Quotes of the Day._ Diana Vreeland on London and on being vulgar

_ "The best thing about London is Paris"
_ " Never fear being vulgar, just boring"

Diana Vreeland

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_ "Lo mejor de Londres es París"
_ "Nunca temas ser vulgar, si no aburrida"

Diana Vreeland

Diana Vreeland by Louise Dahl-Wolfe

Lie Sang Bong's aw 08*09 or the Blade Runner collection...

I discovered the work of Korean fashion designer Lie Sang Bong while I was working with Dragos from Rozalb de Mura label at The Train trade show in New York City (oh, and that's another story i need to tell you about).

He was showing his collection a couple of stands further away from us and I remember being amazed at the construction quality of his garments. Although not quite my style, I couldn't take my eyes off the geometric shapes that formed the SS09 collection.

Dragos told me he's quite a famous designer so shame on me... as soon as I get home i turned internet on and went to his site.

His aw 08-09 collection could be perfectly worn by Rachael (Sean Young) in Blade Runner...

Presentation of lamono magazine in Madrid

lamono magazine is a free monthly magazine based on Barcelona.
I've been collaborating with them since August but never met them personally till last Thursday when they threw a party in Madrid to introduce their latest issue; En Femenino (Feminine). For such issue I interviewed American artist Maya Hayuk, one the most rebel feminist artists I know.
Here's an extract of the interview:

You are one that defends women rights more than anyone else I know, and i remember once you denied the participation in an important exhibition for the fact that you were the only female among 20 something males.. How do you see the situation of women artists such Agathe Snow, Kiki Smith or yourself in contemporary art?.


I'm always amazed and offended when i am invited to be in a "expose of contemporary art", but am the only woman involved. I find myself having to ask often why there are so few or no women involved, then send around ever-growing lists of women artists who i admire. It seems obvious to me that since there are about 50% women and 50% men in the world, and since there's nothing that would make a man biologically better at making art, that it would be a given that in any art show you'd see this statistic reflected in the gender of the artists. What i hear so often - from men who are putting the shows together - is that they "just don't know any women artists" and i wonder if they live under a big penis-shaped rock. I say that i don't want to be in shows that tell the public that women artists are a minority. I don't have the time or the energy to be the poster child for women or the token woman artist so the curator sleeps well at night. I honestly believe that in a few years we will look back on this time and shake our heads at how ridiculous this time in history was.

The party took place at Fast Cool art gallery in Huertas, one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city.
We got there late but was already crowded; I saw photographer Luis Díaz former assistant of Daniel Riera.
Anna Parini, illustrator, whose work has been featured in the cover of this issue, was there on a 'live-painting-show' (pic above).

My Friend Ainne on Style.com !!

She's the one on the bottom right corner...

The picture was taken on the H&M flagship on 5th Ave in NYC... waiting in line to buy Comme des Garçons for H&M, isn't she cute?? :_)

here is the story

New Shoes Thanks To...

I was always a little suspicious when companies would offer me free samples of their products to write about for my readers, or invitations for events that 'could be interesting for my readers'.

Of course it's tempting but I was afraid that accepting or attending these events my blog would become a subliminal fashion ad blog.

I'm quite against those bloggers that write about the 'amazing' qualities of such and such product when the product just sucks; it's like those celebrities that agree to put their faces in ads of products that, ehem, are SO BAD. Credibility to the drain.

Last summer I received another offer but this time i thought it twice before saying no... I realized that we bloggers are always free to say the truth, whether is good or bad for the companies; they never force us to write 'positive' about their products, they just offer us the possibility of trying and talk about the experience. That's all. And I was ready to talk bad about mine...

For this reason and for the first time in my blogging life I agreed to get a free product in exchange of a post. I really wanted to see how the business work.
And let me tell you, I had a big surprise.

The company that contacted me was Solestruck and they did so through a lady called Danielle.
Danielle offered me a pair of shoes from their web, at no cost for me. I could choose any of the models on view, whatever size and color.

When she contacted me i was packing and getting ready for my European sojourn of 9 months so time was really tight to get anything and my mind was everywhere but where it should be.
I remember watching at the shoes they had on the web and although the type of product they carry is not really my style, I found these lovely Jeffrey Campbell mary-janes (above) and ordered them forgetting that i was leaving for Paris in less than a week.

When I apologized Danielle for my slip (she had sent the package already) she told me not to worry at all as as soon as she read the email she contacted the courier to change the date of arriving; and i got my new pair of shoes right on time for Paris fashion week :)

So what can i tell you? No bad word on this company from my keyboard.
Lovely shoes, and Danielle such a nice person.

Music with no instruments but with fashion

When I started to work at IED (Istituto Europeo di Design) university in October I wasn't aware of the cool projects that this school was involved with. Actually, it isn't involved but it's the promoter of.

Some of these works can be seen in their youtube page.
Here I wanted to show you one project made through the IED Moda Lab, the fashion department of the school.

"In February 2008, the band Giganto developed a workshop at IED Madrid ModaLab, where students from different courses modified and transformed fashion creation tools into musical instruments. In only sixteen hours and with any previous musical knowledge, they formed an orchestra that ended into a live composition "

Here is the result... absolutely AMAZING

Fashion Lectures at the Museo del Traje in Madrid

Located in one of the most beautiful buildings in Madrid (I know it doesn't seem like in the picture but trust me, it is really impressive!), the Museo del Traje (The Costume Museum) is offering a series of lectures on modern fashion designers.

It started September 18th so many talks have been given already... in any case, every Thursday and till November 13th, at 8pm and free entrance, journalists and fashion historians will lecture on different designers, from Jean Lanvin to Viviene Westwood to Jean Paul Gaultier.

Unfortunately I have missed some but went to the talk given by journalist Abraham de Amézaga on Paco Rabanne who has met the journalist several times.
The best part came with the questions, some were really funny although I can't recall any of them now..



Next week Jean Paul gaultier by Charo Izquierdo, editor in chief of YoDona magazine.

BLESS nº36 show inParis

BLESS nº36 Nothingneath was the first fashion show I've ever been invited to during Paris fashion week.

I received the invitation at my friend Antoine's house because in Paris you need to give a Parisian address to get your invitations. The first thing I saw when I arrived at my friend's was the envelope with the invitation on his desk...

The show was a surprise, in every sense.
First, because I stumbled upon friends from Madrid and New York by total chance.
Second, because one of the models was a friend of mine that i didn't know she was in Paris let alone modeling for BLESS! And third because of the show itself; it wasn't a show at all and for the first time i felt how a model feel when people stare at her...

The happening took place in a Le Marais's private house where there was an arrange of models situated on the staircase wearing the pieces of the collection. There wasn't time really to stop and look at them (at the pieces), it was a little violent to do so because of the proximity of the models to you; then i realized how safe is to have a catwalk between you and the models... Therefore you could just go up the stairs, have a very fast peak at the clothes while passing by and down again, this time in an elevator. And the show was over.
Susanna Lau was in front of me in the line, all the time... Maybe I should say something to her, but didn't.

pictures by me

video courtesy of BLESS

Natalia Brilli at Maria Luisa

I'm writing this post from my mom's house in Madrid... I'm back from Paris, exhausted and happy. It was my first time in the French capital AND during fashion week; really something.

First I should say I've been really impressed at the kindness abound among PR people and doorman/bodyguards at the shows. Yes fellows, they were actually NICE. I say this from a New York perspective where PR people is so stressed out is hard to meet them in a nice day... it's hard indeed. And no comment on body guards and doormen... nice is far from their vocabulary.

But in Paris they're sweet, and respectful, and they talk to you and explain to you that you can't enter in a show with no invitation... in NY they just push you away and don't even say good-by.

Now let's start with my fashion experiences...

Paris' stores are really something... unfortunately i couldn't enter at Colette because the day I chose to visit it it was closed.

Maria Luisa's windows were displaying the work of Belgian accessories designer Natalia Brilli.
Natalia Brilli started her own brand in 2005 after three years at the service as head accessories designer together with Olivier Theyskens at Rochas.

Her work is pure rock & roll, where black, leather and references to Gothic are very usual. Her work reminds me that of Lidia Ligias, another favourite of mine.

"The showpiece is a rock band from beyond the grave: three skeletons, a drum set, guitar, amp, and mic, all encased in black leather. They are scheduled to perform silently during Paris Fashion Week in the window at Maria Luisa, and will be touring to a number of international locations troughout the year." - Leanne Rae Wierzba

The Exhibition of the Season; the dark side of fashion at the FIT

Big news; I'm moving back to Spain for 9 months, October-June 2008.

Big changes and better jobs. I will be coordinating the styling courses of the ied design school in Madrid, so back to my roots for a little while.
I'm leaving on Friday to go first to Paris for the shows, been invited to attend BLESS and Antonio Berardi's so i will keep you updated on that.
Then cheap flight to Madrid and a new life will start !

These days I'm trying to attend every single exhibition that's going on in town and the one that has kept me in awe was FIT's Gothic; Dark Glamour.
I was a bit reticent to go because the picture they chose for the exhibition's ad and the graphic design of it wasn't very appealing. But it was a fashion exhibition and that was reason enough to go. Glad i did.

Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), responsible of some of the best fashion exhibitions I have ever seen, including Love and War: The Weaponized Woman, and so many others I have missed, including The Corset: Fashioning the Body, gives us again an absolutely beautiful and interesting exhibition that is both a surprise and a pleasure to see.
Gothic; Dark Glamour explores and analize the interest on Gothic among certain fashion designers like Yohji Yamamoto, Rick Owens or Alexander McQueen.
The exhibition is divided in 10 sub-exhibitions each of one deals with a different side of Gothic in fashion terms.

The quality of the selected pieces is marvelous, and it's impressive to see a real Balenciaga, Yamamoto or Comme des Garçons in front of you in such an environment as the space has been rearranged as a cemetery.
I must admit my disappointment though on seeing John Galliano dresses because they are not good at all, they seem taken right from the laboratory of a firts year fashion design student. Really cheap.
In the other hand, as I mentioned before, absolutely in awe at the view of Comme des Garçons or Rick Owens.

The finishing touch of the show was the work of Japanese designer Kei Kagami. His designs seem out of the darkest Science Fiction movie you could ever think of... SHOCKING_GEORGEOUS_AMAZING !

Late Post from NYFW.- Unconditional

The pictures I took from Unconditional spring 09 fashion show during New York fashion week have been lost in my computer till today, when i realized I never wrote about this event.

It took place right after United Bamboo's so that is why the pictures got lost; I focused on UB and forgot all the rest. Inexcusable mistake.

Bed Peace, the collection's name which takes inspiration from John Lennon and Yoko Ono's infamous 1969's "Bed In" peace protest, was shown at the Maritime Hotel in the Meat Packing District, one of those hotels that take your breathe off once you're in.

Up on the rooftop I stumbled upon a cocktail party with free cocktails, beautiful people, photographers and models wearing the collection, both male and females, mixed with the crowd as in a party. So this wasn't really a fashion show, it was more a presentation, and for that reason it was so special and surprising.

Philip Stephens, the head behind Unconditional, started this label in 2003.
His designs have been since characterized for the use of ethically produced (often organic) fabrics and sustainable dyes.

Bed Peace is definitely a very 60's collection for her, but for him was a bit different and was hard for me to realized this was a 'together' collection (male/female).

Both genres seemed from two totally different worlds; women came from Woodstock wearing sheer and loose dresses... men right from a Norwegian summer, with long sleeves cotton t-shirts, bear's ears crocheted hats and striped blue&white sailor tees...

models mixed with the press

the people


the models


a room with a view

Ode to the slow blogger

For the last couple of months I've been reading several apologies from bloggers who didn't have the time to write a post everyday... It is a very common thing, i have noticed, but I would like with this post to send a message to all my fellow bloggers that feel the stress and the pressure to publish once daily and if they don't, they think they're failing in some way... not at all!

My point is, although there are very gifted people that have the capability, energy and wit to write very insightful posts on a daily basis, such people as Susanna Lau from Style Bubble or Diane Pernet from A Shaded View on Fashion, this is not the norm. It is an extra-ordinary thing that can't make you feel bad, stressed or inferior if your pace needs to be slower.

Leisurely rhythm gives you perspective to think an idea over and to develop your own creativity.

It's important to digest a thought instead of just giving it away half digested. Big thinkers take time to process and develop and idea, and even the fashion blogger Queen par excelance, Cathy Horyn, doesn't give away a daily post... she takes her own time to write and to think what she wants to say, so don't feel bad.

Fast food is unhealthy for a reason...

I personally like, and love for this matter, fashion bloggers that take their time to live before talking about it in their blogs. I like bloggers who experience and "cook" an idea or an opinion before bringing it to their blog. I like bloggers whose real life goes before their virtual one because the latter can lead you to copy-and-paste other people's ideas; you need time to live your own feelings and experiences before hand.

This is the reason why i find amusing and inspiring to wait for new posts on blogs like Suzanna Mars' Style Sauvage, Mike Huynh's Cultures in Between or Search & Destroy because I know that while i wait, they're living and thinking of great things to tell me a bit later...

Good magazines, the good ones I mean, like self service, purple, the purple journal or fantastic man, are quaterly or biannual; only crap magazines are weekly, and some monthly. It might be a reason for that. Information needs to be processed before being exposed.

So next time you've been absent from your blog for days or even weeks, don't apologize; we know you're living.

Matvey Lykov for Jil Sander

Model Matvey Lykov (Fusion NY and Success Paris) was just arrived in the Big Apple when we did a shoot together; it was his career's second shoot and my second male shoot as well.
What a surprise when two years later I see him as the face of the new campaign of Jil Sander... in a two pages spread on i-D magazine.

Dear Matvey, if you are reading this blog, 2 is definitely our number !

Matvey Lykov for Jil Sander's AW 08-09 campaign

Stupid Magazines

When you work with magazines, you never know.
Even when they give you an assignment, chances are (many) that the project doesn't get published. You can try to find another publication to run the story but sometimes the time you have to find it is so tight that the work just expires unpublished; magazines is a fast world.

I own a magazine and have lived the experience from both sides, the non-published professional and the one who decides not to publish something assigned; so I know.

As a stylist/photographer, it sucks when a publication rejects a job: time and energy, and so many times money, go directly to the drain.
But as a "decider", as a fashion editor, I know some works are just not what I expected and to be honest with the aesthetic of a magazine, you need to back up.

The good news is that now we have a wonderful blog that publishes very renown professionals' work that was rejected for magazines. They tell you what went wrong and how the shoot was made. Some works are good, some are not, but you will know first hand what the hell happened. The blog is called Stupid mags, and it's pure eye candy.

Full Time Sado by Tony Solís

Full time sado was made almost two years ago with the help of 'El Pana', my ex roomie who was a Venezuelan model. All the equipment and the clothes were borrowed from a rock/sado store. The day of the shooting was the last day of El Pana living on our apartment too, so I woke him at 8 am and in two hours we made this series. They are lots of images, so I tried to make a selection that represent the story I tried to tell. It couldn't be published for unknown reasons.

Hot Dogs by Colectivo Banquels

These polaroids were made like three years ago. We sent them to a magazine or something and they never were returned. It was a goofy work but I think they are great. The scanning is awful, but it is the only thing we have of them. Anyway, they don't look like what we are doing now at all.