and Ursula Andress as Honey Rider in Dr No, make me feel really jealous..

[More] News from H [of Hyéres]

As shameful as it sounds, i might confess that Hyéres Festival to me was like saying La Bola de Cristal to someone who's not born in Spain during the 80's... (??) - exactly, that's what I mean.

Style Bubble wrote something about it, and i got curious... then bloggers here and there, my fave ones, were enjoyning their days over there so i started to wonder, maybe i'm really missing something here... i read a couple of reviews, i saw more than a couple of pictures and then i realized, yes, im missing really something.

Fortunatelly my dearest bloggers woke me up and now i know that interesting fashion is still alive and you don't need to go to Paris, Milan, London, or even NY to find rad designs and crazed fashion lovers like me.

Now the last, but not the least new from this great festival is the footage that sweet Garance at Garance Doré and Geraldine at Café Mode have just ending to edit and upload in internet about their very personal view of the event.
They say they're not professionals in journalism... i wouldn't think so! Enjoy.

In Love with Tsumori

I've being looking for crazy patterns and colorful designs for almost two weeks now as I'm preparing a shooting whose theme is exactly that. Think Jeremy Scott, Smeilinener, potipoti, Cassette Playa ...
Looking for pieces of Andrea Crews I found Tsumori Chisato, but now is too late to get it because the shooting is on Wed and there's not time to find the showroom in NY..

At least we can still enjoy the pictures from the catwalk.
I'm in love with her prints and her dresses and her own view of the nautical theme.

People around me Is Inspiring Too

Three weeks ago my good friend A2 called me to assist her in a feature she was working on as a Wardrobe Designer.
The movie itself wasn't a big thing i might say, and i wouldn't even mention that project if it wasn't for Ashley, this girl from Philadelphia who was working as a Wardrobe Supervisor.

Unfortunately i didn't have the guts to ask her to take her picture from the very begining. I didn't know her yet and was afraid that she would think i was nuts or something.
The third day or so i pulled myself together and ask her if i could take a picture of her outfits everyday since, and to my sorpirse she was SO supportive and happy about it.

There are a couple of outfits that i didn't keep track of plus those of the firsts days, but looking at these pictures you can get an idea of how awesome her style is.
She is also a vintage addict, bidding on eBay everyday looking for old goodies to buy, and every single piece of clothing she brought on set from her closet to dress some of the actors, were real fashion gems. Sometimes I even felt a little stupid because i was saying "how cool" "how awesome" "i love this" "i love that", all the time with her clothing...

Anyway, she's for me the perfect 70's girl-next-door! she wears high waisted pants like no one else. ^_^

Sewing it for You, Not for Me

I was starting to feel a little stupid posting all these news about my work being published and blah blah blah. It felt pretentious.
Now I'm back with things about others...

Let's start saying that it is hard when you study something or have some kind of skill to avoid being used by your family or friends to solve their problems with such a skill.

It's like when my friend S2 studied massage and all of us in the team where complaning to him about our back pains in order to get some free massage from him...
I studied fashion design, so I personally always get a lot of requests to sew people's clothing: hems and alterations in general. And there's not an upcoming wedding that women in my family don't use to ask me to do their dresses...
As shameful as it sounds, I always say no... ^_^
So when i discovered the work of Michael Swaine it really touched me.

This artist brings his sewing machine once a month, the 15th of every month, out in the streets to sew what people needs to fix in their clothing. And sometimes he even gets some help thanks to a little old man named Toshio Takakura.
This project is called Sewing for the People and it is exactly that, sewing for those that need it.
Of course this thing is happening in San Francisco, a place where giving is something more natural than in the Big Apple. They invented the "make love, not war" after all. I wonder if in NY anyone would think of doing something without getting any profit out of it...

* all pics by Darryl Bush at SF Gate.com

super POP ... third editorial published in a row

May is really my month..
superPOP fashion editorial published in Milkshake Chocolate magazine.
Photography: Sonia Ostrovsky
Styling by me.
Hope you like it!! It was the second time I worked with Sonia. A third one is on its way..
xx

Fron Berlin with Love, and Some Clothing

We enjoyed them at Blindate Europe party where they were DJ-ing. But these Spanish born, Berlin-based couple named poti poti are not DJ's. Let's say they DJ to have some fun.
Poti Poti are graphic designers and fashion creators, mostly.
They will be in NY for a month, enjoyning the city and working in their Spring collection.

A. and I went to his great great apartment they're subletting in Brooklyn where they showed us the Mexican- inspired masks for their WInter 07-08 collection. Wicked. Their myspace has them all.

More Published..

My post Harper's Bazaar Español photo-shoot generated a lot of visits to my blog from people google-ing for model Erin Heatherton.
That shoot is out this month and here you can enjoy two of the spreads. xx

She Knows How To

A. knows how to pull off opositte patterns together and look amazing with it. Her forever checkered scarf signature + a Spanish flowers shirt... olé.
Taking some pictures at the Blindate Europe party where the Poti Poti team DJed, in Galapagos last Wednesday.

Yes, There we Are!

The editorial GREEN EYES that I did with A. Esteban as second stylist and Jonathan Beck Leder as photographer for Baby Baby Baby magazine is published already in their May 2007 issue. Cory Kennedy in the cover. Enjoy xx.

Not a Knitter, Unfortunatelly

I always thought it was very sweet that Andrea Tung from Making Things linked my blog in her stylish knitters section, when the only knitted thing i've done in my life was a plastic wires bracelet when i was young, and still, i couldn't finish it. My first postings were about knitting so i guess she got confused :)

Mais non, my dear friend, unfortunatelly i dont knitt.
I don't think i will ever be able to. To do crazy and beautiful things with knitt needles as Sandra Backlund latest collection Don't Walk. But i dream of though.

* dear source

Kate in the States

We in NY don't have TopShop, which is such a bummer, so when good things happen there like the mini collection that Christopher Kane did for them or now the talk-of-the-town Kate Moss Top Shop, we can only sigh and look for the best in Gap and the like.

Well, Co-Op Barney's New York is coming to the rescue!...
and better than that, my fave above all the stores in town, Opening Ceremony!

I went this morning to the last one and there wasn't any line to enter or anyone pushing you and stealing items off your hands. The selection was neat and nice, i would say i love Kate Moss Top Shop if this would be the whole collection. Not timing to be there and all the sizes available ... is there anything else we can ask for?

Loving LoveFoxxx

LoveFoxxx, lead singer and lyricist of Brazilian punk-electro band Cansei de Ser Sexy (CSS) [Tired of Being Sexy], is such a wild and fun character and her outfits are the best.
This young lady, former illustrator and fashion designer's assistant, has entered up to the first place in my cool girls' list right away.

* Picture Credits: sinderin + chicagofests + lovefoxxx + music-dash

Isabella, Stay A Little Bit Longer

The Great Isabella Blow passed away last Sunday "in the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in western England. News reports said she had recently been diagnosed with ovarian cancer".

I'm still trying to digest the new

more info here & here